bobss396

Message sent, the wrecker looks amazing.

I had one many years ago, same car only a Caprice with a 396 in it around 1975. This is a 283 with a 2 barrel on it, I need to lean out the choke a little bit. I need the seat done... like sitting on the john as it is now. The locking gas cap is a PITA... ordered a new one. Once I had the SS hub caps off it, I realized it has Camaro 7" wheels on it. I got some 215/75-14 tires for the back and the existing ones I was going to use are too narrow for the wheels, so I'm getting 2 more. Next up is arranging to drop the front seat off to be done. Maybe early next week, I'm tackling the upper a-arm bushings next and possibly the front springs on the driveway.

Like I need a hole in my head. My girlfriend saw this for sale. I saw it last Thursday and bought it. A 1966 Belair that runs well. I got the rear brakes out waiting on parts. I put the OG steering wheel back on. I'm putting fresh springs under it, some minor front end work and an alignment. It has power disc's up front, a HEI ignition, aluminum radiator, new dual exhaust. The puller I used to get the steering wheel off, I made in college around 1974. The main part was made on a shaper.

The red Max Wedge has been owned by the same guy since new, unless it changed hands. I was going to go but got wrapped up in something here.

I saw on IG he is going to get a gofundme going.

I was worried about him, I'll have to look on Instagram to see if he has new posts. I looked, last post was August of 2023.

In my old kitchen (before the 1997 gut job and remodel...) I lost the completed steering wheel to a '59 Impala while sitting at the kitchen table. I looked everywhere, under the radiator, under the appliances. Like it was blinked into another dimension, aka a Twilight Zone episode. I gutted the kitchen myself, looked diligently for the lost part. Nowhere to be found. No matter, I had used a steering wheel from something close enough.

Pro Tech has some really cool stuff out. I find myself finding and using more and more of their products, like hood pin plates, t-fittings for carbs, etc. I like the lug nut ideas. I used some Detail Master fittings on my last stock car, not cheap either at around $1 per lug nut. I used that with small diameter aluminum rod. Either .020" or .025".

VCG has a light bar, 3D printed and pretty cloudy. He may have the round type. Look at Checkers or Wreckers on eBay, again some of his printed stuff is questionable.

I use something similar from HL. They have a smaller stackable set, so did Michael's Crafts. I use old pill jars too.

I lost another part and it was 1/8" square by 5/16" long. Crawled around on the green-ish carpet.... nada. So I made more. I was house cleaning, getting ready to vacuum and figured I would sweep with a broom first. I looked in the dust pan... there the part was! I would never figure how a part could bounce that far on a carpet. Maybe it takes a leap off my knee.

I think that Randy Ayer's NASCAR modeling forum is still around. I used to go there some years back. Those guys would be best to ask.

I just did a mild clean up of my model stuff. I put away parts and kits I had laying around. I'd say that I have a pretty big styrene-footprint.... Nice weather coming, lots to do outside. I'm going to tackle my dining room table next and put away things that I rarely use.

I started watching the USAC series in 1983 on TNT. They ran on dirt and pavement. At that time they were running 1979-ish Monte Carlos with 427 power under the hood. I still catch them on cable, channel 810 on Fios.

Very well done, it has the "look". I will have to get some of that wire form material. I picked up some spatter screens at the Dollar Store that are pretty good too.

The shocks, front and rear, were always a struggle for me to get them in and to stay in. Nice work. I came up with another way for the rears and only recently started pinning the top of the fronts to the cage tubing.

How did you get a picture of my kitchen? The only thing missing is the 45 cans of paint on the counters... ?

Thanks all. I like the kits but I hate them too. I grew up with these cars at the race tracks and it pains me to see what people will settle for. This is my 5th build since around 2011 of them. I did an AMT '37 Chevy body on one, the Pinto and Vega recently and a '36 Richie Evans coupe as a consignment (deals with the devil) for a good modeling friend. I tried a lot of new things on that build. I went through my 3D printed header stash and have a couple that may be workable on this build. I'll have to extend the header tubes and see how well it plays with the side rub rails. It may be time to start making my own rails from brass tubing, the kit ones are another struggle. Ron Coon also has 2 sets of big block headers I would like to pick up. Another option is solder, but all I have is .062" and anything else is too fat. The solder also droops in long lengths. I have also been eyeballing a 427 Ford engine I built for another build. The generic engine that comes with the kit (could be built as a Chevy or Ford) is fairly ambiguous. I had a set of injectors made up for a previous build, but had problems plumbing them up to look realistic. I picked up some other injectors, one nicer one from 3D Scale Parts that may be workable.

This has been kicking around for a few months. I had wanted to do a build with all the MPC kit issues resolved. 1. The engine needs to be set back around 5/16". What I realized on this one was, a similar amount had to be added in front of the motor mounts, or the tires are too close to the headers 2. The kit cage is junk. So I kit bashed this one. I will move it to the left so the seat fits better. 3. The rear springs need a lot of work too. I used some from Ron Coon Resins and made perches from 1/8" square tube. The too-big axle tube was replaced with 1/8" tubing. Now the springs mount from the bottom. 4. The kit floor pan is very tight for the engine set back. I grafted in a partial pan from my junkyard. I squared off the floor pan to fit the coupe body 5. The headers are almost not worth messing with. I added about .100" to the tube lengths, something that needs to get done with the Vega and Pinto as the bodies are wider. I have a couple here to look at, also Ron Coon and VCG Resins have something worth a look. Other things, the transmission cradle also has to move. The kit coil overs are crude, I make my own from .120" diameter springs. I still have to do the back ones. I'm working on this a little at a time. Next will be the rear coil overs and mounts. That bar over the rear end makes the installation difficult. I may use a stud at the top The side rails always fight with the headers. I may have to make those too.

Deja vu.... someone had a VERY similar build at the LIARS club meeting last night, a real twin to your build.... ?

Ugh... I have removed them on stock car builds. A ton of work. I used the '66 Galaxie chassis, from the firewall back on one I did. I wanted to retain the steerable wheels.

Excellent question. I transfer drill from one part into the other pretty often. I have even glued 2 parts together with a water-soluble glue and slpit them apart later. I have made up quick-and-dirty "drill jigs" from styrene scraps. I have learned to make the clearance holes bigger than I would expect. For an .031" pin, I use .040" so the mating parts fit together easily. Some I open them up if I have to, it permits a larger glue-line and will be stronger. I have a couple of holes I need evenly-spaced in a modified rear axle, the items to be located are .093" tubing with a .047" hole, the spacing is .50" and not critical, they do however have to be lined up. So I will fixture that.

I have a bunch that were being chucked out at work, boxes and boxes of 50. So if one snaps.... grab another. I like them in my Micro Mark drill press. I do use mainly HSS drills, I have lots of them as well. I did pick up a 60-80 HSS index at a show... a really poor design, as the plastic case that is difficult to open even with both hands. I picked up a 1.0 mm thru 1.6 mm small case at a hobby shop, handy sizes, but 2 of the 6 were improperly sharpened, the rake is backwards. So I have a big number drill index, 1-60 that I used in my shop. Now I work out of 3 old endmill plastic tubes, some drills I have tagged with the size. I also have some envelopes with real small drills, .013 to around .025.

It definitely looks better stock rather than custom. Someone makes a '52 truck grille, 3D printed. I'll see if I can come across it. Nice work. I have a Foose kit somewhere here.

Shiny black paint is tough... a lot of shiny black paint is tougher... nice work.