Dennis Lacy

That for the comments, everyone. I think this thing should end up being decently cool when it's done. Yeah, those parting lines are pretty rough, aren't they?! From what I hear the first run of the 3-Window kit was supposed to be pretty good with each subsequent release getting worse. But, that doesn't make sense because this is a first issue body and it needs a lot of help. I'll be spending lots of time with files and sandpaper.

Most of my projects these days get pretty heavily involved so once in a while it's nice to take a break from all of that and do a straight forward, simple project to get something in the display case. This one came to be after grabbing a complete Revell '32 5-Window chassis parts lot off of the auction place for a whopping(!) 8 bucks. I had a spare 3-Window body kicking around so I decided to combine the two. The body has been channeled the thickness of the frame and I replaced the modern looking firewall with the more retro looking piece from AMT's '32 Phantom Vicky which is also recessed but has stock style raised bead design on it. The radiator shell was notched to drop it down yet still sit on the front cross member and the radiator was chopped to match. The chassis will be right out of the box, no lowering or anything. The only modification is the removal of the stock gas tank and shortening of the rear frame rails to work with the channeled body.The front wheels are from the 5-Window but have been narrowed to fit into the bias-ply tires from Revell's Ed Roth Beatnik Bandit. The rear wheels and slicks are Monogram 'Lil Coffin show rod adapted to the kit axle. I'll also be ditching the kit disc brakes in favor of early Ford drum brake plates. Interior will get the '40 dash and tuck & roll seat from the 5-Window with scratch built inner door structure instead of upholstery panels. Engine is the Chrysler Hemi from the 5-Window but will get the M/T valve covers with Moon breathers from Revell's Mazmanian Willys and parts box log manifolds with 6 carburetors from Revell's Ed Roth Tweedy Pie. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki So, just in the early stages right now. More detail work to come.

Thanks for the feedback, Bill. Regarding your last comments, I would probably stand on that limb with you. But, like you said, the fan issue would be a deal breaker. There's no way in hell I would have used an electric in my own truck, purely because of aesthetic reasons.

And there you have it. I need to stop "talking" now cause I can't get my mouth open wide enough to get my foot in it. I'm actually a bit ignorant when it comes to 60's and 70's SBF stuff. My SBF experiences revolve around 80's and 90's Mustang's. Bill, what's your take on being able to fit a SBF into an early Ford without modifying the firewall, etc? Can it be done the same way I did my SBC swap pictured above?

Tim, That is some very interesting information that you provided. I'm not the ultimate authority on the subject but everything I have known up to this point has told me that it is not possible to fit a SBF into a '32 (or other early) Ford in the same manner in which I did the SBC. Meaning, fitted into an original vehicle and adapted to original trans. Everything I have known to this point says that the available space in the engine compartment won't accommodate a SBF, even with the most compact accessories. Close, but no cigar. Perhaps that has changed in recent years and is now a possibility? I am a bit skeptical of that 27" dimension for the crate motor. That seems really too good to be true. I've been aware of the short water pump for years. It came on 5.0L engines in '94-'95 Mustang's and '96-'00 Explorer's and probably other vehicles, too. From what I know, though, there is no standard rotation pump alternative (?) so one is locked into using a serpentine belt system. Which isn't a bad thing, but doesn't suit a traditionally styled rod very well. You are correct about the SBF (except 351W) being narrow and, in that regard, being good for use in early Model A's and also in T's where the hoods (and cowls) are considerably narrower. Not trying to stray this too far off topic but on a side note I think it's really cool that you had any kind of involvement with the Motorsport SVO group. I'm a total SVO parts / 5.0 Mustang geek. I'm stuck in the late 80's / early 90's. Below is my daily driver '87 GT. It's all original paint and one of rarest color schemes offered. It has a few Ebay-scored N.O.S. Motorsport goodies on it. Hosted on Fotki

And, another excellent reason is their size. SBC's are identical in length and width to a flathead V8 and actually weigh slightly less, stock for stock. Below is a picture under the hood of my 1932 Ford Pickup and the '66 283 SBC that now resides there. No modifications were required to the firewall, steering gear/column placement, toe board panel and a mechanical fan clears the radiator with room to spare. It uses an adapter to connect to a '32-'39 3-speed transmission so no modification to the transmission cross member, pedals, linkage, anything was necessary. The front engine "L" brackets are original 1932 Ford V8. All that is necessary to attach them to the SBC is to relocate the upper of the two engine attachment holes down 5/8". After that they bolt right on the SBC and fall right back onto the mount cushions on the front cross member. The SBC attachment holes on the front of the block are the same width and up/down location relative to the crankshaft centerline. It's too easy. The only modification necessary was to remove a 1" by 6.5" long strip from the center of the front frame cross member to clear the crankshaft damper & pulley. I did paint my Chevy engine antique Ford engine dark green! Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Previously the truck had its stock Model B 4 cylinder engine. This little 283 is completely stock and makes more than 4x the horsepower and more than double the torque. It's the difference between putting around town and cruising at 70 on the freeway. The reason more Ford small blocks (260, 289, 302, 351W) aren't used is because due to the way their timing cover is designed, even with the shortest water pump and shallowest pulleys an SBF is 4+ inches longer and physically won't fit in the available space without setting the whole engine / transmission back by that amount. It's just not practical unless you are building a rod from the ground up with a clean sheet of paper as the frame, driveline, firewall and floor will all require involved modification.

Looks like it's been almost 3 months since I updated this project! I actually haven't done a whole lot of modeling these past months (other priorities!) I did sit down one day about a month ago and do some chassis work, just didn't get around to taking pictures and sharing. A Month Ago I figures out the front shocks. I added some brackets to the inside of the split wishbones cut from some .020" plastic sheet then fit up the shocks / upper brackets from Revell's '40 Ford street rods. The top brackets fit to the frame with .040" pins. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Out back I'm using a modified Revell '37 Pickup axle and the radius rods were converted into trailing arms with shock mounting pins off of their ends. The shocks are from the new-tool Ala Kart. I still need to build upper shock mounts off of the tube cross member. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki I also built the drive shaft using the ends cut off of the new '29 Roadster kit piece with the shaft made from 3/32" tubing because it's actually round and has no ugly seams. Hosted on Fotki Today I got inspired to work on the interior. I don't really like the Ala Kart interior unit and also felt like with all the other custom work I'm doing to this model that using the kit interior would be a cop-out. I modified all of the pieces from the Revell '32 Rat Roaster. After shortening the side and rear panels in both height and length I ran a bead of .040" half-round rod around the bottom and end edges for a more finished appearance. The Rat Roaster floor was also trimmed to fit and the bucket seats had to be moved towards the center a little to fit the slightly narrower cab. Hosted on Fotki Not stopping there, I cut off the Ala Kart dash (which is part of the windshield) and narrowed a Revell '48 Ford dash to fit by removing 5/16" from its center (the width of the speaker grill on the chrome insert) bringing the two gauge pods close together. Hosted on Fotki The frame from Revell's new '29 Roadster kit is designed to have the floor pan raised up rather than right on top of the rails so I installed some 1/16" thick subrails into the bottom of the body for the trimmed floor to sit on. Hosted on Fotki As this photo shows, the trailing arm mounts stick up above the frame rails and the raised floor clears them, like with the new '29 kit. Hosted on Fotki The Ala Kart firewall got the chrome stripped off and was permanently mounted in the cowl. Hosted on Fotki That's it for now. Hope to get some more done in the near future.

Fantastic job! Certainly, my favorite Ferrari of all time and arguably the best performing Ferrari ever made, even almost 30 years later.

Fantastic color choice, it totally suites the car. The two tone interior compliments the exterior nicely, too.

Off to a solid start. I've seen where a few other people have added fenders to this roadster body with good results. It's kinda strange that Revell never did.

There can never be enough '32 Pickups. Are those the wheels you plan to use? The Tony Nancy 22jr double dragster set from Revell features a GMC super charged Buick engine in one of the included dragsters. Besides that, that double kit is a treasure chest of kit bashing parts.

That works!!!

Fantastic! I enjoyed following this project and as cool as it was in stripped down form for the lakes, I really like it in full street dress. This is an excellent representation of a dual purpose roadster back in the day. It's too bad the two versions can't be displayed side by side. Maybe you can make a split picture?

Killer work adapting the Beatnik bubble to the roadster body. The approach and proportions look fantastic. It already has a very Weesner vibe. Looking forward to following along.

It's actually a bit puzzling to me that a headlights like this weren't put into these new Model A kits. They (and they're BLC 682 counterparts without marker lights on top) are the most prominently used lights on not only vintage built hot rods but currently built traditionally styled rods. So much so that they are now being reproduced.

That reissue also has the ONLY scale set of Guide 682 headlights (one of the most popular vintage hot rod headlights of all time) available, a nice 3x2 intake and Cal Custom valve covers for SBC's (Tim's favorite engine!!!) and a nicely done Stewart Warner gauge panel (also a staple of vintage hot rodding.)

Thanks Tim and Jairus, glad you like it. BTW, Tim. That Dow7 is Testors Model Master "Jet Exhaust". It's pretty dang close looking.

To take Tim's point that they are very close a little further, here is the Monogram '30 Phaeton body (rescribed as a two-door) on top of a Revell '32 Ford series frame. Despite the slight scale difference, the body fits to the frame pretty much just how the full-scale combination would. Hosted on Fotki

I realize there's a bunch of Ala Kart fans that are disappointed, which is ironic because rarely does anyone actually show one being built or finished. It's just like that old one-time only AMT '28 Sedan that everybody gets a hard on for. Everybody wants one, hardly any actually get built. Regardless, it doesn't change the fact that there are two complete models in one box at a lesser expense than buying two models in separate boxes. I troll Ebay almost every weekend looking for deals and I have yet to see a seller offer one of the original Ala Kart / '29 Roadster double kits complete in like-new condition for $38 or less. They usually start at around twice that and then nobody builds the Ala Kart anyways, LOL!

There are enough pieces in the box to build two separate, complete models. The "Mod Rod" hotrod and a stock Model A Roadster. A standard, single vehicle kit from AMT (or Revell, or Monogram) averages $25 + which doubles to $50 + for two vehicle kits. In this case you get two complete models for $38. This is roughly the same price point that the restored AMT Double Dragster kit sold for when it came out a few years ago. Again, there were two separate, complete models in one box. You can't expect the model companies to give away their product and stay in business. The days of $10 model kits are long gone.

I don't remember the last time I used a kit supplied distributor? I put after marker wired units in everything I build so this, to me, is no biggie. Even if one doesn't wish to wire their scale ignition, an 8-post distributor is easy to scrounge up from something else. But, yeah, I get it. Pretty easy detail that should have been right.

The steel wheels ARE included in the kit, they are just not featured on the display board. They were probably just trying to highlight the new features, not the carry-overs from the roadster.

Ford never built any Model A coupe without the visor. Over the years some hot rods have been built without them. Probably the best example would be Brian Bass' '29 Coupe. He grafted in the windshield header area and modified windshield frame from a '32 Ford. If you "Google" his name and car tons of images come back, some videos too. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8239/8474428363_59f776de92_b.jpg

I think you did a fantastic job with this, Bernard. The entire car is well proportioned and lays just right. The presentation is very in keeping with the budget rat rod trend as is the SBC thrown in with otherwise mostly antiquey parts. Honestly, as must as this could be a modern throw-together it could just as easily be a back yard relic built in the good old days that was recently scooped up by a young guy off of Craigslist with a cheap small block he stuck in just to make it a runner until he could afford to repair the hopped up flathead that was in it when found

Thanks for the continued interest in my little roadster, guys! It's still sitting exactly as it was last pictured except now it's in a box to keep it from getting dusty. I haven't done any modeling for the last couple of months because I strapped down and got hyper-focused on finishing my full-size '32 Pickup hot rod. It's been on the road for a few weeks now and I just today sat down at my bench and did a little work on a different project just to get the model juices flowing. The little roadster is very close to being paint-ready and I plan to get back on it very soon and work towards completion. I'll definitely post an update during the paint process. Hosted on Fotki