Dale Earnhardt 1977 Monte Carlo WIP

[MarkJ]

I will be using parts from these kits.

 

 

 

 

 

This is what I will be trying to build

 

[bbowser]

Love it!  Looks like that chassis fits well.  Are you going to open the hood or leave it curbside?

[afx]

Looking forward to this project Mark.

[MarkJ]

Love it!  Looks like that chassis fits well.  Are you going to open the hood or leave it curbside?

Bruce I' going to open it and use the engine out of the olds kit. I'm using the thunderbird kit for the chassis because its rear steer. The olds kit chassis is a front steer chassis.

[FordRodnKustom]

Great subject. Dale's ride in the Rod Osterlund days. Off to a good start there.

[MarkJ]

Thanks J.C. and Ron.

[MarkJ]

Got the hood cut out. Removed the vinyl top and all the mouldings.

 

 

 

[MarkJ]

Opened up the wheel openings and added styrene upper wheel opening lips and added some putty to them to contour them into the body.

 

 

 

had to cut off the front frame clip and extended it to get the suspension to line up in the center of the front wheel openings.

 

 

[MarkJ]

Taped some stuff together to see how everything is fitting so far.

 

 

[FordRodnKustom]

I was wondering how you would deal with the shorter wheelbase. Clever resolution, I'm going to make note of that!

[Art Laski]

Looking good!

[MarkJ]

Edited July 19, 2016 by MarkJ

[MarkJ]

Had to remove the bumper guards and pads from the bumpers and cover the park lights.

[restoman]

Nice work so far. 

[Hubert Rollins]

Looks like a very cool, ambitious project.

[MarkJ]

Got the fuel filler and overflow installed. Also the rear spoiler

 

 

 

 

[MarkJ]

 

 

 

 

 

Body is almost ready to prime. As you can see I am lengthening the cage to fit this car. The old battle ship monte carlo's were huge inside. The dash was not as deep on this car as they were in the 92 thunderbirds.

[MarkJ]

 

[afx]

Good work here Mark.

[MarkJ]

Thanks, J.C.

[MarkJ]

Got the sides of the cage finished except for some putty to shore up the gaps where it was pieced together. The piece of styrene rod you see is to hold the side in the right place while the glue drys it wont be there on the finished model. The primed body shows all the places that need more putty. Im hoping a few more coats of primer will stop the red from bleeding through on the final color coats.

 

 

 

 

[MarkJ]

Had to scratchbuild my own seat. The one in the thunderbird kit wasn't right for this build.

 

 

 

 

[DrKerry]

Very kool!!!!!

[MarkJ]

[John Clutch]

Very cool build!