MrObsessive

Now I'm moving on to what I think is the hardest part of doing the bodywork on the '59. The trunk! Cutting it away was tough enough, but now making the underside stamping, as well as hinging it were going to be a challenge. Unlike the '60, the '59 has no tulip panel-----so one has to be somewhat creative in making a support so that the hinges will have something to hang on. I usually use the underside of the tulip panel when making my hinge supports, but since the '59 Chevy has no such panel (I think just the 2 door sedans and hardtops lack this), I had to try a different approach. One of the first things I wanted to do was to make the underside stamping that cars have to their decklids. This is more for support of the trunk itself as decklids are nothing more than a sheet metal stamping. If the structure wasn't there, in no time at all the decklid would warp out of shape due to all the slamming and closing it would go through in a period of time. I wasn't going to copy every little dip and dive of the structure, but to have a reasonable facsimile of something underneath when the trunk is open. I started by making a crude tracing on some .015 sheet plastic using a 1:1 pic as a reference............ I had to account for the "gullwing" shape of the trunk...........Then it was a matter of spending time to cut each corner shape and radius to suit a close resemblance of the structure as seen here............. Now I tried to use as little liquid cement as possible in attaching the whole structure to the trunklid. I didn't want a situation where so much cement is used, that you could begin to see the structure itself on the topside of the trunklid as the cement is still reacting to the plastic. That would be a NIGHTMARE after it's all painted and done! I'll do a little more sanding and refining before the whole thing is painted down the road. I have yet to add the hinge retainers as I wanted to see how the whole thing will turn out. This little center piece here will have to be recreated as it was lost when I was cutting the trunk out. A PE medallion will eventually go here as well. Here are the trunk hinges I soldered together recently. While not the final shape seen here (the radii is a bit too large), these are similar to the door hinges in shape. Here's the decklid as it sits on the body at the moment.......... And here's the revised structure for the hinges. I changed this a bit because down the road, I'm considering doing roll down rear windows. Due to the geometry of the window shape, they need to scoot back a bit and then the leading edge of the glass rolls down into the well. The previous brace that I made would have interfered with this movement, so I changed it to this shape. I'm going to add a touch of super glue at the joints to toughen things up a bit. The blocks that are attached to the brace is what the hinges will hang on. I may extend these out just a bit so that the reduced radius of the hinge, will have no trouble with binding in its movement. Well that's it for the moment.........hopefully I can get more done this week and have more to show later on! Thanks for following this thread guys!

Sorry for the super long delay in updates folks! Sundays are really the only days I have time to compose something readable--------and also to upload pics as during the week and Saturdays, I'm quite occupied. The past couple months, I've had other things going on, and model building time has taken somewhat of a back seat. I have been making some progress on the Chevy, but recently had to redo the door hinges as they just didn't seem right to me. This is what happens when a span of years go by doing this type of building..........you forget the little things that used to come to you so easily! Just the same, I got the arc of the hinges now the way I want them, and the doors clear the body the way they should for the time being. Of course, the proof is in the pudding when it comes time after paint and polishing, to see how well they'll work. OK------on to some pics............... It was finally time to get the passenger door jamb completed and make the support for the doors.........the biggest hassle is to try to get both sides to appear symmetrical, and then as I mentioned to get the opposite side hinges to work as well as the other side. In another post, you noticed that the vent window was still attached to the roof. I was reluctant to cut away the vent too soon until I had the dogleg structure built underneath the windshield pillar, as you can see this is quite thin. When I was in Lexington, KY------I stopped by a local Hobbytown, and picked up Trumpeter's scriber as someone had recommended one. This made quick work of cutting away the vent as I was able to now do so without much fear of the windshield post breaking due to the lack of structure. Since I now had the door jamb on the door itself now done with some minor tweaking to come later.........I now wanted to test fit the door into the opening. As you can see the door fits quite well, and there shouldn't be a problem with paint clearance down the road as the 3x5 card method was used here as well. Looks like I may tweak the very upper corner of the door to match the contour a bit better.............the entire body will get a very thorough going over before I move on to the engine, chassis and interior. The redone hinges are now in their places on the support. In the pic here, I'm just test fitting for clearance and to make sure there's no binding of the hinges as they're opening and closing. I made a small crack in the door jamb as this was the main side I had rework the hinges a second time. This is a small fix that can be done quickly before too long. A couple more photos to check the fit and clearance of the door................ Hmmmm............I may add some .005 plastic to tighten up the section a scooch............we'll see........ Also notice that I angle filed the trailing edge of the front fender trim so the door doesn't bind against this as well. Not a severe angle, but just enough so the BMF doesn't scrape away each time the door is opened and closed. Stay tuned.......there's more!

Ain't that the truth! The way I build, if I live to the age of 206, I still wouldn't get all the kits built that I wanted!

Very Nice! Not the easiest kit in the world by any means, but yours turned out well! I built this one a few years ago, and I had my share of swearing under my breath as there are some fiddly bits about it. Mike's correct about the windows--------they raised and lowered on spring loaded "risers" IIRC, as there wasn't an actual window regulator to wind the glass up and down.

I would take it from the Revell '60 Impala if your kit is the Revell/Monogram '59 convertible. To my eyes the '60 Impala roof has a more accurate shape than the '59 hardtop they did. You'll need that little chrome roof vent however as that was exclusive to '59.

Tom, I use a "Metcal" unit for soldering. Not sure of the wattage as the soldering tip has an internal thermometer which keeps it from overheating. I do know the tip is a 600º one as it's for lead based solder. The solder is regular 'ol silver bearing .015 Radio Shack solder with a flux core. I do like to use the paste flux for rework, but you should wash off any residue after you solder as it can eat away into the metal long after soldering. Here's a pic of the type of unit I use............I picked up a used one on eBay for $150 as new units can run anywhere from $300-$700! The tips alone can run $15-$20 each....... David, I plan on the car being stone stock in Roman Red, in fact-------here's the car I want to replicate........ You can also see more clearly why I was fussy about that roofline! I want my car however to be a fuelie (last year for that), and I may put fender skirts on it as those really compliment the car's sleek lines.

Yes, they should be. GM was still using goose-neck type hinges for the front doors in the full size models through the '66 model year. Through the early '70's there were some exceptions (Eldorado, Toronado, and Riviera come to mind), but the B/C bodied cars changed to the swivel type hinges starting in '67 IIRC.

Very Nice! I love the contrasts of the different body styles through those years. Compared to today, cars changed quite a bit in just a few model years.

Fat chance on that Ron!.....................Right now!

BTW Fellas, I haven't abandoned the '59 as it's been awhile since I've posted any updates here. I've just been a bit lazy in getting any new pics uploaded to either Fotki, or my blog. Work is moving along slowly but surely, and I'd like to get something new for you guys to see later on in the week. I can tell you that I am about done with the major body work as both doors are hinged now, and I did get the trunk reinforcement made and mounted. Now all that's left to be done is to hinge the trunk, and then I can move on to the roll up windows. Psssst........did he say working windows?? Why yes I believe he did!

Hi Jon! Thanks for the compliment! No, I haven't had any problem with binding as I'm particularly fussy about that problem when it comes to hinging doors. I try to make sure that arc of the hinge is such that I can mount the door long before painting, and check the "swing" of the hinges in their retainers. I also like to use the 3x5 card method as I mentioned on the other page of this thread. This helps a lot in determining how close your door gaps are going to be after things are painted and polished. One thing I did do is thin out the leading edge of the door, so that it would clear the trim properly without catching or binding. I also angle filed the trim in front of the door slightly so that it would not get "hit" by the door when it's opening or closing. Thanks for asking!

I have Tapani's P1800 and can vouch for how nice it is. Just some minor cleanup as the following pics will show, but there are some pieces that you'll have to supply on your own such as the rear diff, and front suspension. You'll have to fashion your own glass as well. You can view the rest of my pics here. One downside was the high price due to the dollar vs. the Euro, but for me it was worth it. My kit is NOT for sale however as I'd like to replicate a '65 1:1 I once owned years ago.

Some of you have seen this in action up close and personal, but here's a completely scratchbuilt working top frame for a '64 GTO I was building years ago. I've since abandoned the model as there were other issues that would involve totally taking the model apart, and I just lost the ambition. I used an original shop manual to get the hard points made..............then just shrunk the details down to suit things for 1/24 scale. I probably won't ever have this in the model if I ever rebuild it-------just wanted to prove something to myself that an in scale working top frame can be done. BTW, I still have the top frame, and it still folds up as well as it did when I built it back in 2003-04.

Now THAT is one heck of a soldering job! Excellent workmanship Mr. Zimmerman!!

Here's the undercarriage of my '06 Magnum wagon when I did the overspray. I happened to stumble upon a then new Charger off the 'net (possible off eBay Motors) and saved the pic. Yes, it can be difficult to find chassis shots of newer cars. Even more difficult is to find an undercarriage shot of a vintage racer! As you can see there is some overspray..........not an overkill amount like you might see on an over-restored car, but some just the same.

Looks good Bill! I'll be watching! I believe the first issue Revell '62 Chevy Impala has the dog dishes you need. That one could be built with the "poverty caps" or the regular wheelcovers. I like the work you're doing on the hardtop...........despite the tops being virtually identical from '56-'62, there were some subtle changes in the rear backlite and quarter windows. '56-'60 hardtops can interchange with each other, but not with '61-'62. Not always noticeable in 1/25, but us 'Vette watchers can spot the difference!

Flawless paint!! And wasn't the kit of the car a fixed roof? Nice job with the liftoff panel if it wasn't! Most of all.......WELCOME!

Ahhh, the '64 Lindberg Kit.........I keep forgetting about that one! I remember seeing someone take the '58 Plymouth frame and convert it to a unibody design for a '60 Plymouth model years ago at an NNL. It looked very convincing, so that's why that one came first to mind. He had made front and rear subframes from the existing full frame.........much work but it certainly looked the part! The Lindberg kit would be less crazy making if you go that route-----you shouldn't need to do much adjusting wheelbase wise as Bill mentioned.

Niko, those pics aren't showing up here............maybe paste the link where you got them as Allpar may not allow posting of their pics onto another site. Edit: OK, with some OS gimmickry/trickery I was able to see the pics you posted. Yeah, that's about what it should look like. Another way to get good chassis shots of any particular car is to buy a shop manual of said vehicle. True, it may be a more expensive way to get what you need---------but you'll always have the reference, and there's nothing that says it can't be used on another model down the road.

Niko, all 1960 Chrysler makes (save for Imperial) switched to unibody frames. Don't hold me to this, but I thought I read somewhere that the frames were nothing more than the 1957-59 floorpan with just the side rails gone. Of course the front and rear would have a "subframe". There's the RC2 '58 Plymouth that could be used for such a task...................As far as pics, you might want to check eBay Motors for a car on sale. Sometimes the seller will have some very good undercarriage shots of the car..........especially if it's a recent restoration carrying a pretty steep price. Also perhaps check out Allpar.com and do a search for 1960 Chrysler Unibody Frames. Hope this helps................1960 Dodges were very nice cars!

If you want a close match to the AMX chassis, you can always use the AMT '67 Mustang. The floor boards are very similar, and of course you would need to shorten it up to suit the AMX's wheelbase. Inner fenders are similar too.......just some tweaking to get the right look.

Oh Ok..........I knew that the diesel was somehow related to the 350 gas engine........but not that it was solely based on it. My Mom once had a brand new '81 or '82 Cadillac Eldorado with the diesel. Needless to say she had many problems with it almost from day one. My Mom is quite the outspoken one and she demanded that they replace the engine with a gas one. And yes, the engineers always seemed to get outdone by the bean counters and management.........a practice which still goes on to this day.

IIRC, one of the HUGE reasons the GM diesels were so bad, was because the engineers tried to base the engine on a gasoline block. Now I owned a Mercedes diesel once upon a time, and I remember the compression ratio was something like 21:1, where your gasoline engines typically run maybe 10:1. Well, you guessed it, the diesel engine blocks were cracking after less than 50,000 miles, and most if not all were eventually replaced. It's been YEARS since I've seen an original GM Olds or Cadillac diesel on the road. If one is seen running, it mustn't have many miles on it as it's not gotten around to losing its compression yet due to a cracked block!

Well as of this morning, things have quieted down somewhat. My power is still on and never did go out during the night. There are areas around me that have no power, but I'm thankful this one was not as destructive as Lee was last year. My job has shut down for the day.............that's all well and good as it can give me some more time for building! Of course the storm's not done, as it's starting to curve toward the north, and there's still the possibility of the storm stalling and sending high river water our way.

Just a shout out to you fellas that are along the east coast and this HUGE storm about to pummel those of us here! Tropical Storm Lee from last year is still very fresh on my mind as my house was flooded. Already we have heavy rain and gusty winds, and I'm on the outer fringes of the storm (Central PA). There's the possibility of the power going out----if that's the case I can look forward to a mess again, as there will be no place for the water to go, despite having a sump pump in the basement. At least I might be able to get some building done.................provided the power stays up and running through all of this. Take care all and be safe!