restoman

Thanks for the comments. Yup: the bumper guards are in the kit, and the carb is one of those excellent Fireball pieces, as are the tires. The dual snorkel is one of many copies I made from the '71 Charger kit.

It's not just in service garages and dealerships... I spent over 30 years in the rust/restoration/paint world and some of the stuff I've seen would make you cringe. Fiberglassed frame rails, silver duct tape rocker panels, pop riveted panels, bondo layers over an inch thick, etc.... I've had the pleasure of repairing garbage like this over and over and over. It never stopped.

Very nice.

Very nice! Those mud flaps are a nice touch!

This is a re-do of an older build... I replaced the 383 big block automatic with a resin 340 4speed, and modified the interior to make it a non-console four speed hump. I went with a Fireball Holley, a resin dual snorkel breather, some Fireball resin BFGs and a set of Cragars from a '66 Nova. The old, too-thick urethane was stripped from the body, a vinyl roof was added and the Light Bronze comes from some thinned nail polish followed by a single coat of automotive clear. The flat hood is a Hart's Parts piece. Wish it would stay flat... I spent waaaayyyy too long getting through this, but I'm happy how it sits. Built more as a Day Two car than a stock 340 car. Comments always welcome.

I copied the engine and trans myself. There just aren't any small blocks out there and I can't see raiding kits for them all the time. I've got plans for a LOT of small block Mopar projects. Fitting the engine was pretty easy: I shaved the K member mounts and the trans crossmember mount to get the engine lower, as seen in my pics. Trial and error... I didn't do it here, but the water pump snout is fairly long. The next one I do, I'll spend some time fitting the pulley and belt closer to the engine. With a cooling fan in place, there is ZERO room to fit a rad. This car has a shroud that hits, so I'll have to come up with something... maybe go with the shroud and ditch the fan.

Yeah, from Fireball. They rock, but I don't think he makes them anymore. Easily the best looking BFGs I've seen! I should have bought a bunch when I had the chance... still have one set un-touched.

More betterer...

I'm liking this much more than I thought I would. Keep the pics coming!

Yeah, the motor mounts already set the engine slightly to the right. Different K members? I doubt Revell was that thorough... I looked at it, and looked at it, and looked at it some more. Then I pulled it apart and modified the engine mounts to get it sitting lower. Also had to rework the centerlink a touch and do a little filing on the oil pan sump for clearance. On the mock up, it seems much better.

It's not really, only a stump of resin under the cap. Just enough to pin it in place. That's what makes me think the engine should have been lowered a bit... but the oil pan is almost touching the center link and k member. IT's all glued in place now, with just enough clearance for the carb and breather, so it'll be what it'll be.

Coming together nicely... After fitting the small block, there was a fair bit of fiddling around getting the chassis to fit up tight. Think I should have shaved the motor mounts slightly, the distributor is up tight against the wiper motor. Comments always welcome.

Super job! I like it a lot.

Very nice job. Killer paint!

That was the blown tire year... It was Cope's only win, wasn't it?

We've been hovering around those temps for over two weeks now. Being to the south of Lake Huron, we just don't get this cold very often at all. Certainly not for as long as this... Glad my bench is next to the floor register.

More pictures please!

If the compressor is that worn out, it's going to contaminate the paint coming out of the gun too...

I paint in my garage, which still has a dirt floor and many, many gaps for wind to blow through. It's an old, dusty place, with lots of dust and cobwebs in the rafters. Not exactly a proper spray booth... Here's what works for me: I keep the big door closed. Always. The man door is kept open, as that is my exhaust area. I don't use an exhaust fan - moving air out means it has to come in from somewhere. Air movement means dust movement... My compressor has a 20 gallon tank, so I fill the tank and then shut the compressor down so it doesn't blow air out the exhaust. I wet the floor in the area where I'm standing/sitting. Sometimes I'll water outside the door if it's breezy out. I lightly blow the dust off of everything ( table, parts, body, etc.) at least 20 minutes before I'm ready to spray. That gives lots of time for any dust to settle. No more than 20 psi. From that point on, I wear nitrile gloves. No loose clothing, no shirt sleeves. No paint gets into the paint gun unless it goes through a proper paint strainer. I use a new strainer every time I have to add paint. I use a HVLP mini spray gun for almost all my spray jobs. I find it much faster, easier to control, and easier to hold than a n air brush. That\s just my preference. I wipe everything down lightly with an alcohol swab immediately before I'm ready to spray. Then, I use a tack cloth over everything to be painted. Just a light pass. I keep the cloth in a zip-lock bag when not in use. I can easily get a summer of paint work out of a single tack cloth. Here's the most important part: I don't roam all over the place when the paint is wet. In fact, I arrange it all so I can stand still and spray. Movement creates air movement... and most of the dust in any paint job comes from the painter. Dust in inevitable, in some form or another, so anything that can be done to minimize it shows in the final product. Hope this helps...

Some very nice work here! Your foil work is frigging awesome!

Yeah... the un-silenced breather from the 383 would work. ...But this is a Day Two kind of car, so... Thanks for the comment, though.

I'm liking that!

I'm using a Revell GTS big block Dart and converting it to a small block four speed. A Day Two kind of car... I built this years ago as a white with black interior 383 car. The resto bug hit and into the Super Clean it went. I'm using a resin copy of the '71 Duster engine and trans, with a Fireball Holley and a dual snorkel air breather. The interior was altered with the addition of a four speed, non-console hump, nicely covered with black embossing powder. Stole the Cragars from a Nova kit and the BFGs are Fireball resin. The Light Bronze is nail polish, cleared with automotive clear. The vinyl top is dry sprayed flat white. Comments always welcome.

Thanks for all the compliments! This was fun to do. I've been a 1;1 Beetle owner since '94 and have repaired/restored literally dozens of the air-cooled wonders. It's always been in the back of my mind to build one of these - full scale - but this is likely as close as I'll get to that plan. Thanks again!

It's not too inaccurate for a plastic kit, just a lot of flash, poorly scribed lines and some mismatched panels from the mold. Nothing that can't be remedied with a bit of work. Thanks for the compliment!