1966 chevelle super stock eliminator

[R. Thorne]

First post here.  I am building a 1966 chevelle station wagon model of the 1-1 car I used to have many years ago.  I bought the California wheels kit that came  with a 396.   My car had a 283 with the 4gc (not qjet).  I have been trying to find a kit that would come with this engine or the engine by itself.  It appears the 1957 bel air kit comes with the stock type carb.  Any other kits that would have the 283 type with 4gc carb?  Anyway, what kit would have the best detail (especially the carb) ?   Also, in order to get the flat hood (kit came with the rs hood) , it looks like I will have to buy the 1966 el Camino kit, correct?  Thanks, Ron.

[espo]

First post here.  I am building a 1966 chevelle station wagon model of the 1-1 car I used to have many years ago.  I bought the California wheels kit that came  with a 396.   My car had a 283 with the 4gc (not qjet).  I have been trying to find a kit that would come with this engine or the engine by itself.  It appears the 1957 bel air kit comes with the stock type carb.  Any other kits that would have the 283 type with 4gc carb?  Anyway, what kit would have the best detail (especially the carb) ?   Also, in order to get the flat hood (kit came with the rs hood) , it looks like I will have to buy the 1966 el Camino kit, correct?  Thanks, Ron.

The Revell '69 Nova SS, the original small block kit, would be your best bet for the engine. The base engine is a Quadrajet small block and it has the correct cast iron exhaust manifolds. The optional Headers are a two piece affair and are very well done. The optional 2-4's are great for the parts box. I used the El Camino flat hood on a Chevelle Wagon project and it worked perfect. I also used the bucket seats from the El Camino on the wagon, they both have the correct Malibu Interior pattern. The '57 Chevy Bel Air tudor has two small block engine & transmissions included. One is a 3 speed manual and another with the Power Glide but is the older cast iron case instead of the Aluminum case you would have had if yours was a Power Glide.   

[R. Thorne]

Thanks, Espo.  The nova kit might be worthwhile for the engine and headers, but I would still need the 4gc type carb.  Car was a 4 speed stick car with hooker headers.  May just build headers from scratch along with 6 point roll bar.  The el Camino kit will give me the flat hood, then.  By the way, the last model car I built was in the early 60's.  Ron.

[espo]

Thanks, Espo.  The nova kit might be worthwhile for the engine and headers, but I would still need the 4gc type carb.  Car was a 4 speed stick car with hooker headers.  May just build headers from scratch along with 6 point roll bar.  The el Camino kit will give me the flat hood, then.  By the way, the last model car I built was in the early 60's.  Ron.

As I'm sure you are finding out the options with models, especially from the '60's is better than ever. I'm wondering about the 4gc carb. you mentioned. I'm somewhat versed in Chevrolets as a whole but the 4gc is not something I'm familiar with. If you could describe it maybe I can help you as to where to look.

[R. Thorne]

Espo, the Rochester g series (1g, 2g, 2gc, 4gc, etc. ) was GM's most commonly used carb from the early fifties up to the late 60's.  The "c" signified choke mechanism, by the way.   The number designation was the number of barrels (or venturis) in the carb, so 4gc was a four barrel carb.  The 4gc was available up to 1967, I believe.  At that point, it was replaced by the quadrajet with the huge secondaries.  The 4gc secondarys are roughly the same size as the primaries.  Thanks, Ron.

[W-409]

If you don't want to buy another kit for just the flat hood, a good idea might be to convert that RS hood into standard model hood yourself. It's not that hard to do, especially since you are already planning to do other scratchbuilding too, especially building headers can be much trickier than modifying that hood.

I guess the best bet for that carburetor would be a Quadrajet from Fireball Modelworks. It's definitely the most realistic Rochester carb out there, and even though the Quadrajet and 4GC are a bit different, I'm sure most people can't tell the difference in this small scale.

This will be an interesting project! I run a '74 Malibu Classic in J/SA.

[R. Thorne]

W-409:  I considered converting the hood to flat, but I am not painting the body of this car as my 1-1 car was white in color, too.  I did see the quadrajet on fireball's site last week and thought about ordering one if I could find a model car kit for my present race car [1974 GTO/Ventura stocker that runs in (are you ready?) J/SA].  Small world, huh?  As for the 4gc, call me anal if you will, but I want the carb to be correct, if possible.  Thanks, Ron.

[High octane]

Have you checked with Chief Joseph at Fireball Models as he has some awesome lookin' carbs for sale?

[R. Thorne]

High octane:  yes, I have.  Qjet, Holley, afb, etc., but no 4gc.  Thanks, Ron.

[W-409]

W-409:  I considered converting the hood to flat, but I am not painting the body of this car as my 1-1 car was white in color, too.  I did see the quadrajet on fireball's site last week and thought about ordering one if I could find a model car kit for my present race car [1974 GTO/Ventura stocker that runs in (are you ready?) J/SA].  Small world, huh?  As for the 4gc, call me anal if you will, but I want the carb to be correct, if possible.  Thanks, Ron.

Oh now I see why you want that El Camino hood!

That Ventura is a cool car too. Here in Finland there were a couple of those running in K/SA in the late '80s/early '90s and those dominated the Qualifying every time! It's just a shame that I'm the only guy in J/SA so there's no way to be able to have a Heads Up run in eliminations... But, I like being behind the wheel of this one no matter who is on the other lane.

[espo]

Espo, the Rochester g series (1g, 2g, 2gc, 4gc, etc. ) was GM's most commonly used carb from the early fifties up to the late 60's.  The "c" signified choke mechanism, by the way.   The number designation was the number of barrels (or venturis) in the carb, so 4gc was a four barrel carb.  The 4gc was available up to 1967, I believe.  At that point, it was replaced by the quadrajet with the huge secondaries.  The 4gc secondarys are roughly the same size as the primaries.  Thanks, Ron.

I understand now what you're thinking. Your car must have been a 220h.p. 283cu.in. car. These may have come with the old Rochester carbs. I think any of the Revell  '56 or '57 Chevy kits could provide about the best option. In '66 G.M. started using Qjets on most all of the 4 barrel engines. Can't remember many 220 h.p. engines that I  may have worked on, but every 327 thru 427 engine was using the Qjet, save the top H.P. engines that had Holly carbs.   

[Snake45]

How about the carbs in the AMT '65 Chevelle wagon? I'm certainly no expert but they look like they could be 4cgs to me.

[Rodent]

The Revell '64 Impala should have a 4GC as its stock carburetor option.

[R. Thorne]

Espo:  thanks for reply.  Yes, it was a 220 horse, carb also came on 1966 327-250h.p.  Snake45 and Rodent:  Considering those, but am leaning toward the 1969 nova kit for the headers and then purchasing another engine from a 1957 chevy from eBay cheap for the 4gc carb.  Ron

[R. Thorne]

More newbie questions.  Availability of edelbrock single plane T-M 1 type intake manifold for small block chevy?  Also, front drag tires (7.10-15 in 1:1) moroso preferably.  Is it my imagination or do all the carbs in model kits have less than average detail to them when compared to everything else in the kit?  I base this only on the limited pictures available of carbs and the 1 model kit I have.  Thanks, Ron.

[R. Thorne]

I am making some progress.  The body foil is done, now finishing the detailing on the interior.  Gonna make the T-handle 4 speed shifter tonight, hopefully.  I have found a (close enough) intake manifold.  I have 3 engines coming from Ebay (2 with headers)that I will look at and choose the closest appearance to the Hooker super comps. One engine will have the correct (4gc) carb.   The front tires are still a problem.  Most stockers and super stockers run about a 28 inch tire with 4.5 inch tread width  and overall width of 6-6.5 inches.  In 1/25 scale this equates to 1.120 inches tall by .240 overall width. The closest I can find (T-46 from scenes unlimited) are Continental (!!!) front drag tires with an o.d. of 1.022 and .260 width (about 25.5 inches 1:1).  I really don't want to buy another kit to (maybe) get the right tires.  Surely someone on here has built a stock or super stock and come up with a suitable front drag tire??  Thanks for the help guys.  Ron.

[espo]

The basic kit's tires are close to the OEM 6.70 X 15 tire. I just built a '48 Ford and the tires are a little taller and skinnier than the Chevrolet kits tires. They are supposed to be 6.00 X 16s but maybe you could work with those. Just sand off any unwanted manufacturing names you don't want. These are white walls, but all you would have to do is paint the inserts black. The only draw back is if they didn't fit your wheels because of the inside diameter.   

[Snake45]

I am making some progress.  The body foil is done, now finishing the detailing on the interior.  Gonna make the T-handle 4 speed shifter tonight, hopefully.  I have found a (close enough) intake manifold.  I have 3 engines coming from Ebay (2 with headers)that I will look at and choose the closest appearance to the Hooker super comps. One engine will have the correct (4gc) carb.   The front tires are still a problem.  Most stockers and super stockers run about a 28 inch tire with 4.5 inch tread width  and overall width of 6-6.5 inches.  In 1/25 scale this equates to 1.120 inches tall by .240 overall width. The closest I can find (T-46 from scenes unlimited) are Continental (!!!) front drag tires with an o.d. of 1.022 and .260 width (about 25.5 inches 1:1).  I really don't want to buy another kit to (maybe) get the right tires.  Surely someone on here has built a stock or super stock and come up with a suitable front drag tire??  Thanks for the help guys.  Ron.

Some of the mid-'60s AMT and MPC cars had taller, thinner tires than the Firestone Supremes (et al) that eventually became the "standard." I have a few of these in my stash but I'm holding on to them for the front ends of my own drag builds. (Also, beware, because some of these have the dreaded "melts styrene" problem.)

[TarheelRick]

PM sent.

[R. Thorne]

Thank you, gentlemen.  PM sent, Rick.

[W-409]

Finding a set of Frontrunners is no easy... Don't know if you found a pair already or not, but probably the best source would be Lindberg's '64 Dodge Super Stock kits. They have a decent set of Frontrunners and by sanding the sidewall details off you could install the tire letters as decals to get the manufacturer you want.

Other than that there are not many other choices as far as the kits that are easily available today go. Or at least I haven't found out much other sources...