Oldcarfan27

I have 2 ideas for a basis to start your hubcaps, but both still require more work to complete. If I recall, the custom wheels in the old 65 Bonneville have a similar shape. But you'll still have to figure out how to recreate the million holes that they have. Another idea I have, and it's still a longshot, is to check old clothing and fabric stores for buttons that look like hubcaps. Don't worry about colors, you'll probably have to paint them anyway. I know, it's still a "needle in a haystack" but you may get lucky and find something close. Wally Mart, Michael's, Joann's fabrics and Hobby Lobby all have sewing departments with packs of buttons for sale. Then again, if you have access to a lathe and aluminum rod, you could try to mill your own. It's not much, but I hope this helps.

I agree, I'm like you. It may not be micrometer perfect, but if the end result has the best look and feel of the prototype, then that's good for me. I gather pics from online of all angles, then I plan what I'm going to use to recreate certain details. Then I will draw my cut lines in pencil on the body and check parts compatibility with a small ruler I have - all this BEFORE I ever even lay a knife to plastic. I'll nit pik all the shapes and curves to get all the parts to look like the real car - from all angles. If any one of them doesn't match the pictures, then I have to modify it until it does. Sometimes that means recutting and recontouring parts over until they have the right proportions. I may have to take a break and put it away if I'm feeling overwhelmed, but I try to stop at a neutral point so I can continue it later on without having major design problems to fix. That's what usually kills a project for me, having to start back up on a project that still needs a major thought process to correct. Looks like you're doing a great job to me. It has that look and feel of the real car! Maybe double check the rear window from another picture just to be sure. Keep going!

Beautiful choice in color, those aquas were such eye catching colors when new. Look even better now!

Exactly what I'm talking about! That's the 80s in a nutshell.

I like the idea for the bed, but may I suggest flattening out the trunk area - it looks a little lumpy to me. The roof is a good call. Now how about using the Impala headlights or using the turn signals for the headlights to complete the theme. Impala steering wheel is a natural for this too!

My opinion it should be faded and worn, maybe with a few "parking mishaps" included. That's the way these cars looked in the 80s. Remember, at that time they were just used cars having gone through multiple owners before ending up with teenagers with very little money. I know, I was one of them! The stance looks right on!

Forward us that information, please!

I never saw a Volvo coupe kit before. Can we see a pic of the box lid? I want one.

Thanks for the tip, guys. I'll give them a call.

Dont trash it, it looks good. Very period 50s era Kustom. Not too sure about the bed, but I love the face on the front of it. Looks angry. Hood lines echo the headlights perfectly.

Now I've seen it all - a Camaro van! It looks very plausible, but I wouldn't want to try to stand up in it. Looks like it's in motion. Hope you can Git er Done!

Mind if I ask the cost per each? Plus shipping?

Thanks, I'll try contacting them and see if they sell the hood separately, I don't want to buy the whole kit. However, it looks like the door panels in the Johan interior bucket probably don't have any detail. So I'm still going to have to come up with a matching solution for that.

Ok, so rumaging through my stash I found a perfect unused Johan 72 Torino race car body. This is a completely stock Gran Torino Sport fastback body with all the trim, door handles, side markers etc. I want to bash this body with the chassis and interior of a Starsky and Hutch kit, which fit almost perfectly. Here's my dilemma... The hood from the Johan kit does not include the G.T.S. scoops on it. Anybody have any ideas where to find something that I can use for it? I thought about the scoop from a 71 Torino GT, but that's not really close enough. The 72 parts are green in these photos. I also found out the interior door panels of the 72 Gran Torino Sport fastback are different than the standard door panels of the notchback Torino. Any ideas what I can use to duplicate these? The rest of the Starsky and Hutch kit should work for my needs. Because this body is undamaged, I don't want to cut it up to match the standard hood and door panels. Although if I can ever come across another complete 72 body I'd like to make a standard notchback someday. Or, does anybody have an old Johan snap kit Gran Torino Sport hood and interior they can spare? Thanks for any help you can give me.

Makes sense, but looking at this design leads me to think they made a wrong choice. I think it looks better than the wagon. Has that early Ranchero influence. Just my opinion.

The motor should be easy to come by, just take one from any of those countless Japanese motorized model kits. Nobody ever builds them that way anyways.

How brittle is that old plastic by now? If you read the box, it looks like you're supposed to put a small rocket engine in it and light 'er up. If it even bumped anything, that sucker would shatter into oblivion. Cool subject matter though.

I never liked the box art for this kit, so I never bought one. Now I wish I had. BTW, Rambler should have offered a Ranchero type truck in their line up, it surely would have rounded out their offerings and probably would have helped their profits. Looks like a great idea.

Well done work. Now it just needs a proper load. How about bales of hay, or fishing poles and a small aluminum boat or an over-the-cab camper. It looks like a good weekend work horse. BTW - if I may say one thing. The shiny grille doesn't match with the weathered appearance of the rest of the truck. Since it was made from anodized aluminum, the grille would be just as faded as the truck's paint. Try spraying some fully mixed Testors dull cote into a cup, taking a small brush and painting a light coat onto the chrome and let it dry. If its still too shiny, add another coat and let dry again - until it looks properly oxidized. The more coats you do, the cloudier it gets. Check online for reference on old unrestored cars with faded aluminum trim.

That's just my quandary, I specifically try not to do 2 cars in a row, the same color. When I was a kid, my favorite go to color combination was black and gold (loved the spec. ed. Trans Am - still do!) Until my dad pointed out that all my cars were the same color. Broke me out of that habit real quick. Now that I like to build replica stock cars, I try to find unusual or very common color combinations that appeared on the real cars. My favorites tend to be tan and light gold earthtones or avocado greens on 60s and 70s bread and butter cars. I like the Crayola colors used on early 70s muscle cars. And the drab 2 tone greys, blues and browns of the 80s cars. It just feels right if they just LOOK right. And with online internet reference material, It's easy to find ideas for correct colors.

I've had a few that tested my abilities. I got a 67 GTX that had so much glue all over it that there was no point in restoration, but the roof did come off to restore another Plymouth that had become a bad convertible. And of course the engine and wheels have been set aside for another project. The rest sits in my model car junkyard, waiting to donate more parts to other projects. Then again - the body could be sanded down and converted to a low level Belvedere station wagon. Hmm, with some fresh sheet plastic, maybe it does have a future after all!

So does that mean they "buried" the lil coffin? ?nyuk!, nyuk!, nyuk!?

Wow, and that's just the detailing that comes in the box! Just kidding

Best bet is the 2 part body putty that the body shops use. It comes in a small can and it requires a separate tube of hardener to set, so it won't dry out until its mixed. Bondo or Evercoat are the most common brands.

Cherry bomb did have a cool chopper bike, but then they put it on a trailer that looks like a banana!