Bills72sj

I will definitely get this one. I did the El Camino version when it came out in 1973.

Thank you Cliff. It was fun doing all the details. I wish I had space to make it bigger.

I missed this the 1st go around apparently. Nice build. That is one of my favorite color combos.

Very nice dio/background. I like the people in it. I need to get me some.

Those have some serious tread depth. I would not mind having some of those. I have quite a tire collection but have not seen any of those.

I like Steve's results. I have a vinyl top build in my immediate future.

I am a muscle car and semi-truck guy through and through. Started in the late 60's paused in the mid 70's. Picked up a few kits in the 90's but did not build them. Once I had my own little work shop in 2001, my buying spree started. Kits and shipping were cheap then. I have been averaging 4-5 builds a year. My skill set has improved over the years mostly through getting a vision and seeing it through. Moving to an airbrush was a big step after too many rattle can failures. I love seeing tips and tricks others have done which then motivates me to try some of them out. A few years ago, I bought a mini-lathe for the express purpose of making my own custom aluminum wheel hoops. In the future I would like to have a 3D printer but I just don't have the space. I build for my enjoyment almost exclusively. I have been to a few local shows and win an award or two about half of the time. But that is not why I go. It is to see the builds of others and to share what I have built. Being recognized by your peers is cool but not in anyway a motivating factor. When ever I am building, if a task starts to transition into a chore, I walk away. Many days I do more thinking about a build than actually building.

If you find that tape somewhere. I would like to know as well. I have used it on two builds and would like more.

Thanks for pulling this back out. Way cool rig!. I missed it somehow on the 1st go round. A friend in HS had a Scout with the decal package like the lower level middle vehicle. He hurt it 4-wheeling. I took a day off of work and helped him get back on the road again.

You appear to be successful in your vision.

Cool rig. Nice customization.

Most impressive! (and imaginative)

That should work. I was to want pin stripes I would create them on my PC then print them on water slide decal paper. The tricky part would be getting the color right. However, with inkjets, gold is not an option.

NICE PAIR!!!

Thank you Ken. Thank you Tony. I say go for it. Thank you Trevor. It deserves to be finished.

Made a little more progress today. Test fitted the engine in the car. Minor trim of the top rear of the front crossmember for the oil pan. The top of the transmission was shaved to clear the driveshaft tunnel. The drive shaft was shortened to fit into the holes in the the diff and the tail housing. Removed the chassis' forward-most crossmember to permit the 70 Monte Carlo radiator and shroud to fit low and forward enough. I hangs perfectly on the bumper mounting slots and the shroud is the same height as the fan. I tried to clear coat the headlights with Dollar store clear fingernail polish long ago. Unfortunately, while clear, it was full of bubbles. Surprisingly, both blobs picked out in one piece with no affect on the part. (Never would have predicted that!) Found a/the genuine Olds intake manifold in my parts box. Dechromed it and the valve covers. They are now attached to the engine ready for paint. Now to find the right color...

I just noticed the wheelie bar casters look like all the hardware is separate parts. Please share!

Beautiful color scheme and nice mods! Looks AWESOME!

Welcome Jeff. Please share your other builds. I hoped you include 4-5 pics and any stories involved.

Back on this again in order to help clear my bench of projects. Time to tackle adding a 455 Rocket to my promo. Sam donated a 69 Olds engine awhile back for this project. THANKS SAM! I cleaned up all the pieces and was sorting out what goes where. The 70 Monte Carlo firewall gives me the A/C box but the Monte's A/C compressor is on the drivers side. It needs to be on the passenger side. Steve H. replied on another topic that the 68 El Camino has the A/C compressor on the passenger side. I raided the last El Camino kit I have for the required components. A new hole in the Olds water pump fits the BBC front engine dress very nicely. While inventorying and surveying everything, I noticed I do not have any valve covers. Bummer. I do not want to steal them from my 66 or 67 442 kits as they are needed for them. I have a started 69 Olds 442 kit but it too needs to keep its valve covers and they are already installed on the built motor. I built a 69 Hurst/Olds quite awhile ago and I am using the directions from it to build this engine. The instructions show optional valve covers which were used on my build. Scrounging through my engine parts box, I found the stock valve covers loose in the bottom. YAY! Now I can continue without having to beg, borrow or steal a pair. ?

Steve, Thank you. Reviewing the kit directions has you laying decals last after you have installed things in the way like windows and bumpers. The pics show the blue to be a bit more vibrant than reality. It is the nice shade of dark blue I was looking for. Edgar, Thanks. Sanding is one of my most feared tasks. I would rather do someone elses BMF if they would do my sanding. My new little sanding block gives me really good control of what gets sanded without the unsupervised edges messing something else up.

Mark, Thank you. I get ? or "Nice Car!" everytime I drive it. I could not get that if I drove a Ferrari. Leroy, Obviously not bluffing. If I was not presently laid up with a bad head cold. I would take it out for a jam session this evening. I have the stereo set up so that I can shake the seats and the rear view mirror for two and a half hours with the car off and still start it up and drive away. Dusty, No need for chicks or cougars. I have an AWESOME wife already.

Ok, Stash cabinet: Keep in mind the cabinet depth permits a whole 'nother layer of kits behind the ones you see. This is the car in my garage. Though the stereo got upgraded since this pic was taken.

After cutting free the hood on the '66 Bonneville, I cleaned up the bottom and scrounged up some under hood reinforcement braces for it.

I could say that I have been letting the paint cure the last 6 months but, in reality, other things have taken priority. However, now that I am on my "Big Girls" project, I need some bench space to work on the all of them. With 4 new builds and 3 unintended long term projects, I need to do some clean up. I have been hesitant to sand down the ridges on the roof on each side of the white stripes. I generally do not have the patience for sanding and I did not have an appropriate tool for accomplishing the task. What I needed is a 1:25 long-board sander that can be operated by 1:1 fingers for knocking the ridges down without messing up the surrounding areas. I finally figured out the perfect little sanding block. I cut 1" of Plastruct I-beam then wrapped it with 1 sq in of sandpaper held by a mini binder clamp. It provides a narrow 1/8" x 1" of sand paper and plenty of "handle" to guide it. The real benefit is it requires zero muscle tension to keep the little bitty sandpaper square in place, even if you set it aside. It works great at the sink for wet sanding too. Maybe the Shelby will actually get done this year.