Wickersham Humble

As I once told Hot Rod Magazine, when they V-8 swapped an early Z: "You junked the best part of the car!" The L-series engines are built of superior stuff; almost ipossible to blow one up if kept to 7K-rpms and in good condition internally. Another quote, from about 1970, from one of the car mags (got it somewhere) testing the then new Chevy Z-28 and Datsun 240Z: "They're both haulers, but we'd expect the Chevy to drop a valve before the Datsun." Go 3.1-L with a stroked/bored L28 (280Z block) using a Nissan Diesel crank and rods, add Webers X3, and the usual good stuff, and hang on! Much lighter up front -- and in total -- and somewhat better mileage... if that is important at this point. OC, even a BBC fits the engine bay, and with modest induction, the hood will still close! Just sayin' Ole' Wick

Gene, Thanks! I love early Z-Cars, saddened by the prospect of having to sell my '71 restomod (with less than 500 miles on the complete re-do!) but 'Life's what happens..." My old (80) eyes tell me my cars look pretty good, but when the true details are brought out in photos, the truth dawns... and it is disappointing. You can't see 'em, but the valve covers (BBC) have tiny Datsun decals on them. Nissan 454? Race 64 is oc, the opposite of Brock/Morton's C/Prod champ from the Revell kit. Wick

I have hundreds of pounds, literally, of many old 1/1 mag titles, most of which I've read cover to cover -- and with great satisfaction! My MCM and SC shelf is only about 18-inches, however, which I regret. I was going to buy some Spotlite model books, the small-format ones, at a swap recently, until I saw the prices! My gosh! Worth it, possibly, but not in my budget. Yep, my old brain organizes best with pages, even when dog-eared and held together with Scotch tape (the mags, I mean -- though my wife wonders about the brain part... Wick

First, kudos to contributor Trent Christian for the neat conversion idea, and the very spiffy build; congrats! I did the GTO to Tempest conversion about 5-6 years ago to depict a favorite ride I had about 1967, before the Draft caught me in mid crazy youth, a '65 Tempest Custom 2-dr hardtop (326 base motor and 3-speed stick -- of course!) which I loved.* I'm always shocked at how mediocre my builds look in photos; guess that's reality, vs. my octogenarian eyes, huh? That year had a separate base model that didn't share the Lemans/GTO grille configuration; it looked (meant to, oc) cheaper -- but was still nice enough. My conversion wasn't hard under the hood; just build-down the Goat powerplant, and go with a single exhaust, etc. The 1965-65 basic models had a distinctive chrome (aluminum, actually) molding strip that ran over the fenders and door where the LeMans/GTO had a pinstripe, etc. and hard to get 'thin' enough! I just scribed a rectangle around the hood scoop, and filled the gap. Ironically, I lost it, had to make a replacement from scratch; found the original -- and then gave the repro to a fellow forum member who solicited one! Kismet! I wondered: were the Sprint/Tempest tail lights different from the LeMans that year? All the pics I've seen of Sprints have the base-line fan-shaped lens, etc. Also, I wondered if he mistook the windshield-washer cannister for an overflow reservoir? And is it the brake master-cylinder vacuum booster housing he names 'the brake drum'? I obviously had the same fit issue with the front grille/headlight/bumper assembly in my kit; not exemplary! Included are two shots of the 1/1 Poncho, plus my Ducati Scrambler from 1968 I hope he contributes more innovative builds, and keeps up the good research. The pics show engine compartment and interior detail to die for! Wick *Also done my first car, 1955 Chevy Delray rod in 1961, and 1951 Ford Club Coupe from 1964 -- I was a real throw-back, I guess! Cheap to keep!

Still need the rims/tires, if anyone has them surplus. Still have some trade parts. Wick

I should have that part; I used the Merc grille to make a Kustom. Doesn[t look like you found one? Let me know. Wick

I have a '62 -- I believe -- front grille unused but back in '62 I removed the 'chrome' from the bumper upright blades thinking it would be more subtle... good taste in a 16 year old? Might have the wheel covers, too. Your's if you want 'em. Eventually (60 years later) i built my kit into a sorta' Bonneville racer called 'Big BIrd' -- bright yellow, Cat V-16 Diesel, one racing seat, twin-turbos in trunk, etc. I used the 'Styline' front and rear pans from AMT; wish I had some pics of it! Wick

I need to take some of the Caddies! The '59 won second in DC at IPMS in '23. These Z photos are not too good, but... Wick

Great photos! Yep, I suspect when they re-engineered their cases, they took pains to make sure flanges were substantial. Blowers, of so many types and designs, are a whole other story in rodding. Never owned one, myself, but most could say that. My wife's (late) cousin Jerry had a Graham or Frenzel centrifugal mounted to work on his 21-stud flat motor, but to my knowledge never got it going. It was to be the secret weapon in his '34 coupe to knock off my PowerPak /55 Delray coupe, for the glory of Ford. Lot's of Fords did that, but not his -- of course pitting a 265 against a 390FE (or Robert Hight's* 413) was not a way to top street honors in our tiny town (closer to OR and NV than CA, we always claimed!) but you're only 17 once! Ah, the memories! I got to see Mick's Challenger at a car show, after his sad demise. Interviewed him once, on the 421 Tempest SD racers of '63. Wick *Funny car driver Robert Hight's uncle, and name sake. He had a '62 Sport Fury 361-B that could beat me too, after second gear.

On the other hand, there is a photo in an old hot rod book of an 'unpruned' 6-71 front mounted on a 90-deg. angle (so is the crank drive for it) with the intake facing forward, and the big rectangular 'blow' side aft into an awkward looking fabricated manifold, Enderle injectors, as I recall. Old hemi, as I recall -- and that's not easy! I'll find it asap. A one-off; too many right angles probably. The Potvin front drives were very popular, too; seems like everyone thought it was the future with blowers. Even the nutty sports-racer Bocar used it with SBC. Viz, the AMT 'Double-Dragster' kit. The twin-engined rail was modeled on 'Double Trouble' I think, with Dragmaster frame, etc. I don't know what the old man did with the Borg-Warner huffer; not too large. Who remembers the GMC 5-73 (??) Wick

Big improvement! I've done a number of DC remods: Maisto '58 and 59 Caddies to kustoms, '53 Studebaker coupe with scrached McCulloch in a diorama, Burrago 280Z Tom Daniels (to doorslammer) and like them -- despite limitations -- because I can glass-bead the metal for new paint, etc. and the often larger scale is easier for 80-year old me to handle -- and see! Oh, also a Maisto 240Z painted like my 1/1 car, Honda silver, and autographed by Pete Brock, John Morton, restorer Steve Pettersen, and my Humble self, as author of 'How to Restore Your Datsun Z-Car' (1990, and still in print!) though it was a bugger to reassemble, and like most DC modifications, hard to find scale rims for, really. Wick

Not to belabor a topic, but it's an interesting one; viz the Car Craft article by Lang. I wondered, though, if pruning the original down was a great idea as fuel loads and probably pressures increased in the slingshot era? By the time the rear-engined diggers had taken over, weren't the race sanctioners requiring safety straps on blower/injector assemblies to prevent 'popping' the stuff when the bypass valve couldn't handle a backfire under full pressure? Seems like the flanged GMC would be tethered to the manifold better... but maybe I'm all wet. Bench racing... ahh! Wick

Great pic; custom blower case, etc. is really distinctive! I used to like Never-Dull, but after spiffing up the cam cover and intakes on my 240Z, I find that getting the residue off takes too long (what you don't catch reappears when the metal heats up, like driving to our local concours yesterday -- embarrassing, kept hood shut!) I may go back to 0000 steel-wool and some polish. Oh well... I tried to simulate Dow 7 on a belled-intake (through the radiator bulkhead on the Z, for 'ram' air...) with paint; luckily I kept it subtle -- and flat. Bobbed the air filter horn and used a Spectre kit hose and adapter; looks and sounds pretty good. Any suppliers of your knowledge sell a Dow 7 paint that looks okay? Right; lots of builders use something that makes it look like Metalflake in scale. Wick

My step-dad had trucks, and we had a lot of misc equipment around; one piece was a Borg-Warner built Roots blower that had a 'trimmed' case from the factory, as I believe after thirty or forty years past. He'd seen such a supercharger used to 'blow' grain through a tube at an elevator such as he ran, and bought it to try and build a similar device. Somewhere I have an ad from an old Mechanix Illustrated or similar mag advertising these as surplus equipment. Never seem one on a hot rod, though. It seems like the trimmed case era was mostly late fifties? Thx for the insights. Wick

Upon release, I bought this kit, and my bro bought the Ivo 'Showboat' dragster; they defeated us! Wonderful kit, but so complex (as were the original subjects!!) and too fiddley for impatient teen-agers in the early 'sixties! Anyone who builds the 'Challenger' is an artiste! Go, Bill! I still have bits and pieces of both cars in my parts drawers; don't think at 80 I'm up for a rematch, tho! Just swapped a generous forum member for a Mono 'Sizzler' kit, partially assembled but tasty, that is distracting me from my 1/1 duties now; doing the Bantam coupe body as a twin-SBC stormer, and putting the hemi in my old 'Green Hornet' chassis to revive it. The blown Olds will be handed down to an old Lindberg duece roadster kit. I bought a pretty decent 'Hornet' assembled kit at a 1/1 swap meet (a great place to find very modestly priced models cars stuff, I've found !) and am going to polish it up as a restoration to go with the other 1/24 diggers I have. The 'trimmed' GMC 6/71 on the 'Hornet' is one of the few I've found to resin-cast from; most Jimmy blowers in kits have the full mounting-flange ribs. Seems like ones with ribs/mounts trimmed were used mostly on street rod cars, for looks, back in the early days. Bill is the olde speed equipment guru; what's his take? BTW, the valve covers on the Long John dragster just fit the Sizzler hemi heads, likewise the unique header. Easy to drill out the ends of the plug-wire looms and run wires from mag. I'm filling their recesses on the 2-piece body, and cutting a hole up top to run a 1/24 Offy four, very period piece! Wick

Yep, I wrote the "How to Restore Your Datsun Z-Car" manual in the mid-eighties, published in 1990, and still in print, now by Car Tech. My original 240Z, bought while at Ft. Sam Houston, TX, was the subject of the restoration step-by-step, and was repurchased by NISSAN USA in 1995. (They gave $12K for it, now probably worth $75K, at least!) They wanted it because they had discontinued the 300ZX sports cars, and had an L.A. shop refurbishing about two dozen early Z's and selling them as new, with 12-month warranty, etc. I don't know if they re-serialed them or not; mostly the dealers who got them held onto them until they could go to auction, and the big market value. My HLS3547 was 'Japanese Racing Green' which is best replicated with 'Mack Truck Green' I found, with a saddle tan interior; I restored it using the black interior I wanted in the first place. My '71 restomod Z is silver ('03 Honda color, my first experience with base/clear paint) with black; the "20th Anniversary ZX adjustable buckets, using R-R Connoly black leather, and full carpet where the 'unborn lizard-hide' diamond-pattern vinyl was on the trans tunnel, etc. It has a Hobrecht roll-bar, L28 and steel-stynchro 5-speed, 280Z rear discs, and about two pages of other goodies I always wanted. Alas: my poor wife has fibromyalgia and osteo; can't stand the Tokiko shock/spring tied-down suspension ride (it handles like on rails, but is choppy and abrupt!) and I need to sell it. I know of a lot of Japanese cars that were collectable before the 1969-deubut 240Z, the Toyota 2000GT is probably the nicest one. However, it was the Z-Car that finally made the North American market take Japanese cars seriously, and 'Japan Inc.' stormed through the stick-in-the-mud American market like a katana! Sorry that GM/Ford/MoPar let that happen; I was hoping that Pontiac would be allowed to release their Banshee sports car, and I could have bought American, after all. It was a package I would have loved, with the SOHC-6 with Q-Jet, and good 4-speed. (I'm getting one of those motors next week, btw -- hope I can adapt it to a B-W T-5 five-speed! Any other Z questions; I'd love to discuss them! I have five unbuilt Z-kits in 1/5, and the big Tamaiya ZG kit which I want to convert to RHD and a stock nose. Are those replica Hayashi 8-spoke resin wheels back in production yet? Ole' Wick

Russell, Ford missed a good feature when they didn't try that tail-lite treatment! Can that body be saved, tho? Wick

Good take on '62 Dodges; they needed some restyling, but mostly around the back window, etc. Exner's swan song at Chrysler. I took two Revell '62 Dodge hardtop kits (4-door) that were crushed and made one two-passenger dream car/dragster I called the Dodge Dragon (pun intended -- good enough for MoPar) but it came out rather clumsy. I wish I had a kit of the Plymouth XNR sports car, with Hyper slant-six! Wick

Amazing how many modelers are also artists! Or not... I always wanted to be a car stylist, but not quite good enough -- or prolific enough for Detroit. Do you have more? Wick

Impressive; nice composition, too! Ex art teacher, Old Wick

With 1/1 cars, and not being able (elementary school teacher's salary, and only a small book royalties and article fees) I had and have limitied my 'stable' to 2/3 cars, once of which I often drive daily -- BUT I always hungered for tthat special, low-production example. At least, one that I could restore, not exotics like Ferrari's or even Cobras, etc. but seldom scored something really nutty. My '61 Pontiac Tempest with OEM Buick aluminum 3.5-L V-8 is as close as I'm coming right now, and it's essentially finished up. I added dual exhausts, MBZ suv rear sway-bar, and soon a 4.bbl. carb. We once restored and drove daily a '55 Nomad, a striking '62 Stude Hawk, and of course, the '35 non-classic but bitchin' Packard coupe that I had to sell when the kids both needed tonsillectomies! Other restos have been relatively plebian rides, but satisfying. The Muntz, for all it's period styling, might have been that car, esp if upgraded with a modern mill. I'd like to see your photos; one might be this car, as it wasn't prepossessing to contemplate! Wick

Great replica of a significant car! Missed the WIP segments; what did you begin with? I had practically swapped a '56 Chevy 210 wagon for a basket-case Muntz Jet back in the early 'eighties, but it turned out the kid (literally) who had given up on the Muntz wasn't 18 yet, and his mom queered the deal. It had been a Lincoln 337 or Cad 347 flathead V-8, but he took a 390 FE out of it, which apparently hadn't ever run. It was a mess, but rare enough I might have sweetened the deal for him, except for her snotty jibes. It would have been a huge project, and I had my own '35 Packard 120 coupe 'in the works'... also missed an Allard at the Turlock Swap Meet about 1980 for about $1,400; four door (K-3?) but all there and running -- as I recall, a Zephyr V-12, a snakebit engine at best. Can't afford 'em all! "...what might have been!" Wick

Super replica of an important car! Wick

I always loved Pontiacs; only had a few: '65 Tempest Custom 2-dr HT, '62 Tempest ragtop (155-hp four with 4-bbl) and current '61 Tempest coupe with Buick 215 V-8 (original, aluminum mill), took my driver's test in '61 with the family '55 Chieftan wagon, and put lots of miles on it's replacement, a '62 Catalina wagon. Have models of most built or in progress. However, my first ride was a '55 Chevy Delray 2-dr sedan, all built by an older guy who got drafted (red rims with big Moons, no less, and lakes pipes!) also modelled. Wick

Reventlow, as I recall (too lazy to look it up) had the incomparable hot-rodder Chuck Daigh as a mech and driver, and possibly Travers & Coon? Like the AC-cum-Cobra, the Scarab was more or less a rip-off stylistically of a Ferrari, but as Groucho Marx once was credited with saying: "If you're going to steal, steal from the best!" I think that the Halibrand quick-change did wind up in a few other rod-derived sports racers; seems like the Edwards had it too, or ??? The 'Old Yellers',Cunninghams, Bocars, Echidnas, Hussar, Allards, Chevy/HMW, and other innumerable sports specials made the 'fifties a memorable decade. Eventually led to the Chaparrals and all of Group 7 and CanAm monsters. For kits, I wish there were a better source for scale Firestone Super-Sports tires, even the natural rubber ones we used to see. Lance R., lucky devil, married blondie Cheryl Holdridge (sp?) long-time Wally Cleaver girlfriend from Leave It To Beaver, but not Mary Ellen Rogers. Wonder if she got a ride in a Scarab? Wick