Pierre Rivard

The chassis set up looks very promising. The rear axle & spring arrangement looks exactly like the one on the early 50's Goldenrod. Are you setting this build with removable panels (or complete body) to allow a good view of the chassis/drivetrain/cockpit? Cool project!

Adding insulated mats. Made a paper pattern and replicated on medical fabric tape. Tape was painted gray, then dry brushed aluminium, then added PE fasteners.

Making a few additional dials for this beauty. Integration of components has a nice... home made feel?

PE buckles are fighting me again. I wish I could find a brand where all the parts work. Anyhow... we have seatbelts on our ratty seat.

Sure is. This stock body C3 last ran in 2000 with a 303 cid twin turbo, perhaps with a bit of nitro and ached a 2 way average of 270mph. Who has time to look at all these gauges... Thanks friend. Mine will have a few adds but pretty spartan in comparison. Definitely off the beaten path Ken. I did add some weathering to the interior trim btw.

It is a nice chassis, and with working steering. Impressive vintage kit for sure.

Just caught up with this one as I don't visit Nascar often. Your body mods are spot on. A favorite race car of many but such a disappointing kit. You are doing your absolute best with it and it shows. Brave man!

Thanks for the suggestions Ken. I may try a few of these. I'm keeping interior trim with this car as it supports the narrative for the type of quick build production based race car I aim for. Perhaps today all salt cars have these removed but I am dating this as a 2000ish entry. Two examples of salt car interiors from the era that kept some of the stock interior trim. First is a Ford Maverick that ran in the mid nineties in the production or classic category. Second is the famous C3 Corvette Sundowner, it had a long career and last ran in 2000 in the GT class.

Thank you Charlie. Not a lot of accurate mechanical details here but this project is an enjoyable paint & weathering experiment.

Crisp reflections in a paint job don't lie. Perfect!

Indy roadsters are cool, so this is one more interesting build to follow. I admire your ability to handle 3 projects at the same time. Please tell us more about the kit origins and what the "upgrade plan" is (wheels & tires, engine etc)

I am a huge fan of your build Jim. The frame, suspension and engine are so precisely made they look real. Your work with various washes make all these "metal" parts very lifelike. The polishing of the body done to achieve a period correct patina oozes realism. Did I say I'm a huge fan?

Another great one is starting to take shape. I like your approach to each component set, like that beautiful rear axle/diff, treating it like a scale model by itself. The idea of creating something special starting with the legendary 55 Chevy and dropping a Novi engine into it is beautifully mad. Carry on Master Charlie, we're all... eyes!

Thanks Mark. It is actually pretty easy to do, much easier than trying to achieve a nice shiny paint job. It's a lot of fun too! Hi Dave. The concept of this build is the making of a salt race car from a barn find, solid but not pretty Nova. I know... it's weird... Thank you Andy Open to suggestions Ken. I tried dirtying the vinyl trim with washes, any idea what I could do to improve it?

Not much to see but looks like some sort of low back bucket and a separate flat headrest attached to roll cage.

Have you considered brushing on dry pigments (graphite or charcoal)? It's easy to apply and wipe off excess with a humid Q-tip.

Beautifully done Mario. It looks very real and brings memories of our youth with the bright two tone paint jobs.

And then getting the interior floor/back seat & rear shelf areas to look like primed metal with some surface corrosion. Step 1 was painting medium gray to replicate the factory electro dip primer. Step 2 is a highly diluted lighter gray, applied generously and with some spots wiped off to various degrees. Step 3 was lightlysponging some rust paint (dark and light) to replicate various degrees of surface rust. Step 4 was a Vallejo rust wash, applied unevenly and wiped off in some areas while letting it pool on other spots.

On to finishing the roll cage. as previously said I wanted to replicate carbon steel, no paint, a few rubs & scratches. I started with a semi metallic dark gray, done by mixing black and aluminium. Step 2 was a bit of dry brushing flat aluminium in some spots, then some gunmetal. Last step was blending it in a bit using Tamiya weathering masters (gunmetal, then soot)

Door panels, seat and dash have been "aged" Perhaps a bit more to come for the seat, before harness installation

One word... WOW!

I've had trouble using Quick Shine over glass pieces. Poor adhesion and does not wash off with windex like Future does. Hope you have better luck than I did.

Thanks for the detailed assessment of the kit Matt. I'll be keeping an eye for one in the future. This Caddy is glorious and I 'll be following your journey.

Real screening really looks like... real screening right? I like it!

And now the fabrication of smaller components begins with a shifter with a basic no frills rubber booth. I like my newly acquired punch set.