Dennis Lacy

Excellent update, Eric! You're frame back-dating looks fantastic. I'm a huge fan of using those Revell '40 Ford frame "X" pieces and rear cross members. Although I always use the kit center tie plate for the "X", it never occurred to me to ditch it and make my own plate. I'll definitely be swiping that idea for future use! I also really like the look of those American wheels. I'm not much into 60's cars like the Cutlass you say they came from so i never would have known about them on my own. I'll need to keep my eyes peeled for a set on eBay. The front tires do look like they're from the Thunderbolt. The rear tires very possibly could be from Monogram. There's a first-gen 'Vette kit and T-Bird kit (forget the years, maybe both 58's?) that use what look like bigger Firestone's with separate whitewall inserts. Being 1:24 they look good on the back of 1:25 hot rods.

@CabDriver 1933/1934 Pickups had a steel subframe structure around the perimeter of the cab, a plywood floor board ahead of the seat frame and the toe board was a stamped steel piece. Under the seat was a stamped steel floor filler panel. The fenders on these trucks don't so much get rusty as they do dented, mangled and beat to hell. The rear fenders especially. To find them in any kind of decent condition is a miracle.

The details you’re putting into this cab are awesome. I love all of the interior structure you’ve created. You’re correct that these trucks didn’t have a headliner originally. The only upholstery was the seat cushions and cowl kick panels. The floor had a beige rubber mat. Very basic. When riding in them everything echos inside like you’re in a tin can!

Nice!

Glad you ventured over into truck land. I always enjoy your thoughts on my projects and glad you’re enjoying this one. It seems several guys have been inspired by this thread to build their own versions so why wait any longer? Dig out a kit and get going on your own!

I hear you. My passion is and will probably always be for traditional hot rods but being born in ‘79 there’s no denying I have a certain fondness for these 80’s era street rods and 80’s pop culture in general being that it’s what I was exposed to as an impressionable youngster. Just like any other era, when it comes to billet rods there’s well done and not well done. My aim is to end up in the spectrum of well done. I’ve seen Lime Fire in person many times and it is 100% Hot Rod and quite the juxtaposition of what was popular at the time.

Heck Yeah! I really dug your full size Roadster. It reminded me a bunch of Monogram's Big Deuce. You're off to a great start with the model version. I had never given any thought to the interior side panels in this kit but the thinned down versions look 100x better and more accurate. The cut down 3-Window seat looks cool too, especially the way the top bolster fills all that space around the back. Great color choice! I like it a lot more than the color that ended up on that Roadster you mentioned. Keep it coming, can't wait to see more!

UPDATE! @tim boyd Got to spend some time at the bench today. First order of business was to finish building the frame center "X" using pieces cut down from Monogram's '37 Ford Sedan just like Tim did. On the rear sections it was necessary to pie cut and taper them where they join with the side rails. When Tim set up his I believe he added material to the frame rails to make them as tall as the rear “X” pieces so he didn’t have to modify them. And with the engine and trans in place... Next I needed to adapt the rear wheels to the IRS. I found that the wire wheels from the Monogram Slingster dragster were a perfect fit onto the axle stubs so I cut their hubs out to creat sleeves, drilled the holes in the back of the wheels to a little bigger diameter and glued the sleeves in. I'm also going to use the disc brakes found in all of the Revell '32 kits and they are a perfect fit as-is. Here are the wheels and tires fit to the fenders. Thankfully my planning worked out and the truck still sits slammed like it did when the fenders were just laying over the tires. And just for fun I propped the chassis up onto all 4. The front axle is fit to the frame but the wheels are not adapted yet. They're just precariously stuck on the spindle stubs. That's it for today. Plenty more to come soon!

Heck yeah, bring it on!

A lot of good stuff going on here. I have a feeling this is going straight to my top favorites from you when it’s done. ?

Since you follow me on IG I don’t have to tell you how much I dig 32-34 Ford Pickups (I mean, I daily drive a 32!) I know these trucks like the back of my hand and I love the details you’ve added to the cab, especially the stamping reliefs on the lower back panel - that’s RAD! I also really like the weathered look you’ve achieved. And this is just the cab. I can’t wait to see the rest of the project unfold! Are you gonna have a bed? Because just like the full scale versions the front of the bed completely hides those reliefs in the cab back. Would be a shame to cover that detail up!

Yup, there are some kitted original Coddington designs. These (from the original issue of the ‘37 Sedan) are some of his earliest 3-piece style with the bullet shaped center cap. The follow-up Revell 1937 Convertible with Trailer also has a really nice set of them but with second generation flat center caps. Those stayed for later issues of the Sedan.

Oh man, you gotta join in on the 80’s fun, Craig! This is one of several I have planned. Let’s bring it back!!! ?

Man, this looks totally bad ass! I love everything about it. I had the original issue lime green one as a kit and this makes me want to build another.

I hadn’t checked back on this project in a while and came in to find the nearly finished chassis and body in color. Wow! Everything looks great. I love the look of the interior both in colors and parts choices. Very reminiscent of the Anglia street rods of the 90’s. Can’t wait to see how it looks completed!

Thanks!

Not 1936, the Vette IRS is in AMT’s 1934 5-Window. Street Rod version only or 2-in-1. It’s also in that kits predecessor, the 1933 Sedan Street Rod.

Nice! Looking forward to seeing that project. And for real on the cost of the hobby these days. I don’t wanna think about the full scale things I could have done with the money I’ve spent on models. LOL!

UPDATE! @tim boyd I've been thinking about my response to Tim (just above) all day since I wrote and posted it. In particular my comments about the wheels. I really do want this truck to be recognizable to anyone who remembers his old How-To so tonight I decided to mock the truck back up using the same wheels that Tim used, the Boyd Coddington wheels from Monogram's original release of their 1937 Ford Sedan. As it turns out I already had this set stripped and fit to these tires complete with inner rim halves (from a previous project that I abandoned.) The rear tires are identical to what I was already using and the fronts are the little Dunlop's from Revell's 1932 HiBoy Roadster. The front tires had to be trimmed out to fit these wheels. I was also able to get the radiator and shell to stay together (thanks to flash on the radiator making them a tight interference fit) and stand up and pop a set of headlights on. After seeing this mock up I'm 100% convinced to go this route. I'll save the first set of wheels and tires for something else. I always envisioned this project using the Coddington wheels so I don't know why I set out with something else... And for S&G's, how about the view of that fancy Corvette IRS hanging out back! That's all for now. Let me know what you think of the wheel change. ?

Thanks, man! Good to see you here, too. Are you gonna get back to building?

It’s like when a guy buys an already finished street rod and then changes the wheels and some other details to make it feel like their own. This has been a project I struggled with starting because I had my own ideas to personalize it but I also want it to be immediately recognizable as inspired by your article. I saw RRR’s white truck above several years ago in some pictures he texted one day of how full his display cabinet was getting. I noticed a few models I had never seen before, pointed that truck out and a few minutes later he sent me pictures of it. While the truck is very much his own spin I immediately knew your article was his inspiration which I asked and he confirmed. So I hope that’s where I end up with this project. I’m still torn on the wheels and part of me wants to use the same original issue ‘37 Sedan Coddington wheels you did to keep that connection unmistakable. I really enjoy sharing my process hoping that what I’m doing can help someone else out with their scale hot rods. I greatly enjoy and appreciate lots of pictures and thorough descriptions from other modelers so I do the same. There’s a lot of negative aspects that the World Wide Web has brought out but one of the positives are hobby forums like this one where we can all really go deep and get answers to our questions. Back in the day if I was reading Modelers Corner and wanted something clarified I was out of luck. But, now here we are interacting on this forum. It’s a trip!

UPDATE! Back at it and now it's time to focus on updating the chassis. The first order of business was to modify the under bed supports to accommodate Z'ing the frame. The original front-to-back supports would be in the way so I installed a pair of left-to-right braces made from Evergreen rectangle rod then removed the middle sections of the original supports. (Original top, modified bottom.) Here you can see in the original article that Tim Z'd the back of his frame to help get the back end low. He was able to do this using a single frame and then trimming the rear cross member to still fit beneath the bed. I approached mine different by cutting off the back end of the frame and building a new rear section from Evergreen rectangle stock. I stacked the front edge on top of the original frame rails and then angle cut the tops and bottoms to create the "Z" look. I then added an aditional cross brace and fore/aft member which will make more sense later. Here you can see how the Z'd frame fits up into the modified under bed structure. Tim used a modified Monogram Jaguar XKE independent rear suspension which he fit the modified original rear cross member. I don't have a Jag IRS on-hand so I decided to go with another staple hot rod IRS, a Corvette unit. This one comes from AMT's 1934 5-Window Coupe Street Rod. The whole reason for running a Jag or Vette IRS in one of these Model A pickups is the impressive wide open view from the rear to show it off! Tim built his transmission mount and center "X" structure using pieces cut up from Monogram's '37 Ford creating a very stout and realistic looking frame. I started to modify the center cross member the same way Tim did, by cutting the center member out of a Monogram '37 Ford frame (left) and trimming it down to fit inside the stock Model A center member (middle). A stock Revell A frame is shown (right) for reference. I didn't get to creating the "X" braces yet, that will have to wait for next time. I made some front engine brackets from .040" bottom plates and .020" side gussets. I had to get the engine as far forward as possible so the tunnel ram induction will clear the firewall. I don't have the rear wheels adapted to the Corvette IRS yet and I didn't get to the front axle set up so I simply taped the frame to the fender unit and then set the fenders onto the wheels and tires. With the engine located and mocked up we can at least get a look at how that stacked tunnel ram small block fills the engine bay with the air filters just above the top of the cowl. I couldn't have hoped for a better result! That's where I ended up this afternoon. Let me know what you guys think! @tim boyd

Nice to see another one of Ed's bodies getting built. Looks great so far! (Also dig the Drag City '32 Fordor in background!)

UPDATE! A small update but progress is progress. I was able to get the floor "carpet" and inside of the firewall painted. Did a quick mock up to see how the final interior paint scheme looked together. Very pleased. I also sprayed the underside of the floor and hood panels flat black. Getting closer...

Nice, clean build of this kit. Like Alan said, nice to see someone get the trim correct on the hood and rear windows. I have one of these in the works right now so this is good inspiration to keep on it. ?