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Bills72sj

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Everything posted by Bills72sj

  1. That is very nicely detailed. Almost makes me want to get one. I know I could not build one that nice any cheaper.
  2. Amazing detail in progress. Your resilience in fixing boo boos is admirable.
  3. Ambitious conversion. Following.
  4. I have the left 3 and the one on the right (my favorite). I use a modified Pana-vise with a very heavy base to hold my work for me. My dremel is a 110v variable speed unit. While I have yet to do a car grille, I did open up the vents on my Freightliners from the back side.
  5. Mine is straight out the back, slightly past the bumper and slash cut. The tips are 4" diameter, 22" long and chrome plated. They are actually marketed for trucks.
  6. I have been driving and owning cars for 46 years. I cannot say I have ever had a bad one. I spent more time modifying them than I ever did fixing them. I have had my last Grand Prix for 24-25 years and my wife's Durango for 18 years. It pays to take care of and garage them. Weather seems to be the biggest car killer.
  7. Very nice Challenger. I built one years ago before I had an airbrush. I should try again.
  8. Leg room. Almost every thing made today has the inner wheel well intruding into the footwell. Look at anything new and the rear of the front wheel opening is within 4" of the front door opening. My Grand Prix has 19"! The second thing is the corners of the car sticking up high enough to KNOW whether or not you will clear the obstacle. Modern jelly beans do not have this feature.
  9. Very nice so far. Following.
  10. You could make it a Paddy wagon as the occupants would be sitting instead of lying down.
  11. Both of them are really sweet. Are the van graphics decals or paint?
  12. Very nice. Is it silver or does it have and "Irish Mist" tint to it?
  13. Very nice! If it was a 1:1 I would be scared to ride in it!
  14. Droool....
  15. There has been much good advice here. Steve's handiwork is always impressive but it takes practice. My suggestion is to simply keep adding more and more tidbits to each successive build. That way you can also adapt to how much more time is involved to get the desired results. Awhile back I jumped too far into the details and while it gave me great (for me) results, it definitely delays the sense of satisfaction of completing the build. I work in the trades. It always takes WAY more time to fabricate something than it does to assemble something.
  16. Me too. I would love to have such a beautiful example in my display case.
  17. I would take a different approach. Foil then make my own precise decals that include both black and wood stripes.
  18. No, his was a darker repaint. It was a very pretty medium dark metallic.
  19. I like what I see. Following,
  20. I would like to help clarify what GM did: 1:1 64-67 GM A-Body suspension/chassis are very similar to the 68-72 A-Body chassis. There are minor differences in front lower control arm bushings (some were round, some were oval). The rear 4-link differentials are interchangeable for all years HOWEVER, 68 and newer are 1/2' wider on each side (1" overall). I learned this when I put 1971 B-O-P 10-bolt axles in a B-O-P 1966 10-bolt housing. The 2" wide rear drums no longer covered all of the brake shoes. This was remedied by using the same vintage FRONT drums on the rear as they are 2-1/2" wide. Regarding wheelbase, the 68-72 A-body 2-doors were all 112" wheelbase. The 4-doors, station wagons, Monte Carlo and El Camino were all 116" wheelbase. The 69-72 Grand Prix got exclusive rights to the 118" wheelbase for 4 years. It was referred to as the G-Body because of it. (I have a genuine 1972 factory dealer service manual to prove it) Later on, GM reused the G-body designation for their 78-87 mid-sized platform. The more formal greenhouse for the 1969 Grand Prix was exclusive for that year only. It got shared with the Monte Carlo in 1970-72. Only the 70-72 Olds Cutlass Supreme got the formal roofline but it stayed on the shorter 2-door 112" wheelbase. Be aware, there is minor misinformation (due to insufficient research for their articles) on the internet about these facts. I had all this researched and sorted out long before the internet was invented.
  21. That would be pretty cool (and rare) to have. One of my circle of friends had a 1:1 1969 Mustang Grande in Emerald metallic green and a black vinyl top. It had a 351 Windsor and an automatic. I was in very nice condition. He was however, disappointed that my buddy and I had a 1970 4 door Galaxie 500. That could spank his Mustang from a roll or from a dead stop.
  22. Very nicely done!
  23. Enamels can give great results. The cure time is the biggest drawback. If you are using rattle cans then 2-4 weeks. If you are airbrushing the little bottles thinned with lacquer thinner then just a few days.
  24. Get a set of metal jewelers files. I always deflash with a #11 Exacto blade and files. They last virtually forever compared to sanding sticks. https://www.harborfreight.com/12-piece-precision-needle-file-set-4614.html
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