Reeves Racing

A "crate motor" is just a new or rebuilt engine sans the rest of the car. As brought out by many these come in various states of assembly. The question is like asking "Which kits come with the best after market wheels?" So the answer to the OP's awkwardly asked question would be the same answer to the question "Which kits come with the best looking and detailed engines that can be bashed into another kit?" As we all know a small block Chevy has the same outward dimensions whether it is a 265 or 400 (although the 400 has the cylinder bulges on the sides of the block) So any of them could be said to represent anything from a 327 to a 383 stroker, Same with a SBF, it could be said to represent everything from a 289 to a 347 stroker. Chevy big blocks from the truck based 366 to the 472 stroker. Your imagination equals what the displacement is... So my answer would be the engines both small and big block in the recent Revell 69 Nova kits, as mentioned before the small block Fords in the 32 hot rods. The engines in the Revell 70 Mach one are very good and even have the "cool" Autolite inline four barrel carburetor. Myself I picked up a Revell 98 Saleen Speedster to rob the engine and super charger from for a restomod 67 Mustang fastback so that would be a crate engine so to speak. I also picked up a Revell 99 F150 Lightning to rob the engine and super charger out of for a Moebius 70 F100 build. So that was a crate engine as well so to speak. I am a Ford guy so I lean towards those builds but I bet the engine out of any of the late model Corvettes would make a decent "crate engine" for a bash of some kind. I have used the 427/390 FE engine from the AMT 66 Fairlane and 67 Comet kits as well as the very nice 427 from the Revell Shelby Cobra. I got a handful of JoHan Boss 429 and OHC 427 engines off of eBay to use in some drag builds so in our modeling world you can source a "crate engine" just about anyware. Just my one cent (I'm running a 50% off sale)....

Nice work. Very clean. I have the model too. I built it a few years back and it got damaged when we moved from Kansas to Kentucky. Broken windshield and the drivers seat came loose. I put door glass on it so I couldn't fix the seat without taking the body back off. I have a windshield coming from a parts trade here on MCM and will be restoring mine soon. Sorry for the rant. I painted the engine in mine blue too. Here's mine after it was first built click here

Thanks JC, Right back at you.

That looks great. A lot of skill and craftsmanship. I am not a Mopar guy so this may be a dumb question. If the Round 2 body and chassis are so bad why not just build the whole car out of the Revell kit?

Yep and oil changes were a lot less messy afterwords too. Great job so far. I really like the color choice.

Great looking engine. Looking forward to seeing the body in paint.

Stunning work. That turned out awesome.

Those look great. Man you had to be fearless to drive one of those... that was just an engine with wheels on it... just sit on the rearend housing and point it in the general direction you want to go...

Thanks JC. Almost to the finish line with this one. click here >>> Quick Pass <<<

Thanks Wayne, I am happy with it Mike. Thanks for the props. I think these tires look much better JC I found some others the tire box that were almost the same size and sanded them down a little, about 3/32nds. I also lowered the back of the car a little bit by adjusting the spring mounts up into the trunk area a little. I think it looks much better. I just need to weather the tire decals and put some dull coat on the tires. My PE carb stuff came yesterday and I have the carb mounted up and the throttle cable installed. I am going to put some small nuts on the fuel lines where they attach to the carb fuel bowls to make that look a little better. I had to buy another 64 Thunderbolt on eBay so I can get a windshield. So that just about all that's left.

I have been debating on the rear slicks and this last set up pictures has made my decision. The ones on the model are too big. So I will be taking them off and trying to find something that looks closer to what was on the car.

Finished the decals last night. I need to reapply the BMF to the lower windshield trim and as soon as I get the new windshield I will be able to finish it up. I am also waiting on a PE carb linkage set to finish up the carburetor and permanently mount it. I am hoping the parts show up today or tomorrow. I finished up the disc brakes, the real car had 65 V8 Mustang spindles, 89 Ford Ranger rotors, 90 Chevy S10 calipers and Cadillac brake hoses and an adapter kit from Scarebird Fabrications. The chrome pens are awesome for touching up the BMF. I will finish detailing my trailer and the hitch on the truck and I will have a miniature of my tow rig. I set it on the bench last night. Boy does that bring back memories. I sold the truck when we moved to Louisville and I sold the race car a year and half later, and my trailer was stolen so I no longer have any these in real life any more lol... Here are some pictures.

I'm in.

The repaint was successful. I did hit one snag, I broke the windshield so Hi had to find another 64 Thunderbolt on eBay to get another windshield. The BMF (looks lumpy in the pictures but better in person) is done and the window channels and inside trim is painted and the rear and side glasses are installed. I made them from sheet stock. I started on the decals which is my favorite part of a build. I am really happy with the way it's tuning out. I wish some of my detail work was a little cleaner but that's where my vision for the build exceeds my skill set.

Looking awesome, Where did you source the HEI distributor from?

I am loving this build, I am putting together parts to do something similar only not quite as wild. I like everything about it so far except the hood scoop, its a little to bulky and has too much Mopar flavor in it... lol

That looks great Niko, I wouldn't be too happy if I raced the same lane after someone who used Solder Seal in their race car though, lol...

Great detailing on such a tiny model.

Super work Chris, Those extra details are so great.

Cool, Looks like you have lots of projects. Any pictures of competed builds?

Super sharp building there. Very crisp and clean.

Thanks Dave. Here are the reference pictures I used along with fond memories...

I did some more over the weekend. BMF, windows, tachometer, wiring and starter solenoid, master cylinder and proportioning valve, fuel pressure regulator and gauge, checked length of fuel line to carb. I'm waiting on some PE carb linkage before I mount the carb permanently. I made the support braces and test fitted them to see if there was enough clearance, added fuel pump and filter, 1/2" copper fuel line, and the hardware for the fuel cell mounts. Replaced the steering wheel with one that looked better, mounted body, mounted rear end, mounted radiator, electric fan, radiator supports, made radiator hoses, mounted alternator and charge wire, added tie down chain and hardware.

Thanks Tom. I tried several sets of headers and much like the real car none would clear the spring towers. So I used some solder and I'm making my own. This solder is the perfect size for the primaries and is super soft. I super glued the ends where the collector goes and drilled a hole in the middle of the four pipes and glued a rod in the middle and then a bigger piece of tube stock. Then I put on some shrink tube, shrank it and then put on another layer of shrink tube to make the collector. I will use some more tube stock to make the turn downs. I took the carb back off because I have ordered a Detail Master carburetor PE linkage and bracket set. I am going try another first for me and use the tungsten filament from an 1157 bulb as the throttle return spring. I also added some nuts to the coil overs and detail painted the rearend. I had two different springs rates on the back of the car hence the silver and dark blue springs. The steering wheel is installed.

Great paint. I like the fender stripes