mrmike

I have begun picking away at the Dart GTS 340 today. I painted the seats and the side panels this morning. I started piecing the suspensions together. The rear suspension is in mockup as I still have to add plumbing for brakes and fuel and the exhaust system. And, I have started foiling the body. It'll require a lot of foiling! More to come...

The Story After school, young McNally gets a ride to see Attorney Manicottis to ask about the picture he had found in the Beetle's Owner's Manual. The Attorney says he'll ask the family about the picture tomorrow when he meets with them about other Estate matters. He then walks down to City Hall to check into registering the VW. While he was there, he went over to Birth Records to find any info about the rest of the family. The Build Well, I guess you get what you pay for. I didn't like the way this paint layed down on the Volkswagen body. Since I have to go shopping tomorrow, I'll stop at a couple of auto shops and look for paint. This stinks since I do like a metallic paint and this VW requires a solid paint. The body, hood and trunk are now taking a Easy-Off bath. McNally will return...

Thanks Perry! The Story Almost a week has gone by and young McNally has been picking away at the old Beetle. He pulled the back seat, disconnected the battery and took it into the garage and place it on the bench in a metal tray, hooked it to a battery charger and will let it sit there for a day or two. The gauge on the charger shows the battery taking a charge. He'll wait until Sunday afternoon when he can pull the wheels off the car to inspect the brakes. He'll inspects the rest of the suspension and takes notes of what will need replacing. It is now Sunday afternoon and Dad is working, Mom has gone visiting her folks on Beacon Hill, and McNally grabs a trash can and pulls it over to the Beetle, opens the passenger door and starts throwing away some old books and magazines a couple of old empty boxes and then he sits in the passenger seat and opens the glove box. He pulls out three packets of now brown ketchup, a bunch of salt packets, some old receipts, an ice scraper, a bottle of dried up touchup paint, the old registration, and the owners manual. He looks through the manual when a picture falls out into his lap and he picks it up and looks at it. It is old and somewhat faded and of an older gentlman sitting and a young child standing on a large boulder with a lake in the background. He puts the picture in his pocket and will make an attempt to return it to its rightful owner. The Build I had another reason to go out today, my living room A/C took a dump on me and I went out and bought a new portable unit so I am not lugging that one in and out of the shed and throwing out my back. While I was out, I stopped at Home Depot and looked at their spray cans and found Rust-oleum Gloss Spa Blue for under $4.00. It looks like a pastel blue to my eye so I'm gonna give it a try! McNally will return...

Well, I have changed my mind on the paint color. The only pastel blue I could find is Testors Enamel and I am very down on Testors Enamels right now. Not enough pigment in the paint for my liking and, of course, the drying time. I prefer the lacquers from Tamiya or Model Master/Testors. I have decided on Tamiya TS-23 Light Blue for now, but I may venture out into the heat today and search Home Depot and some auto parts stores for a can of pastel blue if I can find one at a reasonable cost. McNally will return...

Thank you Jim, Ray, and Phil! I have a friend who only builds the AMT '32 Fords as hot rods. He also has a large collection of Revell that he uses for parts only and he may have built one or two of those kits. If you think my '32 looks nice, you should see his collection of built rods!

Thank you David! I like to write a story based on my creation of McNally, Boston PI. I have only done one other story based on a completely different character called Mr. Allen. The stories give me an incentive to build a kit that resides in my stash a lot soon than later and maybe one that might not get built at all. Besides, I do like this little part of me that gets to create something out of my imagination. Thank you Bill! My original story is much longer than what I post here. I don't want to overwhelm my build with a story that could become much more interesting than the build. I too, have a soft spot for VW Beetles, especially if they were rodded in some way. Some were way over the top rodded and I started to lose interest in them and only liked them for their reliability and economy. My Aunt Marge had an old Beetle and it was fun watching my father trying to get the Beetle into reverse (gotta push that lever down) and moving the car out of the driveway so he can go to work. She and my Uncle Fred had met up with some friends and rode with them to a party out of town and she left the Beetle in the driveway and the keys behind on the kitchen counter in case the car had to be moved.

My new project and the return of McNally, Boston PI in a story called Beetle Beginnings. The story is not related to anyone living or deceased and is only to show what is driving this build. The Build I am using Revell's '68 Volkswagen Beetle kit, #85-4192. It will be painted in a light pastel blue paint that I will be getting later today. So far, I have cleaned the body of mold lines and will give it a good washing with Dawn dish detergent and warm water. The Story While cleaning out a closet, McNally finds an old photo album with pictures of his Mom and Dad, old friends from school like Johnny Hallis and his future wife, Teresa Burrett, pictures of the house and of the cars the family has owned over the years. One picture brought a smile to McNally's face, a picture of his first car, an old '68 Volkswagen Beetle. He had bought the car from the Estate of Everett Harold Tomlinson who had stopped driving at the age of 90 years old and the car sat in the garage for three years until his death from old age. The family wanted the old car gone as it was old and archaic. They hated the old car as it brought images of the good and the bad times that Everett had lived and suffered through. Young McNally had brought his father along that Saturday to sign for the Beetle with his son. The lawyer for the Estate, Alfred R. Manicottis signed the bill of sale after Young McNally and his father, Officer Raymond McNally had both signed the document and the money was then exchanged, $200. Johnny Hallis' father owned a wrecker service and he towed the Beetle to McNally's house and he help park the old car in the back yard next to the garage where young McNally will work on it to get it running again. He'll drain the old gas, perform a tune-up, and get the car ready for State Inspection. But, cleaning out the trash and junk inside the old Beetle will send young McNally down a path of discovery that he has no idea about. McNally will return...

This is my '32 Ford 5 Window Coupe painted with Testors Lime Ice One Coat Lacquer with a green and white interior, hand painted wide whitewall tires, fuzzy dice, wired engine, aluminium tubing exhaust tips, and seat belts.

I have finished my '32 Ford 5 Window Coupe and it is posted in "Under Glass". I would like to thank all those who have taken the time to view and to comment on my WIP.

I'll be watching this as I have the Doyusha version of this kit. I'm not sure if I'll build mine due to the kits value. The last time I looked, this kit was about $150 without shipping from Hong Kong.

Yeah, but that was a while ago... I spent part of the morning and this afternoon working on the '32. I noticed this gap on both sides of the fenders and body and I could see through the gaps. My solution was to either trim just below the trunk over the gas tank or cover the gap on the inside of the fenders like I did here. I used the side fillers for the High-Boy version and installed them on opposite sides and then paint the edge by the fender. As you can see, I ran out of paint and I didn't feel like opening another can just for a dab of paint color. I asked my friend Barry if he could make me some fuzzy dice for this '32 and he did. Thank you Barry! More to come...

A group of us had a "Play Date" yesterday and I brought two projects to work on. I spent the entire time working on the '32. I worked on getting the Hemi wired and then installed the Hemi into the chassis. Then, I got out my seat belt hardware and tape and made a set of seat belts for the interior. One of the things missing from this kit is an ignition coil. My friend Barry had some resin coils and he graciously offered me one for the '32. Thank you Barry! I went to install the radiator and grille shell and found some clearance issues with the electric fan and the water pump pulley. I'm working on those now to get some clearance since this Hemi was originally set up for the racing version. More to come...

Well Peter, I took a look through Google Images and found many, many references to various KAR A VAN and it is a widely used word with just as many starting with a "K" as well as "C". And, I haven't been able to find another picture like the one you posted. I wish you good luck on your search.

Thank you Marty!

I've been playing around with the '32 5 Window Coupe this afternoon. I installed the wheel backs into the tires again and did a mock up of the '32. The wheels are not pressed on since I have painted the calipers on the disc brakes and they are drying. I still have to paint the letters on the hubcaps.

Thanks David for the tip on the Tamiya Flat Clear. I remembered seeing the white underside of the fenders somewhere and I thought that just looked so neat! I decided to replicate that on mine. You know...Sanitary!

That you David and John! Wasn't there a song about David and John? Oh, I can't remember... I got the headlights remounted. A view of the headlight wiring. I suppose I could have made the wiring a little shorter. Oh well, maybe next time... What's a cool hot rod with out some fuzzy dice? More to come..

Thank you Keith!

Darn right William! Thanks for the tip Craig!

Once again, the '32 High Boy Roadster is back on the bench. I've decided to show the model this year, so I'm adding a few details like headlight wiring and I also lowered the front suspension a tad. The headlights are currently off their mounts while they are drying, then I'll remount the headlights and cleanup the car. More to come...

Thank you Chris!

I didn't like the decals I had applied to the tires, so as an experiment I removed the decals and sprayed some Tamiya X-2 Flat White through my Badger Universal 360 Airbrush. A little cleanup and touchup and I may go with these. Should I spray some flat or semi gloss clear over the tires to protect the paint? I attached the fenders to the chassis. Although I haven't attached the tires, I think the stance should be about where I want it. More to come...

Thank you Steve and Curtis! I love working with Tamiya paints! Very good paints!

I got the distributor mounted to the block and plug boots on the wires. Now to wire up the engine. I started on chassis assembly by installing the suspension. A quick mock up. More to come...

I painted the Dart on Friday with Tamiya TS-54 Light Metallic Blue. I misted some paint onto the chassis and painted the core support, rear panel molding, and the firewall. I detailed the alternator with some red paint. More to come...