Maaso

I've had this kit for almost a year now, thought I'd never have time to work on it. I got tired of putting it off and finally pulled it down from the shelf. This is going to be a slow build, since I'm working on it 30 minutes or so between work and class. This is where I'm at so far.... The kit: Got the grill painted up and put together....it looked good on the bench, but this picture makes it look worse than it actually is. The kit didn't come with tail lights, the instructions just said to paint the areas transparent red. That didn't look good enough to me, so I pulled some tail-light sprue from my box of left overs and made my own....only one so far. Lastly; I'm modifying the chassis. I don't like the "moulded-in" exhaust. So I'm shaving it off in favour of my own design. That is about all I've done so far, plan on little installments over the next year....

I work Saturdays, usually nights from 3p-1a. I'm not going to promise I'll show up, but I will try. Probably can't stay long if I do stop by.

SO where is it? What time? What all goes on, etc....

Is that the steering wheel that was supplied with the kit? It looks a lot like the 73+ steering wheel....

Cheney, and I might....might. I don't do too well in groups, plus I have a thick Irish accent and a raspy 200-year old smoker's voice; so most people can't understand me. Not to mention the few models I've built aren't worth showing off.

I reached the limit of picture attachments on that post, so here are a few more...

I guess I'll show off my old ZR2....I say old because I sold it not too long ago. It started life as a run-of-the mill '99 ZR2, aside from a few mods and bolt-ons it stayed relatively stock for a few years. Then around 140k the intake gasket went and flooded my engine with coolant. So like anyone who didn't want to spend $6500 for a replacement 4.3 crate engine....I built up a V8. ~98 model L31 5.7 "Vortec" engine, Scat forged bottom end, Mahle flat-top pistons, Comp Xtreme 4x4 cam. It came in around 388cui with ~10.5:1 compression. It made over 500lb-ft of torque from 1000-3500 RPM. It was my daily driver for about 8-months, it drove just like stock with the added benefit of being able to out-tow every full size truck in town.

I'm from Kansas too, a small town a few miles West of Wichita....

Well, I found this; so I at least know they exist....problem now is finding somebody that sells it.

I know it seems every time my name pops up on these forums I'm asking for something instead of showing off my latest builds, and for that I apologize. Truth is I can't find anything I want to build.... So I've decided I might as well build a car to stock specs instead of trying to customize a non-existent kit to match which ever of my 1:1 cars I drove that day. So here is the list of cars I'd like to build, but can't find kits for anywhere. If anyone could post a link (preferably not to ebay, I hate that place) or even point me in the direction of where a person could find these kits. That is; if these kits exist - which might explain why I was unable to find them. Kit 1: Lotus Espirit, '93 to '04 body style (I'd really like a 96+ since they had the V8) Kit 2: Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary (I've found a few Countachs, just not the anniversary edition with the sporty cladding/wing) Kit 3: Lamborgini Diablo '90 - '98 (I haven't found a single Diablo kit anywhere!) Kit 4: Bugatti Veyron (Same thing, can't find a kit anywhere) Kit 5: Pagani Zonda (Found a few die cast, but no plastic) Thank you.

I have a 96 regular cab with a 408...it's not magazine quality. But its about as reliable as a 24/7-365 daily driver can get. Being quicker than everyone on the street is cool too. But yeah, I was hoping somebody made a kit so I could have a little version of my truck.

Is there anyone that makes older Dodge Dakotas? Like the years from 87-96? In 91 they switched to the rounded front-end, but anything from 87-96 will work. Thank you.

And here I was hoping you would have built Coal Chamber's ice cream truck.

I can't see any pictures... Anywhoo, have you tried that VHT Ventshade stuff? It's a spray made for tinting tail lights on those ricer cars, so I'm sure it would work on a model.

I was young and didn't care about anything, and my driving style reflected it. I grew up after paying almost 10 grand for the engine in the Camaro, and the blown engine in the ZR2 wasn't my fault. Believe it or not, neither the Syclone nor the Typhoon were that fast. They were quick, but my Camaro could run circles around them. They rated very high on the fun factor though.

Here is my front springs, they are simple and completely hidden when I put the wheels and cab on...not sure why I even put them on to be honest. Mounted my turbo too, but I'm going to have to move it forward a bit. It's blocking the tab where the cab mounts to the chassis.

I eventually sold the Camaro and got tired of getting 4-miles per gallon in the truck. I parked the truck and bought myself a GMC Syclone. Which I don't can't find any pictures of at the moment. I drove it for about 3-months before I got offered an insanely stupid amount of money for it(4-times more than I paid for it.) Which I took and later found out the guy I sold it to wrecked it a few weeks later and it got sent to the crusher. As much as I loved the Syclone; I wanted another one. Which I eventually found in the form of of a Typhoon. This truck came with a larger turbo and few go-fast goodies. One night I hit a deer and caved the front of the truck in, tore off the front fender flare, and the deer went under the truck. I rolled over it and it ramped the rear end of the truck in the air and into a bridge embankment. Insurance literally told me word-for-word that they didn't want to find parts for such a rare truck so they gave me the ultimatum to total it or they would drop me for not cooperating. So I let them haul it away while I took the pay-off amount and bought myself a '99 ZR2 S10. The Typhoon later showed up at a dealer auction. And the owner of the local Ford dealership bought it, fixed it and restored it to 100% factory. It now sits on his showroom floor collecting dust. I'm glad this one didn't go to the crusher....but I'm upset because it's not for sale. The ZR2 is my current vehicle. I've had it for about a year and a few months ago I blew a head gasket and blew the motor. So I decided if I was going to replace the motor I'd make it worth it. I built up a 383-stroked Vortec L31 engine and dropped it in. I've put almost 5000 miles on the truck in the past month and it runs excellent.

All righty, since I made the thread I guess it's my time to contribute. My first vehicle, I built when I was fourteen. '88 GMC S-15 long bed: I had it for about six-months before I gave it up for something faster. It had everything in it from a salvage-yard 305 to a 396BBC. This picture is the latest picture of it with just a mild 350. I got rid of it in favour for a '95 Z28: I drove this car for three years and did almost every imaginable go-fast modification possible. I had it on the spray and literally grenaded the engine on the first pass I made. I followed it up by a Golen 396 small block short block, topped off with an LT4 top end...I never sprayed the new motor because I was scared. But naturally aspirated with drag radials and a lot of suspension work I ran a best of 11:98 with the AC on. As with any hot rod/toy it naturally broke down a lot. So that made me look for another vehicle to drive while it was down. I got a VERY good deal on a 70 Chevy SWB pickup with a 454. I paid $800 for it after the original owner tore the front end out from under it. It was on air ride and he did something stupid and popped on of the front air bags at 70 MPH and all but wrecked the truck. I tore all the airbag stuff out of it and stuffed a 80's 1/2 ton front suspension under it and a modest 350. With the front air out and sitting on the bump stops and the 454....I couldn't fit a jack under it. This truck also played the Guinea pig as a template for me to explore the air of bodywork. I shaved almost everything eventually.

Aye, that is exactly what I done. I turned it around and used the crossmember, and the T-bars became the upper control arms. I just cut them shorter and bent them in toward the top of the rear diff. I'll get some pictures of the front end up when I get home. Basically what I done was do a coilover conversion like the one RPM sells for the Sy/Tys. http://www.sytyperformance.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=66&category_id=200&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=26 I want to say my Syclone was #1176 or #1178. After I sold it, the kid I sold it to wrecked it and last I heard it was in line for the crusher in Tusla Oklahoma. A few years later I bought a Typhoon which was #2025. I hit a deer in it and sold it to a dealership owner in Wichita, KS. It sits in the showroom and is never driven or for sale...just sits there. Almost a waste.

I was wondering if there was a 1:1 thread where people could show off their real cars? I did a few searches and came back with about 500 results, and I don't have time to go through everyone of them.

Made some more progress on the truck today. Got the engine put together some, I put aluminum heads on it....all though they came factory with cast iron heads. Made and oil filter, distributor, and wires. The distributor isn't that grand...but it's my first and is hidden so all you will see is the wires when it's together. Finally I cut a notch in the intercooler and added some heater hose which will be routed down towards the bottom of the radiator to the heat exchanger. Which will be hidden by the factory skid plate/air scoop. You can also see the finished chassis in the last picture. I didn't take any pictures of it finished for some reason. The flocking job on my interior darkened up some, not black...but black enough. I think I'm going to skip the factory red detail on the interior since it doesn't match the black and aluminum theme GMC went with. The white-faced gauges are still drying in the last picture. Then I'll paint in some red needles and add some colour to the radio. Then I think I'll be done. One thing I wanted to do when I build my rear suspension was fix the sagging rear that seems to plague S-Trucks. It seems to affect the 4x4 and the Blazers more but Syclones got it bad(Typhoons are even worse!) since the truck sits about 5/8th inches lower in front and about 1.5 inches in the rear. Not only did it sit lower than a regular S-10...but it also the same height front and rear. They did this by tweaking the torsion bars and removing a leaf from the rear springs. Removing the leaf weakened the rear suspension and after awhile the added weight of the cladding, bed carpet, and tonneau cover added about 100lbs more weight. Followed by a few hard launches at the stop lights, the rear leafs started to sag and the rear would actually sit lower than the front. You can see by the picture of the truck on the kit in my first post of how the truck sits even. So all I did was raise it back to the stock ride height of a regular S-10. The last thing I did was even up the track-width of the truck. The front ends of all the 4x4 S-trucks are about an inch (three inches on ZR2 models) wider than the rear axle. So I added some spacers to the rear spindles to even them up. The display picture on the kit also shows the rear wheels tucked further in on the rear. I'm also trying to find some pictures of my old Syclone to match it up with...but I've been through about three computers since then and not sure if I transferred anything over.

While I'm still trying to find the correct parts to build a scale version of my 1:1 S-10. I it would be a good idea to freshen up my skills, so I picked up this Syclone to build in the memory of my old one. Kit the day I brought it home.... The first thing I did was cut off the spare tire since no 1:1 Syclone I've seen has one. I also cut off the fuel tank supports and fabbed up my own rear suspension. Using the front K-member I turned it around and used the T-bars as upper control arms. From there I build some lower control arms and a crossmember to hold them. After some test fitting with the body and got the stance near stock. I ended up cutting the crossmember and lower control arms out and put a little bend in the crossmember for driveshaft clearance. I made the lowers really thick like the Metco brand F-body control arms, and bent the uppers inward and mounted them in the top of the third member. So it's basically a triangular 4-link....G-Body style. I'm trying to find some small springs now to build some coil-overs for the front and rear. I got to looking over the parts in my kit here while paint is drying. Not only does the scale version of the TD06 turbo look too dinky for this kit...but it's cast very poorly. So I'm in the process of building myself a larger, better looking turbo. I think it might be too big though.... Edit: I just did my very first flocking job, I forgot to turn off my camera from earlier and the batteries died...so no pictures of it yet. But I used this fresh black material, and it's starting to lighten up as it dries and is looking grayish...almost dusty looking. Is that normal?

82-93 S10 Blazer. 98+ S10 grille and correct rear bumper. And some Oreos....real ones....I'm hungry.

When I first joined the forum, I went through the lot of the forum pages and abused the search feature. And while I was perusing I came across this scale that showed the scale-sizes of parts. It even went as far as telling what diameter styrene tubes to get for a 1" pipe, 2" pipe, and so on. I've spent the past two-hours trying to find this scale, and I'm not having any luck. If anyone could help me find this, I would greatly appreciate it. -Thank you.

Could you take a picture of the engine in that for me please?