W-409

Personally, I don't like neither one of those on the first post, the first one is just too Rat Rod like even though it has a nice glossy paint job. The second one has disgusting big wheels with rubber band tires.... Not good. But, in general, I prefer Model A over Model B all the way. A Five Window Coupe Model A with '32 grill is pretty much as perfect Hot Rod as it gets... In my opinion at least.

My other hobbies are pretty much car related as well. My main hobby is of course Drag Racing in Stock Eliminator class with our '74 Chevy Malibu. We've been doing this together with my dad since 2013 (I'm driving and we both work as mechanics, too). We have been able to get the car running pretty well now and last year I ran our first 11 second ET with that land barge. Then of course building / restoring 1:1 scale American Cars, currently building a '62 Chevy II as a Gasser for myself. And also I guess listening to old Rock 'n' Roll and Rockabilly music would count as well. Have lots of records at home and I enjoy going to gigs as well.

OK well since my Contest entry on TRaK forum is finished, I'm starting to work on my '51 Bel Air for this CBP. Now I've been looking at the rules more closely, and I have a couple of things that I want to clarify. -The rules clearly say that the engine must be same technology as what was available when the car was used (but it doesn't have to be stock). I get that. But, I read the "Car Preparation Guide" document. There was writing about electric ignition over mechanical ignition. So am I right that we can use any modern (Like MSD for example), ignition system on our cars anyway? -This is basically the same, but also fuel system can be modernized by late model aftermarket fuel filters? And how about a fuel pump? Can we use an electric pump or do we have to go with the stock one? Otherwise I think there is nothing special about the rules. Building a roll cage for my '51 is starting Now.

Here are the models that I was able to finish last year. It was actually a very good year for me as I was able to finish two models instead of finishing only one several years a row now. I started out strong as I finished this '64 Thunderbolt pretty early in 2018... As usual, the summer was spent Drag Racing with our '74 Malibu in Stock Eliminator and building my 1:1 Chevy II Gasser project. But then I recently finished this El Camino for TRaK Autorama contest (Finished on December 31st ). Thanks for looking and hopefully this year would be also succesful as far as finishing something goes...

I did a Glue Bomb restoration on Jo-Han '71 Barracuda a few years ago... I have another one waiting for a similar treatment. This one is a Pro Stock car, but the other one should represent a Super Stocker when I get to it.

Nicely done Charger. In fact this Charger 500 is probably my favorite version on these, the front end just looks so much better than any other versions with the hideaway headlights. Seeing this nicely done scale version is always great. The color works very well on that body and I like that wheel and tire combo the best as well. Excellent build.

Thanks Carl! I appreciate the kind words!

We can never see too many '60 Impalas, especially when they are done this well. Black is not the easiest color to get right, but looks like you nailed this one. Overall a very nicely done X-Frame Chevy. Now this just made me want to start one of my kits of this same car...

Wow, the black paint job looks flawless! Always nice to see a Mercury Cougar being built, and restoring glue bombs is fun so I really like this one. Everything looks just right. Those redline tires are a nice touch.

Very nicely done model of an unique subject! This is absolutely one of the best versions that I've ever seen built from this kit. Very nice paint job and clean BMF work on the chrome trim too. I like it, nice work.

I agree 100% with this. Modern front wheels are not very well available for these cars. Some spindle mounts are there, but not much of the "regular" ones. And especially for Stockers with maximum slicks of 9" wide, it's hard to find modern racing wheels. There are some out there that are very wide, so they don't work here. Also the air cleaner base and those valve covers would be good, at least I'd buy them if they were available. Depending on the price of course.

Thanks Guys, I really appreciate the kind words! At least the pics show up fine on my computer. I've noticed similar problems with my phone sometimes, one of the reasons I don't surf much with it.

This looks very good so far. Always great to see a Traditional Custom being built, and these '50s Ford Pickups are great starting points for them. I think the sectioning and chopped top look just right, but then again I agree with you on the area above the windshield. Whatever you plan to do with it, I'm sure it will look great when finished... I'll be watching.

If I remember correctly, the MCW Chevy II 2D Sedan body is a 1963. That is on my "Must Have" list, as I have a 1:1 scale version (1962) in my garage. But, I need to get some money together to order bunch of other stuff at the same time from them...

Thanks very much for the kind comments, everyone! I appreciate them! James, I really like these X-Frame Chevrolets, and I agree, the '60 El Camino is my favorite too. Luckily I have one old SMP '60 Elco to build some day, which will also be a Traditional Custom.

Wow, that has survived through the years very well! The color is pretty rarely seen on these cars, but I like it. Also those steelies with the Dog Dish hubcaps are a perfect choice for it. You did a great job back then and it still looks like it could have been built yesterday...Nice work.

I built this for TRaK Autorama Contest on Traditional Rod and Kustom In Scale forum. Jerry Preston's '59 El Camino was the inspiration for this one, even though I was never going to build a replica of that one, but some of the styling ideas came from that car. The body mods are quite simple, I removed the "Eyebrows" (or whatever they're actually called) from front. It was a pretty easy modification, but some work was required to get the hood fitting properly. Otherwise, the body is pretty much stock, with only some chrome trim and emblems shaved off. However, the body required pretty much work before paint to smooth out all sink marks, panel lines etc. The color is Tamiya TS 95 Pure Metallic Red clear coated with Tamiya clear and polished. Chrome trim was done with BMF of course. Engine is a Chevy 409 from this kit (remember, 348 and 409 are pretty much similar looking, so it's possible to use the 348 and call it a 409) with vintage mechanical Fuel Injection setup. The intake is from AMT '63 Corvette that fits on place with a bit of modifying. It's originally meant to go with Webers, but it looks exactly like old Algon Fuel Injection manifolds. The injector tubes are made from electric components, and fuel lines are aftermarket items. Fuel line fittings, fuel block on center of the intake and the belt driven fuel pump are all scratchbuilt items. I made the new belt from water pump to the fuel pump, and with a bit of modifying, the stock generator belt fit on place as well. Generator bracket and fuel pump bracket are also scratchbuilt. When I thought that the engine was done, I found out that the kit supplied headers didn't fit on place, so I scratchbuilt a set of Fenderwell headers from plastic rod. Chassis is pretty much stock with only some additional detailing, like brake lines, handbrake cables and fuel line. Wheels and tires are made by Pegasus. I'm not a huge fan of those wheels (Chrome Reverses are very nice, but these are not the best scale versions out there), but the tires are very nice. Interior is quite basic as well. Only modification was to add a tachometer cable to the kit supplied Half Sweep tach. Otherwise it's just painted and chrome trim is done with BMF and Molotow. Final assembly went quite well. I had to modify the Mercury grill a little to make it fit properly, and all chrome parts had bunch of mold lines and other stuff that needed some cleanup. But luckily the Molotow Chrome Marker came to rescue. Overall this was a very fun build, and I'm glad I was able to finish it before the deadline. All kinds of comments, good or bad, are much appreciated.

This turned out very nice, but that's not a surprise to anyone that has seen your previous work. The modifications that you did really improve the look, and as always, a great paint job and very nice and clean overall look make it stand out from the other Corvettes that I've seen in a while. Excellent job.

I have always polished the body with polishing cloths. Then I finish it off with Micro Gloss Liquid Abrasive. Then I wax it with Auto Glym's Super Resin Polish. After this it's time to do chrome trim with BMF. Usually I've already done all paintings before polishing, but I've found out that at least Tamiya masking tape that I've been using, sticks very well to the paint job even after polishing and waxing with those products. Don't know how decal application might work after polishing and waxing, as I've always added decals before clear coats.

This looks like a very cool project. '55 Chevy is one of my all time favorite cars, especially as a Two Door Sedan. What engine are you going to go with? I'd be happy to see an "old school" Big Block or something like that, not any modern LS junk.

Very nicely done Monza! Always great to see another GM H-Body built in scale, and this one is definitely one of the better builds that I've seen done from this kit. I think you nailed the overall look with this one. Good looking paint work, clean BMF and sharp detail painting here and there make this one stand out. Nice work.

That's another option that I was thinking actually, something for the Small Tire "Street Car classes". But the Stock Eliminator car was a winner this time. At least it's easy to get reference material for those Stockers to get all details right...

I agree, we don't see these built too often! Nice work with converting the Rat Packer kit back into a stock-bodied Street Car. Also your interior work looks very nice so far. The color looks very good, and very close to the stock Artesian Turquoise. This will be a very nice build when it's done, so keep us posted.

Very cool builds as always from your bench. Looks like you had a good year! I like the variety of subjects, the Hot Rods and Customs are right up in my alley, but like Janne said above, I also like those Trucks and the Honda Garden Tiller, as I've probably never seen them done before. But all of them are very nice. Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year, Cliff!

Looks like I need to buy one of these when I see one. Thanks for the great review Bill. This would make a great Stock Eliminator car that could be seen nowadays in any NHRA event. I'm also interested to see if we see some other versions based on this tooling.