1971 Pinto Wagon Street Freak Showcar - Done!! 4-18

[disconovaman]

Personally I like the foil work... it's details like this that keep you looking at these kind of builds... carry on!

[Ace-Garageguy]

You have some really clean craftsmanship going on here. Very nice.

[Art Laski]

I'm disappointed to just now be finding this one. You're doing great work, Eric! A treat to watch. My wife's Cricut will never be the same...

[Canso65]

This is stunning work Eric.

Thanks for the tips on the headers and collectors. 

Rob

[Impalow]

Thank you all!   Ive had a busy couple of weeks and sadly the Pinto's progress had suffered..   I was able to get the rest of the gold leaf done last night, its not perfect, but it was good practice for the body. Once its cleared and all the suspension is installed I think its going to be just fine.

I had to relocate the distributor... some serious clearance issues with this giant engine.    Now that its up top, I am not really happy with my distributor boots. While I was ordering the rod ends to complete the front steering from RBMotion, I picked up a set of their boots that will hopefully clean that issue up when they arrive.

[Modelbuilder Mark]

So I wasn't really going to do a build log on this, but I'm excited to share the progress.

I have been kicking this idea around since I heard about the release of this kit, and when it came out it was sort of a "clear the bench" type of project.   I like the simplistic nature of this kind of project in the summer, since my bench time is limited and sporadic.  I'm still very excited about my Formula style model A, but when you don't get bench time for weeks on end, its hard to keep my head into something that complex. This is simple, relaxing and most of all quite fun.

The basic idea was to build a pinto wagon that would have toured the indoor show circuit in the early 80's. 

Lots of chrome, shiny paint, and over the top everything.  If you have seen my gremlin build, something like that... but a bit more complex and a bit more aggressive stance.

Here are a couple inspiration images:

Stance like this=

 

 

 

 

 

showing a bit of my gasser ignorance here,  but with such a tight tolerance around that rear tire,  how does it not rub when that wheel starts to spin and the tire expands?

[Impalow]

showing a bit of my gasser ignorance here,  but with such a tight tolerance around that rear tire,  how does it not rub when that wheel starts to spin and the tire expands?

Ya know, I thought about that as well.. I'm assuming this particular car just gets driven in and out of a trailer to car shows and would never actually see the strip. There isn't any rear suspension travel that is for sure.

[vintagercr]

What an awesome build!  Can't wait to see it finished

[James2]

Wonderful!

[Impalow]

Thank you James and Stephen!   I feel like I'm back and somewhat motivated on this bad boy. 

 

Body is in white primer and ready to paint, started laying out the panels and then I ran out of masking tape... doh.

Oh well, I started working on the engine detail and the clear scoop.

Chromed and detailed the carbs... they are still REALLY impressive.

Gott'em installed, along with the fuel lines...  added some brass bolts and fittings to bring the detail level up a bit.

Then I moved onto the clear acrylic scoop... vacformed the top section over a shaped block of acrylic, then the bottom was made flat on the cutter.  This little guy was a pain to get formed and assembled cleanly. 

Its not perfect, but I think it will be okay. I tinted it with tamiya clear blue, and then a coat of future (pics of that tonight)

 

 

[cobraman]

That's a good looking engine.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Yhat engine is nice. Great job on the clear scoop..

[Impalow]

Thank you guys!   I'm really quite proud of that little scoop, for being just 2 pieces it was quite a challenge.

Got it tinted last night, then gave a coat of future to make it shiny and more transparent.

and finally temporarily installed so you get the idea. its going be one of the last things attached to hopefully avoid buggering it up.

I then ventured over to the lathe and made some pulleys...

Masking tape should be in today so I can get back on the body and painting , I really would like to get the body and chassis cleared over thanksgiving weekend. 

[David G.]

Excellent work on the engine- looks great!

David G.

[Intmd8r]

That is such a great looking engine - real nice work!

[exesivefire]

Envious as usual of your visions and talents my friend 

[Impalow]

Thank you guys! 

Painting progress.. got it masked and the very sparkly testors icy blue base down on the panels last night.

Wooot!

 

[Nacho Z]

Always amazed by your creativity and your ability to pull off your ideas.  Looking forward to seeing this one in person!

[Impalow]

Always amazed by your creativity and your ability to pull off your ideas.  Looking forward to seeing this one in person!

Thank You John!   I'm also excited to get this one all together and see how it all works. 

I did get the paint all done this weekend, took some time but the effect is what I intended... and that makes me happy.

Shaded around all the panels with transparent blue:

Peeled:

Back mask all the panels with BMF (paint thickness leaves a nice edge to cut the bmf) :

Light Blue sprayed!:

Peeled again!:

and now im working on the gold leaf outline... got all of the top surfaces done, next up will be the sides.

[cobraman]

Body looks great !  That must have taken some time.

[James2]

Nice

[vintagercr]

Sweet!

[Lowlife ! !]

Man thats a cool paint job !  Clever idea masking up again with BMF, must have taken you ages but well worth the effort !  Love that gold leaf, how do you lay that down without it snapping ??  You know I'm a fan of your work Eric, looking forward to more 'show cars' from you....

[Rider]

Killer paint and gold leaf work! Love the engine too. 

[bobthehobbyguy]

That is a stunning paint job.