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As Snake pointed out, this is a very realistic looking build and I like the stock or almost stock type build theme. Interesting looking interior color contrast with the exterior color. They do look good together.

Usually, and in mass produced automobiles usually is a very broad term, The frame would have a very light mist coat of black paint. This was just enough to keep the frame from starting to rust from the plant where the frame was made until it got to the final assembly plant for the car.

I think just about any contact with the clutch pedal , especially with a Hydraulic Clutch, this could happen. Your friends CJ with the monkey linkage would also put pressure on the Throughout Bearing and that was often the part that would start to wear out even before the clutch on older manual transmission setups. Some of the first signs of a Throughout Bearing going out would be a slight pulsing felt under light foot pressure on the clutch pedal followed by rattling noises when using the clutch as the bearing got worse. I think most clutch problems are caused by drivers that aren't accustom to driving a manual transmission setup.

I like your theme of pre 1967 parts. Would that include the actual kit or just the kit's subjects year model ? Stay with the Flathead engine and harvest Heads and multi Carb. setups from the AMT '49 Mercury kit or their '50 Ford convertible kit. Revell had a very nice Flathead engine in their '40 Ford pickup as well. There are some kits with Flathead equipment that were released after 1967 that offer a lot of great parts as well. Maybe the Arden Head version from the '50 Ford pickup or some of the '48 Ford kits that had some real nice flathead stuff as well as Revell's '32 Fords plus their Quick Change rear ends as well if you use kits issued after 1967.

Great looking stance. I like how the engine just has the scoop above the top fender line. I would think if the engine was any lower you would need a skid plate for the oil pan.

One reason for the flat black colored floor that appear in so many reference photos may have to do with the car having been undercoated when new or shortly afterwards. This was done not for rust issues since Fiberglass doesn't rust. Another advantage to undercoating a new car is to cut down on road noise and the sound of small rocks being thrown against the bottom of the car. As for the color of the Fiberglass this may very from year to year model and even to the build materials being used at the time. Tring to duplicate the color in the photo I would try using Tamiya XF-59 Desert Yellow or XF- 78 Wooden Deck Tan. There are many other colors usually marketed as Military Colors with many colors of shades very close to this picture.

This is a real surprise to me and makes me wonder just how much of this is actually driver error. We have an '09 Wrangler with a manual 6-speed with just over 104k miles and still on the original clutch. For those that may not be that familiar with these vehicles I do realize that in this case it's not a direct comparison. The new JL Wranglers have the 3.6 Engine and there may be some design differences between the clutch used and the clutch with the 3.7 Engine that is used in our JK Wrangler. That Jeep would put inferior or defective clutch setups in their new JL's doesn't sound right to me based on my ownership experiences and how these vehicles preform in some of the most inhospitable conditions that most can't even imagine. Lest someone may think that our JK is a garage queen and hasn't seen any type of sever use need to realize that our JK has been in many Off Road events some sanctioned by the Jeep Jamboree group along with several other local events as well as some week long ventures on our own above the tree line in Colorado above the Denver area. Climbing several creek beds, water falls, and rock crawls with only the blue sky visible thru the windshield at over 12k feet altitude. There have been times when even in 4wd low in the transfer case we still had to ride the clutch to get over some obstacles and never had the clutch slip or over heat. My thought is that Jeep is being forced to compensate for operator error.

I had a similar problem with this kit also. The Hood was wider than the distance between the front Fenders. I had to do a little sanding to narrow the leading edge of the Hood and it was fine. Your picture looks like your Hood is cocked to one side by quite a bit.

I saw a short bit about this man on our local and national news on the TV last night.

Great looking color and finish. You can see the reflection of your work surface in the door. All of the trim looks very clean as well.

I'm sure you have better things to do during the day, but try and film the operation of when your bin is picked up. I have seen the driver from the trash company our city uses do all sorts of strange things with the bin when they're done emptying them. They will slam them on our driveway to see how high they will bounce, or use the gripper device to through the bin to see how far he could get it to go up our drive. Some of these guys are pretty talented in what they can do with these things. The point is the collector of the trash maybe the one damaging the bins and they should be the ones paying to replace them.

Great looking build. I like your paint treatment around the wheel well openings and the flat finish on the roof. The background diorama looks good also.

Great looking update on the red car. This build still looks fresh today. The yellow car makes a great looking sleeper for the street. Very nice finishes on both.

As alexis pointed out, the use of dissimilar paints can lead to many unintended problems. Many builders have figured out how to use paints from many different sources and often not designed to even be used on plastic surfaces and still get remarkable results. My suggestion would be to try and stay with one product line from primer to clear coat and be sure that each layer of paint is completely dry before the next coat.

Beautiful looking snake pit. I like the scale finish on the one but they're all unique looking in their own way.

Looking at this picture I think I can actually see some styling Q's that would show up years later. Looking at the rear 3/4 view I can see a couple of different lines that would show up on both Chrysler, Studebaker, Ford as well as Corvette. Chrysler: Notice the body line from the headlight area that runs almost to the rear of the door with a sharp downward turn. This would match the same line used on both the first Valiant and the Lancer. Corvette : The rear window shape looks a lot like a C2 Corvette's. In the next picture notice Ford: Does the body side character lines remind anyone else of a Mustang's ? Studebaker : Notice the shape of the wheel well openings and then look at an Avanti. The general shape of the front end has a lot in common with the GM Futuristic show cars from the early '50's, think the Pontiac Firebird show car with the cutaway front fenders . This original design is much cleaner looking than the original picture and you can't help but wonder how some of this design may have effected cars designed a few years later.

Four years away from the bench, I guess it's like riding a bike it all comes back real quick. Very cleanly built and well detailed looking.

This is what you get when a designer has an unlimited charge account with a new J.C. Whitney catalog in front of him.

I would be sure that the "Windows" front and rear were also in place when test fitting the interior tub. You may have already done this in which case you could start with the suggestions from Snake and Oldcarfan. Some of this fit issue may have to do with the age of the tooling and even the type of plastic that the manufacture used. The reshaping of meeting surfaces on older kits are just some of the thrill of modeling but give you a chance to fine tune the parts fit.

I think the first step would be to look for photos of the chassis and drive train of the car you're building. This will give you general idea of what it should look like. With all of the different parts of the suspension, steering, engine, transmission, differential, and drive shaft there are a lot of different surfaces and colors. berr13 mentioned Tamiya AS-12 Bare-Metal Silver and this is a light silver that would be a good bases for any part that would be brighter in color but with a flat finish. A few of the brush paints that I have used are from Tamiya with part numbers XF-1 Flat Black, X-18 Semi Gloss Black, X-32 Titanium Silver, XF-16 Flat Aluminum, XF-56 Metallic Gray, this has a flat finish, for just a few. I suggest what ever colors you use think about a light touch of either X-19 Smoke or Black Panel Line Accent along edges or any feature you would want to have standout. They are a very thin black and do not cover or hide the nut or bolt but leaves just a little darkness around the base that will make it stand out, and if you get too much on the part you can use your finger or a damp towel to remove what you need to get the finish you want. These are just basic suggestions and you might want to check out any Military paints as they offer a lot of colors and shades you might not normally think of.

Looks great especially considering the kit you had to work with. Very cleanly trimmed.

These were about as basic a kit as there was at the time. Your build looks very clean and matches the box perfectly. Well built in my mind.

Great looking Street Racer. You had mentioned some parts were missing and I notice the '55 or '56 Chevrolet Dash and Steering Wheel. Good idea.

Great looking paint finish and I like the deep looking color. All of the trim looks well done. I agree with Gary, you wouldn't know that you had any issues with the assembly.

Great looking paint and the trim is all nicely done as well.