W Humble

What urethane clear was it? I usually use PPG JC660 or 661 clears, but bought a rattle can of U-Pol clear to try; I know several body shops that use it, so... Bec I worked for a PPG store (Martin Auto Color, Chico) as a retirement job -- and had used their stuff since the Ditzler days -- I stick with it, usually. Always a struggle to not apply it too thickly, looking for a wet-look surface, however! I shoot with a DeVilbiss EGA that I've had for over 50-years, one of two Iwata air-brushes, or often just with a little purple Harbor Freight gravity gun; it works well with clears. Of course, I cant SEE what I'm doing like I used to... Nice Merc, btw!

As a Tempest LeMans owner (member of POCI and 'Little Indians' clubs) how the heck did I miss these? Boy, love 'em! I will post my version of the 1961 Tempest 'Monte Carlo' (a name swiped from Cadillac, not Chevrolet, in 1961), a shortened Tempest ragtop soon. I bought the original AMT sedan kit in year of introduction (I got to drive them working around a Pontiac/Buick/GMC dealership the year I got my CDL) just to create the 'Monte', and last year (61 years later, count 'em) I finally finished it. Use a n AMT '62 banger with 4-71 GMC blower, etc. just like the original, too! PMD Alpine White with a pearl clear-coat, and I succumbed to putting Kelsey-Hayes 8-lug rims on it, meaning it went from scale 15 to 14-in. There is a bunch of photos online that purport to be this car, but I dunno'! It has a drop-top, and the original had two lo-o-ong headrests, like the Corvair Sebring SS (?), which came in a 3-1 kit, luckily. I also made my version of the Super Duty or "Powershift' 421 Tempest from 1963; used the ROYAL PONTIAC decals from the '62 Bonneville kit, over yellow. Well, it seemed 'very IN' back in '63! Later I got to write the Tempest history for SPECIAL INTEREST AUTOS Magazine (1978) and interviewed Bill Collins, Mickey Thompson, Mac McKellar, and all the PMD stars -- except, John DeLorean! Darn it! My LeMans is the Little Indians Club calendar car for August this year. Sorry, it's also for sale!

For Jay Coburn, re: pg.19 caption: is it 'cotter pin' you mean for the cylindrical securing pin on the scratch built flagpole mounts on the awesome '67 Camaro pace car, or 'clevis pin'? Granted, it really isn't securing a clevis, but that's where the mechanism originated, I think. The hairpin clips, I agree -- which often secure clevis pins! For Jim Cassasa, re: pgs. 46: Do those three exhaust stacks on the Shelby 'Stang really resemble Curtiss P-40 exhaust to you? Check out the real ones (six, not three per side) in SCALE MODELER. Also, 47: Was it Mrs, Karl Benz who took her husband's new invention for a drive, or Frau Gottfried Daimler? Seems like the famous first drive for a lady was in his four wheel benzin-buggy. For Larry Greenberg, re: pf. 55: Didn't Chevrolet do it's styling 'rehash' on the Chevy II/Nova in 1966 (not 1965, as noted? The body was still on the same inadequate chassis/suspension (yes, we had an original-buyer one until 2019) but the '66-67 was seriously facelifted in the newer GM styling idiom. The '62 in many ways was a fore-taste of the '53 big Chevy styling look, but less distinctive and more mundane. I M Humble O. Guess this doesn't matter much, but I'd like a response. My mentors in automotive writing always insisted on true accuracy especially in historical issues, not 'sort-of' accuracy, but that doesn't go much anymore? At the price of car mags nowadays, I can't afford not to read every darn word! Just sayin' Wick, age 76, modeling since '53!

Scott: Call me 'Wick' (not Mr.) -- to paraphrase what the non-coms (which I became, as a SP5, +-) 'You don't have to call me 'sir'; I work for a living!" No photos yet; not really finished! I have posted with trucks/commercials as I was trying to find an early '60's Dodge Power-Wagon kit or resin to build 'my' USFS Class III fire tanker from 1968 -- and no joy! It was my third season as Foreman, 'Red Card' rated Crew Boss: Tanker 333 was a '62 P-W, 100-gallon slip-in unit in regular w.b. Dodge with 4WD, (oc!) and the crummy A-series 318 V-8. I say this because one of our Forest mechanics had a nice side business buying used 2-bbl. intakes and reselling them to their shop to replace the ones that cracked through the exhaust heat riser and intake ports under the carb. Even our '56 Dodge Sierra wagon had this affliction on it's A-273, much to mom's chagrin. Well, I hope my White 3000 'labor of love' will be posted this year -- with a late '50's style Altered Model A (the old Mono A-bone phaeton kit, still with it's 1961 candy truquoise paint and decals on the back! Wick

Made resin surface-cast molds for McCulloch/Paxton superchargers, one Mono Avanti from 1965-ish, one Revell '57 Ford that's much more recent -- and got the parts mixed up because neither instruction sheet is much good! Also mold for Opel Kaydett SOCH banger -- which will be useful for .... what? The Avanti has it's Stude R-2 replaced by a BBC (well, they used the SBC, right?) and is going into a '53 Starliner convertible. I've been trying to create a 1;25 Harry A. Miller mechanical-driven centrifugal supercharger (with the prominent radial fins; very distinctive) but nothing very realistic has resulted; anyone know of a kit-based blower with that appearance I can copy? I'm faking a Miller DOHC V-12 (well, two different ones; one RWD, and one 4WD layout, actually) and my Hawk M-B GP car base has a very simplified engine, tho pretty, that won't do for the latter. Both roadsters are 'phantom' styles, not actually Miller reproductions. Thx! Wick

I parted out a (1;1) LeMans this winter -- complete rust-bucket/parts car -- and sold the rolling chassis to a guy who wants to do something equally silly with it. It's the swing-axles that limit the Tempest IRS so much; inherited from Corvair, which didn't get the real IRS with double-u-jointed half-shafts until '65, when the Tempest had converted to the A-body iteration (GTO, etc.) DeLorean like M-B IRS, wanted to give all Pontiacs one c. 1959-60, or so the story goes; GM said NO! I wrote the Tempest development history in 1978 for SPECIAL INTEREST AUTOS Magazine, part of Hemmings Motor News. The 'Little Indians' Tempest club has it in their archive. Also did one on the 1961-63 racing career, incl. the 'Super Duty' 421 Tempest racers, etc. Alway a fascination!! I did a little snooping around for a buildable '62 ragtop (or coupe) 1;25 kit, but no buy. My '61 Monte Carlo Tempest 'dream car' build has a authentic '62 four-banger as built by M/T, tho. Have a restored 1962 LeMans convertible, but can't sell it for $35.00; more like $15K, but it's prob the lowest priced restored US ragtop on the market! Wick

Peter; not butting in! This turned out to have generated some very interesting and enlightening information, and a great graphic! That should be on Utube or something. Thanks to Rob!! I may never get that sophisticated, but then again... I have a nephew who wants to learn from my experience, and he's very tech, and a perfectionist! I'm going to will him all my model stuff, at least that my wife and/or kids don't want. He's going to teach me decal making. Wick

Again, impressive! I invited some inside dope on casting in several forums, but didn't catch any volunteers. I hate trial & error, but that's what I'm doing. So far, a box of failures and mediocre projects, but I'm getting better. My needs aren't high, at that, and I think if I can get halfway proficient at tw0-piece molds, I'll be okay. I wonder if an electric fuel pump (12V, for a car) would make enough 'suck'? Thx! Wick

Rob, thanks for the reply! Your technique yields amazing results; don't know if I"m up to that standard! I built a vacuum chamber (old paint cup and a vacuum pump) but haven't tried it yet. Is that what you're referring to ? (Pretty bad Eng. grammar for an ex-teacher! Sloppy in retirement!) Wick

I've been teaching myself resin casting for duplicating my old school parts and through trial and error, I've gotten some good results -- finally. One thing I can't figure out is how to cast complex exhaust headers/manifolds with very three-dimensional curves. I've made a pretty fair resin version of the Hawk `1/25 1939 M-B Grand Prix racer DOHC V-12, and just by luck found a set of V-12 headers (parts box/origin unknown) that actually fit perfectly. They are the simplistic semi-log type, 6-into-1 for each side, but have almost a 90-deg. curve from horizontal at ports to vertical at tail-pipe joint. Any ideas? Anybody want to make them for me for parts trade? The Hawk M-B I'm actually using as the basis for a Harry A. Miller V-12 for a special 'phantom' roadster (based on the Revell Cad V-16 glue-bomb kit I have. I can make some extra copies for trade... Also, I am copying the Mono Indy Roadster kit's Offy DOHC 4. Frankly, niether of these engines are great shakes; low detail and missing features: the M-B 12 was for mounting on a diplay that was included, and is missing any semblance of ignition or induction/exhaust, and the trans looks wrong to me. The Offy lacks detail and even the cam covers are not separate, but just 'indicated' atop the head. Not too hard to re-do with Plastruct tube, however! Any info or help out there? WIck, age 76 3/4

Resin casting; I couldn't find anyone locally to teach me (and I hate trial and error -- since I'm almost 77 years old don't have time to waste!) so since my nice wife bought me the MircroMark start up kit in 2018 I finally started experiemting. First lesson -- which I sorta' knew -- dont let two-part products sit beyond a reasonable time; they exceed their expiration dates. Yep, had to go back and buy both resin and casting gel! Well, the old resin does do some interesting things; not get completely hard, for one. As one of my more ambitious projects was to cast the old school Fireston Indy/road race profile tires, I got a mold made to copy one of Indycal's resins -- so I wonder if a less than brittle-hard tire from the over-aged resin components would work? Using the new, I've made: copies of the Hawk 1939 M-B Grand Prix DOHC blown V-12 (basis for a phantom Harry Miller V-12), the Monogam Indy car (Kurtis, I think) roadster Offy DOHC 4, the Halibrands from my 1959 Strombecker Scarab kit (where I'll also need tires), all but the block (I don't find) for a '66 Pontiac SOHC 5, a Jaguar DOHC head (orign unknon) with SU's and headers, the rare 1962 Pontiac 2X4 manifold from AMT, and a slew of transmissions in 1/25, something we can always use. Also the 1/16 AMT Accel turbo from the '55 Nomad kit, a Mono trimmed GMC 4-71 blower from the Black Widow kit, and well. more. I have a big pile of 'learner' molds, and a smaller pile of good usable ones. Mostly I'm doing parts I can cast as surface molds; a and b sides filled and used as slugs. You can see my emphasis; stuff I can't fine from the supportive hobbyists like you. If youre interested in these parts, maybe we can swap some?? Wick

Halibrand racing wheels are (dare I say it?) iconic for the 1950-60's, back then Indy and SCCA sports cars were often using them to supplant the previous wire-rims. My Strombecker 'Scarab' kit has a nice set, though inauthentic because the fronts and rears are the same width. I'm making surface-cast resin repops for some other kits, because they are two-piece which helps the process, but they take a lot of detailing... The Scarab kit was a battery-powered 'slot' car racer, and had rubber tires, which are long gone. I built min as a 'rod' in '60, with chrome-reversed Chevy rims and W/W's; now have opened hood, detached front clip, and am making it more realistic with SBC, Hilborn, etc. I got some dished Halis and Firestones from Indicals; the tires will work if I mod the tread more like 'Super-Sport' road-racing tires. Guess I'll use the wheels on a Bonneville-type streamliner with dual Cad V-16's and a Mono Indy roadster back body. I noticed that a reviewer in MCM Identified the Halibrands as 'Hildebrands. Hmm!

Pat: I know you're not fishing for kudso, but you got 'em!! Thought it was 1/1 at first glance! I'm pressing ahead with my three dioramas; will solve the figure problems later, I guess. Wick

The photo <<< accompanying my form personality is of me in '62, an 11th grader at Modoc Union High (CA), probably frowning because I need another clutch plate for my hot 265/Power Pack '55 -- or can't find any gals to ride around when I'm looking for street races to lose! Hair 'Chicago Boxcar' by Brylcreem btw.

Well, Smokey was making his name racing early NASCAR ovals, and when the '58 came out with the W-motor, he refused to abandon his '57 coupe with small-block. Reasons: 1.) The new body had mounted the engine about 4-in. forward of the 1955-57*, eg. with the block-front beyond the centerline of the front spindles -- worse handling and weight distribution. 2.) The new body was quite a lot heavier, even in Biscayne 2-dr sedan versions. 3.) The 348 had the wierd 'combustion-chamber-in-block' design, which didn't pay off in the rpm range that the speedways required. The W was a fantastic torque producer, from 348 thru Z-11 427, of course, which with some weight jacking and transfer tricks did the job at the strips, or on the street (naughty!) I also loved Pontiacs back then (a '55 and '62 were our family rides) and the bitchin' 421 was my unattainable goal; it was real fine too! Alas, GM pulled out of competition, and Ford and MoPar took over. Perhaps it's for the best: the richest automobile company in the world that had the biggest engineering department ever; they could have steamrolled the smaller outfits... My history of the W-Motor was printed by The Late Great Chevy Club back in about 1980, and reprinted as a serial in the Vintage Chevy Club Assn. magazine about two years ago. My article on the history of the '59 Impala was in STREET RODDER's `1959 Build-Up book in 2015 -- may be online somewhere. *I'm a codger who refuses to call 'em 'Tri-Fives"; that was unheard in 'the day', much as 'Shoebox' for the '49-51 Fords is a much much later coinage. Yes, at almost 77 years of age, I'm finishing 1/25 models of both my '55 Chevy and '51 Ford 'as they were'. Well, sans pinstriping by 'Coop' Cooper, alas. :-<)

59Impala; for what it's worth, when I interviewed Smokey Yunick on the W-motor (in 1979) he said it was 'junk'. OC, it ties with the Corvair flat six as one of the shorter in-production engine series in Chevrolet history. What the heck, IMHO, I don't care much for the '59s either -- my '55 DelRay 2-dr post, (6 years old in '61,) was my fave -- and first car.* No, it seldom outran the 348s! Now I can't afford any of them, unless as scale models! Packard is good, but the one I'd like the 1935 "120" coupe, club or business; it was a very pretty smaller car (Buick sized) and had 'three windows/suicide doors' as well. I once had one, oc. *My second car was a '51 Ford DeLuxe club coupe, with >oh, no< an 8BA flat-motor, that I liked very much.

Almost 1,300 postings on this topic, and I think I have about ten percent in my inbox; maybe I'll detach my self -- if I can. :-<) Thx! Wick

Talbot-Lago: I wish I had a couple of resin copies of that engine -- and header! Starts the creative juices going. I have mostly taught myself (age 76 and counting) to make resin parts, and have pulled molds from the Monogram Indy-car kit Offy four (pretty basic!) and Hawk M-B 1939 GP DOHC V-12 car kit with copies. I am using the M-B for an ersatz Harry A. Miller V-12 for a 'phantom' roadster I'm assembling; no exhausts at all from that model, as the engine was for display alongside. It was a crummy kit because the wire-wheels were just transparent plastic; 'paint spokes silver' the instructions said. Yeah, and I was 15! But I found a pair of 'chromed' V-12 headers -- source unknown -- for it. Boy, headers must be the real challenge of resin reproduction!! May also do an archetypal NOVI V-8 for a '53 Stude-based GP type car from 'fifties, ala Cunningham's LeMans Caddies. Only better! Also scratch built another 'V-12 for a conversion of a glue-bombed R-R roadster into a Miller boat-tail; two fabbed cylinder banks, heads, cam towers, atop a pair of old flathead V-8 crankcases siamesed to twelve cylinders. It would use up a ton of resin, but I think I'll make a mold of it before adding details and painting. This car will be 4WD, much in the spirit of the street machines Miller/Goosen/et al custom built. Wish me luck! (And bench time; also doing 1/1 restoration!)

I still have my COX Chaparral slot car, in pretty good shape. Need to refurbish the real metal wheels, tho, and find one headlight cover that some jerk broke when he put his bare chassis on my lane, c. 1966. Oh, backwards! I'm building the resin White 3000 in memory of our one-owner 1/1 truck-tractor; I had to build the enlarged sleeper version (like Greenberg did in S__A__ magazine a few years ago, and I'm using the AMT Ford C-Series chassis and flat-bed to make it a car hauler. Have 1/24 Mono Model A tub Altered I built in 1962 on a new chassis to ride it; very old school with Mono SBC (straight stacks, Hilborn, etc.) almost finished. Gee, guess I didn't just get these...

I confessed to immersing in ELO and was corrected; ruined the lid on a swap meet '62 BelAir bubble-top, which the reason I bought the darned thing. I'm back to DOT 3 brake fluid, or one of the purple cleansers. I wouldn't risk Easy Off; I've seen it' go after' too many other substances! Also, don't abrasive blast- whew!! No more chrome appliques to paint!

Heat and pressure, but not too much of either, then file and fill. I've fixed so much worse than that (and on sixty-year-old styrene, too!) and had it look fine. Even if the bottom rocker/body lines are damages, some metal (brass, aluminum) backing and epoxy can facilitate the repair. Don't spend any $$! Luck!

Classic, I have a number of early 'sixties parts in new condition, all 1/25, esp wheel covers and bumpers/grilles, some other R/R and Cad bits from glue bombs, etc. Suggest a trade, if you can spare it. I really wanted a Pontiac Banshee, but bought one of the original '70 Datsun 240Z's instead and never regretted it. Have '62 LeMans ragtop now; Nissan bought my Z back for their collection, later sold. Wick of HOW TO RESTORE YOU DATSUN Z-CAR

I found three parts of what is undoubtedly a Pontiac inline OHC-6 in some kits and stuff I acquired some time back. It would be fun to have one of these for a street rod project if I could locate -- or 'scratchbuild' a replica from what I can gather. Pls: what kits did this engine come with? I assume a mid-sixties Tempest or Firebird, but...? Are there any surplus out there in MCM land, or bits? I haver a cam-cover/carrier, and the front timing belt cover, intake/exhaust manifold and pan, and a few smaller bits. I'd need the block/head anyhow. Gladly trade for the remainder.

Okay; now I know -- do not use Testors ELO as a soak for paint removal! I immersed a glue bomb from a 1/1 swap meet ('62 BelAir) and it affected the styrene; big disintegration issue on bubble top pillars, of course! Live and learn; back to DOT 3, I suppose. And I've been making kits since 1953, or thereabouts! Wick

Those cars were unibody, oc, fairly light, but had a super-narrow (and cramped) engine bay. The front wheel tubs were designed capacious because of the original layout's enclosed front wheels, eg, no cut-out radius. Considered very chi-chi for a while, as were the inverted-bathtub shapes. Any Nash-ette you see with a gasser engine has had a different suspension grafted on, often a beam axle. Much suspension and 'frame' modding at rear, also. Buddy and I were going to build a Stude Lark gas car, starting at the low end of the class spectrum, and hopefully adding goodies to move up. We had a nice Lark 2-dr sedan located, and a free MoPar B-block with (ewg) A/T, but it 'ran out of gas (money)' before it happened. Oh, also a Chrysler 'Industrial' hemi to escalate... I built a curbside Rambler American gasser from a '62 (JoHan?) kit that looks okay back when; numerous Munster Coach and Double-Dragster parts on it. I used the stock 1:25 six engine to fake a Ford 223-ohv 6 for a replica of my brother's second-0wner '56 F100 which looked almost identical! Amazing likeness! He still has both the model and 1:1 truck. A gal I went to JC with dad bought her a new '63 for HS grad; it had the 'Twin Stick' floor controls for gears and the overdrive; kinda neat. Geneally, I'll pass on old Ramblers; too quirky! Ask me about his first car, a '58 Rebel wagon!!