Dennis Lacy

The dual exhaust system for my roadster is made from sections of the exhaust systems found in the Revell '32 and '37 kits. Each section was joined by drilling the ends of the 'pipes' and pinning them together with some small diameter plastic rod and bonded using Zap A Gap. The engines headers are from Revell's '40 coupe / convertible and have had the chrome stripped. More to come...

My favorite era of hot rodding is the immeadiate post-war, 1946-1948 and the roadsters that were built and raced in Southern California during those years. As such, that is the era the inspiritation for this build comes from. I would also like to say that I had the rough sketch in my head and had planned to tackle the build farther down the line, but it was MCM member 'GBK1' and his pair of traditional roadster builds that got me to move this project up to the front burner. The starting point for this project is AMT's '29 Roadster and my intention is to transform it into the quintissential post-war SoCal hotrod. It will be built as a fenderless A-V8, which is a model A Ford body and chassis retro-fitted with a V8 engine. In these first two pictures the modified AMT frame is shown next to an un-modified frame (red) for reference. AMT gives you the option of using the stock center crossmember or what loosely resembles a modified '32 Ford center crossmember without it's forward diagonal braces. Retro-fitting the '32 center crossmember was and is one of the most popular ways to mount a V8 engine and trans in a model A frame so I used the '32-style piece and added diagonal braces made from the front sections of the center x-member pieces found in the line of Revell '37 Fords. The flange running the length of the rear of the front crossmember was removed and engine mount brackets were made by cutting up the original model A center crossmember giving the appearance that heavy c-channel was used. The brackets attached to the outside of the frame rails were carved out of some parts box license plate brackets and are where the split-wishbone radius rods attach. The headlight brackets were made from sections of the roadsters stock rear bumper bracket. The pin extending through the drivers-side rail mounts the steering gear and pitman arm from one of Revell's model A kits. AMT also moulded-on the stock front and rear lever shocks, they were removed. This close-up shows the modified front crossmember and engine mount brackets carved out of the roadster kits un-used, stock center crossmember. Waste not! The basis for the front suspension is the dropped axle from Revell's 1940 coupe / convertible. The model A spring from a stock Revell front axle was used. A side-steering adaptor (the small blue piece) was also fashioned from one of the upper a-arms from the independant front suspension found in Revell's '37 Ford kits. The split wishbones (not shown) were made from the stock front wishbone from an AMT '32 Ford Vicky kit. The tierod will be from the '40 kit, and the steering gear, pitman arm, draglink and shocks will be from the Revell model A's. The '40 kit drum brake plates will be used. The rear axle and spring are from the roadster kit. The spring was de-arched as much as possible to lower the rear stance. Using the stock, un-dropped front axle from a Revell '40 kit, the wheel spindles were cut away and installed. Like the front, the '40 kit drum brake plates will be used as well as Revell model A shocks. The Flathead V8 engine and trans come from Revell's '40 kits. The back of the trans was modified with a correct-looking u-joint cap for the torque tube drive. This piece was cut off of the roadster kits stock 4-cylinders engine/trans. These next two pictures show the engine and rear axle assembly mocked up in the frame. More to come...

Back in the 1930's the term 'hot rod' had not been thought of yet. Modified cars were referred to as 'soup jobs' or 'gow jobs'. The Ford in-line 4 cylinder engines remained the hop up engine of choice thru the '30's as well. It wasn't until the 1940's (especially after WWII) the Ford flathead V8 would dominate the hot rodding world. With all that said, the inspiration for this project comes from the pre-war era and will only use parts available from that time. This 1930's gow job is the culmination of combining AMT's '25 roadster pickup body and one of Revell's model A chassis. The front suspension is based off the dropped axle from Monogram's '33 3-window adapted with the spindles, wheels and tires from Revell's '37 pickup. I'm still working out the rest of the suspension and steering. The rear axle, wheels and tires also come from the '37 pickup but has been reworked so that the spring is mounted ahead of the axle. The spring was replaced with a model A piece. The chassis mocked up shows that the wheel-base has been extended with the re-worked rear axle. This made it possible to leave the radius rods full length. Only a short section needed to be removed from the torque tube so that it would mate to the Revell model A engine. No frame modificatons will be necessary . To make the body look correct in fenderless form, the fenders needed to be cut away leaving only the floor and sub-rail section for the pickup box to mount on. For propper proportion with the extended wheelbase, the truck will use the tall, stock windshield and top. It will also use the '25 T radiator shell and headlights. More to come soon...

Terrific job re-working the body! The dimensions look right-on. With the full-fenders and chrome wire wheels, it looks very classy. Can't want to see it in paint. What are you going to use for interior panels and seats?

This has to be one of the neatest '34 PU builds I've ever seen. The parts selection is excellent and the proportions are spot-on! I don't know if I'd catagorize this truck as a rat-rod. It would be right at home in the whole Kulture community but at the same time looks more mature as it isn't clad with all the usual rat-rod B.S. like skulls and iron crosses and ###### for the sake of ######. The track nose is my favorite part - the shape is perfect. Please show some shots of the chassis!

This is a neat concept Bernard, and you're off to a great start. It's nice to see another Parts Pak Caddy put to use too! And Raul is correct, that front axle and spring is from the first issue of Monogram's '37 Ford Sedan.

For several years now a Southern California-based hot rod shop, Hollywood Hotrods, has been building a 1:1 replica of Monogram's old Black Widow - a 1927 Ford Roadster PU. The finished truck is going to be on display at this years Grand National Roadster Show, held in Pomona Ca on Jan. 24 - 25. While perusing the H.A.M.B. hotrod message board tonight I came across a thread with teaser photos of the nearly finished truck. I thought you all would get a kick out of this as I'm sure there's many on this board that remember building this kit back in the day (I'm not one of them as I didn't come along till '79.) Link: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=324764

I, for one, always enjoy seeing your builds, Raul. No matter how many times, they never get old. Absolutely LOVE the Willy's PU and have since I saw in-progress shot's of it. The paint scheme is soo bitchin'! Can't wait to see what you come up with this year!

When's the last time you saw a '64 Corvette with an injected Dodge Red Ram Hemi?!

Having fun with the new camera again, I thought you might enjoy seeing some old builds from the good old days. The following models were built by my Father in the early-mid 1960's when he was a teenager. They are all first-issue kits, several of which are from the AMT Trophy series. He has these on display in his office. They're a bit dusty and I decided not to try and clean them as it gives them a certain character - like dragging an old hotrod out of a barn after 40 years. These are true time capsules, capturing perfectly the trends of the time period in which they were built. Enjoy!

Thank you very much, Dan!

The finished product looks awesome, Ryan! Lots of neat and inovative ideas. One of my favorite parts is still the wood pallet bed floor. And, while it looked cool with the Flatty, the injected nail head looks even cooler. The retro-fitted '48 dash looks right at home in there too. I wasn't aware that the '41 Chevy truck kit uses decals for the hubcaps - I was wondering how the hell you painted them so well, haha. What Ivo kit is the engine from and is the kit hard / expensive to come by?

Very neat build, Raul! And quite imaginitive too! This makes me think of something that would be built post-apocalypse, like something you'd see in the old Mel Gibson Road Warrior movies. Love all the weathering and detail, my favorite of which is the way you did the front frame extensions. They look like someone took some 2x4" square tube with old red paint on it, cut it up and welded it in - awesome. Also dig the interior and the huge drum mounted in back for a fuel tank. Are the various interior controls decals from the BTTF kit too? Oh, btw, I think your rear tires are on backwards?

Thanks, Jantrix! I remember building these one after the other and they were a turning point for me and my ability. Must be why they've lasted so long.

Here's a couple of builds I completed back in '94 when I was 14 years old. These are my only intact survivors from before my 10 years of down time from '98 to just earlier this year. The '32 is a Monogram kit that I turned into a smoothie street rod. Even the running boards were smoothed and blended into the fenders and the body character lines around the trunk were removed. The kit front axle was sunk into the front crossmember with the "four bar" from Monograms '40 PU and the 'vette rear from a Revell-ogram '37 Ford. The rear portions of the '37s center X were installed too. Wheels are early Centerline-style also from the '40 PU. The engine is a really out of place rodded Flathead again from the '40 PU with a billet-style air cleaner over the 3 carbs. The kit interior was used with the dashboard smoothed and a photo-etched gauge panel installed. Steering column is the tilt unit, again, from a '37 kit along with the steering wheel from Monogram's '55 Ford PU. The paint is Testors "Boyd" Pacific Green. The '29 is a Monogram "Early Iron" kit. It uses the front and rear suspension from a Monogram '32 roadster. The rear of the frame was stretched using a second frame to accomodate the spring being behind the axle which also lowered the rear substantially. Don't remember what the front wheels are, but the rears are from AMT's '49 Merc with '49 Ford caps. The engine is a rodded Ford flathead 4 from a Revell model A PU with a Parts by Parks pre-wired distributor. The PU bed was shortened up to the fenders and the windshield and top chopped with the rear window re-positioned so it would still be in the middle. The kit interior was used except for the bucket seats which come from AMT's old '33 sedan street rod kit with the headrests removed.

Thanks guys! I had a lot of fun building this one. It was a great way to get my feet wet after not going in the water for 10 years and for my first effort I couldn't be happier. I'm also LOVING this, er, "our" new camera!

Okay, see I read the post on your '32 roadster right before this and my brain got the two cars washed together. In mocking up different early Ford rear axles in the Revell '32 frame I've noticed the same problem of the radius rods hitting the frame in some cases. The other option would be to relieve the frame but that's kinda hokey. If you're going for accuracy, when splitting rear wishbones the forward pivot point needs to be on the same plane and centerline as the front driveshaft pivot to avoid binding during suspension travel.

Thanks answering my questions and for posting the frame pictures! It's an interesting piece. The k-member is a pretty simplified version of a stock '32 k-member, but definately passable for a propper Flathead-era hotrod. It seems to me they would have been better off installing a new rear crossmember to accomodate the stock rear axle from Revell's '40 Fords since the '37-'40 rear axle was the most commonly swapped into a '32 chassis. Where did you source a La Salle trans?

Good looking roadster! The blue w/red interior is a nice touch and one that really works well. Can't wait to see it actually sitting on all 4. Couple of questions: Do they also make the smooth dashboard to mount the Auburn panel on, or are we on our own there? Could you post a picture of just the frame taken from the underside? I'd like to see how it's been modified.

It seems like all of the builds I've seen of the '29 roadster the windshield has been installed straight up and down. Even the "box art" model on the kit I have is done this way and it's like instant death despite how nice or how cool the rest of the car is. I'm glad to see you're "in the know" and will be installing it correctly. The build is looking good so far and pretty accurately reflects what the majority of these cars were like as most were built without a lot of "frills" and the same basic recipe, to which you've gone right down the checklist. It was called get a car and get it on the road. Question: You say the resin kit requires the builder to use the rear axle/suspension found in the Revell model A kits. What did you do about the model A torque tube being significantly shorter than a '32 when using an early engine / 3spd-style trans?

Fantastic looking Flathead! I especially like the Mag and the drive system you engineered. Those SCoT blowers don't do a whole lot in street trim, but they sure look cool. I had the opportunity to drive a '32 3W with a SCoT on top of a '49 Merc engine and I think the biggest thing it added was an insanely loud sucking sound from the unfiltered, twin 97's. Still pretty peppy tho. Also digging the paint color. In the last year or two a shop called Iona Hotrods (sp?) built a very traditional-looking '32 roadster in that very shade of green. I saw it in person at an event out here in Southern Ca. and it was a terrific looking car with a lot of really trick work done throughout. Can't wait to see more!

My girfriend got a Cannon Power Shot A590IS as an early Christmas gift which means we BOTH got a new camera, haha. Of course the first thing that popped in my mind was that I can take new pictures of the two builds I've showed previously with pretty poor quality photos since my old camera doesn't have a macro setting. Anways, I've included a link to the original post and copied all the build info: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15480 Chassis: I took a couple deep breaths and forced myself to use the kits frame with molded in rear axle and stock exhaust system with the justification that when the car's sitting on the shelf and it can't be seen, it won't matter. However, the front crossmember and frame horns were removed and the front crossmember and frame horns from one of Revell's '32 kits grafted in place. Rather than the seperate, plated spreader bar I molded in a bar made from plastic tubing. The entire chrome suspension from Revell's '32 kits was used, save for replacing the disc brakes with period-correct early Ford drum brake plates from the Monogram '32 Roadster. The wheels, hub caps and rear tires from AMT's '40 Coupe were used with the fronts modified to mate-up to the Revell axle. The front tires are from the spare box and are a good match. The frame is painted Testors Model Master gloss black. Engine: The engine is from AMT's '32 Ford Coupe and is an overly simplified early small block Chevy and was a good choice for my "keep it simple" theme and the six-two setup with angled scoops looks period-perfect. I changed things up a bit with some finned Corvette-script valve covers, cut off the molded-on generator and used a chrome one from the spare box and used the Corvette exhaust manifolds from the Monogram '32 Roadster kit and the front tubes that come molded to them. The tubes are long enough to reach about halfway under the car for a simple open lake-pipe look. The engine is painted Testors dark red along with the "mouths" of the carburetor scoops and generator end plate. Details like the oil filter, starter and pulleys were hand painted Testors gloss black. The exhaust system is Testors silver. Body: I chose to use the fenderless, channeled option. A lot of time was spent cleaning up the body by removing mold seams and sharpening the body lines. The cowl vent was "filled" and the working rumbleseat converted to a non-functioning trunk lid. The firewall was made from the optional flat firewall found in Lindberg's '34 Ford Pickup. The radiator shell and insert are heavilly chopped Revell '32 parts and the radiator comes from Monogram's '32 Roadster and was equally cut-down. The windshield frame is out of the box but with new "glass" made from clear acetate. The headlights are the optional smaller pieces from the Revell '32 kits and the taillights are '39 Ford teardrops from the spare box. The body (as well as the shell, wheels, dashboard, steering column and wheel) is painted Testors Colors by Boyd kandy purple pearl over a Testors silver base. Thinned flat black was flowed between the grill bars. Interior: The kit interior, for the sake of cutting to the chase, sucks! To remedy this the side panels and seat from Revell's '32 Roadster were utilized. The bottoms of the side panels were trimmed off to accomodate the channeled body. The seat was cut apart where the upper and lower cushions come together and was minipulated to fit and the head bolster trimmed so that it would fit over the top of the body lip. The dashboard is from AMT's '40 coupe and fit with a lot of massaging. The steering column (with column-shift) and wheel come from AMT's '49 Mercury Coupe. The kit floorboard and pedals were used. The "upholstry" pieces are painted Tamiya matt white and the floor Tamiya semi-gloss black.

My girfriend got a Cannon Power Shot A590IS as an early Christmas gift which means we BOTH got a new camera, haha. Of course the first thing that popped in my mind was that I can take new pictures of the two builds I've showed previously with pretty poor quality photos since my old camera doesn't have a macro setting. Anways, I've included a link to the original post and copied all the build info: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15933 Chassis: Revell kit frame with stock gas tank cut out and remaining rear frame rails bobbed with new rear frame cross bar added from Revell '37 truck frame. Motor mounts replaced with mounts from Revell '37 Ford frame. Front suspenion and steering from kit, lowered slightly and disc brakes replaced with early Ford drum brakes from AMT '41 Woody. Rear suspension from kit except coil-overs replaced with regular tube shocks, disk brakes replaced with drum brakes from AMT '41 Woody and ladder bars de-chromed and painted. Shallow & deep Kelsey-Hayes style wire wheels and front tires from Monogram '30 Woody, M&H slicks from older release of Revell Stone, Woods & Cook Willys. Chassis, components and wheels painted with Tamiya gloss black. Engine: Revell 'parts pack' 331 Cadillac / 4spd trans from Revell 'parts pack' 427 Ford. Block, waterpump and trans components de-chromed. Hellings style helmet air cleaners added from AMT '25 roadster (engine kit did not provide air cleaners.) Headers from Monogram '29 pickup and kit exhaust extended to connect to headers. Engine is painted Testors Model Master gray-blue metallic and exhaust Testors silver Body: Channelled height of frame. Rear wheelwells re-worked to accomodate channel. Flat firewall from Monogram '32 roadster shortened with new cut-out for engine. Rear gas tank filler neck cut-out filled, taillights from Revell's Dan Fink Speedwagon and trunk handle added. Radiator shell moved forward and down from front crossmember to accomodate long Caddy engine, chopped 1/8" and thinned flat black flowed between grill bars. Radiator made from Revell '37 truck, shortened and filler neck/cap added from kit radiator. Headlights are optional small lights from kit. Body painted Duplicolor red-oxide primer. Interior: Kit floor and side panels. Rear bulkhead sectioned 3/16" and same amount trimmed from bottom of side panels to accomodate channel. Filler strip added to fill gap between toe board and flat firewall. AMT '40 Ford dashboard which, after trimming V-shape so straight across, is a direct drop in - no other work required! AMT '40 Ford coupe bench seat with 1/8" trimmed off bottom. Steering column made from styrene tube with chrome 3-spoke steering wheel from Monogram '32 roadster. Dash and column painted Tamiya gloss black, "upholstry" painted Tamiya satin black.

Your truck is looking really cool! Isn't it funny how builds evolve? Please tell me, where did you get those Halibrand front wheels and the tires they're in?

Beautiful looking build, Dave! You have an amazing quality of fit and finish with your builds and this is just another fine example. Love the way you chopped the top. Combined with the raised fenders it really gives it an aggressive look. Reminds me of the real contest cars that are being turned out today that are handmade with a resemblence to an original design. Can't wait to see how you rebuild this one. Also, I assume this started as the Revell kit? How is that kit out of the box as far as detail, fit and finish goes? I've often times wanted to bid for one on eBay but always hold back at the last minute since you don't see much about this and the sister Pheaton kit. Any impressions you can provide would be appreciated!