Dennis Lacy

UPDATE! This is turning out to be a pretty simple project by my standards so I've already been able to get all of the chassis and engine components in finished paint. Here's a few photos of where I'm at now: Currently working on getting the frame cleaned up and painted + some minor interior modifications and body work clean up.

Looking good in color. That red is really RED! ?

It’s almost unbelievable that you started with the kit that you did, WOW! Talk about making lemonade out of lemons. This thing looks ready to kick some butt at the track!

This is excellent and probably the best version of the MPC Sedan Delivery I’ve ever seen. Really digging the color and graphics! Also the rolling stock and those tough looking headers. Cool!

I dig the concept and the way the butter colored paint looks with the white running boards and top insert. It’s neat to see the pro-street narrowed and tubbed back half, not to mention the widened fenders to cover those big tires. Rad!

Thanks and thanks! I do both. I use various sizes of Evergreen styrene rod or small sewing pins depending on the size of the part. If pins aren’t practical I also use little dots of white glue which pulls apart effortlessly and the glue film just rubs off. I pin as many parts as possible. The pins ensure that parts go back together in final assembly the same way they fit during construction/mock up, give a discreet area to apply glue and are far more sturdy. Sometimes there’s enough paint on everything that the pins become an interference fit.

Fat Fenders need love, too! ?

That’s looking awesome! Where do the wheels and tires come from?

Likewise!

Thanks again! I remember back in the day loving the detail of the kit but being really disappointed by the stance. I ended up breaking the chassis loose then building a replacement where I carved out the front cross member and sank the spring into it and then did some carving on the back of the frame to move the Vette IRS up into the frame. Finally, nearly 10 issues later they finally addressed the stance in the last 2 Coupes! Haha

Great start and I really dig the wheels and tires. Looking forward to following along. It’s funny that you found my old Tall T thread (that turned into a roadster.) I was gonna dig up pictures for you and send them DM on Instagram. You beat me to it! LOL ?

UPDATE! I modified the Corvette rear and front spindles (optional lowered rear and dropped spindles found in the last couple of Coupe issues) by grafting on the brake and wheel mounting hubs from the axles in any of Revell's 1932 Ford kit series. I had to cut 1/16" off of the ends of the rear and the spindles to correct the track-width. These '37 Ford kits for all of their good detail had no brake detail at all (except for the latest Coupe issues with the optional big wheels) so now it will have matching disc brakes front and rear. The wheels I've chosen are a set of shallow and deep resin Halibrand's from Drag City Casting which drop right into the Modelhaus black resin tires. I had actually set these up to be a direct fit to a Revell '32 kit for one of my previous projects but then changed my mind during the build. I love the way they look under this '37 and are why I set the mounting up on the spindles and rear the way that I did above. I grafted in the hubs and spokes from the Revell '32 inner wheel halves and the inner rims are AMT sanded to the perfect depth. Test fitting the front and rear brakes and they just fit inside the inner rims! I'm not a fan of tailpipes sticking out past the bottom edge of the body on any car and especially in this case where there will be no bumper/brackets so I removed 1/4" of pipe to tuck them back under the car where they belong. I stuck the rear wheels on to check the fit width-wise and ended up redoing the brake/wheel hubs to suck them in another 1/16" as things were a bit too wide. I'm very happy with the tire tuck. (Note: This Corvette rear is the optional lowered version found in the last couple of Coupe issues which significantly lowers the car compared to older issues of the '37 kit series.) This is going to be the actual rear height. Unfortunately the front suspension is so fiddly that there's no good or easy way to mock it up so I simply stood a front wheel and tire up under the fender just show what the wheels look like on the car. Another thing I did was build a new driveshaft. I used the far better detailed u-joints from Revell's '29 and '30 kits and some 1/8" Evergreen rod. Better detail, no mold seams and the shaft is actually round! To end the day I went back to the engine and fit a Spalding Flamethrower dual coil distributor from AMT's parts pack Pontiac engine and then fabricated a dual coil assembly from bits of Evergreen styrene. The distributor and coil have been drilled to accept wires after they're painted.

This is absolutely RAD! So neat to see an Anglia done as a contemporary pro-street rod instead of a vintage Gasser. It seems like back in the 90’s there were quite a few being built and shown in Street Rodder magazine, my favorite being Mark Weiss’. I tried to do a Thames panel back then as a teen but the chassis was a mess. Would love to see a chassis shot of yours to see how you handled things...

SMALL UPDATE: A small update but one none the less. I masked the body and sprayed the roof insert flat black. Now seeing the paint finished it's amazing how much better Drag City's revised insert design is. Love it! It'll still be a couple of weeks yet before it's time to polish and wax the body and other blue parts, which will then allow assembly to happen. In the meantime I need to order more hard line and fittings so that I can make the fuel lines to complete the engine.

Thank you! It takes a bit of work to get all these different pieces blended together for seamless appearance and I don’t always feel 100% successful but I think this one worked out well.

I like the color and weathering.

Thanks! The Riley Model A engine is found in Revell’s 1931 Ford kits - Sedan, Sedan Delivery and Woody. The ‘30 Coupe (sister kit tooling to the ‘29 Roadster I started with) will have a Buick Nailhead when it comes back out.

Thanks so much, Tim! Your comments always mean a bunch to me. And I don’t think I’ll get in the habit of painting my hot rods pink but it seems to have worked out well on this one.

Thanks. I always try to mention my sources on the chance it’s helpful to others.

Thanks! I built one back in the early 90’s, too. I was 11, maybe 12 and it’s actually one of my favorite kits from my childhood. I have another that some day I plan to build box-stock for old times sake.

Looking good! The firewall is really neat and properly contemporary.

Started a new project today based on Monogram's 1987 original release of their 1937 Ford Sedan. This and the first reissue (both molded in orange) had some unique parts that never returned in later issues and versions (Convertible and Coupe) such as the optional hot rod louvered hood top and sides, early style Boyd Coddington "billet" wheels and separate plated mufflers. The first two orange Sedan issues also also featured an out of place dropped beam front axle. Out of place considering the small block Chevy engine with automatic trans and Corvette style independent rear suspension. Starting with the follow up Convertible issue and all later issues the kit was upgraded with an aftermarket style independent front suspension. So there will be some mixing and matching going on here to create a chassis that makes sense. The style of the car is going to be "traditional" on the outside and under the hood with the contemporary fully independent 4-wheel disc brake chassis. A huge departure for me and my usual style of car but the chassis on these kits is quite nicely done and I don't feel like going to the lengths needed to backdate it by 60 years. I started by getting the frame assembled (the front suspension cross member and center "X" pieces are separate) which required over an hour of clean up removing mold lines and ejector pin marks before any glue was applied. The white frame comes from a more current Coupe bodied issue which has the independent front suspension. I will be using the kit supplied small block Chevy engine and auto trans as a foundation. It has been kit-bashed with the Weiand Drag Star intake from Monogram's old '30 Woody with the nicely detailed Stromberg style carburetors from Revell's first issue of their '29 Roadster which had the Buick engine. The Cal Custom style valve covers and finned trans pan and chrome oil filter come from Revell's current '29 Roadster issue which has the small block Chevy this time around. Up front the belt drive comes from Revell's Stacey David '32 Rat Roaster and I added a crank pulley face taken from another belt drive. I chose this for it's down low alternator location so there would be no interference with all those carburetors. I also cut off the molded fuel pump and added a separate, better detailed pump. The kits block-hugger style headers were replaced with classic rams-horn manifolds from an 80's issue Monogram '32 Roadster but i reattached the kits exhaust lead pipes to them. If you look closely at the motor mounts on the frame you'll see that I added .020" material to the inside surfaces. The motor was a loose fit between the mounts so adding the material makes for a precise, no slop fit. The motor sitting in the frame shows that the alternator and fuel pump don't interfere with the front cross member and the modified exhaust fits nicely, too. Lastly, here's the '37 Sedan body with it's optional louvered hood top and sides. Also seen is the firewall with the original mounting holes for the brake master cylinder and ignition box filled in. I'll be mounting the master cylinder down on the frame. That's all for now. Next I'll be modifying the spindles and rear end to mount the traditional wheels I've chosen and also include disc brake detail which these kits never had (except with the optional BIG wheel option the last couple of Coupe issues had.)

Thanks a bunch! It’s one of those colors that won’t look good on just anything. Luckily I made a bet that paid off!

I really like it. Working out of the box you’d be hard pressed to do much better. Looks great with the optional blower, the flames are tasteful and I really the like the silver steel wheels. Not only do they work really well but they’re also a nice departure from the usual black or red.

Thanks, Jim!