horsepower

Between 400 & 500 I would guess. How many would it take to line three walls and four rows deep of models stacked up to ten feet high in a 40 x 60 shop? I quit counting years ago, plus I have the top of our closet, and one wall in our bedroom, and under the queen size bed covered too.

My mistake, memory isn't as good as it used to be. But that's the best part.

If you want to gouge up the model where it will require several coats of primer and a lot of wet sanding go ahead and hit it with the 400 grit paper. Personally I don't start out with anything coarser than 600 grit wet on anything that doesn't require body work on any of my paint jobs, to me the "frosted" finish is not anything to worry about.

4, more likely 10.

If the late forties to mid fifties cars were referred to as "shoebox" cars, would these qualify as "cigarette pack" cars?

I believe it was Street Rodder Magazine that did a photo tour of Dan Finks shop during a build up of one these. Just like a family car there were options you could have, or leave off, so it's entirely possible that the one Revell used to make this kit from was just as the model appears, no roof rack and a slightly fancier rear door. And yes, they're definitely wood framed from the cowling back.

Those little $99 engine stands aren't meant for real engines. My brother rebuilt the engine from his boat, a 392 Chrysler stroked to 440 c.i. roller cam,Venolia pistols, 6-71 GMC blower, oh yeah I forgot to say that the boat was a detuned fuel flat bottom. Well anyway when we started the rebuild we pulled the motor from the boat after pulling the supercharger and it's drive pulleys and bolted it to the stand while still hanging from the hoist, and when we started lowering the hoist to take the chain loose no one was paying attention until someone noticed that the engine was starting to point down hill. We had to remove the motor again, straighten up the upright and plate where it kinked and weld in an angle support to the base. After the rebuild we put the engine on a grain scale and discovered that the long block set up weighed a tad over 800 lbs.

A couple of the Camaro kits had the GM six in them too. One that comes to mind is the Lane Automotive number 52 kit.

It's not a Hyper-pac, that's a Clifford Research intake, the Hyper-pac intakes are quite a bit longer runners with a larger plenum area under the carb, and they used an AFB four barrel carb, not Holley. In the late'60s I worked for a local muffler shop and we got picked to build a custom 6 into one header for a local drag racer who was lucky enough to have gotten a 1964 Dart from the factory that had a Hyper-pac set up, it even had an even rarer big valve aluminum head on the 225 c.i. six, I never saw another one with the aluminum head on it, it was a big hit with fans as it put a few pretty good V-8's to shame, it was also the only six cylinder Dart I ever saw with a close ratio four speed transmission direct from the factory, getting a local racer in our area to pick up a factory sponsorship was a pretty big deal back then. That six into one header made an unearthly sound at high RPM kind of like a howling banshsee

In 1968 Pontiac increased the SOHC six to 250 cubic inches, and the Sprint option with its bigger cam, higher compression, and big Quadrajet carb, and dual exhaust manifolds increased from 207 horsepower,to 215, not a slouch in anyone's book.

Beautiful, while the critics were wasting time writing 38 pages of what was wrong with this kit, you were building it to show what was right about it, two thumbs up! Great job. I think maybe it's listed as discontinued because it's on back order everywhere, who knows, maybe the second shipment got held up for corrections. ;-)

That orange coupe is pretty sharp, exceptional quality, only one point, I really think that it would need more than just the center block motor mounts, the transmission mount didn't get bolted in, because I know you made a nice tubular mount, possibly even chromed it that is why it is still in the shop. And coil overs and the old Ford buggy spring? Might be a tad hard on the back on a very long ride.

How about some more photos, and a few close up shots of your art work, killer car!!

Love that wine color, and how many noticed the Ford Y block stuffed in there? Excellent job.

Really like the "hand formed" aluminum hood look you achieved..

And the matching artillery wheels, or just my tricky glasses playing tricks on me again?

I like the dual "barn doors" idea personally, another thought, you can get some hobby birch plywood in 1/64" thickness that would be much closer in scale appearance, and easier to stain and take a clear coat than the balsa wood. Just a thought.

Gold Coast Publishing, dropped Rod and Custom from its line up as with it owning Street Rodder, and Car Craft, along with a few other automobile and pickup related publications it considered it a duplicate. I have a subscription to Car Craft, that just ended with the September issue, I am in the process of dropping all of my "duplicate" automotive magazines, the only one I really liked anyway was Rod and Custom, I'll pick up the occasional magazine as needed, but the publisher won't cut me off without a warning again.

I believe the law for single taillights being legal was 1930 in passenger cars at least, I think that it was 1958 for commercial vehicles, but I'm not real sure on those.

The second coupe in the line up is a very well engineered street driver, it belongs to a great builder who was shown on a one season TV show with Jimmy Shine from So-Cal speed shop in a search for a new apprentice at the shop.

Someone is feeding you a line,NASCAR still uses a Lot 15"x10" wheel and due to the inherent rise in brake costs if they start allowing a larger diameter wheel, I doubt if you will see a change in the near future.

Our largest O'Reilly parts store carries the dupli-color line, even the quart size premixed colors for doing full size cars, and if you go in with a couple of buddies you can get some pretty good colors that are pre thinned and ready to spray, and a pretty good clear too. And I live in northern California.

The newer acrylic based paints are basically what your new automobile came with from the factory, they are water soluble while in a liquid state, but when dry are virtually bullet proof, and most like the full size counterparts dry to a flat finish and require a clear gloss to get a shiny finish. They are tough enough that they hold up well without the clear, most full size car finishes are only clear coated on the outer surface, check out the under side of your hood and deck lid, even street rodders who want a velvet finish just leave the clear off and instant flat finish.

I've had pretty good luck using the blue nail polish remover quoted in the article shown, but never let it sit longer than a couple of minutes at a time. I lost, actually LOST a hubcap I forgot and left in while I answered the phone, 30 minutes later all I could find was tiny chrome particles on the surface, and some unidentified goo on the bottom of the container.

They could always use Caddy sheet metal on the front and use the new CTS platform for power, if they can sell a Cadillac wagon, why not a pickup?