Fat Brian

Yep, before they had accelerometers and g-force meters and load cells a bicycle wheel and a rev counter was how they took performance data.

It's going to take some work to get it to fit. The chassis plate is a little wide behind the rear wheel wells and for some reason the wheel base doesn't line up exactly. It's not impossible, just more work than it should be considering that stuff should be exactly the same.

It is pretty bad but typical for it's time. Poor fit, I'm pretty certain the engine is the wrong, held over from earlier versions. I've got one that I want to put the chassis and interior from the newer 70 1/2 Camaro in but it's going to take some work.

That kit is 1/25 and it uses the long bed Dodge truck body that was recently reissued by AMT.

I believe it does as well, I only had one Ranger at it was a Coke version and it had all of the extra stuff.

These problems have been increasing in the SC community and a few folks have started companies that work on restoring the electronics that commonly fail on these cars. For us it's the capacitors in the ECUs and the dash gauge cluster, and the LCD screens in the HVAC controls and stereo head unit.

Believe me, I'm there with you. I want an 80s 2 door Impala or Caprice in the worst way. The "loserness" is more in the eyes of car culture purists who only car about tri five Chevies and muscle cars. There is also character in loving something flawed.

The car culture for younger people is just different than in the past. There is a large segment that rejects high dollar concours builds and embraces the loserness of late 70s and 80s cars. This gave birth to Radwood and the 24 Hours of Lemons. Young people now don't have as much disposable income as previous generations due to our broken and corrupt non-education system so ones who like cars have found ways to have fun on a budget.

I just turned 39 the other day, I'm either the last Gen X or the first Millennial depending on when exactly they pin the transition. I grew up in a car household and caught the bug early. My main interests were 60s muscle cars but now that I'm in a financial position to own a project car the prices are astronomical for ones that don't need a ton of work and I don't have the space to do a full restoration on something. So I've decided to have a more attainable project car. My 98 SC300 has hit classic age and has the low production numbers that might make it collectable some day. Its Supra cousin is going through the roof right now and the SC community is debating when or if the SC will start to be brought along for the ride.

The kit I was looking at was older than I thought it was. The tires in the late 90s kits still have the molded in Goodyear markings.

The NASCAR tire molds probably got sent to China. The tires were the same for every Monogram NASCAR kit from the 80s all the way to the last full detail kits in the 2010s.

There are a lot of really high buy it now prices but realistically you're looking at $150-$200. You've got some box wear so this is a builder grade kit but these earlier issues have a bit less flash than the newer ones and the original decals which some people want. I sold the newer issue with the blue truck on the box for $150 last year.

When I built my Alaskan truck I put a sleeper on it. With the unpredictable nature of the environment I'd rather have on than not. The 36" is definitely more workmanlike than the bigger on though.

There is a similar kit to the 359 in 1/25 but I don't know if it's an exact clone. There hasn't been a long hood Aerodyne issued. There is the short hood snap kit or the long hood flat top. You could make a long hood Aerodyne in 1/25 if you can find the first issue of the Revell T600. It's the only issue with the Aerodyne roof. Then swap the sleeper onto the long hood flat top kit.

Yeah, I might wait and see if another one pops up. That one likely isn't going anywhere any time soon. On the other hand, the only sold one was $96 so that might be the going price. It seems fairly rare, probably due to its snapness.

Is this the original General Lee that was pulled out of the woods?

Not by me, those are incredible kits. With the increasing popularity of Fox bodies I'd love to see this kit again even without decals.

That's a nice build.

Thanks, I had forgotten how easy most kits can build if you just use the pieces in the box and leave them alone.

Yeah, I'm not trying to light up the head lights, just represent the daytime running lights.

Rear end in place and wheels on.

I'm having problems with that too.

I've almost got the guts of Barricade done. The last thing I need to do is attach the rear suspension and wheels to set the ride height and stance. Then it's on to the body, it's put together but I haven't painted it you so I could handle it while I'm getting the chassis squared away.

I was hoping to replicate the look of the lights when they're on.

That's not a terrible idea.