MarkJ

Thanks, John. the 74 Camaro did not use what you are referring to. They were spring steel brackets that could bend and rebound. they did have a rod and tube deal that kept the bumper in place from side to side. If you google the front bumper schematics you will see what I'm talking about.

I used rods and tubes to attach the front bumper to the body. I don't have to attach it till all the painting is done. And I dont really need to glue it, but I probably will.

BMF turned out excellent. That's hard to do these days. It's just not as good a product as it use to be. I'm trying to find alternatives.

Yes, they did. But not mine anymore. Hobby Lobby keeps cutting back on they're supplies. They had a liquid testors glue, with a brush, that I purchased, but it cures very slowly, and not a real tight bond. They dont even sell Vallejo primer. I have switched to Vallejo paint for my new brush painting journey, and not to have primer is ridiculous. I had to order it from Micro Mark.

Thanks, Patrick. The hard part is next, the grille.

Carl, I was watching a guys video that posts on twitter and he was putting a nascar seat together with a lot of scratchbuilt stuff, and he was using a bottle of glue with a brush that seemed to dry instantly and hard enough for him to sand the 2 pieces he had just glued together. I tweeted him and asked what glue he used and he said the orange label plastruck plastic welder. I tryed to get some but could not find a source so I got this glue from micro mark caled "the same stuff" and it works just like the plastruck. I guess they are chemically the same. I had been using good old testors tube glue but that stuff takes forever to cure.

What I mean't above is that the glue dries so fast that you don't have time to put glue on one surface and then bring the other surface together . you need to hold bothe pieces together and hit it with the glue brush and holdf for 20 seconds till it sets. Anyhoo, below is some more fine tuning on the front and the spoiler before adding some putty to it .

Thanks, Mike. The spoiler was tough because you really need 3 hands. you hold 2 pieces and an extra hand to hit it with the glue. I'll show some pics of it later today.

Started on the front spoiler.

Got some more work done on the front. Will need to add more putty and shape those side grille opening uprights. The bumper will need a rubber strip added to the top (but it will be plastic of course). I will also need to scratch a front cattle guard spoiler that attaches right below the top half of the bumper. It really dominates the front of the car.

Ok, Thanks again.

Thanks,Scott. But i'm hoping to make anything I need, but you never know.

You're absolutely right, Scott. The sides of the grille opening need to be extended as well as the bottom does. Have to get it more correct before I start scratch building the grille. I wanted to make sure the lower valance was going to work and I will probably make a front bumper first too, before I fine tune the upper header panel.

The lower front valance panel that comes in the kit will work for the 74 transformation. You just have to remove some plastic to leave room for the big battering ram front bumper . I sure was glad I didn't have to scratch build one.

Did some putty work and shaped up the headlight and park light pods some more.

Thanks, Helmut. I had a good time doing the build. That's all you can ask for . And learned alot about the Ford vs. Ferrari era, and that it wasn't all about Fords and Ferraris.

Patrick , I had to give up my idea of not using putty. I will have to make an upper grille but this car has a front spoiler that completely hides the lower opening, but I will put something down there i dont really think it has an actual lower grille on this car. The upper grille is going to be pretty labor intensive with all those thin strips connected together, and I will have to build it as a left and right half and put them together.

Thanks, Dennis. Yes, there really is not that much difference between the kit i'm using and a 74 or a 75. i think the back glass on the 75 and up might have been wider, kinda wrapped around. You could still do it, just have to make your own back glass.

Thanks, Carl. My wife's college roomate bought one from the dealership I went to work in back in 1972. It was her first new car, and was able to buy it because she got hired by the school district we all went to school at. We all graduated in 1969 . She was hired as a first grade teacher and my wife was hired as a kindergarten teacher, but my wife had to find her job at another district. She eventually ended up at the same district with her roomate. I worked at that dealership till 2008 when the recession shut it down. Luckily I found another job at a Bruton Smith owned dealership about 15 miles further down the road and over a huge bridge. Bruton's Sonic dealerships survived the recession but alot of others did not.

Thanks , Mike. I decided to put this build, in this forum, so I can more easily keep track of your 55. And I figure your next build will be here too. I'll probably be on this one for a few months.

Patrick, I have already been shaping the headlight and park light pods to be more square but still have a lot more to do in that area. I'm going to try to do everything with styrene and no putty but i might have to use a tiny bit of putty. Like I said , its not going to be perfect, just a reasonable facsimile. I have some tiny files that I will be using for the headlights and park light extensions.

Got some more done this afternoon.

Got started on the changes to the front header panel, to make it a 74, or at least a reasonable facsimile of one.

Waiting, with anticipation.