W Humble

Steve, yep, my bro and I (c. 1968) were going to do that with a '65 Tempest 2-dr post 'grandma' car but using a 327 we had, maybe lucky we didn't. I got drafted! Before that, I had a '65 Tempest Custom 2-dr HT, 2-bbl. 326/ three-speed that I just loved! Good ole' A-body; Tiger Paw redlines, 4-4-2 rear sway bar, chrome-reverse rims, and mellow exhaust... fun car! Using an AMT GTO kit, I built it as close as I could: modified '55 Chevy front bench, delete hood scoop, console, etc. and added a strip of Plastruct teensy rectangular strip for the side chrome. Changing the grille was harder. I am also doing a version of my first car, a '55 Chevy 'post' Delray (one side with the long lakes pipes, and Hollywood moon caps, the other without lakes and baby moons as I eventually drove it) AND my '51 Ford Club Coupe from the AMT '49 kit. This is a toughie for me; wish there was a resin conversion available. Luckily, I got it from my wife's nutty cousin with the grille already out ('the gasser look'), but making the chrome tail-light housings is difficult, plus no appropriate lenses. I have a plethora of 240Z kits in various scales to build my '70 Z car that NISSAN USA bought back from me, but haven't started one yet. Live long enough... BTW, I'm in Chico. (No pics of above yet.)

Wait; wasn't the 1964-65 Tempest a 215 cu.in. oddball? It didn't have any performance options, but the GTO came on the scene... !

Pay attention to what is posted about the different GM six families. Remember, the 194-230-2560 (& 292)cu.in. began in 1962, with the Chevy II/Nova. Previous to that was the 235 family, which began as a truck engine during WWII, and was of course adapted to the early Corvette. Built simultaneously until about 1953 (?) was the old 'Stovebolt Six' 216.5 cu.in., a Chevy standby but with dubious oiling which was remedied in the 235. Before that, there were similar sixes including ones with updraft carburetion. Right? (The six, nice as it is, in the '51 kits is the 216.5, even with the aftermarket head not accurate for other eras.) The 230 was used in the A-body Pontiac Tempest/LeMans as a base engine in 1964-65, then replaced by the SOHC six in 1966-67. How I wanted Pontiac to produce the Banshee 2-seater with the 215-hp. version of that engine, plus 4-speed!! When I ETS'd from the Army, it was but a misty memory, though the Sprint option had been sold in the Firebirdy those two years. I bought a new Datsun 240Z; very strong and thrifty SOHC six in a sporty GT package; still have one! Note: the Sprint OHC is not the same block as the Nova, etc. six; it was a special casting altogether, and distinctive. Check it on the web. Olds and Buick; I dunno. Anyhow, if building 'stock' be sure you have the right block package to begin with, as they definitely look very different, and were even moreso internally. The '60 engine would undoubtedly fit, but not be correct -- if that is a criteria on the Nova wagon kit. Now, as to an LS...

I don't know what kit it came from, but I have some misc. parts for a Pontiac OHC 6 in my junk drawers; wish I had it all! Also some Jag SOHC parts, but no block.' Pay attention to what is posted about the different GM six families. Remember, the 194-230-2560 (& 292)cu.in. began in 1962, with the Chevy II/Nova. Previous to that was the 235 family, which began as a truck engine during WWII, and was of course adapted to the early Corvette. Built simultaneously until about 1953 (?) was the old 'Stovebolt Six' 216.5 cu.in., a Chevy standby but with dubious oiling which was remedied in the 235. Before that, there were similar sixes including ones with updraft carburetion. Right? (The six, nice as it is, in the '51 kits is the 216.5, even with the aftermarket head not accurate for other eras.) The 230 was used in the A-body Pontiac Tempest/LeMans as a base engine in 1964-65, then replaced by the SOHC six in 1966-67. How I wanted Pontiac to produce the Banshee 2-seater with the 215-hp. version of that engine, plus 4-speed!! When I ETS'd from the Army, it was but a misty memory, though the Sprint option had been sold in the Firebirdy those two years. I bought a new Datsun 240Z; very strong and thrifty SOHC six in a sporty GT package; still have one! Note: the Sprint OHC is not the same block as the Nova, etc. six; it was a special casting altogether, and distinctive. Check it on the web. Olds and Buick; I dunno. Anyhow, if building 'stock' be sure you have the right block package to begin with, as they definitely look very different, and were even moreso internally.

I needed a 1/25 six to build an 'accurate' model of my brother's nice '56 F-100 (a second-owner creampuff with the original 223 cu.in. OHV six) and I just happened to have a 1963 Rambler American coupe, bought in '63, of course; it was a remarkably close approximation of the Ford, even to the grooves in the valve cover, as I recall. Just added a flathead V-8 air filter, and painted it yellow/silver. The old 223 is a great engine, if treated well; possibly better than the Chevy 235, which was pretty good. The AMC kit? Became an early funny car, with 392 hemi from AMT Buick Special wagon kit, and wheels from Munster Coach. All bought/built 'back in the day'.

Got that one; I was in high school/college then! * The Pontiac OHC six was also expected to be cheaper to produce, and light on fuel -- excpept for the HO 207 hp. version. Hurst and C/D magazine swapped one into an XK-E and ran it at the drags; no slouch! The smaller DOHC Jag went back in it later, they say. I'm sort of experienced 7with the Datsun L24-L28 engine, a pretty hot six that got by with both manifolds on the same side, as well as the L16-L20B fours, having bought a new 240Z in July of '70, restored it, and sold it back to Nissan USA in '95. Datsun built a cross-flow head for the L24 for their rally team, but few have ever been seen since then, darnit! Also, there are a number of Skyline GTR (etc.; not my field ) engines around; a Z-expert friend is building one for his restomod '70 Z. He just sold his 2.0-L DOHC race motor brought back from Japan. Bill Fisher and friends campaigned a streamlined Z special at Bonneville; 'Inliners Club', again. OC, the inline six is and has been a big performance number in the rest of the world, so few V-8's there. It takes more money to get power from our sixes than need be spent for a SBC or Ford, etc., to say nothing about LS motors. My modeling thing now is V-12's, easy to cobble up from two V-8 kit engines, usually. I have a very old HAWK M-B GP car DOHC V-12 that I'd like to have duplicated in resin (can't find anyone to teach the craft to me!!) or 3-D printing. I want to 'fake' a phantom Miller V-12 for a roadster I'm building from a 1930 Caddie glue-bomb. Using Bugatti 'mag' wheels; but did you know Harry A. Miller designed the originals (12-spokers) much earlier for his T-N-T racer series cars? He built a few sixes too. *A local guy ran a Willys two-door sedan gasser (C class, I think, NHRA) with a Ford FLATHEAD six, and it did really well too. Success went to his head, and he succumbed to a SBC and moved up two classes, with less good result vs. other V-8s. It was flat-black primer, with a big cartoon buzzard on the deck lid. Thx for the msg! Wick

I meant 1977; I'm old, but not that old! Wick

Leans, of course because it is the passenger's side half of the Poncho 389 V-8! I wrote the first article on this car for SPECIAL INTEREST AUTOS back in 1077, when I could still interview most of the guys who built it. Not DeLorean, darn it, but Bunky Knudsen, Bill Collins, Mal MacKellar, Fred Timpner, Hulki Aldikachti (sp?), and also Mickey Thompson! I drove new ones when I was a lot-bot at the local Pontiac/Buick/GMC dealer, but this is the first I've owned. As far as I know, it was the only stock four cylinder ever produced with the 4-bbl. option. (also offered Buick 215 cu.in. aluminum V-8, but less than 2% sold, vs. four.) Four always equalled the V-8 horsepower; 166 hp. highest, but a special racing version was produced with it's own trick 4-bbl. intake, etc. 166 = 1/2 of 333 hp. GTO mill, btw. Mine is lower compression version, not 10.75:1 of top offering. I built a version of the 'AMT '61 Tempest "Monte Carlo" show car, using a genuine '62 AMT LeMans four -- all begun in '62 and only completed sixty years later!! At GM, Cad used the 'MC' name first, then for this roadster, Pontiac, before it ended up at Chevy. None actually raced there, but one 421 Tempest could have, able to outrunm Grand Sports Corvettes, and Ferrari GTOs. I'd attach pics, but I'm not good at that at age 76. Look online; some are accuate.

I think it was Holman & Moody that did the Falcon kit; was in HRM. Maybe Bill Stroppe? Not much access to ports! A lot of casting fuss just to avoid gasketing? This IS starting to sound like a Hemmings forum!

Casey, that design seems like a horrible idea, to me. CHEVROLET INLINE SIX-CYLINDER POWER MANUAL, by Leo Santucci (& Bill Fisher) is a great resource for building Chevy sixes, but in truth, it refers mostly to the high-deck truck versions that make the max power. (California Bill's Automotive Handbooks, Tucson, AZ) I met Bill when I signed the contract for my book HOW TO RESTORE YOUR DATSUN Z-CAR, back in 1984; very interesting hot-rod pioneer. I've been considering how to convert TWO AMT Chevy 216.5 cu.in. sixes into a Franken-V-12... Fisher heads, etc.!

I honestly think I've only SEEN one C-II four banger 'in the wild'. The Pontiac Tempest four, now... got '62 LeMans ragtop, four with four-barrel. My original point was that in Greenbergs kit review he mentioned that the vacant engine compartment of the model could be filled with the six from the 1960 Chevy pickup kit, but that was the old 235 cu.in., not the C-II/Nova 194 (later 230-250) engine, thus would be incorrect as a factory-stock build. Might have made an interesting swap, at that, but the SBC was what we all were anticipating, not more sixes. Never cared much for the C-II/Nova line myself, tho we had a low-mileage '67 (4-dr, 250/three-speed) example for over 20 years. A real underachiever in most categories. The SS V-8, however... Wait; I thought they were homely! IMHO

Not exactly the I.D. -- but very interesting engine; lots of details available on Hemming Motor News forums recently. The Chevy II four was never a big seller in 1962-4, and the V-8 Novas (deluxe package for C-II) were hotly anticipated.

In the kit review, it is stated that "...the powerplant from the AMT '60 Chevy pickup kit is the right motor for the vintage Nova," but I believe that this is the venerable 235-cu.in. six that debuted in trucks during WWII and later became standard for PowerGlide equipped cars in the early 'fifties. Yes, or no? The Chevy II and more deluxe Nova had a mini-six of 194-cu.in. that was all new, along with it's 230-250-cu.in. bretheren (both of which eventually powered the model, along with small-blocks) which is NOT of the 235-family, and of quite different internals. The 194 was spec'd to compete with the Ford Falcon 144-cu.in. six, which had proven quite popular -- running over, as it were, the Corvair boxer six, in sales at least. The 194 looked almost like the 230-250, as most changes were internal, and it used a number of SBC Chevy parts inside! To save dough, it did not have a counterweighted crankshaft, and there was some other cost-cutting aspects that don't concern modelers. However, using the 235-series would be incorrect, and they looked significantly different. I've owned and driven 'em all, and restored them too. (At various stages of it's life, we had all three displacement '62-up sixes in our '51 Chevy, with Saginaw all-synchro three and four speeds, and now a T-5 five-speed to abet the mild 350 V-8.) SO: I don't know if any kits do have the correct block type; MCW probably would be the best bet. Later truck sixes in this family grew much bigger (higher decks), and can be made to run like [insert simile] !!i It seems bizarre to me, a builder of car kits since about 1957, aircraft and the rest since 1953, that any car kit would be sold with an empty engine bay! Maybe they want us to put in a BBC, or Arias Hemi conversion? Certainly I knew of several 1:1 Nova drivers who had SBC's before 1964, courtesy of the wrecking yards. I would have. Wick Age 76

10-4: I actually could have bought 'Falfa's '55' Chevy from AMERICAN GRAFITTI back in about 1978 (or thereabouts) at the Harrah's Reno swap meet -- for $3K! -- and it was deplorable. Well, as Ziggy said, 'When my ship came in, I was waiting at the airport!' Remember, even by the late 'seventies, three big ones would still buy a new or near-new car. I'd done several '55s by then (my first car was a '55 Delray 2-door with all the right parts, when it was six years old) and I would have ruined the movie car by restoring it. I'm having fun planning more dioramas, but they're a lot of work. Thanks for the encouragement. Wick

How about the G&J bullet-style headlites? I'd like to buy sets of both, if available. Making to apochrypal Harry Miller street machines. Wick

I have not been able to contact Custom Squads by Tony; a few years back I bought their CHP/Nevada/LAPD decal set for the old CHP stars. Now I've LOST the set I cut out from the big sheet, and can't finish my JoHan 1960 Chrysler CHP match racer (old Dukes Charger chassis, etc. and 426) I guess. Have the new set, but... Any info? Anyone have those decals (old style only) to swap? Thanks, WIck

I'm working on a Strombecker Scarab 'slot racer' kit I bought new in the late '50s, and converting it is a challenge! I do have the original decal sheet, however. I'd like to resin copy the Hali's as they are pretty nice -- and one of mine has a damaged rim. Question; where does a modeler find tires to work with these old kits? The rubber tires that came with mine disappeared long ago! Anyone make resin copies? Alas, I used to have 2-3 sets. *I packed up all my original car kits (poorly) in 1968, before being drafted during VietNam, not knowing if I'd return, and the carton took some rough handling; many were broken and have taken eons to rebuild now. I gave all the armor, ships and planes to a neighbor kid, who probably blew them up with firecrackers... I have need of the old Firestone style scale 15-inchers for several kits I'm doing, incl a dual Cad V-16 Bonneville semi-streamliner that I'm using the remains of a Monogram Indy car/gluebomb to create. Nothing looks like those old 'Stones! Help?! Wick at 75 ano -- don't wait too long!

In 1963, I caught a ride back to Shasta College (Redding, CA) through a horrible snow storm -- in the dark-- in a 1960 Chev four-door crew truck owned by a fellow student's father ( a logger in Alturas, CA) and luckily it was AWD; we made the 150 miles safely. Yes, SHE drove all the way! We called such pickups 'Crummies' in those dear dead days; dunno' if that was a regional thing, or what. My little bro drove one for the Southern Pacific to pick up train crews in the '60s when he was assistant yard clerk. He hates to recall it, but the first dawn pickup he made was at a local coffee shop, and in the icy parking lot he lost her and rammed the side of the building. He was being kidded about that one until he left for a better job... So: if I got a Dodge resin cab, what kit would you recommend that I source for a chassis (2WD dualie) and please, one that's in production currently? Thanks! Wick

I did something similar for an AMT 1/16 '55 Nomad kit that had been on the shelf for 30 years and had a broken w/s. I glued it back, but made a casting from inside (concave side) from Durham Rock Putty, a home repair material that mixes with water. Then I 'drooped' a new w/s using shirt-box plastic (don't know what it really is) using a heat lamp. First try was' close but no cigar', second attempt came out just fine, and helped save the kit. Next is a replacement w/s for a die-cast 240Z w/s, which must be saved because the car is repainted silver like my '71 and is signed by Datsun legends Pete Brock and John Morton! I may add my sig, as I wrote HOW TO RESTORE YOUR DATSUN Z-CAR, a new revision of which is coming out this year! :-<) Aw, shucks...! Wick Humble

I still have mine from first issue, but eventually had to glue doors shut... so many tiny parts, and now I'm so old that they're even harder to fit! Decided just last week to re-build it as a basic channeled sedan, use chrome 'fiddly' frame and Olds/B&M for some other build. Agree on Revell Roth cars; have Beatnik Bandit, some of same problems. The '56 F100 kit; worked so hard on it in '63, but doors never fit cab, cab never fit frame, hood never fit fenders --hey, wait a minute; that's authentic FoMoCo; F's hood/fender gaps are almost impossible on 1:1 trucks too, with stock hinges! Well, with Revell: they were trying to go beyond promo type bodies, I suppose. Revell did promos for Chrysler in '62; see two of my 'restorations' in the "Gallery.' Anybody remember building Hawk, Pyro, some old Aurora kits? Hubley? What else? My NOS unfinished Aurora Avanti is nice but tricky -- and of course I had to put a BBS 396 in it. Seriously, I saw a '65 big-block Lark run B/FS in '65; guy brought it from Canada and claimed it was factory proto, NHRA strip bought the act -- but he snapped a rear axle launching against a new BBC Corvette and almost took out the Xmas tree at Redding drags.

My list is olde school: some Studebakers; '62 GT Hawk, '59 Lark ragtop/hardtop, '56 Conestoga 2-dr wagon, and early 'fifties and Champ pickups!s I built my Aurora Avanti with 'Stude' Chevy Big Block and resin Hali's -- pretty cool, but I need some decals for it! My other dream car was done when Mobius did the '61 Pontiac Catalina/Ventura kit. Wick Humble, Class of '63 (but I didn't have a bone-spur, and got my DD214!)

I think I have the orig decal sheet for the Hubley Ford, but someone folded it in the middle. I don't recall ever having had that model, but maybe a friend (c.1960!) did, and I glommed his decals? Interested? Trades? Wick Humble (73-1/2 years young)

I'm going to attempt to models some TV sitcom cars from the 'fifties, beginning with the nice '40 Ford ragtop from Leave It to Beaver (Wally and Eddie chain Lumpy's car to a tree and extract the real axle) and the ratty Model A tub Bud Jr. drove before he got his '48 ragtop, from Father Knows Best. I'm putting them in the same diorama, for fun. Billy Gray replied to my inquiry as to the color of the hand-brushed flames on the A; gray! Also sent me two nice images of him with a '54 Merc ragtop (Jim Sr. drove a '54 sedan in the first season or two) and his flat-track racer. See below; I rolled up my jeans cuffs in that era, too! I was wondering if anyone else had done something similar to 'preserve' those old crocks in replica, or had any tips; after sixty years on-and-off playing with plastic kits, I've never tried a model scene. I'm trying to keep it very modest, btw; first effort at diorama, and weathering model cars at age 73 -1/2. Ever wonder what else those kid actors drove? Apparently Tony Dow had a Corvair Monza; still exists, and I recall Paul Petersen in what I think I recall as a Siata roadster (beautiful V-8 car; I've judged on at concours!), which may have been his -- but what else?? Bet it wasn't a tired '51 Ford club coupe, like I had, huh?! Any interest? Wick Humble

Thanks! I'm sorry I didn't score an interior view or two when I wrote the article in 1979; lost opportunity. Probably could have still bought a Powershift Tempest for sane money back then! As Ziggy said: "When my ship came in, I was waiting at the airport!" I imagine I'll just do as suggested and make a generic interior; single bucket with harness, typical roll cage (nothing like today!) big tach, extringuisher, etc. I feel funny messing with die-casts, tho I have two Caddies that I've re-done, one '59 ragtop as a Larry Watson burgundy/silver 'kustom' and one '58 Eldo as an apochrypal "Stray Cats" semi-rat (flat black, moons, and decals/guitar, etc.) to add some small creative input. Laugh: the '58 engine came with a beautiful set of 12 plug wires! Good for my phantom V-12 Hemi in a restored JoHan '61 Chrysler (with transplanted Mono Trans-Am roof and glass!) that I bought new and customized Barris-style; awful! I have a d/c Datsun 240Z which I re-did to match my own resto-mod '71; it has been signed by Pete Brock and John Morton -- wish I'd had it when I spent two days with Mr. K (Katayama; Datsun legend) 15 years ago!! Wonder what to do with the remainder of the Tempest interior? Any needs out there? Thanks again! Wick H

I would like to ask for some help. I got the new 1:12 die-cast (yeah, boo-hiss!) Pontiac Tempest Super Duty 421 racer for Xmas (from self) and it came with a stock LeMans interior, nothing like one would expect/be required for USAC/NASCAR racing. Fool that I am, I'm thinking about besides detailing the engine compartment, re-doing the inside too. Roll cage, instruments, etc. like Paul Goldsmith's Daytona Challenge 250 winning '63 from Ray Nichels garage. Can anyone assist in finding some good photos of the inside of that car? Again, figuring on some configuration of a roll cage from Plastruct rod, fire extinguisher, safety harness, etc. I don't even know if it ran the stock bench with a kidney pad, or a bucket seat. Sure didn't have carpet, etc.! I figure my task won't be too bad if it is gutted, minimalistic, and I'll have some surplus large-scale interior if any one could put it to good use? Any help would be appreciated, I wrote the first Tempest driveReport (for SPECIAL INTEREST AUTOS) on the Pontiac Tempest, including about 4K words on the '61-61 racing program which I was paid for but didn't see print, back in 1978 or 9. I interviewed Mickey Thompson, Bill Collins of PMD (who built the SD 421 LeMans 'in-house', believe it or not) and a number of other Pontiac movers and shakers. Hemmings, owner of SIA, much later published a Tempest article that was based on mine, even to using the same photos of a '51 sedan, without credit to me. Well, it was their property, but... ! Oh, the Goldsmith car outran some GS BB Corvettes, Ferrari GTO's, and Jags, and immediately after was bought by Mercedes and taken to Stutgart Unterurkheim to analyze; never seen again!! I sort of lost interest in USAC/NASCAR GN stuff after GM pulled out of racing and Fireball Roberts died in a F.O.R.D. Wick Humble