DoctorLarry

More progress. Shortened the front fenders-my scale was off. Re-did the hood as a result. Have most of the driver's side done. I need marker lights and door handle/locks. Passenger side is in body sculpting phase. I hope to have this in resin soon.

Making progress. Smoothing the body, sculpting body lines, checking the shape, and scribing in openings. Also working on details (marker lights, tail lights, door handles and locks). I hope to be done soon and creating the molds.

I agree-I get tired of "belly button" car kits but also understand the economics of mass production. This way I can make what I like, just as all of you do, and then make a mold of it to reproduce copies if I get the urge.

After completing several 73-77 Pontiac projects, some friends asked if I had ever done a 73-77 Grand Prix. I had not, but had several friends growing up who had real ones, including a Hurst T-Top car which was really nice. I started by getting a bunch of pictures and then carved up one of my resin 77 Can Ams for a hood and nose. The rest is a Revell 77 Monte Carlo snap-tite body, a bunch of strip styrene, some Jo-Han Cutlass parts and copious amounts of Squadron and Tamiya white putty. All of the big parts are on it, now it is just final body sculpting and checking for symmetry. After that, a resin casting. It looks like a blob now, but it is moving along nicely.

Got the body in primer. Now need to sand and shoot the paint. Doing the 74/5 seat and interior molds today and will use them in the build. Now I need to get the chassis put together and plumbed and the engine wired. More progress.

After a few months doing other things like finishing a 77 LeMans sedan and beginning a 76 Grand Prix to cast, I spent a few hours this week on my Grand Am. I started the body mods with parts from a 1980 z28 and some sheet styrene. I also started doing correct seats for the 74/75 Grand Am resins. I did the "horsecollar" seats for the 73 and a rear seat tub for the 73 but had never done the correct seats for the 74 and 75. I'm also doing a bench seat interior for the sedan.

Saturday was raining and I could not work outside so I decided to finish a side project that I had thought about before, a 77 LeMans 4 door sedan, popular as a police car in Smokey and the Bandit. I took one of my resin 77 Pontiac Can Am bodies and cut it apart. I cut the roof off the car and removed the rear window frame. I glued on a section of an Infiniti Q45 roof and then added about 3/16" to the quarters to lengthen the wheelbase to sedan length (4" more than a sedan in 1-1). I sectioned the rear window and glued it in. I filled in the shaker hole in the hood and ground off the rear spoiler. I just need to finish the roof off and clean it up. I might cast this one if I get some free time.

What year?

If anyone is still interested, I did a 73 Grand Am, 73 GTO, 74/75 Grand Am, and 77 Can Am in resin. Interiors for all as well and a resin chassis made to fit all three bodies. A 77 LeMans 4 door sedan is in the works as well as a 76 Grand Prix.

First pass at the chassis casting. Still working out the bugs but progress is being made.

Molds are curing on the chassis components. Frame/floor pans, front inner fenders, rear differential and control arms, front crossmember and control arms, front steering linkage and sway bar. If all turns out right the finished chassis and suspension above should be done in resin. Fingers are crossed that it all turns out right!

Here is my 74 kit:

Beautiful car! What size tires on it?

Yes-I have a posting on the Resin Forum. Do you have pictures of your car? I have an 83,00 mile 73 Grand Am myself. I put a LeMans nose on it while I fit my aftermarket fiberglass one. I have resin castings of 1773 Grand Am, 73 GTO, 74/75 Grand Am, and 77 Can Am.

Can anyone tell me how you can make your own decals for a 1/25 car? Thanks!

After spending a lot of time developing parts and bodies for 73-77 Pontiacs, I decided that I needed to actually build a car with my own parts. I always liked Pontiac's All American Grand Am show car (that some say was the inspiration for the Can Am), so I decided to build an updated version of the car. It will be a Pro Touring 1974 Grand Am. I will use my own resin body and interior castings along with my soon to be cast resin chassis. I will use the engine and transmission out of a Foose Firebird, make a copy of Pontiac's Ram Air system, and use other after market components for four wheel disc brakes. Wheels will be C1 Models Fifteen52 Tarmacs with low profile tires. As weird as it sounds, color will be Chrysler/Jeep Rescue Green, which is a proxy for 1973 GTO Golden Olive. Interior will be saddle tan. The red chassis is the original one from a JoHan Cutlass snap kit. The intermediate picture was building in realistic floor pans and the comparison picture is the nearly finished product. Suspension is Revell 1966 GTO, which is pretty realistic. The engine in the picture is actually a Tri-Power 400 fom the 66 GTO, I will use a single four barrel one from the Foose Firebird. Body, interior tub and seats, console and dash are my own resin castings. Body mods will be similar to the All American Grand Am show car. Front and rear spoilers and possibly Trans Am fender flares.

Making the table is not as hard as I thought it might be-I just need the time to finish it! Same with the models. I spent all of the time creating the bodies and interior and have yet to build one of my own cars!

I used a 1967 GTO but other A bodies (GTO, Cutlass) might work. The frame needs to be shortened because the wheelbase is different. If you want one where the hood does not open, just use the Jo-Han 75 Cutlass frame and floor. I'll post a picture of my frame. For engine, the 67 Firebird 400 is what I used. The GTO has a 400, but it is a tri-power. I used the GTO frame, suspension and exhaust and made my own interior parts. I am building a vacuum forming table to form my own windows-you have to use the Jo-Han ones now.

belcherl@uindy.edu is my new email address. Larry

Make that "boutique".

I don't do this for the money but it is not free to make them, either. I ask $30 for the bodies and $10 for the interior kits. Booutique products will always be more expensive than mass production.

Here's a link to two folks building using the bodies: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=100111<br

Folks, I made molds of all of these and can reproduce them in resin. Some folks on the site have bought them and I typically make them as needed, so if you are interested I can make more. Larry

I am kind of a lurker here and don't get a chance to post that often but I have seen some interest expressed in 73-77 Pontiac A-bodies, specifically Lemans/GTO, Grand Am and Can Am. I love this generation of GM cars and have owned a 1976 Chevy Laguna and recently bought an 82000 mile 1973 Grand Am. I always wanted to build the Pontiacs. The Laguna was out there in Nascar form and I "streetified" one as a copy of my car. I finally took matters into my own hands on the Pontiacs. I watched some YouTube videos on resin casting and tried it myself. After I got started, I found it was kind of addicting: I ended up doing a 73 Grand Am and Lemans/GTO front end, Lemans interior, 74 Grand Am, and 77 Can Am as well as Grand Am interior parts. I have yet to build them myself, though! The green car is an incomplete copy of my real full size Laguna. I didn't get the color right, but the rest is like the original.

More progress. I have done two primer coats and am fixing body zits right now. I will make the mold this week and hopefully cast some bodies this week end.