Wickersham Humble

Steve, The first edition of my book had some rust repair illustrated that was just catastrophic; but with some other stuff I omitted it from the new revision because a Z with that much damage -- at today's commercial body shop rates -- would put the owner upside down in a tic. I took out the 'paint your own resto' section too, because that isn't done much anymore, but both can be seen in the old copies. As I point out, the Z wasn't the only collectible that had body cancer proclivities; the '55 Chevy was vulnerable in some areas, especially over the headlites, and lower front fenders. And the Nomads: the trick hardtop bodies, behind the front doors to the wheel wells had virtually no 'scuppers' to drain moisture -- or dust buildups -- and needed lots of surgery to be saved; I began my driving career with a '55 when it was only six years old (1961) and had about twenty, including all but the ragtop -- and let's not talk about them! My second car was a '51 Ford 'Special' from MI, and it had no floors, which made ditching beer cans easy, anyhow...

Oh, should I live so long, I'm going to build my big-scale Tamiya Fairlady ZG into a replica of my 1970 car, with standard front bumper/lights, and left-hand drive! Yes, I know Z's rusted, but so do all other cars: even Corvette frames suffer from the tin worm. I recall auto guru Mike Lamm's DeTomaso Pantera, the one owned by Dean Martin, with a rust hole in the body side you could have reached through with your hand!

The Datsun 240Z. I bought a new one (HLS3547) in July of 1970, drove it with a huge smile on my face for twenty four years, and restored it as the subject of my book HOW TO RESTORE YOUR DATSUN Z-CAR, (CA Bill's Automotive Handbooks, 1990) and sold it back to NISSAN USA in 1995. BTW, the book was never out of print for 35 years, but is now in a new revised edition distributed by Car Tech Books, easily found on Amazon, etc. I have a '71 Resto-mod Z now, a conservative personal build with about a hundred 'improvement' features. Sadly, I'm 80, and need to sell it with less than 500 miles on the complete job, 'frame-up' (no frame, oc) and never having been driven through a puddle. The Z was built to a price, and not in contention with any of your exotic hand-built GT's, but was (is) hugely popular and brought more driving pleasure to more folks world-wide than many other sports cars since the beginning. And, it was always affordable: my first Z cost me $3660 in '70, when the 911S was heading for $6K. They don't cost much more than a Mustang to rebuild (if you can find one nowadays) and are cheap to run. And beautiful! I'd love to have a Scarab, or maybe a J-2 Allard, or one of the Harry Miller street machine roadsters, but the Z is/was accessible, and a lovely thing! My only regret was that is wasn't built in the USA; John DeLorean's Pontiac OCH Banshee would have been my choice, if produced. Wick Humble

I always make notes, usually on a strip of buff manila (from old file folders) just to save space -- and the heavier card is durable. It's rare I build OOB, as I'm a child of the 'Customizing' era, and began doing 3-in-1 kits because I thought I was going to be a car stylist in Detroit, and at age 13 couldn't afford a real car, much less modify it! Later, of course... ! I like to draw, and besides listing tghe proposed changes on any kit, make sketches and tracings to confirm the feasibility of each one; often that is enough to change the script right there. Also, I list the parts I need to source (usually adding them, if available from my meagre stash, in little Ziplocs) and hit the forum Wanted for help, usually forthcoming -- thank you all sincerely. Right now I have about 20 kits abuilding, a dozen or so very close to paint, or even sprayed, waiting finishing up; but I work mostly in the colder months. 'Holy Grail's' included, it's still a lot of work and time!!! I'm not as adroit as I once was -- seniors take note -- nor can I see details as well, at 80. The more ambitious the project -- and more stimulating -- the more time and 'notes' it takes for me. My two apochryphal Harry A. Miller street roadsters are a case in point; tons of detail work and mods to Caddie and Rolls base kits. Also, my B'Ville 2XV-16 LSR car from 1934... In the aftermath, it's interesting to see how far the real kit strays from the concept I penned; or not! Wick

Boxed the frame for a Monogram "BIG T" gloo-bomb kit I bought at last years Dragonlady IPMS show. I want to rebuild it as a hauler for my Mono customizing V-8 kit that I bought in '62 and saved. I never could afford the monster-scale kits back then, but then they're hard to display being so big. I used epoxy to soldily attach the boxing plastic, and included some high-tensile steel wire inside the rails for some extra stiffness. Then, since I was priming the door on my daughters 1/1 '57 Ford business coupe project, I shot it with epoxy primer. The original builder used so much adhesive to put the rear leaf spring into the spring X-member I had to leave it in place, and will possibly sand the leaves smoother and shoot them with Molotow when it's ready. The rims are getting the bling treatment, too. A few light-weight bits are damaged, and some real nuts/bolts hardware may come into play as I finish it. Wonder where one can source such stuff for this scale? Wick

I was an enthusiastic Scout; got to 2nd Class in BSA, but our Scout Master's dry cleaning business went belly up, and he emigrated to a new locale to try again. A badly crippled 20-year-old Eagle Scout tried to keep old Troop 32 together (Alturas, CA) but it was about 1959, and it just dried up. I was troop bugler. We had Buffalo Patrol; leader was Robert Hight, the uncle and namesake of Force Funnycar driver, Robert Hight. He had the fastest car in our little burg (Pop. 3000) with his '62 Plymouth Sport Fury; my '55 Chevy could hold him in first gear, but I was giving away 100 cu-in. and it wasn't any race. Funny Hight's dad, his little bro, raced me in his mom's '61 Imperial 413 (well, I had hopes...) and lost that too. He got a '64 Max Wegde; family was rich. Still in touch with Robert the uncle. Yeah, Scouting, five seasons of USFS fire-fighting, and then the Army... I got an MA in Art/Education, then taught Kindergarten. Wick

This is a 'kit diorama' supplied by Standard Oil for our Cub Scout Den; mom Ida Grace Humble was the job forewoman! I'm the geek on the right, top row. Why is the F4U bombing the site? The Cessna I was building went GB on me (age ten) and mom insisted that some survey aircraft be depicted, per the instructions, so it was available. Were those the days? Wicky, seventy years later... L to R: accountant, Forest Ranger, hippie, teacher, and Secret Service Agent (at Reagan's near-assignation) later. Mom teacher, also.

I was a kindergarten teacher for about 30 years, and also an author, USFS Crew Boss (in the '60s), trucker, soldier 1969-70, played bass in a band, built a couple of houses, and restored/resto-modded about 20 complete 1/1 cars, among other things! Still prefer bodywork/paint, but can fabricate, etc. Only 80 now; and if no one else is impressed, I am! Have a 1971 240Z, 1951 Ford Crestliner, 1961 Pontiac Tempest with stock Buick 215 V-8 (pretty rare!), and finishing Dad's '51 Chevy as a resto-mod for my son. The Z is for sale, less than 500 miles on complete rebuild, mechanical and body/interior, and never driven through a puddle yet! My book is HOW TO RESTORE YOUR DATSUN Z-CAR, (CA Bill's Automotive Handbooks/CarTech, revised edition just out, but in print since 1990. I restored my one-owner 1970 240Z, and later had NISSAN USA buy it back. Have eight fiction books on Kindle, more coming: nostalgia/historical fiction about growing up in a small Western town in the mid-20th century called the A Place On Mars Series, and a long one in two parts about a pioneer aviator and his misadventures from 1905 until 1946, Bird of Ill Omen/Bird of New Hope. I really need to get busy; in the 'red zone' of life now! Thanks wife of 55 years, for letting me live through all that! Wick Humble Chico CA

Lei, thank you; I'll get on it. The rims were FB Marketplace finds, I think; look much like 19' ARE five-spokers to old me. Wick

My daughter is putting Mustang 5-spokers (Cobra logo center cap) on her '57 Ford 'shorty' business coupe restomod, and I'm making a kit of it for a surprise*. Already found a pal who will supply a 5.0 V-8 to make it realistic, and need some rims like described; think they from approximately '09 Mustang. I have a lot of very old misc stuff to trade, or whatever works. *I'm also doing the body/paint on it, and am making progress -- at age 80! The new thing: battleship gray, but maybe pinstriped? My wife of 55 years has finished the seat upholstery, and working on visors, etc. with her walking-foot Singer. The kids are learning this stuff, as they'll inherit all the tools, eveuntally. Thanks!! Wick

Jason, I've been away from the forums for a while; tell me, are we on for the Ford 5.0 in question? I don't even recall if you got my address: 3191 Coronado Rd. Chico, CA 95973 I haven't found the Buick parts yet, but am sure I have them! Any other needs from the oldest stash? Wick

Good show; nice 'road trip' format! Similar, remember 'Then Came Bronson' or something like, about a young lone-wolf biker (on a Hog, natch) trying to find Americas? Fighting forest fires every summer, and trying to finish my BA, I didn't have much time to watch that era's shows, but wouldn't such a program be interesting now? OC, after 'Easy Rider'... ! Anyone remember 'Straightway' about hot-rodders in the late 'fifties? Neat cars, but got cancelled, I guess. In HS, we were impressed, anyway! Still, one of the premier shows, popular and long-running, was 'Perry Mason'! Gosh besides the elite Caddie ragtops, Linclons, T-Birds and Sting-Rays, there were myriads of '55-58 Chevies, including a '55 Nomad that showed regularly. '57 Fords, Perry's gorgeous flip-top, and '60 Ford ragtop, occasional Edsel, matching '58 Bonnevilles, and much later a Moostang (and Perry's JFK Lincoln) that get stripped by a nefarious LA gang! And an endearing '55 210/Delray or two, absolutely stock and so much eye-candy for one who had one in '61! Website about 'The Cars of Perry Mason' somewhere on web. Sooo, how about some photos of more TV Series model replicas? A Wick-Walk Challenge! Very Old Wick (80)

Noel; think that's why that Billy Gray told me his Model A tub on FKB was flamed in gray; studio didn't need any hassle with colors for B&W! Only show that possibly didn't suffer much from B&W cars was Broderick Crawford's 'Highway Patrol.' Loved those old Buick and Dodges, and learning to say '10-4' on the 2-way radio. MAD Magazine did a whole Mort Drucker feature on 'HP' and Crawfords mumbling radio-call codes in the day! I had the Revell (1/20th?) kit of the '56 Buick ragtop ( I think) but tried to 'kustomize' it at age eleven. Multi-piece body build up; too many parts and too much Duco Cement! I still have some of that decal set, tho. Wick

Tim: Lancers and Valiants with Exner's 'European' styling: but beware Moostangers; he had the modern long-hood/short deck look nailed before Ford's guys co-opted it. '62 Ply/Dodge also. Didn't last long when Engel replaced him. In 1960, I used my meagre earnings from pumping gas at the local airport on weekends to buy car mags as well as 3-in-1 kits, and fell in love with his Plymouth XNR sports car; wish I could have found a kit of that to 'kustomize' back then. Very meagre areo, compromised for 'The Forward Look', but rakish and very dramatic in red! If I found a g-b for sale that was salvageable, I'd buy it -- except for all the dozen 65-year-old kits from my misspent teen years I'm still trying to finish up! Wick, at 80...

Trad automotive lacquer, up until discontinued in the mid-90s by the majors, was shipped 'double-thick' oc, because to spray it it had to be cut 50-50 with lacquer thinner to be a paintable consistency. Two gallons for the price of one! Sorta. Of course, lacquer of any type was meant to be applied in numerous coats, with block-sanding between every third coat, say; until the thickness was built up sufficiently. Lacquer dries in 10-15 minutes in a proper coat thickness, but the droplets inevitably form an unwanted texture that has to be levelled. Lacquer also demanded a proper substrate; some kind of primer-sealer, even in the pre-war days. Then one often applied (tho not mandatory) a half-dozen coats of clear lacquer -- sometimes with colored toner added, for more pop -- that were sanded, but very carefully, as the last go-round had to support the eventual gloss! We've all read about old skool lacquer jobs being thirty coats, cleared, and 'cut and buffed' to show perfection. Simply amazing, but time consuming, complex, and expensive!! No reason a wooden object can't have that process. Lacquer, it is said, originally came from the Far East, a product of excretions of the 'lac bug', and was used on wood and other craft surfaces: 'Japanese lacquer bowls', etc. Besides doing our '51 Chevy in PPG lacquer, I keep a quart or so of Dupli-color black around to do quick jobs, like some dash-board parts, or whatever, especially where it doesn't have to have lots of strength v.s chips, ets. It' dries before I get the gun cleaned! However, that being said, if it were my bass body, I'd get a good, catalyzed acrylic-urethane black basecoat and proper clear-coat material, and get it done in two steps, about three coats each, and the left-overs will do a lot of model kits. Bass bodies sometimes take an awful beating -- some saloons are worse than others! BTW, I've entered a number of kits in IPMS shows, and objectively think that dark and subdued colors just 'disappear' on the display tables; but some kits demand the color, like my recent '61 Lincoln Sports Roadster with POTUS stickers, siren and red lights in the grille (from a Styline kit I bought in high school) that wouldn't look like the "Hyannis Port Hot-Rod" that I intended -- for JFK! Be patient, I'll eventually finish 'em! Wick