mrmike

Thank you Danno! Finally...a few minutes to myself without any interruptions tonight. I started the chassis assembly by installing the front and rear suspensions. I still need to add the front and rear shocks. I found a steering wheel in my parts box and made a tilt wheel out of it. This driver will be comfortable! Still rummaging through the parts box, I found a set of '06 Mustang disc brakes. This '56 will stop on a dime! I was able to get the distributor wired and glued to the Hemi, but I still need to run the wires and set up the ignition coil. More to come...

Thank you Mike!

Thanks Joe! I'm still picking away at this thing. Hopefully, I 'll have some progress to show soon.

I have enjoyed Overhaulin' from the beginning, but I found Courtney's voice to be a bit irritating after awhile. AJ on the other hand, is far prettier than Courtney, but she is an model/actress and is not that knowledgeable about cars. I am not familiar with Jessi, so time will tell if I will like her or not. Chris Jacobs has been jumping around, going from one entertainment show to another since Overhaulin' ended in '08, and is currently on Entertainment Tonight. I am looking forward to the new season of Overhaulin' on October 2nd!

I knew there was a reason why I liked you, Jim! Thanks John! I do love Tamiya paints! I don't like the price, but the paint is fantastic!

The reality is Revell will not tool up a whole new kit when they have a perfectly good model kit tooling on the shelf. They will tool new wheels and maybe new tires and suspension pieces along any other specific parts to satisfy Chip's requirements. Beyond that, it will be the same kit that is available now. CAD/CAM and CNC machining costs money and Revell needs a good business plan before they invest the money and go ahead with new tooling and packaging for the Foose kits. Not only that, but Chip will want his piece of the pie before the product hits the shelf with his name on it. These kits are a marketing tool with new episodes of Overhaulin' coming in October and older episodes running on Velocity Channel right now.

Thanks Jim and Carl! Hey Jim, don't let anyone tell otherwise...Shiny rules!!!

Thanks Brian, Shane, and Mike! Ahh...the joy of paint! Tamiya TS-19 Metallic Blue. More to come...

Thanks Darrick! I lost interest in this build a couple of months ago when it seemed that everything I tried to work on this build, went south on me. I am regaining some interest in this build again, even though I won't be able to finish it for the Classic Plastic Show on September 16. I have other trucks that I can use for the Club Challenge instead.

I used the embossing powder that I bought at Michael's for carpet on this F100. I applied it with white glue and painted it with Tamiya TS-19 Metallic Blue. I think it came out great! I just couldn't bring myself to open the MRC Cragar SS wheel and tire set, so I am going back to my original plan of using the '06 Mustang GT wheels and tires. More to come...

Thanks Josh and Randy! No progress today as the release mechanism on the reclining sofa broke and I spent part of the afternoon trying to source a new cable and cable clamps from Home Depot. Somehow, I feel that this is going to be another crazy week.

Thanks guys! Rob, not so much as bugs, but as kinks! I am having second thoughts about using the Cragar mags for this build. I have yet to find any other MRC Cragar wheel sets and part of me doesn't want to use these just yet. I may use the '06 Mustang wheels instead. We shall see. I finally had a chance to work on the F100 today for a short time. I got the Hemi painted with Chrysler Street Hemi Orange Engine Enamel and the trans was painted Aluminium Metalizer. I have yet to drill out the distributor and wire it up. A picture of the Hemi in the chassis with plenty of clearance for the exhaust manifolds The front and rear suspensions are painted and partially assembled. The drive shaft will be removed and replaced with a more substantial unit. While I was out running errands this morning, I stopped at Michael's to look for white embossing powder. I found a jar of clear (even though it looks white) for $3.49 and purchased it. I should be able to paint over the clear embossing powder with any color paint. More to come...

Thanks guys! This Lightning came out better than I had expected and I am really happy with it. I'm taking the Lightning with me to the Classic Plastic Model Club meeting tomorrow to see what the club members think of it.

I finished the engine mounts this afternoon and mounted the between the frame rails. The trans mount was added as well. With the engine mocked up in place. Perfect! I looked at the springs and the thought ran through my mind of these springs breaking because they are really thin and fragile looking. My solution was to add a strip of styrene to them and add some strength to these fragile looking parts. The strengthen springs with the lowered front axle. I did the same to the rear springs and added the rear axle. More to come...

Last night I made a transmission mount by cutting off the molded trans mount and modifying it to fit with a couple pieces of scrap styrene. This is the start of the engine mounts for the 426 CI Hemi. More to come...

Thanks guys! It is one thing I do possess, it is patience! It is necessary in this day and age!

Thanks guys! You are correct Patrick, but there are only 2 Cragar mags in that kit and I cannot justify buying two kits for just the wheels. But yesterday, when I stopped by the LHS for a jar of paint and I saw this on the shelf. Oh, thank the model gods for they have been listening to me!! These wheel and tire sets are becoming very hard to find. This truck kit comes with a Thunderbird engine that I would venture to say that it is a 312 CI V8. The kit also contains a supercharged Pontiac engine of unknown displacement. And, the winner is...a 426 CI Hemi from a Revell '67 Charger! I have a pair of small round chromed air cleaners for the carbs. I'll leave the valve covers and the carbs chromed. I have a pair of stock Hemi manifolds and a set of Hemi headers. I'll see which set will fit better when I mount the engine in the chassis. More to come...

Thanks Josh! Those BBS wheels just don't fit into the vision of the '56 F100 that I want to build. I wished I had a set of Cragar SS mags for this project, but those seem to be hard to come by lately. If it is one thing that I am very much aware of, it is the fidelity of this kit and yes, the tooling is old. I first built this kit when I was young...quite young and needless to say, I was in over my head with it. I later built a drag version of this kit about 30 years ago and it was the same as this kit is. I do know that to successfully build this kit, it will require a lot of test fitting of parts and sub-assemblies. That is what I am doing now...lots of test fitting. Last night I got the inner fenders installed. I even got the door hinges in which was a little bit of a challenge especially since I broke one. Some Ambroid ProWeld and I was good to go. I partially assembled the bed. The tailgate and hinges have been let off so I can detail the bed floor with foil and paint. More to come...

While at the Hollis Flea Market last Sunday, I walked past a vendor with a couple of large boxes of model kits sitting on the ground. As I looked through the boxes, I started talking with the vendor about models and my club. I saw this kit in one box and ask about the price...$5.00. I gave him a five and thanked him. It is Revell's Custom '56 F100...circa 1986. I have always loved the look of the '56 F100 as others do since many have been restored or rodded. I started thinking about the kit off and on during the day. When I got home later that afternoon, I tore open the shrink wrap and opened the box to examine the kit. It was molded in metallic blue plastic, which would have been nice when polished, but with numerous swirl marks on the hood and roof, my only choice is to paint it. I decided on Tamiya TS-19 Metallic Blue. I have decided that the BBS wheels look out of place on this truck. I have a set of wheels and tires from the Revell '06 Mustang GT to use instead. I think they look better than the BBS wheels which, IMHO, would look more at home on a Porsche. I have had a couple of versions of this model over the many, many years that I have been building. I was hoping to get the latest reissue of this kit at my LHS (the Ed Roth shop truck version), but that won't be necessary now. The first order of business is to remove all the flash and mold lines. Then on to paint! More to come...

Thanks Shane! I have finished my AMT '94 F150 Lightning. Paint is Tamiya Italian Red with a gray interior. Wheels and tires are from the Revell '99 F150 SVT Lightning. Stripes are from the Revell 2010 Ford Mustang GT. I would like to thank all those who took the time to view and to comment on my WIP.

Shane, that is a sharp looking SVT Lightning! I got the body and chassis together and installed the front and rear bumpers. I cut off the airbox and added a scratch-built open element air filter. All that's left to do is add the stripes, door mirrors, and do any touchups. She is almost done. More to come...

Thanks guys! I finished the engine this morning. And, installed in the completed chassis. Shane, here's a couple more pics of the SVT Lightning. More to come...

Oh, to be 16 again!! As I approach the ripe old age of 60, I do reminisce about the days gone by and the mistakes and positives that I have made. Austin, I hope you can understand that by being 16 years old, you are an inexperienced driver and the liabilities that come with being so young and inexperienced are enormous, even with a cheap motor vehicle. A cheap motor vehicle can and will cause just as much damage as a new vehicle can, so the cost of insurance is greater than someone with much experience You will make mistakes as you grow older and hopefully, you'll learn from those mistakes. Also, take note of the mistakes made by others. You can learn from them, too. It is unfortunate that many young people view getting a drivers license as a necessity instead of a privilege. Be patient and in time, things will equal out.

Thank you for the nice compliment, Mike! BTW, here's a pic of my '99 F150 SVT Lightning.

Thanks guys! This afternoon I got a chance to paint the body parts of the Lightning with Tamiya TS-8 Italian Red. Sorry about the pictures, I had to adjust the exposure rate so the paint doesn't look pink. I've been putting off working on the engine. I still need to drill the distributor for plug wires and re-assemble the rest of the engine. More to come...