noname

Glad you are enjoying this RustyBill. I painted the engine and attached the tranny. I got some of the paint off the chassis but not all. I went ahead and painted it flat black after scratching some rear springs and shocks. This will be weathered a bit soon. Thanks for looking.

Well, I did run into a snag. Those darn slicks don't fit in the wheelwell! Actually they just barely fit. The rear axle was a tad too long. I have it fixed now. I just sawed off the axle ends, took a small portion out and then glued it back together. After a little mock up I decided I would like to see the rear wheel tucked up in the wheelwell more. To adjust this I simply cut a bit off the rear springs to lower it. Hopefully this will give it that slight up in the front look and I won't have to touch the front end. Another little snag is that the wheel wasn't quite centred in the rear wheelwell for some reason. This is annoying. I'll play with it a bit more and see what I can do. Not the first kit I had this problem with I might add.

Thanks Ed. I hope you are still making those awesome rims. Don't worry, I'm thinking on at least having part or all of the front end in some sort of primer. Probably black or grey. I won't make it toooo pretty.

Well, the chassis is getting there. The rear suspension and exhaust is dome. It was neat that this kit included the dump tubes. But, I went ahead and made my own. Styrene and PE header fanges. They just have to be painted. I left them open because this car will be race ready. Next up will be the front suspension. I want it to be slightly higher in the front. I have an idea for that. Just have to see if it will work. I'd add brake lines but I haven't found a good reference pic.

Glad you like Mooneyzs. I was going to cut the tranny off the Hemi and realised I already had a Hemi minus the trans. and I tranny minus a motor in my parts box. All I had to do is join them. I also had a set of valve covers for this engine already painted. I went ahead and reamed out the collector pipe for a more realistic look. I sanded the tread on the slicks. I'll try to tone down the shine on the sidewalls with some dullcoat. I also had to add some styrene to the wheel backings so they would meet the rim inside these fat things.

Thanks folks. I'm still trying to get the paint off the body. I also had to get some acrylic rust off the chassis while trying not to bother the inteior as I want that as is with a shifter added. 6bblbird tells me that it is unlikely (although not impossible ) for a car into the 70's to have a Hydrostick. So I may just cut it off and add a 4spd. That way I may not have to mess with the tranny tunnel. Which actually I already did over on the last build. The plan was that this car is a car put together in the 70's from maybe some 60's left overs. Now I don't know how many cars like this would have run those fat a tires. But, you know some people would have put them on just to look cool if for no other reason. You know how some guys put too much cam or carb on a motor that is otherwise stock?

That is what I was trying to figure out Dave, when these tires came out. They actually measure 16mm=16" wide. But they probably could pass for the tires you are talking about. I found a pic of the Willys used in the movie Hot Rod (1979) and that had some pretty fat tires in the back.

Thanks for your comments guys. If you look at a picture of the Willys used in the movie Hot Rod, you'll notice those tires are really fat like the 1/25 slicks I was talking about. I just don't know when they came into existence. And I don't know if they are 16" wide but they must be pretty close. 6bbl bird, I could always cut the Hydrostick off and tack on a 4spd. How would you label a later 70's Hemi Willys?

Don't forget to make sure the front sits right too. Where this is a newer car I'm not sure how it is suppose to sit. The pictures in the link give an idea but the angle is hard to tell. When I saw the last picture of your build, it looked a little higher in the back. Cars of this era usually sat higher in the front. Of course I'm not really sure how the 1:1 car sits. Not trying to pick, just trying to help. It's your build, do it how you like and have fun. Feel free to ignore my suggestions.

I had this big Hemi painted with Alclad sitting for a couple of years and thought I'd do something with it. Then I got this idea to redo a Willys I did a while ago and wasn't quite happy with. Should be an easy fit except this was the Willys street rod so I'm not sure if the tranny tunnel will need to be worked for Hydrostick fitting. The Hemi does come with the Willys Gasser kits afterall. So I've never used one of these big bad Hemis before so I thought I'd do something else out of character. I'll use the great big fat slicks that came in a number of Amt kits such as the 57 Vette Gasser. This would place the car in the 70's somewhere as this size tire was not available in the 60's. So far everything I've built was in the 50's and 60's. So this will be different for me and should be fun. Got the body ready to be stripped and repainted. I don't find oven cleaner works as well on laquer as it does enamel. I'll let it soak a little longer. The chassis will have to be cleaned up as I made it rusty for the last build. I made the interior a little rusty and made the door panels to look like they were stripped. I'll have to remove the push button shifter (forget what they were called) and add a stick shift. Here is the Hemi and the wheels. In the pic is a nice set of rims I picked up at Drag City Casting. I'll see what I can get done but I warn you, this is third build I have on the go right now. But you know how it is, you work one while waiting for progress on another.

A point about the likely hood of a Hudson Gasser, it is fairly unlikely and it probably wouldn't go far at a national level. But who's to say it could never have been done. They may have only raced at smaller local tracks. Remember, some people added weight to their Willys to put it in a lower classbracket where they would be more competitive. Plus, if that car had a fibreglass front end, aluminum doors and drunk, racing buckets, etc. it could probably fool a few people. Now in present day, people do all kinds of crazy things just to be different.

Thanks guys. I have a couple of good pics of the throttle linkage. I'm glad you guys like it. I feel the one I scratch built isn't perfect but it looks better with the naked eye. I used styrene but thin metal or PE would have been better. The stand I believe is from that good old Amt 57 Chevy that everyone built as a kid. Cruz, your Catalina is gorgeous. One of my favorites. What paints did you use for the interior? I still have to muster up some decals from some where.

This is an awesome looking car. If you don't mind me saying, I would tuck the rear tire up in the wheel well just a little more. Compare your mock up with 1:1 car. Great project.

Thanks for that 6bblbird. I didn't realise Gasser class existed that long. If I build an early-mid seventies Gasser I'll have to look at some pics to get an idea of a class designation. I have no idea how the weight breakdown or anything goes for that time period. Do you think folks would have used a Hydro Stick tranny into the 70's? I have a few sets of those wide slicks I mentioned above and thought about using a set for a change. I was wondering what year they started making tires this wide. They are 16mm wide which should be the same as 16inches in 1:1 terms. Pretty fat stuff. Anybody got an idea?

I have two questions I'm hoping I can get some answers for. 1) Does anybody have any information about Gassers past 1972? I believe the Gassers class ended in 1972. What did it turn into? 2) I know that in 1971 you could get a slick as wide as 13.5 inches in tread width. I'm wondering if anybody has any info on slick widths for the recent years following 1971? Specifically, I'm wondering what time frame those slicks that come with many kits including Amt's 57 Gasser and Bantam Blast fit in. Thanks in advance for any help.

Yup, this is a winner. Nice colour, clean all around with a nicely detailed engine.

Thanks guys. I usually scratch fuel lines, which probably would have looked better, but it's not that often one is included in the kit so I went with it. I won't do much for weathering as this will be a car raced in 62-63. I will dust up the chassis a little for fun. This kit is the one with the dark blue 1:1 picture on the box cover. It is one of those rare well detailed AMT kits. They were doing something right at that time. The frame is even separate, cool stuff. I started it a few years ago and painted the body black. I had it polished and it had a nice shine. But, I stripped it because it looked a little thick. It was enamel paint which I hardly ever use. But like most cars they look so sharp in black. However,I am considering a different colour just to be different. All I know is that it will have nice glossy black steelies. Proper! Yes, it is all about eye candy isn't it. That's why we all come here. Too bad I did't have a dedicated photo both for better pics.

Thanks for your addition Swifster. I have actually seen a couple Catalina pics with a white roof. They look kinda neat. Lots of possibilities.

I started my Catalina. It is one of the older kits from the 90's maybe? I plan on making a Super Stocker. Here is the finished engine. I roughed up a throttle linkageand spring with some bits of styrene and wire. Hard to see in the photos. I will have to redo the chrome aircleaners as the chrome gets damaged while removing from the sprue. Nothing new eh? The chassis is all painted but need to be assembled and weathered a tad. Thanks for looking.

I have this aweful thing with black. I want to see everything painted black with black steelies. But what doesn't look good in black? I have seen some pics of Catalinas painted some not so popular colours and they all look sharp. It's just a nice body style. As far as silver and white go, they both look pretty mean with red lettering, black rims and that slight nose up look.

Dave, I'm not too worried about a build being 100% accurate anyway. But I think I'll go with red interior to be on the safe side. Makes the model look a little more interesting too. Unless I opt for another colour other than black. Then I suppose a blue interior or other may go better with say a white or silver body. I wanted to make a Super Stocker but it is probably going to be hard to find white decals. Man I need to get me some decal paper one of these days.

That is about what I was thinking Brett. The red interior is the most likely candidate for the black. Charlie, maybe you could choose different doorskin and seat combos. Who knows. I wasn't even thought of in 62.

To make things a little more complicated, I've noticed some cars have different doorskins and seats. The AMT kit had the seat covers with vertical grooves but the doorskins are the ones without the vertal lines. And I also noticed one car with red interior with a black dash and another with a red dash.

Charlie was kind enough to send me the PDF he mentioned above. It doesn't list a black for the Catalina. I've looked quite a bit on Google and haven't found a Catalina with black interior. I don't know if we can rely on the list on the Oldride website. It titles this list "paint code". We generally don't paint upholstery. So maybe they are talking about the actual colour of the sheet metal of the interior or something. I don't know, but you'd think they would have called it fabric colour or something instead of interior paint chips.

Yes, the research can be difficult at times. I know I can't afford to get books on every car I build. I figure they either did not do a Catalina with black interior or it was somewhat rare. I've already got part of the interior for my Catalina painted black. If it turns out wrong I'll just have to strip it.