Dennis Lacy

@Dave72 @BeakDoc Thank you, guys!

Thanks a bunch. It’s been fun to break away from the very traditional hot rods I always build and tap in to my inner 80’s, LOL! I grew up in the era and went to plenty of rod shows so I remember the style well and admittedly have a soft spot for them.

Good eye! It was stated on the show by their guest builder Brian Bass that the 554 was his main inspiration.

Thank you! And glad you take something away from my projects.

It’s purely self defense from my 7 and 4 year olds and their sticky fingers! ?

Thanks, Tom! I always appreciate when other builders (both full and small scale) go into detail on their process and sources on their parts so I try to do the same for others. I basically pretend I’m writing a magazine how-to.

Thanks, Mike. And I agree. The Altered Coupes were truly the most bad of the bad ass. Stripped down to the bare necessities, raw and violent. I hope to do them justice with this project.

Thread resurrection alert! LOL!! Thanks for the newest comments, guys! This model has been finished for roughly a year and a half now and I still find myself stopping at the display case to stare at it. ?

UPDATE! Spent a productive afternoon at the bench today. I wanted to use the stock firewall but there was interference with the small block so I sanded down the kicked out portions until they were flat. That ended up breaking through so I had to install some filler pieces which I made from .020" sheet. I also filled the gigantic steering shaft slot. At the top of the firewall I grafted in a filler piece to complete the middle of the hood ledge. A stock firewall is shown on the bottom for comparison. Next, using the kit floor board as a pattern I made a new one from the floor pan in Revell's '32 Speedwagon woody which has just a transmission hump compared to all the other kits in the Revell '32 series which have a full length driveshaft tunnel. I added brake and gas pedals taken from the old Buttera '26 Sedan kits and a steering column lower mount made from a slice of 3/32" tube. I also filled the two rectangle holes in the cabs rear floor. I taped in the modified Revell '37 ford Convertible dashboard for a test fit and was then able to offer up the steering column and shorten it as necessary. Now I just need to make a new column mount off the bottom of the dash. I test fit these potential bucket seats taken from Revell's 1990 Mustang LX. Since that style of Mustang started in 1987 these seats would have been available in the late 80's. I don't know if they are going to stay but they are a good fit and I'm short on options for modern looking buckets that have an vertical enough back to fit a truck cab properly. I filled the headlight bar mounting holes in the front fenders and then mounted a pair of small hot rod lights from Revell's '29 Roadster directly to the fenders which was a popular modification starting in the 80's. I also filled and smoothed off the door handle holes. Here's a mock up with the newest work and with a door hung on for the first time.

This project started exactly 3 years ago and was originally going to be a close replica of the incredible '34 Coupe built jointly by Gas Monkey Garage and Brian Bass and featured on the Discovery show Fast & Loud. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and it's mine that it's one of the most bad ass '34 Coupes I've ever seen. Below is that car and my original mock up. Like the couple of other replica projects I've attempted in the past this one went no different in that it's very hard for me to not put my own creative spin on the project. So, early into the project it was decided to add the fenders but build it basically the same otherwise. Then, once it had the fenders it was a few small changes away from being a legal mid 60's Gas Class car so I decided to do that. The project then sat for 2 years as others stole my attention. About a month ago I decided to open up the box and have a look. Next thing you know I'm mocking up different wheels and tires, etc., and I got to thinking that the one detail that wouldn't fly in Gas Class is the heavy engine set back (which was needed to fit the blower drive on top of the regular belt drive.) What to do? Looks like the final plan for this project will be a '63-'64 Altered! The base kit is AMT's 1934 5-Window with a Drag City Casting chopped top resin body. All of the chassis work so far was done 2 years ago. I removed the entire floor, center and rear cross members. The new center "X" section is from Revell's 1940 Ford's with a Monogram '29 Pickup rear cross member. The front cross member was deepened to get the front end down and I added some scratch built front engine mounts. Ultimately the stock gas tank will be removed but I left it for strength while I was doing the cross members. The rear axle is the Halibrand quick change from AMT's '25 T double kits with an AMT '29 Roadster spring, Revell '40 Ford kit ladder bars and Revell '29 Roadster brake plates. The front axle and suspension will be from Revell's '29 Roadster. The engine is the blown Chrysler Hemi with LaSalle 3-speed trans from Revell's Miss Deal Studabaker Funny Car. Because this was originally going to be a street car and then a Gasser I had fit a water pump but now that it's an Altered and doesn't require a cooling system I'll be deleting that. Chassis up on all 4. The wheels are from AMT's '49 Ford with their parts pack printed M&H slicks and parts pack front runners. Moving on to body modifications performed 2 years ago. I cut out the trunk lid, built in a jam and then modified a Revell '32 5-Window louvered deck lid to fit. From the '32 5-Window louvered hood sides I cut out and grafted in more louvers to the tail pan and hood top for some extra heat extraction. I also cut a hole in the hood top the same shape as the Hilborn bug catcher scoop. And here are some mock ups of where the project is as of right now. I feel like this is a project that deserves to get worked on more and I'm hoping that by sharing it and getting some feedback it will help get and keep me motivated. Let me know what you all think!

Excuse me while I pick my jaw up of the floor!

@butter @Deuces ll @Dave72 @Tortuga Kustomz Thanks for the good words, guys. If you haven't seen it the following link is for the finished pictures and description...

It's interesting how no one ever used this Tamiya "Light Red" then all of the sudden in the last few months 4 or 5 of us all decided to! LOL The color really works well with the lines of the '49 Ford and the gray and white interior compliments it quite nice. I like it!

Any finished model is worth posting here. I dig the Willys. I also dig the '02 Trans Am. GM with the help of SLP really nailed the look of those cars. Way better looking than the sister Camaro. Years ago a friend had a silver '00 WS6 modified with headers, full exhaust, pulleys, Jet chip, 4.10 axle gears and Eibach springs. Sounded good. Ran good. Looked good.

I've already commented on TRaK but another pat on the back here couldn't hurt. Nice group of models, B!

Thanks, Tim! It truly means a lot to me that you think enough of my models that you'd feature any of them in your old column if you could.

Thanks a bunch, buddy! I do have a few project plans for the new year which include completing a couple of projects that landed on the back-burner. But, first priority will be the Tim Boy tribute '29 Pickup(s).

Thanks so much! And thanks for following along!!

Thanks, Alan! It seems like "traditional" is a pretty loosely applied label these days as it means something different from one person to the next. I was going for a "Rodders Journal Traditional" with this one. Like something you'd see come out of Brizio's shop. I also didn't want a predictable paint scheme so I took a chance with the yellow and black. Honestly, I wasn't sure I liked it even as final assembly was coming to completion but once it was done and I leaned back and saw it with all the trim (the grill, lights, handles, wipers, etc.) I feel like it came together and I'm happy with my color choice.

Wow, you had a productive year! Lots to like here but I especially like the '30 Coupe and '34 Pickup!

Great project! Love the color! Before Revell issued their ‘32 Roadster HiBoy kit in 1998, cutting the fenders away from the old Monogram kit was the best way available to build a decent looking fenderless ‘32 Roadster. I did two that way as a young teen. As for the plug wire color, I’d personally go with gray.

Very cool! The stance is right-on as is the fit of the slicks to the radius'd quarters.

I just love the custom ‘34 Pickup. So we’ll done!

Excellent line up for the year! Your Satan Vicky is one of the best uses of that old AMT I’ve ever seen. You nailed that one big time! I also really like the ‘29 Roadster. Perfect stance and proportions not to mention totally period correct.

I dig it, Alan. The Offy engine looks right at home in there being in good proportion to the T. This looks like something that would have been cooked up in mid-late 1970’s and to that end I think the wire wheels suit it best.