Dave Darby

Wow! I need to get me one of those! I'm going to hazard a guess that you can get all or most of that of that tire burn gone with a four way nail file from Sally Beauty Supply, followed up with some polish. Bill, your survivor is Koolzville! I love it!

OK, I'm going to pick up where I left off yesterday. As I mentioned earlier, Jim Keeler's work with Revell has an almost a jewel-like quality, but occasionally there are a few flies in the ointment. As you can see from this extra Tweedy Pie engine, there is no front cover for the bellhousing. So... I traced around the bellhousing adaptor on some thin sheet plastic. When I finished it, I shot it with a coat of Testors Chrome. I'll show you a photo of it finished, later. Next, I turned my attention to the firewall. When AMT redid the Model A for the "A Venger" version in the mid 70s, they shortened the stock steering column and eliminated the hole in the firewall for it to pass through, presumably to accommodate the Red Ram Hemi. So I switched to an earlier issue firewall, which I ground down quite a bit for clearance. You can also see that I set the firewall back flush with the cowl, and added a lip where the upper cowl/gas tank bolts down. Then I made a flange for the perimeter. Here you can see this finished lip, and how I ground down the firewall. This is pretty close to correct for a Model A, but ultimately, I ended up having to set the firewall back a little further into the body. The stock hood will not fit with this setup unless the underside is ground for clearance, but the hood isn't part of the plan anymore. This is a hot rod after all. Next up, I had to do something with the intake manifold. As you can see (and sorry the manifolds are 180 from each other) the thermostat housing for the tripower is in the center of the intake, which is completely correct for a stock 2 or 4 barrel manifold, but not ideal for a tripower. So.... Here is the finished Intake and firewall, along with a preview of the engine mocked up. Again, many thanks to Larry Moore for the tri-power intake. I masked around the perimeter of the cowl and shot the firewall in place on the body. The kit radiator support rods are way too bulky, so I made my own from guitar string. If you go to a music store and ask nicely, you can generally score some used ones for free. Here is where I will break off until next time.

Niiiiice! Where do you get the molding putty?

I wish everybody would do that. Threads aren't much good without the supporting photos. Thank you for doing that.

I started this AMT 29 Model A over 25 years ago, shortly after Testors came out with their now long defunct Colors by Boyd paint line. I stepped the frame, and cut out the stock center section from the rear axle, and added a Halibrand Quick Change from the 25 T kit. The front axle from a Revell 32 Ford brings up the front, and the body got doused with some Dusty Rose Pearl. And that is as far as it got for a very long time. I traced this out in Adobe Illustrator over a photo of a stock frame to show how to step the frame. (A little confession - I used two frames on mine.) And then I got bored with it. I couldn't decide how I wanted to finish it. What engine to use, etc. Over the years I did a little experimenting with different wheel and tire combinations, until I hit on these. (Along with the interior tub from the old tool Ala Kart.) All of the above photos are 15-20 years old. Now we are getting somewhere. The rear wheels are the chrome reversed from the AMT 57 Chevy, with the Parts Pack Whitewall Cheater slicks. The fronts are a little less obvious... The tires are from the new tool Ala Kart, but turned inside out because it allowed me to not only use the front wheels from the AMT 49 Ford (chromed with a Molotow marker), but I was also able paint on my own larger whitewalls. The Revell 57 Chevy 283 is a filler, but the the early Ford Toploader, along with the bellhousing adapter will end up being mated to the rest of the engine from a Revell Tweedy Pie. Next up, to do something about that interior tub fit. Better, but there is still a gap on the back of the seat. That ends up getting filled in with Milliput putty. Yes, that's the same paint. Looking better here, but there's more to come. Here you can see where I started smoothing that frame down, and a not so common 1/25th scale tripower set-up from a Revell 56 Chevy that Larry Moore graciously donated. Thank you Larry! (Wait'll he sees what I did to that manifold!) The engine and transmission setup in this car are all vintage Revell, designed by Jim Keeler. The detail and scale fidelity of these parts is even more impressive considering he designed them in the early 60s. And all the parts interchange nicely. Bottom side of that chassis showing the Ala Kart center cross-member and new front engine mount. Here's where we take a break, but I will leave you with a teaser photo - a now painted chassis mockup with the assembled and painted Tweedy Pie 283 Chevy engine.

Looking good! Love the way you personalized it and gave it a unique and realistic character. Well done.

I concur. Forgot the Bullhorn was a larger scale. My bad. Either way, definitely copied.

OK, 2 bucks says Pyro scaled that engine up from the Monogram SBC, including the Weiand 6 carb intake. The body and nose look suspiciously like the XR6. I should have looked at the box closer. I was only looking at the parts.

2 bucks says Lindberg scaled that engine up from the Monogram SBC, including the Weiand 6 carb intake. The body and nose look suspiciously like the XR6. Wouldn't be the first time for Lindberg.

Really nice take on an iconic roadster.

Great color. I like it.

I like them both.

I got to the bottom of the loose tire situation. Round 2 recently retooled their Firestone Supreme tires. They are in the 60 Chevy truck as well as the 64 F85. You can identify them by the lack of raised lettering, and a flatter sidewall crown. These new Firestone Supreme tires have a larger inner diameter than do the older tires by roughly .040". If you have some of the older ones floating around, give them a try.

AMT wheel and inner tire diameter has varied quite a bit through the years, even in the same kits, at times. In the case of the 64 F85, I think it's a matter of not matching the tire to the inner wheel. I think the Firestone Supremes were tooled in 1965, replacing the annual tires that were used from 60-64. It's hard to say. Either way, somebody dropped the ball.

Looking at this build is almost like reading an epic novel. What a gorgeous, immaculately detailed beauty. You mentioned the wheels were pieced together. Can you share some details on that? A link to the build thread for those of us who missed it the first time around?

I have to agree with you, Steve does super nice work. And that GP is pure gorgeous.

Wow that's cool. I like it!

Looking good, Sir!

You did a beautiful job on this one. The engine looks great!

Nice, but where's the model? ? Seriously though, super nice job on both the build and the photography. Miuras are my favorite Lambos, and you did this one proud.

To the best of my knowledge, it was updated annually, like the 63-67 that preceded it was. I always liked those old shark bodied Vettes.

From what I've read, Ertl could not find the sedan body insert. Then again, they also at one point couldn't find the 40 Ford Sedan Delivery body insert either. My guess is that the 32 Sedan body insert is in the 1940 Willys tool, where it originated.

Holy Moly. Just when I thought they couldn't get any better. These are gorgeous, and the colors knock them straight out of the park. The perfect frosting on the cake of excellent bodywork. What colors are those?

Paint looks decent to me. Mask off the sharp character lines to protect from rub through, and polish that bad boy up, maybe.

My guess is the only thing new in this issue will be the box art and decals. AMT/Ertl redid the wheels and tires (not for the best), and added a pair of engraved emblems for the Pro Shop/Promo issue during the 1990s, so it will likely be running the same promo tires it had from those issues. I'd like to see the old wheels returned to the kit, as the engraving was vastly superior to the current ones. Either way, I want one. Or more. Curbside or not.