Mike Holland

There you go! Excellent, make it fit. Respect.

Hi Dennis. OK, I accept that you're going darkside with this one. Dear Mr. Hemifever, yep, Chevies had a couple of cool ones, too. Post door cars rock! Actuallly, even bought a basket case back in early '75. '63 Chevy II. The motor was too insane though, built by a local shop in the DC area. Angle plug heads and w/ 13-1 compression just too idiotic. Sold the motor for more than I paid for the whole car. Such were the times. PS: it's OK to build Chevies. I like them as well. Mike..

I like it. What's cooler than an early 60s post door car? Nice works going on here.

William, I like it! Asking about the tonneau cover, your own creation? Looks great.

Thanks Dennis, I love these old diggers.

UPDATE: Motor stuff. Shown here adding some fuel line hardware and the zoomies. Motor will have the old school 4-hole injector hat. This time, making the 392 motor with the manifold injection lines running to the back, as with the 426 Hemi. Always wondering about this application, until seeing a photo of a 392 having all lines heading to the back. Interesting. Now, my personal dread! Zoomies. I'd rather lace wire wheels than do these! After building 10 of these brass models, finally have gotten wiser and things are so much easier and quicker with this method.....But 1st off, the old way. 4mm brass tube, thick-walled. Get a glass jar that has the correct, scale radius. Heat up until glowing red, then bend around the jar, for the radius, chop off as needed. Easy-peasy....lol! Forget about it. Here, the revised method. SO much easier and quicker. Slicing the 4mm brass tubes with a thick disc at high RPM, halfway through. About 7 cuts work for FED zoomies. Then, slip a solid brass rod in and bend according to your application. The solid rod prevents the tube from collapsing. Notice the brass rod sticking out. This feeds perfectly into the tubes already sitting in the heads. Now, after correcting the bends if necessary and chopping off the tube sticking out of the heads close to the flange, solder up or use your favorite putty to close the cut slicing. In my opinion, the 'slicing method' is easist and the quickest way forward. Why not? Zoomies are in my opinion a real live pita. 8 zoomies this way, 2 hrs. max. Here a finished FED from a few years ago, with slicing the zoomies....1:16 brass car.... Thanks for viewing. Mike..

There you have it. Only chrome will be the rocker covers and front axle. Down low and digging in. 1965.

Cheers to that, young man! This model was not my 1st absolute replica, but possibly my last one. But what a wonderful modelling experience. All of them. 3 FEDs and 2 FAs, the 3rd FA is in planning. A Bantam, 1:16, modelling the current fastest car in Europe. I have the 3D body, but it will need a ton of work, being way too wide and too tall at the doors. Body work is enjoyable though, time will tell. Once again Francis, your eloquence is the very best medicine out there, period. And I thank you most kindly for commenting. Mike..

Thank you Francis. Yes the age limit is biting me once more. Actually, not much left to do with this FED. The front wheels are spoked and ready for paint. The motor is finished, only needing spark leads and fuel lines and paint. Bend a simple brass cowl and sides, and that's about it. Painting is a pleasure, not a chore. Just the silly monkey on my back that laughs at my own laziness. Your words are the best medicine for firing up the bench once more. Greetings. Mike..

Elliot, looking very nice! It takes some guts to do the chop and you've pulled it off, thanks for the detailed step-by-step sequence. Excellent! Mike..

OK. I've been using such thin discs with a hand held micro motor for 50 years (dental). The 3D medium is new to me, I agree though the disc is overkill. I had no idea the thin sprue leads were so temp sensitive. My plan is now is to snip off the leads as far as I can get into the object, then start a slow dipping procedure in relative warm water and slowly start twisting the object around. Starting with the hood, which seems quite thick. Thinking step by step to get the feel of things. This is all new to me, thanks much for your input! Mike..

@Elliot, thanks for the interesting presentation. I haven't a clue about 3D printing but love your short video..

Hello Chris. Thanks for the info. There being still, a void along the bottom of the body where the running board would be, left side, just in front of the rear 'fender area'. Not a problem, I can fix this up. Now I understand about the warm water deal, thanks much for the info. Also the clarification concerning shipping/packaging issues. Now I get it. After paying $100 for this stuff, was not expecting the delivered project to be like this!! I have small clippers. Also, I like my trusty, diamond-coated separating disc, 1.2 " wide, quite thin, mounted in my hand held micro-motor. At 20k RPM, will slice through like butter. Chris, like many things in modelling, if you don't know, just ask. But geez....so much cash for such an object, has me wondering? However, the 2nd load of the same caliber, has the fenders and a chassis, plus a Ford 9" rearend housing. So, hoping to have not been severely ripped off. OK, I'm in Europe, so guessing am supposed to be wealthy? Laughing myself now. Thank you for your input. Mike..

Thank you, Les. How hot the water? Like from the faucet? Which, in my kitchen, can't touch it. Will this be enough? Or, rather a pot of water, real hot, like cooking noodles? Please excuse, having knowledge about 3D motors and such, just never have dealt with the sprue leads like this before. Hence, having zero knowledge with this degree of unknowns. Thanks much for your help, immensely appreciated. Mike..

Hello folks, Just received this one in the mail. Not my 1st, 3d body from this fellow, just 1st time receiving 3d body/parts like this! Needing oxygen and stress relief after viewing the quite expensive contents. The designer was not the printer, another fellow did the printing. Granted, having countless 3d parts, motors and such, haven't received one like this, yet. Oh boy, some serious hacking needed here. Also in the box, the custom fenders, chassis and Ford 9" rearend. Plan is a very low riding custom car/drag car. Not building this one yet, will be my next project. One at a time. Thoughts? How do YOU clean this mess up? Mike..

Hello Robert, I think you built just fine after a 45-year stretch! Let me write, before my Uncle Sam days, a childhood buddy got me a job at a local Mopar dealership. First having a Dart Swinger (340, 4spd) then going with the Duster, 340 automatic car. Red, white interior bucket seats and AC! Bought it at cost! The 340 was a very nice motor! The boys in the shop did their magic, carb & ignition work, plus paying some extra for the trans work, shifting much quicker! They used to tune the 440s, Highway patrol cars. This sweety was quick for a small block car. The Chevy guys will not like me writing it being quicker than BB Chevelles, but just a fact. The Olds 442s were another story, though. A 4 spd. Olds did not hook well with street tires. The automatics were very torquey, but still being able to inch these out in real 1/4 mile, although the Olds top end were higher. Tons of fun in a lightweight Mopar....gotta love it! Mike..

Very much appreciated, Kelly. This was a very intense project and I'm utterly grateful for the support from the real Pacers Race Team. Even the original builder, the father, and a couple of his original team offered encouragement. How good is that for a modeller's heart? Thanks for commenting! Mike..

Hello Lee, you got my attention, that you build 1:12. I checked out your profile. Rookies don't build 1:12 stuff. More than likely, we'll learn from you. However, soon I'll show a wheel, wire lacing, short tutorial that may be of interest. Thanks for dropping by.... Mike.. There you go! Get that Porsche done soon. We need some surfers over here on the Drag Racing forum. Honestly, I was thinking about modelling that car, just did not feel to have the momentum to do another replica car so soon. I need a phantom project, just showing the basics. Hello Mark, I agree, the FEDs in my opinion just scream out..do it. I like not having to glue in windows and effing up BMF. Give me FAs and FEDs! Open cars rule!

Bill, reading back many entries, no way this car would have WW tires, especially with probably cheater slicks or similar. No way! This was not a higher quality model from 1962. Zero white walls on this pearl. Very interest being, the original invoice, gotta love having a cigar lighter for less than $4 in your car. Myself, I'm from Jax., Florida. Before obliging Uncle Sam, a neighborhood buddy got me a job working at the very same Dodge dealership that supplied Don Garlits many parts from his earlier days. You can read about the dealership on his '63 Dodge from back then. The boys in the shop were well acquainted with Mr. Garlits. I'm surely a Mopar guy. Had the pure pleasure of selling a year old Plym, 383 Roadrunner for dirt cheap, to my own brother. lol. He got a great deal! Mopars never had good, comfort qualities, the exception being the upper class models. The basic Mopars mostly, cheap materials, but well built. And they were quick for not much money. For us younger boys back then, what's not to love? My fave was a 340 Dart, 4 spd. Bought it dirt cheap with employees discount. Like $2300. The boys in the shop did their magic, ignition and carb tuning.....mercy. The sweetie ran circles around BB Chevelles and such. The Olds 442 were tough, especially with automatic trans. They hooked well and had tons of torque. My Dart would spin tires at launch. So, street racing, only a rolling start with a 442 Olds. Olds are cool. My absolute favorite Mopar from 1970, would be the 340 Duster. You could order things like, a white interior w/ bucket seats and actual real gauges in the instrument panel! For cheap, Mopars were a thrill. Even AC was possible! Bill, please excuse my ratchet jaw here. Just slipping in some real Mopar stories from back in the day. I just like to communicate, which may be a problem for some. Mike..

Ian, essentially, there you have it. Form and function, no frills. Nothing else here to offer. Time machines in an era long gone. My opinion, these make for wonderful models and look sensational on the shelf. Kits don't offer the same view. Do it your own way. Am happy you're here. Mike..

Hello Ian. You know well yourself about the old school FEDs! Happy to see you! Mike..

Thank you very much, Chuck. About keeping up, man, at times this has become easier said than done. But all is OK now and am back at the bench. Thank you sincerely for commenting, means a lot to me. Mike.. Dear Carl, thank you for remembering. You are a fine man and a wonderful soul. This was the last model finished before my long pause, now 5 years ago. One finished this year last spring, another active now on the bench. Do your best and go for it! Mike..

I hear that! Daniel, I remember well your superb aluminum FED from a while back. Scratch built. Good that we freely communicate nowadays. I’m the same, just slower these days, but that's OK. My bench is fired up, supplies and parts aren't lacking, let's build an old school FED! Mike..

Yep, that would be the stuff. Solvent for styrene as well as glue. Nice and smelly! Hey, if it doesn't smell (like paint) it won't work! lol.

Fiats are just crazy! I love 'em!