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There is a program on MAVTV that has a one man shop that builds some unusual cars. They had a show last year where a client brought in a VW Bus to have him make a hot rod for him. He built a frame with an exposed front engine and a shortened body just like your drawing. I know yours has a rear VW engine. The guys on Gas Monkey did the shortened bus with the built rear VW engine. As I recall they were having a hard time trying to sell it at a profit. I enjoy following builds of this type. Beyond my skill set but I still learn a great deal from the builders.

Maybe an old GMC type blower, you might have to fabricate the intake and exhaust but that is well within your ability.Or even a Paxton super charger from the new '57 Ford kits.

As an additional thought. Look at the engine in the AMT '51 Chevy hardtop. It has a build option of a cross flow head with a magneto , nice headers, and fuel injection. The headers have six separate primary pipes into two. A very nice chrome valve cover. The kit also has some nice chrome traction bars and chrome wheels, two standard and two reversed. If you find one of the recent reissues of this kit it will have pad printed Racemaster slicks also.

Very nice. I have enjoyed many of your other builds and I'm still impressed with the paint jobs you do with a brush.

Now I think I might have to try something like this. I really like the short wheel base idea but with that huge trunk you could make it into an El Camino.

What a shame to have more dollars than common sense. This new owner has a very large and expensive rebuild ahead of him. I remember seeing where someone was making reproduction bodies for this model Mustang. If he now has the title and depending on what state he intends to title it in this maybe the best way to go. Many states frown on moving the Vin. number from one car to another.

That looks just like the carb. they used to offer. The old version had a complete circular top so that an air cleaner could be mounted. Except for that it would look just like your picture. I think that a similar carb was used on both the 400 & 435 h.p. Corvettes and the Six Pack Dodge 440's in the mid to late 60's.

As far as 1/24th or 1/25th scale I would think that with some very careful cutting you could make two of these by splitting a Holly double pumper carb. in half and remove the "air horn" or choke assembly from the primary side. In 1:1 this would be a competition type carb. No choke assembly. Years ago Holly offered a two barrel carb much like this but with the materials of the day. What they offered, at least in the 60's, was the front half of their model 4170 double pumper four barrel carb. This was used in the entry level class of NASCAR usually in the Hobby Stock 6 cylinder class. I'm sure there was many other areas that used it also. As I recall it was in the 300 - 400 CFM flow rate.

All in the name of progress. Next they'll do like Kansas: Give some wealthy developer a couple million dollar tax credit so they can build something. Since the state is giving them all this monies so they can build something and keep the income they will need to increase your home owners tax to offset the lost revenue, and the developer will skip town before they have to pay back the state. The rich just keep getting richer, and we just have to keep paying for it.

I have not had an opportunity to look inside ,but spoke with some people at the model shop. I was told that there is an optional front suspension system to build a gasser . I would be more inclined to switch the frame from the wagon too the coupe and build it that way if I was wanting to building a gasser.

I'm in the rake camp. It will give this type of build a much more aggressive look. With oversized rear tires on models setting level they then look as though they have been lowered in the rear. It's an optical illusion.

Last summer my wife and I went to dinner at one of our favorite places in Lawrence Ks. This is a popular micro brewery/sandwich place near the KU campus. After parking our car we saw a college age couple walking with their arms around each other like they were never going to let go. They were both on the phone with the free hand. I asked my wife if she thought they may be talking to each other. It's a communication devise, they might want to communicate with the other person if they're really interested enough to be intertwined while walking down the street.

I think the grill is a vast improvement over stock. Can you share some info on the type of screen used on the new grill and how you reshaped the hood ?

As I'm sure you already know you would have to fill the gap on the rear deck from the top removal. If you already have the Olds kit that should work for the top boot. I did a similar conversion once using the boot from an AMT "65 GTO kit. The interior dog legs for the top can be done with some Plastruct products.

Have you ever watched Chasing Classic Cars on the Velocity Channel ? They had a recent show where they got a Pro Touring type Chrysler ready for auction. It had some minor exterior trim changes and a red leather interior. The chassis was setup for much better handling. I have seen others here that have gone into much more of a custom and even a chopped roof on one. Some one even put a Viper engine in one and went that way. The body lines and interior on this kit are almost to nice to mess with to much. To each his own, but this is really a nice kit even if you just went stock.

I don't remember every seeing the AMT '48 Ford (red car on the box) before. Was this their tool or from someone else ?

I personally prefer the later AMT '57 Bel Air. It is a little more of a challenge to build than the earlier version and is more accurate. There are definitely short comings as Bill Geary pointed out and can be seen in the picture of the model that Steven Guthmiller built. If you study the rear "quarters" in the picture you can see that the rear wheel opening should be moved forward about two scale inches. Other than that it is still the better of the two.

Very nice looking build. This was an unusual roof design that GM used in just 1961. The roof of the conversion has a some what different look over the rear window. It looks as though they elevated the portion over the rear window and it should have a level to very slight downward slope. I like your color selection and the 8 lug wheels might give away what's under the hood.

Thank you for sharing, so many great builds.

Very nice ageing on this. The passenger side door dent is perfect and you can even see the outline of where the chrome molding would have been.

As the old saying goes "A fool and his money are soon parted". I was intrigued by the build as I don't remember seeing anyone use every extra option that was offered all on one model before. Chrome louvers ?

The diorama is perfect. A little FYI, You're installing the flooring in the proper manor. Flooring joints should be no less than six inches from one another between boards. If not done properly, and it happens to be a "floating floor" , the boards can come apart. I found out the hard way.

Very small bits of foil can sometimes work. Another option would be to completely redo the part in foil or a chrome spray of some sort.

Harry P. x2. Another approach is to use a gloss color coat and use a clear coat of flat or semi-gloss that you are familiar with. Sometimes this will give you a better control on the amount of gloss you want on the part.

For myself I prefer to paint and then assemble the engine. Some of this has to do with the different finishes on different parts of the engine. I try to get a flat finish on the block and any other cast iron parts. On a 1:1 these parts usually turn out flat because of the texture of the part. An oil pan or valve covers would come out some what shiner like a semi-gloss unless it is a custom or presenting something that had been "built". If you're doing a stock type build there are many different types of finishes under the hood , if its more of a custom type build the surfaces tend to by glossier. It's all up to how you want it to look.