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You say "it won't be stock", so what will it be ? Day two? East Coast or West Coast style or something in between ? What colors do you like. Solids, Metallic, Candy, Pearls, or Metal Flake. Depending on what your doing, a Pearl white roof would look good with a darker color body, most colors would be darker wouldn't they. Maybe a darker color Pearl body. You might try a Metal Flake or metallic roof with a pearl body. Would a primer body be something you would want to try?

Another possibility for the windshield is Future floor polish. If you can maybe tape the windshield in place you can use it like glue. In fact after it dries you can go back over the windshield and completely cover it with Future and it will dry extra clear. Be sure that all dust, fuzz, or anything else is cleaned up first.

Looks great, just like one of the "Street Fighters" of old.

Looks great. Your fuel pump would be on the passenger side lower front of the engine block. In most high performance applications at the time people would often use an electric fuel pump and use a block off plate to cover the mounting point on the engine, if that is of any help on that.

That Qudrajet carb is amazing.

Justin, It seems as though you have gotten some additional ideas for painting, I have sure learned some new tricks. You had asked about apply decals, and to share what has worked for myself, the main thing that I have found to work the best is to have as smooth as possible surface when applying. You might try a light application of gloss clear in the area where the decal is to be applied. After the surface is dry you can apply the decal. After it is completely dry you can put the final gloss or flat clear coats. One thing you want to avoid is applying over any type of "orange peal" or surface that's not as smooth as possible.

I saw something this weekend on TV about the collector who has the Bonneville. He is selling his collection at auction in January in Scottsdale. The show talked about this and a GM Future Liner from the early '50s. I'm pretty sure it will be a Barrett Jackson Auction.

Great looking build. Makes me want to try this one again.

Mr. Yuk made a good point about gassers. They have some very basic rules, but are classified by weight to cubic inches of engine displacement. The picture of the Hudson gasser should give you a good guide. I can not remember the year, but there was a Hudson four door gasser with a 283 Chevy and powerglide that raced at the Winter Nationals at Pomona. I think it was Hot Rod Magazine that did a brief profile on the guys that put it together. I'm sure it ran in a class near the end of the alphabet and didn't really need slick for traction.

On the air cleaner you might look at some magazines at the newsstand that center on 4 wheel drive and off road vehicles. My thought, depending on how far you want to go with this , is the "snorkel" type air filter you see on some off road rigs that are in very dusty environments or fording streams. You could make a hose from the carb. out thru the rear edge of the hood and mount the air cleaner near the upper edge of the windshield off to the passenger side. See how it looks , if that's a way you want to go. Or just make a "K&N" type air cleaner which is the most common.

I guess this is what the mean by a "mail slot" top chop. Looks great, like it a lot.

I have many sealed kits in my stash and none of them have shrunk like this. I wonder if they were some how damaged or crushed in storage. Some of these kits go back over 30 years but have been in a temperature controlled environment. At this point I would open the kit and see what damage has happened. You really have nothing to lose as to collectability at this point, the box is just to far gone as a collectable I would think.

You're doing a great job on your conversion. The fun will come when you get to the "post" and the window moldings. The side glass has a frame and molding around them. You might look at using some "L" shaped plastic from Plastruct for this, as it would also give you a way to install window glass from the inside. I had owned a new '68 Bel Air tudor which I think was the same other than the grill and rear bumpers. I also would never of thought of the Camaro roof for the rear window, but it looks dead on to me.

Question on the Alclad trim. I'm having to redo a bumper because the "chrome" seems to rub off with any handling. Do use a clear top coat on yours?

I have to agree with the others, it's hard to tell the 1:1 from the 1:25th. The detailing is outstanding.

Paint looks great. On sanding it is some times better to wait a week just to be safe. Its hard to do when the paint job looks this good, but you also don't want to do it over again either. Looking forward to the rest of your build.

It already looks lifted, I'd try to reshape the lower wheel wells. It looks as if the larger tires biggest issue is with the front edge of the wheel well opening. Before you start cutting you might want to see if it would be better to change the wheel base.

Robert's picture of a base Ranch Wagon is what friend of mine got from his folks when he was 16. It was a 6 cylinder Fordomatic, but it ran great and he kept it shined at all times. The Del Rio model based on the 300 series tudoor wagon was not real common but they were around on the streets. Most people buying a wagon at that time needed the room for a family and would get the four door body style and were pretty common. The '56 version of the Del Rio had a little more trim around the "B" pillar and the Fairlane side trim and interior. This is going to be a fun kit, looking forward to putting one on the work bench.

These are still very good kits with a lot of "bells and whistles" inside. Look forward to watching your build.

Take a look on the truck/pickup part of the forum for bumper ideas. Or get some Plastruct diamond plate for the top and make your own bumpers. A wench would be good, and maybe some driving lights and tow hooks also.

I agree with Christopher on the '49 thru '51 Ford Victoria or even tudoor sedan. The '58 Chevrolet in a Bel Air or basic coupe would be nice. The Lindberg '53 Ford could be expanded with out a great expense and maybe offer a '54 body style also. Frank brought up a very good idea that should be easy to do, stock '46 thru '48 Ford tudoor or tudoor sedan. I would buy any or all of these.

Wow, that looks great.

Are you going to do a show room stock or update one or both ? The Edsel could be updated using the AMT '58 Edsel. The Chrysler needs a strong color but still look like the luxo car that it was. Chrysler had some very nice colors at that time. With what it sounds like you had to pay for these you may want to just use what you have and detail all the trim and interior.

This looks like a fun build. You may have to open up the wheel wells just a little for tire clearance with larger tires.

Not sure what issue of this Bel Air you have. It has been reissued several times. The reason I bring this up is that most of these I remember working with had additional speed parts for the 409 if you were to use that engine. I remember a cross ram type manifold for two carbs. and even headers. You might try some computer searches to see color combinations.