espo

Thanks for sharing. Some really great looking vehicles. Got a couple of build ideas as well.

The wife and I went to breakfast this morning and did a little shopping. I was riding shot gun in her car since it needed gas. We were in line to get on the freeway home and there are two left turn lanes, and she takes the outside lane since we're the only car in that line and everyone is driving like they are on Quaaludes or something. I glance in the side view mirror and notice a white Dodge Charger pulling in behind us. The Charger is all white with the push bars and a slim line roof top lights. I tell my wife and she just smiles. We get the greenlight and she wins the race to the top of the on ramp, signals her lane changes to the center of the 5 lanes of traffic and sets her cruise at 65. The Charger hangs back off of our right rear quarter for a mile or so before passing and going after everyone passing us in the fast lanes like we were tied to a tree.

I'll bet they don't have to worry about tail gaiters.

TS-12 Orange, close but on the slightly lighter side. When Rust-oleum took over Testors they reissued Hugger Orange under part #28108. Got mine at Hobby Lobby.

I can't write with a #2 pencil without breaking the point, how in the did you do this.

Good looking carbs. The valve covers look like a different design than most big block Chevy's?

That's still more structure than some of the earlier Wooddys.

That always gets your heartbeat going, doesn't it?

Had to stop, fell asleep listening to the guy drone on.

I think the box art was designed to better show the car in the kit that is being trailered than how it would be done in the real world.

Amazing looking finishes and livery. I just happen to have this very kit on the side of my desk waiting its turn. Thinking more of a street sleeper look. I like the white/blue paint combination and the base interior.

Beautiful paint and chrome body trim. Your interior is done in the same fashion, and you really should include a picture of that. The engine detail looks great.

Great looking paint finish and color, Firey Orange? I like the convertible conversion. Very cleanly detailed for such a quick build.

The chrome rocker moldings should be easily made from some thin flat stock plastic. The larger upright partr on the front fenders were a separate part as I recall but they did butt up against each other. Looks like you have the continental kit figured out.

Great craftsmanship. Reminds me of the models we started out with when I was a child. The kit would be a block of wood and a few sheets of balsa wood that you would glue together and sand to shape, and no they never ever even came close to this person has done here. A builder can learn from watching his shaping techniques.

It's a small block Chevy, it can be whatever displacement you want it to be along with the cam and even the induction system.

Ultimately the design is your choice and should be what you want it to be. My suggestion was based on the basic appearance of your wagon. With the large slicks and the fact that you were looking at hood scoops my impression was you were building a dedicated drag car. Should you be building a street drive vehicle, and everything fits under the hood then forgoing the hood scoop might be the way to go. Should you need just a little extra room then maybe a low Cowl Induction type hood would give you the extra clearance without standing out too much. You're putting some great looking suspension parts on this along with the big block you mentioned. May be a little hard to keep the induction system on a big block in this small of a body under the stock hood, so something may have to change with the hood. Build it your way to look the way you want it to look.

Really bright Green and glossy looking paint job. The Carbon Fiber decals look good on this.

Beautiful looking paint finish and I like the unique color. Great looking interior details.

You might consider Googling '49 Ford for pictures that will show you an original interior, they were pretty plan looking in the base cars. Sears seat covers were often an improvement in appearance.

The scoop would depend on whether or not it was needed to clear Carbs./ Injectors, or Blower. I think the second and third scoops intake is high enough above the hood surface to catch good clean air flow.

While Donals Southerland was not in the Day of Thunder movie, He was sort of an underappreciated actor especially if you needed an actor to play the part of an unusual or unique caricature. Can you Imagin being in WW II with him as your Tank Commander?

GM dealers would order inventory manually, handwritten forms were used into the '80's. There was an area on the form for the body color, usually a two-letter code denoting the color desired and another two-letter code for the interior. Should someone not print these codes neatly and at the plant the person interring the code misread it or just make a mistake you could get some strange looking color combinations. Usually, if the order would get kicked back from the order bank as a noncompatible combination the dealer would either have to correct the color combination or initial a box on the order form authorizing the combination. I know of one such G10 Window Van that was kicked back to the dealer and the Fleet manager, for whatever reason just OK'd it or the Order Bank just went ahead and built it, just depends on who you were asking. We got a two-tone Blue highline G10 window van with two-tone green interior. Fortunately, we had an interior decorator customer that just fell in love with it, saving the Fleet Managers job as well. In the mid to late '70's orders could get really interesting if you didn't pay attention to what you're doing.

I think the hood scopes on the Formula Firebirds were better looking than the TA's. I have made "Hood Tachs" shaped out of plastic scraps for a couple of Pontiac builds.

Since this is a custom, it should be done in whatever fashion you wish. The one I built only had the hood and tail gate shaved and I was staying closer to stock. As you mentioned the trim in many areas including the fins is so light that it gets lost under a coat of paint. I do like the way you chopped the roof on your build.