brodie_83

I like where this is headed! I'm honestly not a huge fan of how the rear side window is round at the back...I would have personally used the shape of the little rear window from the kit, but that's just me. That little detail won't make me not like this...I want to build a 1:1 now! That is really sweet! Keep up the fantastic work!

I'm thinking I might have to get a set of those Good Years too for my '85 GN build.

Front of the intake manifold modified for the '85 style Re-shaped and assembled turbo with exhaust outlet flange

Well I got a lot of work done on the engine and one wheel...a lot of custom work that I've never done before and was frankly pretty nervous about doing, but it all turned out really well! The intake doesn't look exactly like the '85, but it's close enough for me. I had to chop off part of the plenum and make it much thinner, as well as make the front piece of the manifold so I can make a spot for the '85 radiator hose to mount to. I also re-shaped the spot where the '87 coilpack went to where the turbo will now mount to. As for the turbo, I had to cut off the original intake side of the turbo outlet and make a new one from scratch, as well as re-shape the exhaust side outlet and add a flange for the exhaust system to hook up to the turbo. I also painted the rest of the block and the transmission. I think next I will be modifying the '87 turbo-side exhaust manifold to fit the '85 turbo and a few other little things. Easy does it! Until then, here's my update for today: Intake chopped and shaved Re-shaped the coilpack area for the turbo inlet New intake inlet on the turbo Wheel all painted and decal'd

Wow, looks incredible! I can't wait to build mine!

Man, I hate you that you have one of these...I want one sooooo bad! They're so expensive though. As usual, this build is fantastic and looks very life-like!

I'm in for a set! Hell yeah man, those look great! I've never used resin tires before, but i'd love to try them!

The Revell car has the Bomex body kit, roof scoop and Axis wheels that were used on the FnF Eclipse. The engine is different than what was in the actual movie car, but is more true to the car it was supposed to be. I might just find the engine out of the AMT kit and throw it into the Revell kit just to be movie-accurate, but the general Revell kit itself is supposed to have much more detail and better fitment of parts than the AMT/Ertl kit. I'd also need the decal sheet from the AMT kit as well. I'm very excited to see how yours comes out though...the body looks great! Are the scale motorsport decals carbon fiber for the dash and such?

Yeah, I think the GNX came with the ignition wires. Well I finally got the chrome parts all stripped (except for 2 of the wheels had the yellow stuff on it, so I doused them again) and started painting the engine block and one of the wheels. Before I fully painted the block/heads, I drilled holes in the heads for the ignition wires. I was studying pictures of the '85 intake manifold, and I don't think I'll have to do that much modifying to it. I know I have to make the height of the manifold lower, so I'll just cut it down and sand it till it's to the right height, then glue the top part of the manifold back on. Where the coil pack used to be will be where the turbo will go, and I have to make a spot for the new radiator hose on the front of the manifold. I also noticed that the alternator and such are in a totally different spot than the '86-87 engines, so I'll have to fab some brackets to make it work. I'm hoping to have a little more progress tomorrow, but until then, here's what I've gotten done so far. '85 manifold '87 manifold '85 manifold '87 manifold

I've been wanting to build this car, but with the Revell kit. Looks good man!

Lookin' great so far! I love the new Camaro side mirrors! Keep it up dude!

I love this build so far...keep at it man!

Was it a GNX kit? I know some of those had a lot of issues, warped bodies being one of them.

I looked at the parts before I left this morning and they were stripped but still had a little bit of that yellow gunk on 'em so they should be good when I get home tonight. I'm a lil excited

Well I was going to start on this project, but got delayed because of the lack of CSC to strip the chrome, so I just put them in a little container full of Dawn Power Dissolver in hopes that it will strip the chrome. I know it strips the yellow gunk beneath the chrome like CSC doesn't, so maybe it will strip the chrome as well. I've never used it to strip chrome (I don't think anyways). I've always used it to strip paint and does a fantastic job. So with that said, we play the waiting game. I'd like to start the kit by modifying the intake plenum and turbocharger, so the plenum will have to wait till the chrome is stripped. I also got ahold of Chief Joseph and he said he plans to make resin casts of the '85 grille, so when that happens, he'll let me know and I can snag one from him. SWEET!

That's a bad-ass looking Cutty! Love the color! Well done good sir!

Ah, good call! I do recall that they did have a one piece because they didn't require a scoop for the intercooler. I had an '87 and the previous owner made a "trash can" scoop...it was HUGE! But it looked kinda cool. I'm gonna hit up Chief Joseph and see if he might have a spare photoetched '85 grille he made. If he doesn't, I'll use the '87 grille and not be saddened by it. It would just be nice to get all the details right.

Hey all, well I finally found all the parts I need to build my '85 version of the Buick Grand National. For those of you who don't know what the difference between the '85 and '86-87 is that the '85 did not have an intercooler and the turbo was mounted on top of the intake manifold. Here's a few pics to show the difference: 1985 3.8 "hot air" turbo '86 3.8 intercooled turbo They also had different grilles and wheels. The '85 had a little bit of chrome on the grilles, while the '87 did not. The wheels on the '85 were basically American Racing Vectors, also found on the infamous General Lee '69 Charger. The '87 had different wheels that were chromed. '85 grille and wheels '87 grille and wheels Now here's the kit that I'm using...the latest re-release of the '87 Buick Grand National by Monogram: The chrome Vector wheels I got from a General Lee kit and they fit perfectly into the Goodyear Eagle GT Radial tires! This turbo I got from a parts bag that I bought at a hobby store in St. Paul...luckily it's the perfect size! Now the radiator shroud is much bigger on the '85 than the '87, so I happened to look at the '86 Monte Carlo body and they have a very similar radiator shroud to the '85 Grand National, so I'm going to cut and splice it onto the Buick body. That's all for now, but with all these parts, I should be able to replicate the 1985 version of the Grand National pretty well. Stay tuned!

This is a great build! I've thought about doing this one myself, but you pulled it off great...now I don't have to

Dude, what's up with these builds? I'm starting my '85 Hot Air GN hopefully today.

Oh yeah, I forgot he made those Cragars. The only thing I don't like about them is that the dish on those wheels aren't very big and not a fan. I suppose I could fix that, but I haven't modded wheels before.

First off, I bought a kit that was on eBay that someone picked up at a garage sale. The body had a crack in the roof, but other than that, a few things were painted and can be stripped. I went through all the parts through the instruction book and every single part is accounted for! Now for the crack in the roof...doesn't matter cuz I'm getting a body without a crack from a damnn good guy on the forum! So now that the problem is out the window, I have a few questions regarding this kit... How much aftermarket is available for this car? The only thing I found is the photoetched pack, which I'm planning on purchasing. Are these kits fairly simple to assemble? And if so, do they go together well (as far as fitment)? And lastly, do you think the wheels/tires from the Shelby GT500 would look okay on this kit, or should I keep looking? (pic below is a photochop I did to see how it would look) Thanks for any and all information guys/gals!

Neons FTW! I have an '01 R/T that is a project of mine. Wish I could afford an SRT-4 Model is lookin' good!

I'm excited about the '70 Cuda and the Foose '67 Charger...that was one of my favorite cars on the show. I honestly can't stand those body styles, but Foose made that thing beautiful!

that sucks.