Wickersham Humble

Ben Hsu's "Classic Japanese Performance Cars" (CarTech, N Branch MN) is probably the best reference (in English, anyway) for Japanese collectibles, and yes he catalogs a lot of such in the pre-Z era. Even 16-year-old me knew of the DatsunSPL312 Fairlady roadster for sale when I was in high school -- me and Fred Flintstone, circa 1960! This was long before most of the better known 'Rice Rocket' cars appeared, and wasn't much of a performer with it's Austin-inspired banger motor. These things are eminently collectable, and bring eye-watering prices today. But, I reiterate it was the 1969 (very few produced) 240Z that had the performance, quality, features, power, durability, and style to put "Japan INC." into the world market to stay. L-24 powered 240's lasted until 1973 (latter ones not preferred until they could be expempted from emissions inspections!), 260Z, and more luxurious 280Z that ruled the roost. Celica ST's, Mazda RX-7's, and other performance cars from dai Nihon gladly accepted the early Z's performance crown by default, but it's still the stud duck of Japanese performance machines by dint of it's sterling qualities. BTW, Mustangs rust too! I of course fallowed the progress of the early Z-Car avidly, still driving my '70 HLS3547 (subject of the restoration in my book) and was amazed at what NISSAN did not include on the cars; mostly 'mag' wheels -- nothing from the factory (barring the exclusive rally-car rims) until the last year of production, so dealers went nuts adding 4-lug custom rims to new cars; shared the Falcon/Corvair bolt pattern. Same-o with air conditioning; just dealer-added options available until late production. I'm getting the restomod '71 I built a few years ago back on task, finishing up installing the mixture of parts that is my A/C system. Putting it up for sale soon, and modern buyers demand the creature comforts! Re: my comments above... Wick "How to Restore Your Datsun Z-Car" guy

I usually don't trust rattle-can paint; you just can't know what its made of, or how it will perform. Having said that, I admit to using some on two recent builds just to get colors I wanted, and they seemed okay. But, still I had little control over the spray pattern and amount of material that is delivered when the spray tip is pushed; it's mostly just ON/OFF, with no ability to adjust. Eg, a gentle push usually just gets sputters and droplets. As to 'decanting' aerosols, I don't like the off-gassing wait period, nor of course, the risks of poor materials. I've often advocated the use of 1/1 car paints (of which I have an embarrassing amount, doing 1/1 restos AND having worked in a PPG retail store. Granted, they don't like to mix colors, especially exotics, in very small batches (the formulas usually don't support anything less than a half-pint size) and also I admit that they cost too much. However, there is a lot of room to play in buying (or getting free, not too hard) what stores call 'miss-match' colors, most of which can't be told from the exact hue on a kit -- most are re-formulated because a bodyshop sprayed a test card or tried touching-up a panel and discovered some discrepancy. Also, you sometimes find some kookie colors that way. I have a whole gallon of 'hemi orange*' that somehow got metallic mixed in it (not my fault -- they usually only let me do quart lots!), a pint of 'Ultra Violet', 'Monster Green' and several others that are exotic. Moly orange, school-bus yellow, a deep blue-black that mimics the old Nocturne Blue GM used, and so forth. And, of course, I stick by 2K Clear 660 PPG for airbrushing topcoats, as it never yellows, and can be shot fairly thinly, to avoid the 'dipped in clear plastic look' that judges abhor -- though it impresses the man on the street no end. Admission: I also have used UPOL clear and failing that, SEM clear from rat-cans, recently. A trick: I have a number of '50-60's 'Kustom' cars in the works (and finished) some of which I begun with annual kits in the very early 'sixties, and I use 2K epoxy (or polyester) 1/1 primer/surfacer on them. It's hella durable, and builds up like crazy, plus can stand any kind of topcoat. Advantage with 'Autorama' show cars (angel-hair era) is that it can yield a super smooth, sensual surface, and gives the look of a 'lead sled' custom like the famous custom shops did 'back when'. You just have to be careful if you want to save the original details, like moldings and weatherstrips, etc. I also confess to using the primer/surfacer aerosols from Harbor Freight! Anyway, I seldom buy any of the popular paint brands, much less water-based, because I'm satisfied with what materials I shoot. Glad to share, also, if you come by and bring some small containers! I have most of a gallon of USAF olive-drab, the old nitro lacquer, from about 1965... I have two nice Iwata airbrushes, but mostly I use the cheap purple 'finger gun' from HF, which performs very well with all paints, and has a surprising amount of adjustability. Plus, is cheap to replace at will. Gaskets for my old DeVilbiss EGA cost bank, sadly, and it's a syphon gun, which limits material mix in some ways. *Our store manager was another old timer (who bleeds MoPar) and he told me that a metallic hemi-orange was a exterior option one year c. 1970 -- I dunno. Ole' Wick (Built first kits 73 years ago!) This is a Starbird design (supposedly ,from a magazine) in '61, begun then and finished a few years ago; PPG JE 9700 black

Thank you, guys! Knew I could count on you for info. Strangely, it seemed to switch while I was uploading for 'What did you accomplish today' forum; some pics came right up, then stopped. I'll get on it asap. Wick

I just airbrushed Molotow 'chrome' on black primered 'Moon discs' (from two old Mono 1/24 kits; Green Hornet) and I can vouch for the fact that it shouldn't be touched for a goodly period; got a fingerprint immediately within 24-hours drying! I have a complete set of bumpers, grilles, etc from an old AMT Pontiac LeMans kit I'm rebuilding that need the 'replating' treatment, and wondered about clear coating them for durability. Murphy's Law, you know... Future, or whatever it goes by now, is acrylic and water-based; should work??? Wick

Another issue: I've noticed that while using a good clear-coat to sharpen colors and provide lots of reflective shine, it is considered by most judges to go too far, and become 'out of scale' with the surface. I think I agree with this, as the small scale of our kits doesn't really chime-in, scalewise, with either clear-coats nor most metallic paints. The well-cleared surface looks like, if 1/1, the body had been soaked in clear epoxy, or something -- not very convincing. However, at shows, it still seems to me that the traffic viewing the cars is drawn to clear-topcoated entrants -- especially judging by their comments overheard -- and they become the 'stars' of the table. So many metallic paints, even the ones sold by the raft of hobby-supplier specialists, have aluminum or nowadays mica flakes that, in true scale, would be more equivalent to Metalflake size. Like the above perhaps over-cleared bodies, they often attract a lot of positive attention from the onlookers -- sometimes my own, included -- but are seriously out of scale. I'd tend to pass-over these quibbles, but so often I see/hear criticisms of them from the really knowledgeable gang. I once got a MA in Art, and know my history of painting; even the old masters knew that clear varnishing had the effect of providing two reflective surfaces for light to bounce from, which surely enhances the brilliance and depth of colors to the human eye. That makes the artwork more attractive, surely. Like our old automotive clear enamels, the clear varnishes yellowed quickly, of course. I guess I'll continue using both 2K PPF clear and whatever metallics are out there, and not worry. Wick

Q: Steven, especially: I began using the old 'rat-can' in the late 'fifties, and graduated in the 'seventies to using an air-brush, or just a 'finger-gun' or 'jamb-gun' (My old DeVilbiss EGA) for kit bodies-- but like the idea of 'cutting and buffing' for good surface looks. SO, on those good-enough-to-eat paint jobs you depict: how do you keep from cutting/buffing through surface details at all? I usually use 1/1 car finishes, as a former PPG store employee, and even with tough acrylic-urethane applications, sometimes buff through on raised sections, which necessitates a re-shoot job! Doing 1/1 restorations like I have for 40-years, I know the tricks of masking off projections, character lines, and details -- but on a recent '57 Ford 'shorty' 2-door sedan build of my daughter's 1/1 car (which I just finished doing all the body work on) I got a ghost of the white styrene through the tail-light 'bulge' below the fin, even before I realized it. This was with Summit AU 'enamel', fairly deep coat of Battleship Gray. I'm not enamored of having to reshoot it, because of the obvious result of putting on thicker paint on details (that can't be masked) like logos, etc. What's the trick you obviously use so effectively? Wick

Railroad style rivet decals set my imagination to work -- but as mentioned, the backing is terribly fragile, and I keep wanting to make it curve. I use all the set/solve solutions, etc. but still have the darn little black things break apart, drift away in the initial soak, etc. I appreciate that the backing is quite thin for realism's sake, etc. Lots of great applications to get that effect. Haven't done the louvers yet. I was going to try to use rows for upholstery buttons on a '60 Impala custom build, but it didn't work out; would have looked cool if it had in that kitsch early 'sixties fashion. I've applied them under bmf, on a D/Dragster based on an ancient Double Dragster' frame and body, and gotten decent results, if not ideal. Still trying to perfect my technique! Wick

Bill: I don't know -- we've been lied to for so many generations that it would take some prevarication by AI to top it, or fool we old geezers! Mark Twain, an idol of mine, said in Innocents Abroad (paraphrased) about a father in a middle-asian city re: his son: "Only twelve, and already he's a very accomplished liar!" Or as as Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason said "Just because some people are liars, doesn't mean that we must be fools!" Amen to that! Ole Wick

Earl, Nope, I made it all; began in summer of '62 by promoting the AMT 1/25 scale Tempest four-banger from my cousins LeMans kit! It's hard to build an exact replica of the original show car because PMD changed it to a '62 with light lemon-yellow paint and Halibrand mag wheels for another year's showing. The real one supposedly still exists, but has some features (like a folding top) that were never on the original. I made this one from a sectioned four-door sedan, with the prototypical twin-headrest tonneau cover from a '63 kit, Corvair, I think. Pontiac had Mickey Thompson under contract to set records with their cars -- and/or engines -- which he did with a vengeance. He built a kit to put the small GMC 3.71 blower on the fours, and sold the company several for Tempests; also set FIA acceleration record with one in a slingshot, plus another with the cast-iron banger cut into a two-cylinder mill! All in HRM. The transaxle and diff wouldn't stand up to the 421 power, so he (and later many others) converted the car to the Pont-Olds 9.2-in. rear end. Won Stock Eliminator (A/FX) at the '62 NHRA nats. '63 SS/FX also. Thanks for the approval!! Wick

Too true! I guess I missed out on a MH Dodge 4x4 Powerwagon resin kit that is now obsolete; I wanted to build a tribute USFS Class IV tanker in honor of my last fire crew vehicle in '68. This isn't the trad PW, like the GI weapons carrier, but a D-Series pickup from about '64. I was five fire season's in by then, and a Red Card rated "Crew Boss' as foreman of my own 4-man crew in N CA. I almost rather do my favorite Dodge Class III tanker, with crew of six. like in '67; I sort of got demoted to a smaller station because I refused to shave off my 'Omar Sharif' (or was it Sgt. Peppers?) mustache that the gals seemed to like... Only resin kit 'in the wild' I seek now is the '54-55 Studebaker Conestoga wagon body, but always -- dollar short and day late! Wick

Tech-savvy friends: how do I convert pdf photos into jpeg or other acceptable images? For some reason, my android phone pics are uploaded as pdf files, which won't work with our forums. Quick and effective way to convert on my laptop, pls? Thanks!! Wick

I'm fascinated by the race cars that were put together in the dark ages of hot rodding (tho maybe the most fun era?) and what might have been on the Salt Flats and dry lakes. I'm doing a couple of 'what if' cars just -- mostly -- because I sourced engines that sparked my interest. Some parts are pretty hard to find for 1/25/ -1/24 scale racers, I discovered; real 1/24 size Firestone Super Sports 'tall n' narrow' racing tires, or that ilk, for instance. Some of the kit tires are reasonably similar, like the ones from a R-R limo in my pic, or Cad V-16 -- both with wire wheels, but 1/25. I've had a number of kits with big-scale rubber (and usually it was, in the 'fifties when lots of scale models were motorized, either JetX or battery powered, and expected to have some traction relationship with 'the road,' but 65 years later, what did I do with them? I have one wheel (nondescript, looks a bit like a later slot-mag) from a Comet 'Panther' race car design (Bonneville, or Indy?) to make resin castings from the tire, but resin often doesn't come out looking right. Here is my in-progress LSR car, c. 1938-41; a twin Cad V-16-engined semi-streamliner. Inspired byAb Jenkin's "Mormon Meteor" record holder with Duesenberg DOCH straight-eight, it has two V-16's, one driving the front, and the other the rear wheels, in theory. I kid my wife by calling it the "Catholic Comet" -- still waiting for her to laugh! It has a brass rod frame (never again: solder brass, not braze it!) the rear body from a melted-down Monogram Kurtiss Indy roadster (with 'way too many hours in it!) and the forward body from a Bic or Scripto gas fire lighter. I'm going to use those chrome tubular 'beads' from Michaels as tuned individual exhausts, and four updraft carbs per bank on the motors. The tubes work really well for small diameter dumps, and can be run full length, or cut into two useable sections with the old Mototool abrasive blade. I guess I'm going to have to use the wire rims from either R-R or Cad kits. Pretty simple build, with most detail unseen from the streamlining needed. In theory, the driver starts the car on battery, gets it moving on the rear-wheel engine, then cuts in the front direct-drive one via an in/out box. Low tech, for the thrifty 'thirties, right? Maybe cream pearl white, with royal purple stripes, and some gold, for the ecclesiatical theme? I'll post some WIP photos by springtime; lots of other irons in the fire, incl two apocryphal Harry A. Miller street roadsters based on R-R Mono roadster and Cad V-6 roadster bodies/frames. I made a reasonably typical (if not accurate) V-16 resin copy for the latter from an old Hawk M-B GP prewar car motor. The other will have a V-12 or V-16 scratch-built mill. Miller made the first 'mag wheels' on his TNT racers about 1916, and Bugatti copied them later, so by dint of a generous Canuck donor, I'm just using the die-cast Bug rims when I can find a bit bigger tires for them. Just realized my files are pdf; don't know why. Back when converted. Wick

Sorry to nag again, but does anyone have one Buick nailhead valve cover from the old AMT Trophy Series kits? I have a '61 Buick Special wagon kit I bought back then, and have it converted to a two-door panel-delivery; with the hood opened it needs this early Buick block to be right. I don't have a pic: it's 1/25, oc, and chrome with the vertical grooves and stud/bolt attachments of the early '50s Buicks, not the second gen from '63-up. Or was it '65? Still have some trading stuff, esp small parts Thanks! Wick

Tempest owner would like to find a 1961 Pontiac Tempest AMT 1/254-door sedan annual kit, or glue-bomb assembled car; object to convert to coupe (like my 1/1 alloy V-8 rarity) I can afford. Well, Mom always insisted 'you never know until you try!' I have one '61, an annual that I bought back that year, that I long ago converted to the Pontiac show-car 'Monte Carlo' roadster. (I also have a '62 convertible built as a LeMans I owned, an unbuilt '63 coupe, a conversion of a ragtop '63 to coupe, and a '63 421 'SuperDuty' or 'Powershift' factory race car 'interpretation' that I did in '63. I'm low on trading stuff to offer, but am willing to negotiate for compensation, if you have one to spare. Y-body Tempests/LeMans are kind of an obsession with me; I wrote the first/original history of the 1961-63 Tempest for SPECIAL INTEREST AUTOS Magazine (Hemmings) back in 1976 -- when most of the guys who designed or raced it were still available for interviews! Wick

Hey! I ain't overly proud of my rendition of Tempest from GTO kit -- done some time ago; I do better engines now -- but I wanted to get it knocked out. The 326 is easy to adapt from 389; virtually the same engine (same crankshaft for sure, long stroke/oversquare) and it was a torquer, even with the two-bbl carb. In those golden days it was 'two doors/three pedals, or no deal' for me; this had the old Chevy/Saginaw three-speed with the four-bolt side cover, not the great later all-synchro Saginaw box. Before PMD had the Saggy, it bought three-speeds from Ford, who innovated the feature (as far as I know, and I know quite a bit!) Trivia: the Saginaw box had a Borg-Warner planetary overdrive in the tail-shaft housing as an option, and it could be combined with a Saginaw 4-speed to make essentially an okie five-speed. Trivia X-2: the 1963 Tempest/LeMans iron V-8, the one that replaced my Buick 215 alloy version, was actually a 336-cu.in. mill, but GM edict forced PMD to downsize the bore in '64, for the first A-body intermediates! DeLorean, again. Making a credible grille was the hardest thing on this replica, and it only came off so-so, vs. pics of the 1/1 car. The thin aluminum trim from headlight to taillight was just thin styrene strip, but not really thin enough to reall replicate the original -- still, it serves. I know of no source for '326' fender callouts, nor 'TEMPEST' logo, etc. alas. Oh how I wish I could afford another '65 Tempest coupe, but now all are about the price of a GTO, according to my bro-in-law, who spent years wheeling and dealing GTO's and muscle cars for a living. My first car was a '55 Chevy Delray coupe (hot 265, etc -- even lakes pipes; another replica I'm working on -- in 1961, and both our kids came home from the hospital in a '55 210 sedan, restored by me,.; another ride that has priced itself out of sight. This is my '61 Tempest coupe, pre-LeMans, and former '62 LeMans ragtop (had the 4-bbl. slant four, easily kept up with CA freeway speeds!) which someone else restored. Just put a 4-bbl. on the 215, plus duals so it sounds pretty rasty. Not; has a PowerGlide adapted from the Corvair... My first article for SPECIAL INTEREST AUTOS Mag was on the Tempest history in 1976; could still interview the guys who built and raced it back then!! As mentioned, I'm buying a '67 Sprint OHC six (engine only, cheaply) which may just be a conversation piece in the shop... Ole' Wick