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All I can say is O Wow. Beautiful looking build of one of my favorite cars. Great looking paint and all the trim is cleanly done. I also like how you used all of the original looking paint colors for the engine and wheels.

I use a pin vise for the drill bit. There are several sizes out there and I have two different sizes since some of the bits are to big for one and to small for the other. Hobby Lobby ids a good place to look, but a good hobby shop should have the better tools or you may have to order on line. I like Plowboys suggestion of using plastic in stead off the wire. I'm a little ham fisted so wire works better for me.

First let me say I'm a Coffee Snob and I make no excuse for it. I order my beans from Peet's in San Francisco and have for years. Best coffee if this is something that matters to you. My problem has to do with the shipping of supplies. They use UPS and this is were the problem is. I was expecting an order and it was due during a two day window including Friday or Saturday and they're very good about getting them to me on time. My wife is having to work from home and her office is by the front door with a view of the street. She mentioned to me Friday that a UPS truck had been driving up and down our street. This is not uncommon especially since now everyone is ordering everything on line. She mentioned that the driver went by the house at least 6 or 7 times but she never sees them stop. Saturday evening a neighbor two doors down who is in ill heath come to our door. I was afraid he may be in trouble, but no he's at my door after dark and it's below freezing out side and he's bring a package that was left on his front porch sometime Friday. Now our street number is plainly seen carved in stone over the front door and in reflective numbers on our mail box at the end of the driveway. Just don't understand how this driver couldn't see the mail box let alone leave the package on someone else's porch with the same type of number display that plainly was a different number. The good news is I enjoy a great group of neighbors and this poor older gentleman braved inclement weather to bring me my coffee. I really felt bad that he had to do that but this speaks of the person he is. Now if we could just get the UPS drivers to slow down and read the numbers on the mail boxes this will be a better place.

The Gulf Coast of Texas is sometimes called the Third Coast because of the length of the sea coast along the Gulf of Mexico.

Would like to see this in a short bed. I'll just have to chop and paste one I guess.

Very nice looking build. Any engine detail ? The colors look good and I like the door signage as well.

Love '40's as well as Sedan Deliveries and Orange is one of my favorite colors so this looks good to me. Very resourceful build.

Perfect car name. Very creative looking car and all of the finishes look great. I remember a car from many years ago that I think ran in D / Gas that was an early '50's Packard 4 door with a Chevy small block. I think he took first place more than ones. I like off the wall type cars like this.

I like your body modifications to the roof making it into a hardtop. The roof looks like it was added along the rear edge the way you did your paint treatments.

Great looking paint and trim. I also like the license plate theme. Very cleanly built.

I'm not a big fan of the all black colored wheels, this may go back to when I could only afford black painted steel wheels. A little chrome or polished aluminum wheel lip and any raised edges on the wheel centers with a black or dark gray accent may look better. Just a matter of tastes but why put nice wheels on something and then try and make them disappear??

I use a staple from a normal desk stapler. Usually a # 70 or # 71 drill to drill a hole in the body and the base of the mirror or what ever else you want to attach to the body. I'll glue the pin into the base of the mirror and when dry then glue it to the body. When possible I leave the pin long enough that it will pass thru the body. This isn't a must, just the way I do it. I like to glue from the inside of the body to minimize any glue on the paint finish. Some other types of glue that can be used are any of the clear canopy type glues and I have even used Future Floor Polish in tight places. There are many ways to do this, this is just how I choose to do it most of the time. I'm sure others will have other suggestions also. We'll both learn from their replies.

He almost went into the drink in the shot on the pier.

Should you need any additional info about the engine let me know and I'll try and help out.

Good point I didn't think of the pattern in this case. The one I did a couple of years ago was in the making of a '67 El Camino I had owned years ago. See my Icon. I used the Revell '66 El Camino as a base and grafted the front end from a Revell '67 Chevelle SS396 onto the body and used the rear seat and door panels on the interior. Mine was a Malibu trim level so that worked well for me since they shared the same interior pattern.

It's a Pontiac, go with the factory 8 lugs. If you want to do any mods on the rolling stock maybe widen the wheels on the outer edge is all.

Another source would be the AMT kit # 6123 from around 1995. The kit may or may not have been based on the MPC kits. This has an Orange or Red Firebird 400 on the box but lists the 6 cyl. engine on the box information side panel. The body is a nice casting and the engine detail on both engines looks good. The chassis is basic by todays standards but the norm of the time it was issued. The kit includes both hoods and would make a good bases to build either way. The decals give you the blue stripe decals if you wanted to build a Trans Am Firebird.

I knew that, but I just couldn't resist.

Just saving a dime so they can spend a dollar.

I think it's great that they are trying to improve or correct the tooling. This can be expensive but it also shows their commitment to getting it right. Less for some to complain about also.

Very cleanly built Monte Carlo. I'm also a fan of this kit and owned a late model '72 Monte years ago so I'm partial to them. The light colors you used give it a more modern appearance then the colors often seen on the 1:1 cars. I also like how you got the badge trim done on the trunk and the C pillar.

I'll look forward to watching you restoration on this.

Great looking build. I like the color contrasts, usually these were all one color on the exterior.

You know your build is looking very good despite the many short comings of the original castings. I have to agree with you on the other kits you mentioned. I have also enjoyed each of them a few times over and they are good examples of what can be done. Still making an otherwise poor basic kit look good speaks of a builders abilities .

Is that some sort of oil catch tray on the ground under the front of the car in the picture ??