Chuck Most

I passed on a 1:1 Bill Blass MkVII shortly after I sold my Turbo Coupe. I remember it had a hideous canvas faux convertible roof, and it was a little old lady car with suspiciously low miles... as in, the miles were so low I was suspicious of the engine being full of sludge due to never being driven.

I think the '53 Panel came with a 409, but I'm not sure. If I recall, the '39 Chevy sedan and sedan delivery came with pretty nice 427 BBCs with headers, scattersheilds, and a tunnel ram intake.

Just wondering. One appears to be a '67/8 Mustang sheet, the other is for an SC/Rambler.

In a handful of cases, yes. For instance, when I first saw the Revell '69 COPO Nova, I knew I had to build one as a base-model beater car. But for the most part, if the subject matter strikes my fancy, and/or it's just a kit I'm familiar with and like, I'll buy it and worry about what to do with it later.

For a roll cage I wouldn't use styrene tubing- I'd go with solid rod. Aluminum or brass tubing would be workable, but if you're going with plastic (which would be the way to go if this is your first major project of this kind), solid styrene rod would be easier to work with than tubing.

The only bad part about that site is, after looking at some of the other threads, now I wanna build a MKVII Bill Blass edtion and a convertible!

When the time comes to assemble the chassis into the body- (actually well before that) I'd suggest sanding the sides of the radiator just a little bit, as it is a very tight fit into the core support!

Hey, Mike? Let's see some pictures of 'em!

KILLER! To anyone working on a Mark VII (where you pretty much have to conjure up your own engine bay anyway), T-Bird, Coug, or other 'big' Fox body, I hit the motherload for underhood reference pics! Here ya go- http://thelincolnmarkviiclub.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=3752

It's already having a bad influence on me.

Engine bay is mostly there, at least roughed in. Those empty areas in front of each inner fender may be filled with twin turbos eventually.

Only if the large key on the back is wound tightly before use.

Oh, forgot this one... Jo Han '61 F-85 4-door wagon converted to a sedan delivery and, you guessed it, plopped down upon a '66 Pro Street Nova frame.

Tack on some fins, though...

The Pro Street Nova chassis works pretty well under the snap Rambler kit body-

Nice to see Travel Trailer fever spreading. WILL be keeping a close eye on this one, for sure.

Ah, yes, pushrods work as well now as they did 300 years ago. But that buggy-sprung IRS in the Vette was just a terrible design, period. A well-engineered solid axle setup (like the one in the Mustang) will trounce an iffy IRS design at the track, not to mention it's way cheaper to repair and service when needed. Like you said, Dave- quite effective. And it won't grenade if you stand on it, like the Cobra IRS was known to do. I always laugh when I read a review on the Mustang and the writer just has to slag its rear suspension design, because it requires a bit more effort to drive 'in a spirited manner' compared to IRS equipped cars. Weird, I always thought the whole point of a 'sporty' car was to ask for a little bit of skill from its driver. Keep your IRS setups and flappy-paddle gearboxes, give me a stick axle and a stick shift, thanks very much.

Still, I'd rather pay Ford dealer prices than, say, Ferrari dealer prices on parts. As far as the solid rear axle.... doesn't the Corvette still use a freakin' TRANSVERSE LEAF SPRING in the rear suspension? Or at least until a few years ago? Yeah, it's independent, but still, a buggy spring? Like a stagecoach? Come on! That's more backwards than a coil-sprung live axle, if you ask me.

True enough, but who knows what kind of torture a used 'hair-raising' supercar has been through? Add to that the fact the Shelby has better availability of parts and service than anything you could call 'exotic', I'd say that's another bump in its favor.

I've only managed to thumb through it so far- but three of my all time favorites (Hudson Hornet, '55/6 Packard, and Jag XJ 220) are on the cover, and if that's any indicator, it should be a pretty good one.

If you ever do need 650 hp, and don't have it, I'm sure you'll be singin' a different tune. That engine isn't always producing the full 650- Ford is just naturally trumping the top rating for bragging rights. There are more 400+ horsepower cars out now than during the muscle car era, yet you don't hear people complaining about how impractical and undrivable they are because of the power they make. I'm sure this car would be a sensible everyday car.... IF you could keep your foot out of it. I don't think I could do that, so for me personally, no, it wouldn't be a sensible everyday car.

Bodywork has begun- '10 Corvette taillamps are roughly grafted into place at this point.

Quite a serious mill for a dainty little T coupe! Love it.

Know what's funny? There's a local guy who has an early '80's Mopar (Diplomat or 5th Avenue) with the Bullitt wheels on it.

Stretched the front subframe (using another frame from a junk Saleen S281 kit), and got the wheelbase sorted out. Just HAD to see how it looked up on wheels, mocked up with an 8.8 rear axle. Still needs a little finessing, but I'm afraid the 'easy' stuff is already over!