Search the Community

I thought I wouldn't start a new project before my '50 Oldsmobile Mild Custom is completed, but it seems that I can't keep my hands off from this one so I'll have to get started with it. The Olds will be done soon, though. So the plan is to build an Impala that my 1:1 scale Impala will hopefully be in a few years time. This means that I will install a 383 Cid Stroker Small Block Chevy from Revell '69 Nova kit as that is what will be under the hood on the real thing when I get the money to build the engine, tranny, driveshaft and rear axle. I'm planning that the real thing should look a little like an old Junior Stock Drag Car with front end a bit higher than the rear end, high profile blackwall tires with black steel wheels on the back and whitewalls and Chrome Reverses on the front. I took AMT 9" Slicks for this project as that's what I would use on the 1:1 car when driving at the Drag Strip, front tires come from AMT Firestone Parts Pack. The wheels are resin cast by a friend of mine. The front wheels will be painted with Alclad Chrome. As I said earlier, the engine is taken from Revell's Special Edition '69 Nova kit. I'm planning to use aluminum heads, Victor Junior style intake manifold (Where to find one in scale?), Mickey Thompson valve covers and of course headers. No kit seems to have correct headers for this car so I will have to scratchbuild them. Of course the engine needs to be detailed properly. The kit has some flaws in it, even if it is pretty good quality. Originally the engine sits way too far back and there is the spare wheel cover next to the fuel tank (It was there in '59 but not in '60) etc. But more on those modifications later as I go.... First Here are a few pics of how the real car looks right now: And here is the kit. When I bought it, the first thing was of course to get rid of those horrible wheels and tires(How could someone ever install them on a '60 Impala?! :lol: ) Luckily a friend of mine bought them. As you can see the rear wheels are actually meant to be installed on the front. I need to try removing the center knobs somehow. Buying a new set of wheels might be another choice, we'll see which one I'll do. The real car will probably have a TH350 automatic trans (Currently it has a PG) so I had to try finding one. Luckily my friend Matti (ChevyCoupe41) had a "junk engine" with a TH350 transmission molded in. So I cut the transmissions separate from the engine blocks and now I have the engine from the Nova with TH350 trans. Thanks For Lookin'!