Dennis Lacy

Well, if a guy was to weld a sprocket or gear onto the internal driveshaft, cut a window in the torque tube, make a new sprocket or gear to go in place of the generator pulley and run a chain to drive it, it could work! Not that anyone would ever do such a thing. Thank you very much for your nice comments, Jauris!

Thank you for the nice comments about my T, guys! The generator trick is a bit of fantasy I came up with to get it off the engine, yet still keep all the components necessary for a street car. To my knowledge, no one has ever done such a thing. There are modern-day kits available for street rods that mount an alternator on the chassis and drive it by belt either from the tailshaft in the transmission or the pinion shaft in the rear axle. Naturally, the alternator will only charge when the vehicle is in motion. As far as keeping track of kits, all I can say is that remembering all this junk is sometimes a blessing and others a curse. I honestly don't know how I retain it all but I could tell you the source of a kit-bashed part on a model I built 15 years ago. It's a sickness!!!

Wow, talk about a super clean build! What shade of Tamiya blue is that, its just beautiful! Awesome work, that's about the nicest model Cobra I've ever seen.

After about 3 months of off and on work I’m happy to announce that my ‘25 T Coupe on ‘32 rails is finished. I have to say that I feel that this latest creation is my best work to date when it comes to fit & finish and since it’s the newest it should be, right? The body is from AMT’s current Double T release. From there I dissected a Revell ‘32 frame for it’s side rails and created the rear frame section and cross members from Evergreen and pieces of a Revell ‘40 Ford center X member. The suspension is a combination of many kit-sourced pieces such as a Revell ‘32 front axle and steering linkage, AMT ‘41 Woody hairpins, Lindberg ‘34 Pickup rear axle and Revell ‘40 Ford brake plates. The front wheels are from a Revell ‘50 Pickup and the rear wheels, tires and all 4 hubcaps from Revell’s ‘40 Standard Coupe. Front tires are piecrust skinnies from an older issue SWC Willys. The ARDUN flathead is from Revell’s latest ‘50 Pickup and has been modified with AMT ‘32 Phantom Vicky headers and a custom vertical magneto drive. The generator is mounted to the rear axle torque tube and gear driven off of the driveshaft. A chopped Revell ‘32 grill, shell and headlights are mounted up front. Inside, a Revell ‘37 Sedan dash was narrowed with a custom steering shaft and AMT ‘40 Ford wheel. The seat is a narrowed Revell ‘32 Roadster part. The body and frame are finished in Tamiya Olive Drab 2 with the bodies soft top painted flat black. The suspension and wheels are a combination of gloss black and Mica silver. The engine is Antique Ford Engine Green (available from restoration suppliers) with the intake, carbs and valve covers a combination of metalizer shades. Hope you guys like it!

Very cool project. The cowl vent and rear door mods turned out perfect. Are the rear windows going to be left open or will panels be added to make it a full sedan delivery conversion? I think it's awesome that you got your Dad back into the hobbey. My father built model hot rods in the 60's when he was a teen and made some really cool stuff, some of which he still has. He got me into models when I was 10 or so and now I'm 30 and still building every week. My Dad, on the other hand, has no interest and seems to think I should do something else with my time. (He has no hobbies so he's one to talk!) Only recently has he shown some (barely) positive, enthusiastic interest in a few of my rod projects. So consider yourself lucky!

The bed wood looks really good. The contact paper is a great idea, looks like it's nice and thin too. Where might a person find that material? Looking forward to seeing more!

Thanks for the nice words, guys! Dave: I had actually considered putting a heater box on the firewall and now I'm thinking about it even more. I just may do that. It would definately add to the nostalgic flavor. And likewise, I always enjoy your projects too!

With my T-Coupe project on hold all week ‘cause I can’t paint in the rain I though it would be a good time to get some work done on another project. Only thing is my other two projects, like the T, are heavy fabrication jobs and I wasn’t feeling in the mood so I thought a light-duty project would be therapeutic.While I’ve stolen countless parts from them I’ve never actually built a Revell ’32 Roadster kit so I figured I’d see what kind of fun I could have with one! The chassis is set up right out of the box with the exception of trimming the mounting tab on the front spring to get the front end a little lower. The wheels and Goodyear front tires are from another ‘32 in this series, the 3 Window. Out back some AMT Goodyear slicks got their centers bored out so that the wheels will fit. (I thought it was cool to have all Goodyear tires!) What worked out great here is that with the taller slicks there is a uniform gap all around the wheel well. The roadster kits multi-row louvered hood sides were replaced with stock versions, again, from the 3 Window. The front and rear spreader tubes were stripped of chrome and a license plate bracket added to the front. Under the hood, the kits 5.0 small block & AOD trans were replaced by the Flathead & C4 trans from yet another ‘32 in this series, the Sedan, making installation a direct fit. The only issue I found was that the transmission sits really low so a .060†thick shim was added to the frame cross member to lift the trans up leaving just enough clearance with the floor and making the engine much more level under the hood. The heavily recessed firewall in this ‘32 series, while necessary for the 5.0 engine, is completely unnecessary (and dumb) with the Flathead. A new flat firewall was made from .040†Evergreen sheet using the kit firewall as a guide although the shape at the bottom was changed in favor of a half-circle cut-out for the engine. To the firewall I mounted the beehive oil filter (also from the ‘32 Sedan) and a voltage regulator from a Revell ‘40 Coupe. Inside the roadster body is where most of the modifications occurred. The kit seat and side panels had been harvested for my T-Coupe so it was time to come up with an alternative. The kit floor pan / rear bulkhead was used. A Revell ‘40 Ford dashboard was trimmed to fit the cowl and the ‘40 column-shift will be used as well with a custom steering wheel. Keeping with the ‘40 theme, a stock bench seat had ¼†shaved off the bottom and fits perfect in the roadster. I want the car to appear as a “work in progress†when finished so I created inner door panels and body structure to serve in place of a finished interior. The pieces are loosely based on a 1:1 original body but I used artistic license to simply things so it didn’t take forever / get carried away. As it sit’s the fabrication process is complete (I think) so the next step is some primer and paint!

I really dig the first roadster, I think it has a lot of style! As for the new build, if you compare the straight-on side view of your model with the same view of your 1:1 inspiration, it appears as though your model is slightly higher in the front, and slightly lower in back (even taking into account the rear tires on your model would scale out to a larger diameter than those on the 1:1.) If you study the 1:1 it becomes very obvious that the hood is quite a bit longer than stock and the radiator shell is way out ahead of the axle. The 1:1 undoubtably has a stepped frame at the very front to get it super low, but it's hard to know exactly how it was done since there appear to be some custom fairings covering the front of the frame rails. The radiator and shell were probably mounted out ahead of the frame and suspension so that they could get as much radiator height as possible. Probably if you Z'd the very front of the frame the height of itself it would get your ride height where the 1:1 is. You may also consider using a Revell '40 Ford front dropped axle assembly since the spring is down in front of the axle instead of above it. (This was a fairly common practice back in the day.) Just cut the stock wishbones off behind the axle and fab up some long hairpins. (The ones on the 1:1 look like a safety nightmare by the way! ) Refer to my build thread on TRaK of my chopped '32 Sedan for how to easilly make some up that would be long enough to emulate the real ones. I'm watching with a lot of interest, B!

I built one of these '37 pickup kits this time last year and I think it's an excellent kit. It's really cool to see you doing this one completely stock. The blue you chose is very nice, especially against the black fenders. Keep it up, you've got a good start!

This is a very ambitious project! You're doing a lot of cool work, though. Typically, 1940's era customs were all looks and no go, most of them having stock or nearly stock engines. The Pierson Bros. '36 was probably only one of a handfull that would give a typical street roadster a run for it's money back then. That being said, I dig your "best of both worlds" approach! I also give you props for taking a blade to that rare body shell, I wouldn't have! I'm looking forward to seeing you progress on this project so please keep with it and keep us posted.

I'm not into jalopies but I REALLY like this. Some of my favorite things are the paint scheme, the grill / radiator support and the well-built Flathead. Way cool!!!

Raul: This is one of just two old, surviving builds. I had more but it through several moves and stuff it seems one goes down for the count every so often. I finally have a display case so this one will stay safe. Terry: Don't ask me how I remember but the gray paint is Testors "Flat Gull Gray" which looks like everyday gray primer. I am not sure if the new build will be the same color, that may be a 3rd thing that will be changed. I've had thoughts about doing the fenders in black primer with the hood, cab and bed in dark gray primer.

This latest project is one I’ve been wanting to do for a while, so I figured why not get started tonight? I built the Monogram “Early Iron†‘29 Roadster PU below about 15 years ago during my teenage years. At the time I was really happy with it and myself but looking at it now there’s things that bother me such as the bed being too short, the rear fender tails being way too long and the void under the end of the pickup bed. I also think it needs bigger diameter rear tires to fill up those huge fenders. Taking what I know now, I’ve decided to do a current-day tribute build as a way to correct everything about the first one while still keeping with the ideas applied to the original. However, it is not going to be a complete clone featuring different wheels & tires and a different engine. The wheels are big & little vintage Halibrand’s courtesy of Ed Fluck @ Drag City Casting. The tires are from Revell’s modern tool ‘32 Roadster and while a bit on the modern side, the tread will be mostly hidden in the fenders. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do for an engine yet but I’m thinking a hopped-up Flathead. The bed on the new version was shortened ¼†(the original was a ½â€) so that it continues past the rear fenders and a filler panel is molded in below the back of the bed to fill the “void†as well as provide a mounting area for taillights and a license plate. The fenders on the original were not modified but on the new version the tails have been bobbed 3/16†for a sleeker look. The top has been chopped 3/16†(the original was ¼â€) and like the first version, the window will be re-centered. On the original the frame was lengthened at the rear (using a 2nd frame) so that the cross member was behind the axle rather than above it. The rear axle and spring from Monogram’s ‘32 Roadster were used and this arrangement allowed for the rear of the truck to sit nice and low. The new version features the same frame modification as well as the same Monogram ‘32 Roadster axle and spring. The entire front suspension from the ‘32 Roadster was used on the original version and the same will be used on the current one so aside from the engine and wheels, the chassis will be built the same. That’s all I have for now, more soon!

Since this thread isnt on the 10th page already, here are my two hobby cars: 1927 Ford T Roadster on a narrowed & Z'd 1932 frame. Dropped front axle with split wishbones and Lincoln Zephyr brakes, 1935 Flathead V8 with Thickstun intake / Stromberg 81 carburetors / headers with Smithy glasspacks, 1934 3-speed trans built from all NOS components, 1933-34 rear axle with Model T spring, 16x4" 1940 Ford wheels with big & little Firestones, 1934 Chevy dashboard with 1950's vintage Stewart Warner gauges / 1940 Ford "Deluxe" wheel. Except for the custom-built Walker radiator and SW gauges, no other components on this car are newer than 1948. It was built as a hot rod roadster would have been / could have been just after WWII. This car was built largely by myself with help from my Dad and a few car friends. It took 2 years to "complete" and has been on the road for 3 1/2 years. (The 1934 Ford Roadster behind it is my Dad's and is built to the same era.) 1932 Ford Pickup was given to me by my Dad 28 years ago when I was just 2 years old. It is mostly original with its few modifications being a dropped front axle, de-arched rear spring, 1946-48 Ford Hydraulic brakes, 16x4" Kelsey-Hayes "bent spoke" wire wheels (an aftermarket accessory wheel in the 1930's), big & little Firestones and a lowered headlight mounting bar. The drivetrain is the stock, numbers-matching 50hp Flathead 4-cylinder engine, 3-speed trans, and rear axle. Interior is also completely original.

Nice save! I also think it's really cool that you modified it, I don't think I've seen one that wasn't restored to box-art status. It looks really sweet with the built Flatty and Quickie out back. I can't wait for the re-issue to come out!

I've wanted to do the same thing a few times, classic! Your Double T is looking good and I like your idea to be able to change the bodies around. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't. The yellow looks good on the roadster, what color is planned for the coupe?

UPDATE: I had hoped to get a lot more done on this project over the past week but that all changed when I decided to bury a brand new #11 blade into the tip of my thumb. It was pretty deep and I *probably* should have gone to get stitches (like my GF wanted me to do) but I’m really stubborn. Anyways, it’s closing slowly but surely with no signs of infection. I don’t have lock-jaw either! On to the model. The ARDUN heads from Revell’s ‘50 Pickup come with the valve covers molded to them. I wanted to be able to paint the head portion and valve cover portion different colors and was turned off to a bunch of tedious masking so using the backside of a new #11 blade (yes, that blade!) I cut along the edges until the heads and covers were separate pieces. In the upper portion of the picture below the chrome heads / valve covers can be seen as they come out of the box. I used the over-the-frame headers from AMT’s “Phantom Vicky†street rod kit as a starting point. They were de-chromed and I added alignment pins and flanges. The headers themselves still need a little cleanup. Heads are permanently installed on the engine block and headers mocked in place with frame / body. Rolling mockup to check “the lookâ€. Looks good to me!

When I was in my mid-teens I was building on a near daily basis. At the time my skills were average and the most customizing I had done was kit bashing and a little cutting & splicing here and there. It was during these years that I became aware of magazines and contest annuals dedicated to model cars and started trying to emulate the radically customized and detailed models I saw in them. Trying to go from 0 to 100 overnite resulted in a lot of ruined kits and endless frustration. Being a kid, my patience was also pretty low. With a failure to success ratio of about 15:1 I was completely burnt out by 19/20. I packed up all my kits and tools and stashed them for many years. The point, It isn't necessary to try and go from building out of the box to heavy customizing all in one shot. Rather, try one new thing on each model you build and 20 builds down the line you've learned 20 new things. At that point, customizing and detailing won't feel frustrating anymore, instead it will feel natural. NO ONE becomes a pro overnite and the ones you see doing increadible customizing / scratch building / detailing started at zero like everyone else and over years and years have built their skills and styles to what you see today. They do all have one thing in common: They tried! And, I would be willing to bet there were times where THEY felt frustrated and inferior too. Today, at 30, I have been back into building for about 3 years and have taken a much less stressful approach to building using what I learned from personal experience above and that has resulted in almost nothing but fun (lets face it, there's always gonna be a build here and there that makes us want to throw it at the wall.)

Thank you for all the comments, guys, they're always appreciated after lots of hard work on a project. MikeMC: I agree that red cars are everywhere and I don't get too excited about it either, but I wanted a brighter color that wouldn't hide all the work I did on the chop and I didn't have a red hot rod yet. I originally planned to age it a bit with some sanding through to the primer and dull top coat but the red layed down so smooth with no trace of the chop lines I couldn't bring myself to mess it up. So 3 coats of gloss clear went on instead!

It's really refreshing to see a Revell Model A kit built factory stock! You did a nice, clean job of it and I really dig the fire-car theme. For some reason I picture it being part of a mountain community fire department.

Your 'Bird turned out really neat, Bernard! I wasn't sure what to think when I saw the initial bodywork photos but now with the paint, grill and lights it all came together nicely. Thinking more about the tires, I think the white ones were the best choice especially with the paint color. The red and white interior offsets the paint really well too. Good work, B!

This '40 Convertible has to be one of the cleanest and pretiest I've ever seen. The detail work on the engine and chassis is increadible! My favorite part is the handbrake cables for the rear brakes. I don't recall ever seeing that done before, atleast not in the original '40 style. Congratulations on a beautiful build!

Thanks for the comments, guys! That's what it's all about, right? I've lost count of how many sweet ideas I've picked up from other peoples work!

UPDATE: Had a good day and night at the bench. Decided that with the chassis coming along it was time to make the floor panels. Took a couple tries after design changes but here is the final product made from .040 Evergreen sheet and a narrowed driveshaft tunnel cut from the floor pan of a Revell 37 Sedan. The floor panel installed in the frame. I also made a filler panel for the rear frame area. Rear axle assembly installed. V-shaped relief is needed to clear axle to torque tube support rods. Engine installed with floor in place. The bell housing and transmission will remain exposed on the finished car. Seems odd but is somewhat common in the vintage hot rod world. Proposed seat is from Revell 32 Roadster. Has been narrowed by cutting off both ends. Had to put a relief in the center for the tunnel. If I keep this seat I will use plastic sheet to fill in the ends. Made a molded-in firewall from .040 Evergreen sheet.