David G.

A bit of an update: I've got the undercarriage mostly done, complete with glass packs and lengthened driveshaft installed. Obviously, I have yet to blacken the fender wells. I've also got the gritty rusties about where I want them. As always, thanks for taking the time to look, and feel offer tips, comments and/or critiques. Thanks, David G.

I was talking with a co-worker the other day and was telling him the story of a 1971 Pontiac Ventura that I owned long ago. I was telling him about how I "fixed" the car when the metal around one of the rear upper shock absorber mounting points rusted away allowing the shock to push up into the trunk, causing the car to list to one side. What I did was lift the rear of the car with a jack allowing the shock absorber to drop outside the trunk. I then placed a circular saw blade over the hole then, from under the car, I positioned the shock mounting point as close as I could to its stock location. The next step was to pound a piece of 4 X 4 lumber that I had measured and cut to the proper length, in between the floor of the trunk and the rear package shelf. I crossed my fingers as I lowered the jack and let the car gradually begin to once again, bear its own weight. There were some tense moments and more than a few unnerving metallic creaks, groans, snaps and pings as the car settled back onto its own suspension. But it held! and I drove it that way nearly four more years. I figured there have got to be others out there who have had to drive unsafe vehicles from time to time who'd like to share their stories. feel free to add your story! Regards, David G.

Looks super smooth and minty (green) fresh!

Very cool. Too bad the deep blue doesn't show that well in the pics. I bet it looks real good in person.

I've had the pleasure of helping to restore several 1:1 cars that started out looking like (or worse than) the Ford in question. To this day, any time I see one of these old "junkers" setting on a lot or in a field, my mind begins to race with all the possibilities. There's a sort of high that comes from tearing into one of these old junker-gems that you just can't get in any other way. Anybody who's experienced this rush knows what I'm talking about. I've built a few models in this manner, and to me, a build like this tells two stories. One story is the long, difficult road traveled by this car: The other, its potential rebirth as a hot rod, customized cruiser, or just a complete factory-fresh restoration. I also find the "junkers" a bit more realistic than the hyper-polished, graphic-intensive super-custom builds. They're even a bit more real to me than the clean "factory stock" builds, though I've built kits in all three forms and enjoyed each one. So when I see a model built as a junker, I see the gritty miles of years of hard service, and the excitement of all the possibilities yet to come! It's just another point of view. Regards, David G.

Still, given my choice between a Cobra and a rally car, I'd take the Cobra. Anybody with enough money could buy or build a rally car, but there are only so many Cobras left to have.

Your build has an excellent overall feel to it. I particularly like the rear clip trim detail. It looks like you nailed the brushed aluminium panel. Many builders have trouble getting this right. Seeing your '62 Chevy makes me want to start on the Lindberg '64 Dodge 330 Super Stock I bought a while back. Excellent work!

That man is an artist, like a dancer or concert violinist. As for the sound of the car, it reminds me of a chainsaw. I grew up "tuning" V-8s and, to me, those little engines will probably never sound like power. Still, very impressive driving.

Nice and clean looking. Good work!

I remember working at a warehouse in The Flats right on the Cuyahoga in 1988 & 89. I sometimes watched the barges inch their way up the river at an agonizingly slow pace, moving only a couple of hundred yards during my half-hour lunch break. Quite an impressive sight seeing some of those huge beasts from that close.

Looks like it's coming along nicely!

I agree with you 100%. My younger (23 yr. old) son is fascinated by the hobby, but told me he would never be able to focus his mind on spending so much time on one task. I can accept that. Instead of bemoaning the death of a hobby, I've decided to put my effort into building something appropriate for each of the important people in my life. For my brother I built a model of the ship he was on in the Navy. Inspired by the movie Bullitt, my younger son bought a Mustang Fastback with the intention of building it himself. He had purchased paint, brushes and everything he needed, but he became intimidated and barely got it started. Knowing I was interested in models of various kinds, he gave it to me when he moved out, and I decided to build it for him. That's what reignited my interest in model cars. Next time he comes to visit, I plan on giving him The Reaver. He told me it's the coolest car he's ever seen, why not let him enjoy it? My wife has always loved the old VW Busses, so I built one as a birthday gift for her. This is something unique I can do for those special people in my life. A memento for when I'm no longer here, a little piece of who I was and what I did. That's part of why I can accept the fact that this is a dying hobby. That and the fact that there's really nothing I can do about that except support it and enjoy it as long as I can. David G.

I was never a big fan of Gremlins or Pacers, but I've always liked the 70's Matadors and I owned an AMX Hornet that was one of my all-time favorites. You're doing a great job on this one, I may yet learn to like Gremlins.

Thanks!

Nice hot rod sleeper.

Wow, I didn't even know that GM made a Cutlass in 1987! I had a '72 Cutlass S with a 455- insanely fast! That car scared the bajeebers outta me. Were the 87's that fast?

You could also use the term "Redneck". Years ago there was a comedian named Jeff Foxworthy who's whole stand-up routine was based on one line: "If you... (have a livingroom sofa on your front porch, have luggage that consists of a Coleman ice chest wrapped in duct tape, etc.), ...you might be a redneck." I think he's still out there somewhere doing some variation of that bit. I get the idea though, "Hicksville Rig" "Redneck Rambler" "Hillbilly Hauler". I do know that here in the States, wood paneling is also highly favored among that group. Still, a very cool and well executed project.

Thanks Brian, I'm glad you like it! I made the beer and oil cans using Paintshop Pro and my color printer. After printing the can labels on paper, I cut them out, glued them into cylinder shaped tubes, then glued the tubes to aluminium foil to make the ends. The BK bag and cup I printed, cut, and glued into shape- just like their 1:1 counterparts. The cup lid is Scotch tape. I drew the Marlboro pack on a bit of styrene with Sharpies and stuck a bit of BMF to one end then clear coated it. After everything dried, I trimmed the bottom off to get the right size then touched it up. Easy Peasy! David G.

I have to agree with you on the big Olds's, I've got one of my own that I've been playing with for more than a decade. It's a '71 88 town sedan but there's not much that's different from the hardtop 98's.

This one is beginning to grind me down. I wanted to use the tri-power 348 from Revell's 58 Impala in place of the 265 that came with the kit. After building the tri-power, I found that it was going to be too long and too tall to fit properly into the engine bay. OK, no biggie, I'll just build and install the kit motor. After spending two or three days building that one, I found had almost exactly the same fit issues! Back to the tri-power, then. I spent more time than I wanted to modifying the body, frame and interior- all of which had been, for the most part, already painted and assembled! I had to move the fire wall in under the cowl just a bit. I removed the engine-mounted cooling fan so the engine could be moved foreward, then removed the stock radiator and replaced it with a parts box race type unit mounted in front of the core support. I also had to extend the transmission mounts to support the transmission. After all that, I needed a couple of days away from it. So what do I have to show for all this effort? Right now, not too much. Of course, after moving tha engine foreward and the rear axle down, I had to lenghten the drive shaft. While I was cutting tubes, I decided to whip up a couple of mid 70's style glass packs for the exhaust. So, here are the lenghtened driveshaft and glass packs. Thanks for taking the time to look. Regards, David G.

It kind of messed with my mind a little when I clicked on your links expecting to be taken to another location on your website with photos of your builds and was instead brought back to the MCM Forum. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose, it was just not what I was expecting.

Here's one on this very forum that's been built!

Nice classic hot rod! Very clean looking.

It's a strange configuration, but it has 1950's USA written all over it! I can almost see one of these beasties lumbering through Yosemite Nat'l Park sometime in 1958! I think I might have chosen a different color for the interior fittings, the blue seems a bit dark to me. But, all in all, very well done!

I remember this one from Wide World of Sports on the Sunday afternoons of long ago. Excellent work, and thanks for bringing back some fond memories! David G.