68 Dodge Dart 440 Custom Finally Finished 3-29-17

[microwheel]

Jim,

NICE detail work on that frame man! That differential looks great with all the added details to it!

Thanks John. I had a hard time posting updates today. Tried three times before it finally let me post. And then I just now got to go into them and edit them with detailed info.

Stunning, Jim!!!!

Thanks a lot Tim. I hope to get some more done tomorrow.

[microwheel]

Jim,

NICE detail work on that frame man! That differential looks great with all the added details to it!

Thanks John. I had a hard time posting updates today. Tried three times before it finally let me post. And then I just now got to go into them and edit them with detailed info.

Stunning, Jim!!!!

Thanks a lot Tim. I hope to get some more done tomorrow.

[microwheel]

Look what I got in the mail this morning. Holly double pumper from Fireball Modelworks. I got his carter carb that I originally was gonna use on the darts 440 power plant, but I think a little performance upgrade is in order.

And after cutting it off the block with as closely as I could with a xacto saw blade and then sanding down the remainder of what the blade wouldnt get without messing it up, here it is paint detailed and waiting to go in the 440 intake.

Some fuel and vacuum lines and linkage rods and she'll look nice on the engine.

 

[Codi]

That would be Chief Joseph right?   I've read about his quality on other threads but that is just stunning.  In any scale.  Nice job detailing it too.  cheers, tim

[Davewilly]

that a great looking Carb!

[microwheel]

That would be Chief Joseph right?   I've read about his quality on other threads but that is just stunning.  In any scale.  Nice job detailing it too.  cheers, tim

Yup you got it Tim. And thanks

that a great looking Carb!

Thanks Dave

[microwheel]

morning guys. I should have another update coming later today. I have been working on the front suspension. Just waiting for a few things to finish curing and then I'll take a few pics and hopefully get them posted on here for you later today.

[espo]

That Carb. is a must have. I don't recall seeing anything that well detailed before.

[microwheel]

That Carb. is a must have. I don't recall seeing anything that well detailed before.

Thanks Dave. It takes a little patience and work to remove them from the mold block. And the pics I took after I painted it, doesn't do it justice. My camera was giving me a hard time with the zoom focus and the pics seemed to make the paint look grainy. I hope when I get back to detailing the engine you will really see just how nice these carbs really look detailed and installed on the engine.

[microwheel]

Here is how the holley double pumper is gonna look sitting on the engine. Still got all the engine detailing to do but you get the idea

A update on the chassis will be coming later this evening. Stay turned and thanks for looking.

 

[RestoModGuy]

Wow! Just awesome detail work, very impressive. Will be following this one all the way through

[microwheel]

Evening Guys, spent time today working on the front suspension. Well actually I cleaned up, trimmed up, and detail painted the main front suspension last night. But today I applied white letter decals to the front tires from fireball modelworks, then started on making the front disc brakes. The front brake rotors were scratch made from evergreen plastic sheet stock, I used a protractor to get the circles as close as possible and then sanded them the rest of the way to get them even closer. I wanted basic rotors so they were not drilled. I then painted them stainless steel metalizer and buffed them out. The calipers were some resin cast ones I had in my parts bin, Im not even sure who made them since ive had them forever it seems like. but the caliper brackets were made from photo-etched trees that I cut and bent to use as mounts. The center holes in the rotors were drilled out with a drill bit I matched up to the size of the wheel back so the rotor would fit snug.

The wheel back itself is from the dart kit for the hemi rims, though Im using wheel fronts from my parts box.

Here is all the brake parts assembled to the wheel backs. the mounting tabs will get bent on a 90 angle and cut off to mount to the front suspension spindle uprights.

The brake calipers will be stationary and the rotors will turn through them with the wheels and tires.

The next couple of pics are of the wheel tire and brake assembly mounted to the front suspension. The brake caliper mount was CA glued to the spindle upright and once it cures for awhile it will get a little paint detail touch up work.

More pics in the following post.....

 

[microwheel]

This is the Front suspension detail painted with both front wheels and disc brake assembles installed. The front suspension is just resting in place for now to show you how it is gonna look with the rest of the chassis. I still have to detail the front suspension with brake lines yet. So keep that in mind.

The next few pics are of the complete chassis with the front suspension mocked into place. I still have to finish out the front section brake and fuel lines, but I need to get the engine detailed and ready to install into the frame at which time I will finish the lines. and permanently glue the front suspension into place.

 

Im hoping to get the body clear coated tomarrow finally so it can cure for a few days while I work on starting the detail work on the engine.

More to come as I get it done.

 

 

[slusher]

Impressive chassis and engine Jim. You have made great progress. What did you paint your fuel tank and transmission with?

[microwheel]

Impressive chassis and engine Jim. You have made great progress. What did you paint your fuel tank and transmission with?

Morning Carl. Thanks. The fuel tank was painted with Tamiya spray can gloss aluminum, and the tranny was painted with Tamiya spray can light gun metal. both of these are lacquer based and smooth out really nicely. 

[microwheel]

Got some time today to start clear coating the body after getting the body black stripe decal on. So far got 3 coats of testers clear lacquer applied. I plan to let it cure for a few hours and then add a few more coats of clear. Then I'll let it gas out and cure for a few days before wet sanding and polishing it out. If I have time this evening I'll take a few pics of the body with the clear applied. Once I set it aside to cure for a few days I plan to start detailing the engine. So if interested, stay tuned for upcoming pics and updates. And as always, thanks for checking out my build.

[Hmann68]

Holy cow! Great work so far! Can't wait to see more! 

[426-Hemi]

Jim that engine looks GREAT man! NIICE! I'm seriously impressed with the looks that you brought to that engine! NIIICE WORK!!!

[DumpyDan]

Awesome looking

[microwheel]

Well I didn't get any of the engine detail work done this weekend like I had planned, but I did get the body clear coated Friday evening and then Saturday evening and today was spent working on getting the body wet sanded and polished. I still got the hood to wet sand out and polish and hope to get the hood done tomorrow. If I get the hood done by tomorrow afternoon, I will try to get some pics posted.

Thanks for being patient.

 

[microwheel]

Got the body wet sanded and polished out this weekend and the hood this morning. The hood was a little bit of a pain wet sanding especially with all the contours in it. But With a little patience I got it done.  After creating molding for the vinyl top from evergreen plastic strips, I masked off the body and painted the whole top Tamiya Semi-gloss black. when that dried, I masked off the side areas of the top and gave the center area of the top a few more coats of semi-gloss black. Doing it like this creates guide lines for the Vinyl Top material I will be applying that I ordered from the Model Car Garage and the Vinyl Top material sticks down better to Tamiya's semi-gloss based paints. Its good stuff and looks better than a painted top when it goes on right but can be a bear to work with.

Here is a few pics of the body wet sanded and polished.... Can you say Shiny LMAO

I'LL post more as I get things done. The grill is just mocked into place for the pics. I hope to start working on getting the top done and then some BMF applied today and tomorrow.

Thanks for looking guys.

 

 

 

[James2]

Outstanding and I like your tip on the vinyl!

[taaron76]

That paint is flawless!  I've never attempted a vinyl top, but I have seen your previous work on the Nova's and they always come out great!!!

Tim

[OldNYJim]

That paint job is AMAZING.  Testors clear huh?  Guess I need to try that...  Amazing build! 

[microwheel]

That paint job is AMAZING.  Testors clear huh?  Guess I need to try that...  Amazing build! 

Thanks James and yes I used model masters air brush bottle Lacquer thinned with good ole fashioned hardware store lacquer thinner thinned 50/50. It did apply a coat of Tamiya TS13 clear over the model masters clear that I decanted into a container and shot through the air brush after the model masters clear dried. I did that because the Tamiya dries just a little bit harder and is a little easier to wet sand the flaws out of.