Bills72sj

My 74 Hurst/Olds engine bay is finally done. While not 100% accurate, I threw as much at it as I could. Be advised I had to start with a Johan promo which has no opening hood and engine bay. A lot of kit bashing and parts box raiding took place to make this happen. Cowl is from a 62 Catalina with cowl vents printed on paper. The engine bay is from a 67 Chevelle Pro Street kit. The firewall, with A/C box, is from a 70 Monte Carlo. The A/C parts are from a 68 El Camino. The engine block and transmission are from a 69 Olds 442. The dechromed intake and valve covers are from the parts box. The Olds engine blue was custom mixed from blue, black and silver acrylics. The air cleaner came from a 72 Grand Prix annual. The snorkel flex tube came from some Mustang kit. The chrome heat riser tube came from the 72 Grand Prix spoof exhaust. The fan belt and pulley assembly came from the 68 El Camino. The radiator is from the Monte Carlo. The Parts box contributed the following: Master cylinder and booster Washer bottle Battery with photo-etch battery clamps (I'll never do that again!) Emissions evaporative canister Tubing from semi truck kit air lines. Home made decals for Caution Fan and “Oldsmobile Rocket 455” (Clear decal laid over BMF) Scratch built distributor and ignition wires. This task was definitely a challenge motivated by seeing what fellow modelers have shared in their builds. Comments welcome.

I have had the same dilemma with various sheens of black. Thinned bottle paint is expensive for the volume used. Rattle cans are hit and miss with quality, cost and solvent "hotness". In general they throw too much volume which requires adaptable application technique and clogs my spray booth filter faster. Rattle cans have been economical in the past, when on sale, but it would be nice if there was another way. I like what you are looking to try. If you succeed, I may very well follow you down the same path.

That turned out pretty cool. You hardly ever see these without a Trans Am spoiler.

Very creative builds. I see you are in Perth. I had the privileged of visiting Perth and meet some of your single women back in the mid 80's.

Thanks for sharing the story. A little Vega with that much tire and decent power would be a blast to drive.

That is way cool. I bought the same engine for my 70 Pro Street El Camino but it would not fit in my chassis. (The scale is off) However, I just HAD to have that blower/hood scoop.

This looks to be a cool project. Following. I am curious as to why a working tow truck would need a sleeper. Most jobs are... go to the wreck, recover and drag it to the storage yard. Not a whole lot of long-distance, overnight traveling required.

Type in "Firebird model kit" not just Firebird. Once the Toys & Hobbies category show in the header, click on it. https://picclick.com/Toys-Hobbies/?q=Firebird+model+kit Same for Roadrunner https://picclick.com/Toys-Hobbies/Models-Kits/?q=Roadrunner+kit Once you get the hang of it you can find what is available at the best price.

Very nice! I love the stacks and the tail lights. I am a fan of the Moebius wheels as well. The color and livery is pretty cool too. I have never seen a tube from the roof A/C to the sleeper before. Did you find that in your research? If I may suggest, some Suzie coils would finish off it off nicely.

That is way cool. I love all 3 methods. Steve's looks the best but would require more work/time. I work slow enough as it is.

Steve, Since I have the original photo file, I can enlarge/zoom the pic. Keep in mind the engines above are for 1965. If a 389 of any type was in a GTO then it got the clutch fan. If a 389 was in any of the larger Pontiacs, it was a 4 blade fixed fan regardless of HP. I would go with that. There are even some 421's that have the 4 blade fan though the diameter was a bit larger.

Very impressive for a 1/32. That blue is just asking for RWL tires.

Well, this explains the 6 week delay of my order from ModelRoundUp.

Do you need decals for the tanks? I made some for mine back when I was building my diorama. I have the artwork files if you can print your own decals.

Very cool. A buddy in high school had a Coronet 440 in a similar color.

I found a cheap trick to keeping my paint booth clean. My wife has a roll of Press-N-Seal that I borrow to line the inside of my paint booth since new. When the film gets dirty, I just replace it all. It lasts longer than my air filters do by about 4-5 filters per interior covering. I even put a layer of the stuff down on my spray booth bench to keep the inadvertent drips from ruining the table I use. It also prevents build up on the light fixture inside. I can share pics if interested.

Your distinction is logical and agreeable. I would not mind viewing builds of either or both in general.

I use an ebay search tool called https://picclick.com It lets me drill down to what I am looking for much faster. You can sort by lowest price. Keep adding qualifiers in the search box and limit it to US or North America listing only. WAY FASTER Here is an example: https://picclick.com/Toys-Hobbies/Models-Kits/?q=mercury+model+kit

Printed off some vanity plates for Big Girls project. I need to get some more aluminum from Home Depot.

That turned out very nice. Great job on the paint. It might be too late now but the Keystone Klassics have black coloring around all the holes.

Excellent detailing on the engine compartment.

That turned out way nice.

You did a wonderful job. The only suggestion I would add is to add some dirt smudges and weathering.

I do not know how I missed this! I love the rustic feel and all the unique details in each and every item. I went shiny, new mode when I built mine.

It seems everyone has lots of variety regarding supplies and layout. My bench HAS to be cleared of parts after every session. Otherwise my wife's cat will steal a part and play with it until she loses it under a random piece of furniture. My display case holds the parts for my builds in progress. It is the only way to keep them safe. I have 7 works in progress. 3 are long term but nearly finished, 4 are midway through. Multiple builds has the advantage of letting paint cure to avoid fingerprints and dulling. It also permits mixing and matching optional engine parts and wheels during the planning stages.