Maindrian Pace

In between big-effort builds, I like to wind down a bit with a nice, low pressure antique promo restoration. Often for friends, (good friends) these roll onto the bench periodically. One friend collects '50s Ford promos that he couldn't get when he was a kid, but can now. These include every color offered of the rare '57 Ford sedan promo. Black is the rarest color, they almost never show up for sale. He finally found one, but it had been customized and was rough. I should have taken a few pics of it assembled, but forgot. It had the glass and interior from a pink '58 Edsel promo, (these sedans didn't have interiors) painted wide whitewalls, painted side trim and gold insert, and at one point had mirrors, spot lights, antennas, and mud flaps glued to it. Must have been a real doll. He gave me a green sedan promo to demonstrate the proper color scheme. First order of business was to remove the glass from the green car and use it to vacuform a new unit for the black one. I dyed it light green with glass dye from Hobby Lobby. Trimmed to fit: That turned out to be the easy part. The problem with the old warp-crazy acetate promos is that the acetate plastic is very fragile and nothing that I tried could strip the paint without ruining the surface of the plastic. And I mean nothing. So all of the silver paint had to be painstakingly scraped and sanded off of the trim, including the heavy brush painted gold, which turned out to cover a heavily painted red color, and then the trim had to be sanded and polished with a polishing kit to bring the shine back, and all had to be done without obliterating any of the details. It took days. I called the owner up to grouch about that, which seemed to make it go smoother. All of the bodywork to the glued areas had to be done without stripping the original white paint, including sink marks to the trunk from the Edsel windows being glued in. All black plastic areas had to be sanded and polished, Then it had to be masked off twice, first for the gold insert:

Fantastic job Raoul, love the color combo and the trunk rack, and the convertible conversion is spot on from all angles. It's great when when builders achieve exquisite from common kits. -MJS

It's actually an '80, the '79 Cobra didn't have the pace car air dam. -MJS

I usually agree with you Roger, but mine looks great. -MJS

MCSO Press Release 07/24/14 On July 23, 2014 Multnomah County Sheriff's Office detectives and Special Investigations Unit detectives served a search warrant in Unincorporated East Multnomah County and recovered a green 1970 Plymouth Barracuda 2 door hardtop vehicle. The Plymouth had been reported stolen in 2001, and purged from the Law Enforcement Data System (LEDS) as a stolen vehicle years after. Barring a court order to the contrary, the Plymouth will be returned to its registered and titled owner. The Plymouth is not in drivable condition, with many essential parts and components missing. Efforts continue to recover the remainder of the vehicle. No arrest has been made by MCSO at this time, the case will be presented to the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office for review. The vehicle is not available for media to view at this time as the investigation continues.

Great craftsmanship, that's the first one I've seen built, and there is probably a reason for that. I like the realistic period race car paint finish, smooth but not too glossy. I can see the LeMans style start right now... -MJS

"For the past three years, the convertible sat locked, covered by a tarp, padlocked and parked in an outdoor lot behind Jelley’s southeast Calgary apartment." Not to be a jerk, but that was really, really stupid. In this day and age, easily snatchable classic cars are snatched. I'm surprised it took three years. -MJS

Very nice build, very convincing. Did Dad get the base 144 six, or the 170? The latter had much better power. -MJS

Beautiful job! Red Bear Graphics offers the wood grain decals for this model. http://www.bdparrish.com/70fordwagon.html?1319260454843 -MJS

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/07/09/gmp-diecast-models-staging-a-comeback/?refer=news -MJS

No, but the guy in the lime green outfit was voiced by Casey Kasem, who also did Shaggy in Scooby Doo. -MJS

Sure, but to the buyer of this car, 50 million+ dollars would hardly be a noticeable dent in his bottom line. The only question would be which collection to keep it in, the American collection, the European collection, or at the cottage on the Isle of Man. -MJS

A couple of the cars are not restorable, even by GM: So if they display this next to the glass covered sink hole, that could be a pretty decent attraction. -MJS

The car looks new Tomo, you are a motivated young man with uncommon focus. You did that whole job out doors, in the weather, under rain and sun, and on a surface that doubtless fought the floor jack every time. And to top it off, the car is cool, tasteful, and was worth the effort. Drive it with pride, you've earned it. -MJS

Just got this in my inbox this morning... We'll have to see where it goes. -MJS

Trashing old Mopar Muscle never goes out of style. -MJS

That's an elegant looking car, and one that seems to be overlooked in the market. -MJS

Excellent quality build, and the stance/wheels/tires are about perfect. -MJS

Beautiful work, I can't find a single contour out of place. The nicest '70s Elco conversion I've yet seen. -MJS

Nah, just model building season. -MJS

-MJS

We just need to see Revell's late model Super Duty kit to compare it to. -MJS

Yeah, I was worried about that! -MJS

The new Ford steering system is a variable ratio setup that improves driving feel, it doesn't take away any driver control. And Euro-lux car makers already have it. I recently heard that the gummint is working with cell phone manufacturers and providers to be able to turn on your microphone and listen to your private conversations in a room, whether your phone is on or off. Might be true, not worth getting all worked up over something you can't control. A few days ago, I passed a horrific accident that I later learned killed three people. So as for autonomous cars, if they keep the distracted/drunk/stoned/red light running drivers from smashing into and killing people, then praise be Google, et all. -MJS

Super nice! -MJS