Chuck Most

I got this kit on Thursday afternoon and, as you can see, couldn't wait to tear into it. I added a Frankenstein FE big block, Firestone front tires, and some mud and snow tires from Scenes Unlimited out back. The decals came from the MPC '78 Dodge. I gave it a light weathering, and added a rust hole just above the driver's side headlight, because my dad's long-gone '66 250 Camper Special had a rust hole in that same spot. This was kind of a "practice" kit- when the long bed comes out, I'll be building a model of that very same Camper Special, as well as my late grandfather's '66 F100, which remains in the family today.

This is about as close to box-stock as I've gotten on one of these kits in a while. It was fitted with a straight six, a Revell snow plow, and tires from the Revell first-gen Bronco. Aside from that it was heavily weathered and damaged to represent a well-used old landscaping and plow truck.

The Johnson brothers had had a blast building their "Hay Fever" '34 Ford pickup, and the custom car bug had hit hard. It was 1962, and Ike Johnson was about to get his driver's licence. While older brother Roger had every intention of building a new hot rod and tossing the keys to Hay Fever to Ike, the younger brother had other plans. Catch Hay Fever here if you're so inclined... A '34 Ford at a nearby farm called out to him. Well... to be accurate, it was more of a pile of parts that used to be a '34 Ford. Two coupe bodies (one three window and one five window), a complete chassis, and a (seized) Flathead V8, along with other various doodads. Sadly, he and the owner couldn't quite get a deal working, and so Ike sought out alternatives. He really wanted a three-window Ford coupe, and the '34 would have been a nice starting point. Ford three-windows were still fairly common in his little Michigan town, but the people who owned them tended to want to hang onto them. The ones that ended up on used car lots or for sale tended to be thoroughly clapped out and were quickly snapped up by local dirt track guys. Heck... the dirt track guys even managed to snap up the nicely preserved ones too. Still, Ike spent the better part of a year searching and tire kicking. After a deal fell through on a somewhat rough '36 Ford Deluxe three window, Ike was down but not out. Ike had always thought that the 1940 Ford would have looked good as a three-window, and since there was a '40 DeLuxe five-window on the "as-is" dirt lot at G.R. Wilson Ford... and with a little subtle prodding from big brother Roger... Ike thought he'd give it a try. Though the '40 was covered in dings and dents, and the engine block was a roadmap of poorly brazed cracks, Ike figured the car would at least run and drive long enough to make the 12 mile trip from the dealership to the makeshift shop. And it did. Though there were a couple of times where things started looking sketchy... The project started, naturally, at the top. The five window's roof was cut away, and about three and a half inches were cut out of the posts. The door openings were stretched and longer doors from a '40 Tudor sedan were fitted, and chopped to match. The brothers then reworked and reshaped the roof until they had the sleek '40 three-window that Ford had never produced. As Ike mapped out what else he wanted to do with the bodywork, the brothers moved on to the chassis. The car was lowered around four inches by the brothers' patented "removing a few leaves and farting around with springs and crossmembers" method. Ike thought of sticking in a fresh Flathead, but he really wanted a more modern power plant. A 1958 Lincoln 430 was sourced and fitted to the '40's transmission with a bellhousing adaptor fabricated by Roger. The boy's father Ed actually helped out on this project, when he made new engine mounts to fit the burly MEL big block into the '40 frame. Ed still didn't "get" what his boys were up to, but it looked like they were having fun doing whatever the hell it was they were doing, so he thought he'd join in. Even if for no other reason than to show the boys his support. Ike ultimately decided that other than the conversion to a chopped three window roof, he wanted to keep the rest of the car close to stock. The bumpers were shaved, '41 Chevrolet tail lights were mounted vertically, and the hood was smoothed. All of the trim and handles were shaved, and the car was coated in Emerald Green metallic paint, with the engine and wheels painted gold. The interior was kept mostly stock, but color keyed to the exterior. Ike spent the next couple of years cruising the old Ford across the lower peninsula, and taking to shows. Like Hay Fever, Ike's nameless '40 was featured in Saginaw-based "Wheels" magazine. The old Ford served Ike faithfully for two years before he sold it. The car went through a series of owners, but it basically just as you see it now since 1962, and has been kept up and occasionally refreshed by subsequent owners.

Several years back I built a 1:32 scale Arii kit of the 1955 Daihatsu three-wheeler pickup. I finally stumbled across the Mazda kit from the same Driver's Club series, and did it as a crusty companion. It is box stock other than the headlight lenses. The kit supplied pieces were terrible, so I replaced them with a spare set of 1:25 quad lenses. I'm about 95% certain they came from the custom grille option for the AMT '53 F-100. The model was weathered and painted in Tamiya Cockpit Green. I lost the passenger's side mirror at some point and just left it off- maybe it got knocked off by a goat or something.

It has some small fiddly bits but overall it's not too bad.

Just a weathered, box-stock buildup of the Heller kit. This was built to replace a similar one that was dropped and kind of... exploded. Might mount this one to a base just to be safe.

C'mon... what were you expecting?

Stuffed a few more details into my cramped little shop...

Today I whipped up some work benches. On the left is the one from the new AMT accessories set, the other two are Fujimi. I added BMF to the tops, and after the Ford tractor blue paint had dried, the surface was roughed up and dusted with black weathering powder. The main bench was decorated with a metallic Subaru decal from Hobby Design. The clock is a decal from the same AMT accessories pack.

This is the old motorized Fujimi kit. It did not include stock wheels, so I used some later-style AMG wheels from a Fujimi parts pack.

This began as the Hasegawa Nissan Bluebird 1600 SSS. I added Fujimi BBS wheels and converted it to LHD but left the Bluebird trim for a little JDM flair.

Just me getting rid of spare parts....

This was just a quick time killer project from the recent reissue . I did add a 1960 Mercury grille and bumperettes from the old AMT parts pack. I'd like to touch up some of the chrome and maybe add some graphics later on. v

I think that's the best way I've ever seen it described.

In 1961, a beat up '34 Ford pickup was handed down from farmer Ed Johnson Sr. to his son Roger, who had just gotten his driver's license. Roger was grateful for his newfound freedom and a free set of wheels. Well... Roger did title the truck in his name, as well as purchase his own plate and insurance, even though Ed had told him it would be OK to keep it in the elder's name. Being a responsible kid and wanting to prove that he was at least somewhat capable of being a responsible adult, Roger insisted on taking on the financial aspects. But the truck itself was free. Roger also would foot the bill for gas and any repairs the truck might need... and initially it did need a few. Ed was a "run it til it dies" kind of guy. Ed's wife, kids, and friends were frankly shocked that this truck had lasted almost 30 years... the last fifteen of which had been under Ed's ownership. In 1961, pickup trucks were the realm of farmers and poor folks. Pickup trucks weren't daily driven luxury barges like today, they were mere work vehicles, and if you used a pickup truck as a daily driver people assumed that you were too poor to buy a proper car. Even in a small Michigan farm town, being a young kid with a pickup made you something of a social pariah. Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, however, Roger decided to have fun with his beater. He'd been picking up (no pun intended) Hot Rod and various "little pages" for as long as he could read, and he figured he might be able to do his part to make pickups cool, at least in his little corner of the world. Many custom pickups had been built, after all, and a '33-'34 Ford pickup wasn't exactly a bad starting point. Roger started small. Steel disc wheels and hub caps from a '53 F100 were added. The bumper was replaced by a unit from a '34 Ford car. Along the way, Roger spotted a junked Massey Harris tractor and was able to purchase the grille shell, and it was fitted to the little Ford. Painted (or rather, primed) to match the rest of the truck, Roger got a kick out of people trying to figure out what it came from, even people familiar with the tractors. Roger didn't get ribbed too hard for driving an old pickup from his schoolmates, though that may have been due to his easygoing nature rather than anything he'd done to customize the old Ford. Ed, on the other hand, would just shake his head and wonder what on Earth his middle child was thinking. However, on the way home from the last day of school that year, the old Ford's four-cylinder gave up the ghost, about a mile from home. Ed and Roger towed it home, and Roger debated what to do. His younger brother Ike, who was also developing an interest in the rod and custom scene, suggested wheeling it into an unused shed on the farm and redoing it. What began was a month-long thrash session, as the two teenagers dismantled the old pickup and set to work making it into something worthy of the hot rod and custom magazines of which they were fans. For that time, basically every spare moment and nearly all of their income was pooled into the old Ford. Ed just shook his head and stayed clear. He, like many fathers then, before, and now, just didn't understand his kids. He wasn't keen on the idea of them making a mess of the shed and blowing all their money on a junky old truck, but seeing how enthusiastic and focused his boys were with the project helped put his mind to ease. At least, Ed reasoned, if he wanted to know where they were, he knew the first place he'd need to check. The basic chassis was more or less left stock, though the front end was lowered about two inches by "removing a couple of leaves and farting around with the shackles" as Roger recalled years later. A junkyard 390 was secured, and to this was fitted a supercharger fitted with three two barrel Webers. The supercharger and carbs had been the first parts the boys had ordered for the project, and were the last things added to it. The truck sat about 99% completed while they waited for the parts to arrive. The F-100 wheels remained, but the truck was fitted with gold-stripe whitewall Firestones. Later, after the truck had developed something of a reputation, a local tire shop supplied the boys with a set of Firestone slicks for shows. The cab was channeled six inches, sectioned two inches, and chopped three inches. Their younger sister Sheila stitched up the green tuck and roll interior panels. Only a speedometer was displayed in the center of the dash- an oil pressure gauge, temperature gauge, and a fuel gauge were mounted to a small sliding rail where they could be hidden from view up underneath the dash when the truck was on display. That was Ike's idea, and Roger was struck by it, even though it served no practical purpose and they pretty much did it just because they could. A similar sliding plate was fabricated for the ignition and headlight switches. The bed was shortened, and Ike made the tail fins using steel cut from a scrap grain bin Ed had sitting out back. A '57 Pontiac donated it's front bumperettes, which were fitted with '59 Cadillac tail lights and pressed into service at the rear of the truck. The brothers lucked out when they found a piece of corrugated steel with a pattern that almost perfectly matched the interior pleating, and it was used to fashion a hinged bed cover. They'd planned to have Sheila do a padded cover for it, but the eleven year old sewing whiz had worked hard on the dash and door panels, and they didn't want to "work the poor kid's fingers off, even if she did enjoy the task immensely" as Ike said. The '34 Ford car front bumper remained, as did the Massey Harris grille, but the latter was mounted down lower, and the front fenders were flattened at the front and fitted with canted '59 Chevrolet headlights. The spare tire well on the passenger's side fender was also filled. While the boys waited for the supercharger to show up, they fabricated the exhaust system, from the "log" exhaust manifolds to the curved smokestacks. Playing off the "farmer" stigma of pickup trucks, and the fact that the thing had a farm tractor grille, Roger came up with the name "Hay Fever". The boys picked the brightest shade of green they could find and hosed off the truck with a borrowed spray gun, after lining the interior of the shed with about 400 newspapers. The name Hay Fever was then hand-painted onto the tailgate. As stated, the actual build took a month, but the duo spent the better part of the year working the bugs out of the truck. Being first-time hot rod builders, they made several mistakes and oversights which needed to be rectified later on. Though Ike was about a year off from having his license, he did take the truck out for a spin or two when the local fuzz wasn't looking. As far as Roger was concerned, Ike had just as much effort and input in the truck as he did, and he was effectively "co-owner". And of course, it was settled that eleven year old Sheila, who was something of a sewing maistro even at that young age, would get plenty of wheel time when she got her licence for her efforts with the upholstery, though things ended up not working out that way. She did get to ride in it numerous times, and nicknamed the truck "booger" due to it's bright green finish. The brothers entered the truck in several shows, and it began to garner quite a bit of interest. A locally published little book called Wheels, headquartered in Saginaw, did a four-page feature on the truck in their October 1961, and it was featured in full color on the cover along with a fetching young lady named Mary. It was, as far as the brothers know, the only time the truck was published in full color. The feature, of course, was black and white. The show displays got elaborate- the truck would be displayed behind velvet ropes, surrounded by fiberglass hay bales, with a banjo leaning on a tire and a straw hat casually hung from a corner of the front bumper. The brothers began getting requests from people to do work on their vehicles, and after mulling it over for a few months, the brothers opened their own custom shop. As for Hay Fever? By 1963, the stock banjo axle had been torn to shreds by the blown 390, and along with the display props, the truck became a trailer queen. It wore several different sets of wheels during it's time retired from the road. At it's final show in 1965, it was wearing a set of Ansen slot mags and narrow white walls, as the brothers were selling Ansen accessories out of their shop by that time and used the truck as something of a billboard. It sat behind the shop under a lean-to until about 1966, when a local drag racer bought it. He'd planned to refurbish it and use it as a tow rig for his dragster, but as typically happens, the truck sat in a barn until 1980, when it was passed onto a nephew, who himself stashed it in a barn and did nothing with it other than occasionally dust it off. At some point the original Firestone whitewalls and later Firestone slicks, on the old F100 wheels, were reunited with the truck. And after all these years, Roger still had the original 1961 plate. He'd kept it because he was amused that the first two letters were RJ- his first and last initials. It's back on there now. As you see it in the photos, this was pretty much how Hay Fever looked when it was dragged out of mothballs and purchased by Ike's grandson Scott in 2019. Eventually Scott plans to do a full restoration, but for now he's enjoying the old hot rod as-is. Roger and Ed are shocked at how well their paint and body work has held up- aside from some cracks in the fenders, some splits in the leadwork, and heavy surface rust, the truck has aged well, and Sheila's upholstery job, while showing signs of wear, is otherwise near pristine Not too bad for a couple of know-nothing teenage farm kids, huh?

The period of time which spawned wasn't a great time for AMT kits with correctly-scaled engines. If I recall, the American Graffiti T-Bird and '58 Edsel also had undersized engines. It's a shame too- the Edsel and Ala Cart mills are nicely detailed, but too small. The T-bird engine was junk though.

If you want the full version, check out the thread in the workbench section. Short version is it's Lincoln 368 powered, sports a PTO winch, and is generally cruddy and nasty.

I've always wanted to do some "hastily redone" door graphics. You know- where someone will buy a vehicle with existing lettering, sand it off, then hand-paint their own lettering. A cotton swab was soaked in 91% alcohol and wiped across the door, then the dissolved paint was wiped away with a blue shop towel. The J&G lettering was written on with a fine-point Sharpie acrylic paint marker. The J&G is a nod to The Terminator- the tanker truck chasing Sara and Kyle near the end is lettered J&G Oil Company- the J standing for James Cameron and the G standing for his co-producer (and future ex wife) Gale Anne Hurd.

May have this finished shortly- it's down to a front bumper, possible door lettering, and a CB antenna.

Air cleaner and exhaust have been figured out. The black washes are still wet in these photos.

The business end of the truck is pretty well dialed in. The wrecker boom was made from various bits of Evergreen stock. It's loosely based on an old Canfield crane. The boom was fixed into place with a fabricated a-frame. Since the boom no longer goes down, I figured right behind the winch would be a perfect place for the air tank. Originally the idea was for the tank to power an impact wrench via the retractable hose, but it never had quite the capacity to do that, though the tank still came in handy when the customer had a spare in the car, but the spare was low on air pressure. So there's that. Maybe the siren works, maybe it's just for looks. There was just enough room on the driver's side step for a jerry can, so onto the driver's side step that jerry can went

I got a laugh out of this.

8 foot bed and the bench seat is back? Yeah, I'm in. I could have used those Rupps last year when I did the '69 F100 Rupp dealer truck.

And here's what will be going into the bed. A makeshift wrecker boom and a bit ol' PTO winch, both scratched from various bits of scraps, and odds and ends.

The body and chassis are joined permanently at this point. I added one of the air horns but put it under the hood, right next to the air compressor. I also added the bracing and fitted the heater hoses. I still haven't settled on what type of air cleaner housing I want to use. I installed a steering box from the spares pile, but I'm not sure why- much like the interior doodads, it's practically invisible now. The basic cab had some "rust" cut into the door lowers and cab corners. Some spares box turn signals and spotlights were added, and the mirrors are leftover white metal mirrors from an AITM Ford F600 transkit. I added a couple of custom touches in the photoetched hood scoop and the '60 Olds grille, which came from the old AMT Blueprinter parts pack. I used the kit's F100 6.5 bed, reconfigured slightly. This and the PTO might give you an idea of where I"m headed with this. The idea was an F250 with the standard 8 foot bed that was rear-ended and rebuilt as a wrecker at some point back in the sands of time. A junkyard- sourced F100 bed was installed, with the fenders moved back and given a quick white respray over the factory dark green paint. The bumper was scratchbuilt, and the mud flaps are stick-ons from Diecast Promotions. Aside from lack of an air cleaner and exhaust, the model is close to representing a runner.