restoman

'67 Impala it is. Thanks for the direction!

Sorting through a parts bin purchase and can't identify this dash panel. There are 6 of them, so it might be from a popular kit, but I don't think I've ever built it. Any thoughts?

Do you mean 2K clear? It never has for me, even though I usually over-thin the clear. Always best to try it on something you don't really care about, first though.

I picked this up a few years ago in a pile of vintage built & unbuilt kits, none newer than 1974 by my estimation. I found the headers and one exhaust pipe in a junk box, the hood and rear spoiler in another. I found the original decal sheet stuffed in with a bunch of instruction sheets. It's a gluebomb. The body was crazed from whatever paint the builder used, but I managed to eliminate the crazing under the primer without losing any detail. I thought about building it as a full-on Trans Am machine, but I didn't want to get too far from the original kit, so opted instead to do somewhat of a tribute street machine build. The body is done with white basecoat, blue nail polish, and red nail polish topped with over-thinned 2k clear. Fireball minilites are used. Still putting the engine back together, so this one might get finished this year. I started in back in 2020. Hopefully, the decals work! Comments always welcome.

Rainy Sundays are a good day to get back at it...

My wife refers to them as my '' Little toy cars'', and since she's always right, they must be GST exempt.

A few years ago, I used a gluebombed '64 Lindberg Dodge chassis under my '60 Desoto rebuilder. I don't have any pics, and the car is painted but not put together yet, but as I recall, the chassis was a pretty decent fit as-is, with only a few simple mods.

I was too busy trying to keep the drool off of my keyboard to reply. That coupe is gorgeous!

Around 1981, I owned one of those 904 slant six Chargers. It was, indeed, a bare-bones car, made even more bare by the east coast climate. It was pretty well rotted out. Dark green with a black vinyl top, left rear leaf poking through the trunk floor, rotted torsion bar crossmember (which is how I got for something like $50), but with an absolutely mint grill and bumper. It did run, though.

I got an order from Ray's a few months ago. a bit of a wait time, but the decals were very nice. Loads of extras on the sheets. I don't remember the shipping costs, but it didn't seem outrageous at the time. I need to order a few more from him.

I've been using 2k clears and other automotive paint on my builds for decades. At first, simply because I used it every day in my working life, and it was easy to slide a project into the booth at the end of the day to spray it. Full protective gear, air-supplied mask, etc. Later on in retirement, I sprayed in my garage. I still do, though only in warmer months (no garage heat). Just for the smell alone, I'd never shoot 2k anything in my house, booth or not. Charcoal respirator, nitrile gloves and proper ventilation always. I prefer to use my mini HVLP detail gun, but I've run it through my Badger airbrush many times. HoK is currently the one I'm using, but really, any 2k clear will work fine. Shelf life is not an issue, if everything is sealed up tight after using, and nothing gets exposed to too much heat or too much cold. The HoK is a left-over from my shop, and that closed in '08.

Most everything I've worked on up until the mid-to-late-sixties has used red oxide primer. Was in the resto-end of bodyshops for close to 30 years...

Yeah, but I'm going for a 60's look, before big meats were everywhere. I did entertain the thought, though...

The firewall fits with just some clearancing for the bell housing. I like it far better than the kits' recessed firewall.

Yup. 30 some-odd years in the body & paint industry had me, at one time, knowing most of the chemical differences of pretty much any paint. A lot of rather boring aspects of tech painting courses... But, after a while, it comes down to knowing what you can and can't do with any given product, and that comes only from experience. I've been telling prospective painters and modelers for years to practice, practice and practice. When you think you have it down pat, practice some more.

The wheels are from the AMT parts pack.

This is Revell's 5W kit, with a few changes. I'm using one of Drag City's nice chopped 3W bodies, with a parts bin 3W interior. In the mock-up, I see some room, so I'll be using one of Ed's stock firewalls, too. I ditched the bagged 9" inch in favour of a parts bin QC, bin truck arms and leaf spring, and some homemade shock mounts, crossmember, and track arm. The kit front end will go in pretty much as-supplied. The Hemi will use Firepower heads, valve covers, intake & Strombergs from Replicas & Miniatures. Still need to dig up a set of headers. Kit tires with chrome reverse rims. I'm thinking a medium grey with a light brown leather-look interior... Comments always welcome!

With '73 and up Duster fenders.

Nice!!!!

It's not just USPS... Canada Post is the same, and we pay a lot more for the screw-ups!

Exactly. Every little bit helps, and if it helps someone make the decision to go into the trades, I don't see any issues with it.

... And the small block's by-pass hose from the manifold to the water pump was always painted from the factory.

I bought a set of Excel bits from one of the tool-truck guys years ago, and they were pretty decent. Unfortunately, when I went into business, my tools got used and abused by those guys who didn't/couldn't/wouldn't care about someone else's investment and most of the numbered bits were destroyed in short order. I bought a second set and kept them hidden away, but they aren't Excel bits, and they're not nearly as good.

I asked the local Michael's manager about their lack of kits a while ago. He said the corporate reason is "supply chain issues", but in his opinion, it was due largely to regional managers needing their fingers in every store, and model kits being slow movers for them. I said "you can't sell if you've no selection" and he simply said "that's what i meant about division managers...".

Yup. I actually think I like dealing with glue bombs better than tackling a fresh, un-goobered kit. The result of a lot of years in the rust & resto end of things...? I've got a '72 Ventura GB that is slowly coming apart. The glass is toast, I'm sure, but I'm trying!