tubbs

as much of a big block and hemi homer that I am (and i NEVER get bored with a hemi), i have no problem with any model manufacturer putting different motors in kits. i personally would not care to build a 1968 318 satellite or a 6 cylinder 69 dart, but if they were on a table at a show, i would think they were really cool and different. now, going off topic just a little but it's to try to answer (in my opinion) the topic question, i have owned hemis and 440's (a few 383's, but they got replaced real fast with 440's), these motors right off the show room floor, the hemi was a fickle engine, i agree. in the hands of Joe average, the 440 can out perform a hemi and was less maintenance, no doubt. the 440 was a land yacht and station wagon motor to start with. what everyone fails to recognize is that the hemi was born a race motor and detuned for street use. put both cars in the hands of a good weekend worrier gearhead and put the same upgrades to both a 440 and a hemi and the hemi will dominate 90% of the time. racing history proves that. hemis dominated in nascar and drag racing. Chrysler hemis survived detuned street use for 6 years, Ford could not do it for more than 2 and Chevy ........ in the model world, i can see people getting tired of seeing hemi after hemi, but in the 1:1 world, i think it's a different story. i remember seeing my first street hemi, don't remember seeing my first 440. you see hemis in most kits because I feel if you want to build a race car of any sort, you need the hemi and manufacturers will not give you 2 engine options (heaven forbid). read it good Tom..... you know who you are. see you i a few weeks...... I edited this list to include only the 426 hemi. A journey through a remarkable engine’s remarkable history • 1964 Chrysler introduces the 426 c.i.d. race HEMI into competition. • 1964 Richard Petty debuts the 426 HEMI and laps the field while winning the Daytona 500. • 1964 Three HEMI-powered Plymouth cars and a HEMI Dodge sweep Daytona 1-2-3. • 1964 HEMI-powered stock cars win 26 of the 62 NASCAR Grand National races. • 1964 Richard Petty captures his first of seven driving championships with eight wins and 37 top-five finishes. • 1964 Don Garlits breaks 200-mph quarter-mile barrier in HEMI dragster – 201.34 mph in 7.78 sec. • 1964 Jim Thornton wins 1964 U.S. Nationals in Ramcharger’s “Candymatic” 426 HEMI Dodge. • 1964 Jim Paschal wins NASCAR World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in HEMI-powered Plymouth. • 1965 NASCAR outlaws HEMI by setting minimum production levels for street use. • 1965 Bob Summers sets present 409.227 mph Land Speed Record in “Goldenrod” using four HEMIs in tandem. • 1965 Shirley Shahan becomes first female to win major NHRA event driving a HEMI Plymouth. • 1966 Chrysler builds the “Street HEMI” and returns to NASCAR racing. • 1966 Richard Petty again wins Daytona 500 in his HEMI Plymouth Belvedere. • 1966 HEMI Dodge Charger wins the NASCAR Championship, Plymouth is second. • 1966 Norm Nelson wins USAC stock car championship with seven wins in a HEMI Plymouth. • 1967 Richard Petty wins an incredible 27 Grand National races in HEMI Plymouth; 10 in a row. • 1967 Richard Petty wins his second NASCAR championship in his HEMI Plymouth. • 1967 Don White’s Charger gives HEMI cars second USAC championship in a row. • 1968 Sox and Martin win three major AHRA events; Ronnie Sox named AHRA Driver of the Year. • 1968 Dodge and Plymouth produce a limited number of 426 HEMI Super Stock Darts and Barracudas. • 1968 Road Runner, first budget muscle car, is introduced by Plymouth; available with 426 HEMI option. • 1969 Dodge introduces Charger 500 HEMI, which wins 22 NASCAR races. • 1969 The “winged” 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona with HEMI power reigns over NASCAR super speedways. • 1970 Buddy Baker is the first to break 200 mph on a closed course in a HEMI Dodge Charger Daytona stock car. • 1970 Bobby Isaac sets a closed course speed record of 201.104 mph in a Dodge Charger Daytona after winning the NASCAR championship. • 1970 Sox and Martin HEMI Plymouth vehicles win 17 major championships and are runners-up in all other major events. • 1971 Bobby Isaac breaks 28 records at Bonneville in a Dodge Charger Daytona; top speed is 217.368 mph. • 1971 Richard Petty wins his third NASCAR Grand National Championship in a HEMI Road Runner. • 1971 Don Garlits introduces HEMI-powered rear engine dragster at NHRA Winter Nationals. • 1971 Sox and Martin win six of eight NHRA events; they represent drag racing at a presidential reception. • 1991 Al Teague sets 409.986-mph wheel-driven Land Speed Record in the Supercharged class with single HEMI. • 2003 5.7-liter HEMI develops up to 345 hp and 375 lb.-ft. of torque. • 2003 5.7-liter HEMI in Ram 2500/3500 series trucks delivers best-in-class power, acceleration and towing capacity.

racing heritage maybe? whatever the reason is, it's the same reason you see Boss 429's, DOHC and SOHC Fords instead of 390's or 302's, you see 427 chevys instead of 350's and 327's. I guess the demand is there doe these motors. I myself am a big block guy and do not build many "common" motors but that is me. I enjoy building the aluminum 427 ZL/1 camaro instead of a 350. ultimate muscle, I guess, would be the goal. you have to wonder how the market would be if they did come out with say a 327 or 350 motored camaro with standard features like your dad would have bought. also, if you went to certain engines, you changed models. without going into a lot of talk, basically the hemi (in 1969 at least) was in the neighborhood of an $800 option, so it was not as high as you think, and compared to the other high performance optioned motors, it was fairly inexpensive. and as 440's go, the hemi was offered in more Chrysler muscle cars than the 440.

great job, just started looking at this. love the time and effort, it's really paying off. one thing if I may ( and maybe I missed this somewhere in the posts ) but I would either shave the door handles or cut them out and put them on the other side (yea, just remove them for a smoother look) because of the suicide doors. I have never seen suicide doors with the handle in the normal location.

I am 54, I honestly feel about 30, full time job, a wife, a 20 and a 12 year old boys and a 1 1/2 year old dog to keep me humping during the day...... but when 8 pm rolls around, I feel 75+ and just want to relax, whatever happened to the up till 3AM model building/music jamming sessions..... to quote Steven Tyler and Aerosmith.... "... my get-up-and-go must have got-up-and-went..."

we got hammered with 10+ last night. worst drive in to work in a long time.

we have bought 2 cars (used) in the past 3 months, one was a great experience (believe it or not), the other was just terrible. to keep it short, I can handle the "stuff" from the salesman, it's when you work out a price and then you sit down with the finance people and they hit you with this filing fee and plates and tax and any other thing they can add and the price of the car goes up 15%. second is when they try to pry every last ounce of financial info from you just to tell you no matter what the price, you can afford it.

I thought that was the excitement on EBAY, the bidding process. with all the electronic stuff out there to send in a bid seconds before, I can see why this bidding process may turn people off.

it's the greed. they want a certain price for the kit, but if it goes higher than that, well that's great. really nothing wrong with that and I understand it. best thing to happen to a seller is a bidding war. as far as you quitting on the bid, well that's up to you, I have not (way in the minority on this one) ever bought anything off of EBAY, but if I did, I would have a price in mind and not go higher that that (typical fro everyone, I would assume). but if the price does go higher than my price, then I don't need it and stop bidding.. but seeing "RESERVE NOT MET" would not be the sole means of me stopping my bid process. any of that make sense?

good luck getting the blue one. they are pretty neat cars, I have 1 that I am planning on building like this... .. so I may have some leftover parts. unfortunately, nowhere near the bench right now. I will be watching yours for sure.

nice one. good job.

what more can I say, each build is just terrific.

great build, and one of my favorite cars. I too ma curious about the tail lights, the ones in the kit are incorrect. I know missing link sells corrected ones. are these from there or are they Keith Marks decals. either way, they look great.

beautiful build.

nice build. don't see many of these tubbed out.

4 days? it takes me longer than that to pick out a color.... great job.

nice resto, as are all of them.

nice build. different.

nice!! I like it.

nice. thanks.... just curious on the cuda/challenger skid plates. did they use the same skid plate on all the body sizes??

depends, the restored to "as delivered" form that I have seen have had the black wrinkle finish, I think the owners put the chrome ones on to add a little flash to the engine compartment. I am sure everyone has seen this article before. now, this is just one car, there may have been some shipped with chrome valve covers, hard to tell.

sorry I missed the show this weekend. probably missed out on some good deals. I will have to try that one on my wife, "hey dear, it takes 40 or 50 kits to build 1 good one".....

good question, I am pretty knowledgeable on the b bodies, yes, all the b bodied hemi cars (66 thru 71) had them. as far as the shape for identification, you got me there. the one that was on my 69 runner was almost a rectangle with a little taper to it like the very first picture, so, the answer id "YES". the second picture is a shot of a hemi superbird. I will do a little snooping and see what I can come up with if the shape changes from model to model.

yes, I live in that other lake effect area that was mentioned, just southeast of Cleveland. no snow for the past 24 hours, but the temp as dropped, its -3 right now. no clouds though, bright sunshine, hehe....no coffee, coke.

.59 cents....... touché. I have been tempted many times by the majority of people who use silly puddy for mask, but I have a question. isn't the silly puddy too thick where you will get a line where you are masking? or can you flatten it out that much like masking tape and not get bleed thru? hope this question is clear?

if you are talking kit gassers, I liked the 66 chevelle, if you are talking gasser I want to build, a 62 chevy. 55 chevys have to look the most aggressive though, hands down.