Mattilacken

I just realized that it is almost exactly 20 years since i bought this car the first time around! It was april 4 2005 that my dad and I bought the car. I was in college (16 years old at the time) and lived 4h by car from home. My dad and I had been seraching for project cars for a while, he was looking at Tbirds which was not what i liked at all so i turned him back to chevys, he had a Jeep Chief and then a Suburban for manny years. I also turned down a torn down 72 camaro hich whe would have to go to the oter side of the coutnry to get, and I wanted something that we could drive while restoring. This one came up and I liked it. This is how i saw it the first time. When i saw it in person for the first time dad had installed the summer tires. Here we have started the restoration, reparing rust and cleaning up parts. Me when i was 16 doing some work. While i returned to school dad kept at it and repainted most parts and the boddy. Here it is primed and ready for paint. These pictures he sent me when I was away. Here he have gotten far, he was working at the fire brigade at the time and had time to spend on projects since they worked many nights but was of during the day instead. Here is one of the only pictures i have of him working on the car, while we were lowering it. Today he has parkinson and are not in the best shape. Miss those days when we where doing things together. When it was assembeled and after it was lowered. Btw my parents house to the left and the one to the right is where i live today I did restore parts of the engine but in the end i had to pul it out and do a full resto, but at that point I was working. First time around i did it seriously with new bearings pistons and sow on, i did most work by my self with help from a local car wizzard. But i did not realize that i hade missed to put pack the socet plugs below the camshaft after i had had the engine for machining so i quickly got a knock due to low oil pressure. Second time around i had my freind and car wizzard to assemble the engine, i helped out to learn but he did the jobb. here the built engine was going back. Long post and i hope no one minds my lengty post

Cool to see a Saab motor beeing used outside of Sweden. Here they are known for good power and i have heard many that bring out plenty of power with aftermarket turbo setups! Also common over here is to put BMW gear boxes behind any thing today. Many LS engines run BMW boxes thanks to their price and availibility. And also the option of having 8 speed and dual clutch transmissions for not much money.

I have had this project boxed up for a while and brought it out today again. And I got some minor work done. Redid the oil filter canister and aded mb star and mb text to the engine. I also noticed that the interior interferes with how the chassi and body mates. So some thing have to be done about that. I also noticed that the hood does not sit right so I have to address that. I was thinking of leaving it un hinged but I might rethink that since it makes more sense to have it hinged. i did get my decals for the JPS livery and the set made for the lotus 78 was not what I expected. They were more yellow than gold, and looking at reference pictures of the 78 that year they did not have a livery that looks like real gold . Glad I ordered the BMW Jps decals as well, they were more of a chrome gold. Thinking on how I do with the livery. Any ideas and recommendations on gold paint?

Looking good, paint looks flat and nice!

Nice progress! Nice to se a take on the kit chassis. I have also goten some work done to mine poster it in my thread under cars WIP. Third gen Chevelles and a Cutlas its called if interested.

I am sorry for of offending you and your friend, it was not my intention. I might have put my words a bit blunt. He do what ever he feels is right and as you say, ad a carb and that does magic whiles keeping the originality. I have been folowjngs Jay Lenos Chanel for years and I enjoy his take on car preservation which often involves replacing some old parts with new for the functionality of the wheicle. super big wheels are not my cup of tea since I like to drive it, and our roads up here does not go well with big wheels and low profile tires. But I want a bit bigger so I can fit bigger brakes in the future, I plan to take it to an auto cross in the future since I enjoy that and seeing big American iron going through corners usaly awes people here.

Nice build!

Sweet!

Great looking build and kit! Need to get my hands on a set or two

That’s a pitty , some mods can always be made, but keep the stock part for future if you want. Say what! Aren’t 22 and 24”s the best? this rendering I did back in 2009 is in line with what I want to do but probably I won’t go larger than “17 or “18

I today got hold of a ‘74 Chevelle front end for my 1:1 and it will make my look way better, which made me want to semi replicate the look in scale. So I took one of the resin bumpers donated by a forum member and cut the Laguna bumper a part to make it look more like the standard nose. And then I thought about closing the quarter windows but for the first time in history I felt bad for doing a mod to a original body so I cut the nose of and crafted it on to the donated resin body. So now I will have that original body to build as a Laguna. the splendid resin body. and the part I got.

Thanks! I use Tamiya LP clear and same thinner as you, probably on your recommendation at some point! I do have a smaller needle, only 0,2 mm, the last times. I will go through my 0.4 and see if it lays flatter thanks to the width difference.

Looking good!

Man that sounds like a real treat for your buddy! I guess its more of a original car then? Mine is mostly hotrod in that sence

Sure does! Sadly al those parts got traded to a El Camino so i have to search al over again for parts to build it as i want it. These cars are rare here, but i came across a grill for a 1973 with al the chrome trim on it. So i sent a message to se what they want for the set.

I have just decided to buy my old project car back, will go 500km+ in a couple of weeks to pick it up. I had this car from when i was 16 until I was 19 and sold it because the 6speed camaro was more fun. Now i would't like the camaro back but this one I just got hold of. I pay the same amount for it now as what I sold it for 17 years ago. Manny things are the same but now it has better cylinder heads so it should make around 350hp. I redid the engine ground up back in 2007 and many details with carbon fiber instead of wood. Its gonna be interesting to se how it looks when i bring it back! When i bought it in 2005 with my dad: 2008 when i sold it: Pics from the current seller in 2024. Need to get hold of a laguna front or at least a 1974 Malibu front, i am no big fan of the 1973 front thats on it right now.

Looks good! And weather looks better!

Nice progress so far!

Man thats a nice paintjob, and so flat! I have't managed to lay it down that flat with the AB yet.. any special metod you use or just practice?

Since I decided this week to buy my old 1:1 back and will have delivery in two weeks or so I really wanted to do some model work on these. And I managed to get a chassi from a Monogram 1/24 ‘70 Chevelle fitted to my printed 1974 Laguna and interior test fitted. i managed to make two monogram 1/24 NASCAR chassis modified with cages and all to fit my original MPC and new reissue of the same MPC kit. As well as I got a rear fender located on the Pepsi one.

@RockinRoller nice to se a Laguna entering!! I love these cars, and I have one 1:1 Malibu of these years as well. regarding the chassis, that chassi is nothing as what they had more what the movie car had since that’s a original car and not a race car. So a chassi for the movie car you would be best of with swapinh in a chassi from any of the earlier Chevelle a or Buicks the interior are available as files for printing now, thank good. If you want a race car, a GM monogram nascar from the ’80s fits good with minor adjustments. I have understood that they actually ran with original chassis that got modified and I do have a lot of pictures of period correct ones, but it depends on how period correct you want to be. 🙂 for me the Monigram chassis are good. I know a place in EU that carry those kits so pm me if interested and I can give you the link. o, and if you didn’t notice in the movie it’s a Laguna until they paint it gray, after that it’s a Monte Carlo. Here is one of mine:

Nice paint work! That LX Torana is something I could see myself driving.

Great progress! Looks sharp!

Traditionaly you are right, but again that car is french so everything might be different

2025 Cannonball Run Entry list: 1. '62 Chevrolet Bel Air (W-409) 2. Ford Escort MK2 ( stitchdup) 3. ‘74 Mercedes 300TD SLC (Mattilacken) 4. ‘69 Chevrolet Camaro (atomicholliday) 5. WV type 1 Van (Fat Brian) 6. ‘69 Dodge Dart (Tim08) 7. ‘67 Ford Mustang (JimmyRiggins) 8. '70 Plymouth Superbird (Keef) 9. ’71 Renault Alpine A110( White Rabbit) 10. ‘75 Chevrolet Monza 2+2 (MeatMan) 11. Dodge Super Bee (Slusher) 12. ’70 Dodge Super Bee (Sam I Am) 13. Lamborghini Espada (Tooltime-fan) 14. ‘70 Chevrolet Malibu (KWT) 15. ‘75 Volkswagen Golf (oldcarfan) 16. ’60 Ford Starliner (blue303) 17. Shelby G.T. 350R (xbazzarex) 18. ‘73 Mercury Cougar (bill_67) 19. ‘64 Corvette Grand Sport (beans) 20. ’71 Porsche 911 T (Misha) 21. ’73 Dodge Charger (Pat Minarick) 22. ’71 Ford Maverick (bobthehobbyguy) 23. ’70 Ford Torino (kromolly) 24. ‘63 Renault Estafette (camaro69) 25. ‘73 Dodge d300 (53gmc)🏁 26. ‘71 Ford Interceptor (spencer1984) 27. ‘74 Ford Gran Torino wagon (iamsuperdan) 28. ‘58 Plymouth sports fury (Rescued Customs) 29. ‘66 Chevrolet Malibu (Chasten) 30. ’66 Fairline GT/GTA (geras24) 31. '69 Ford Galaxie (Stavanzer) 32. 73 Nissan Skyline GT-R (Badge73) 33. ’75 Chevrolet Laguna (RockinRoler)