'59 Chevy El Camino 1960s Custom

[W-409]

I built this for TRaK Autorama Contest on Traditional Rod and Kustom In Scale forum. Jerry Preston's '59 El Camino was the inspiration for this one, even though I was never going to build a replica of that one, but some of the styling ideas came from that car.

The body mods are quite simple, I removed the "Eyebrows" (or whatever they're actually called) from front. It was a pretty easy modification, but some work was required to get the hood fitting properly. Otherwise, the body is pretty much stock, with only some chrome trim and emblems shaved off. However, the body required pretty much work before paint to smooth out all sink marks, panel lines etc. The color is Tamiya TS 95 Pure Metallic Red clear coated with Tamiya clear and polished. Chrome trim was done with BMF of course.

Engine is a Chevy 409 from this kit (remember, 348 and 409 are pretty much similar looking, so it's possible to use the 348 and call it a 409) with vintage mechanical Fuel Injection setup. The intake is from AMT '63 Corvette that fits on place with a bit of modifying. It's originally meant to go with Webers, but it looks exactly like old Algon Fuel Injection manifolds. The injector tubes are made from electric components, and fuel lines are aftermarket items. Fuel line fittings, fuel block on center of the intake and the belt driven fuel pump are all scratchbuilt items. I made the new belt from water pump to the fuel pump, and with a bit of modifying, the stock generator belt fit on place as well. Generator bracket and fuel pump bracket are also scratchbuilt. When I thought that the engine was done, I found out that the kit supplied headers didn't fit on place, so I scratchbuilt a set of Fenderwell headers from plastic rod.

Chassis is pretty much stock with only some additional detailing, like brake lines, handbrake cables and fuel line. Wheels and tires are made by Pegasus. I'm not a huge fan of those wheels (Chrome Reverses are very nice, but these are not the best scale versions out there), but the tires are very nice.

Interior is quite basic as well. Only modification was to add a tachometer cable to the kit supplied Half Sweep tach. Otherwise it's just painted and chrome trim is done with BMF and Molotow.

Final assembly went quite well. I had to modify the Mercury grill a little to make it fit properly, and all chrome parts had bunch of mold lines and other stuff that needed some cleanup. But luckily the Molotow Chrome Marker came to rescue. Overall this was a very fun build, and I'm glad I was able to finish it before the deadline. All kinds of comments, good or bad, are much appreciated.

[Koellefornia Kid]

Like this mild custom very much! Nicely detailed and the paint looks awesome. Well done, Niko!

[Renegade]

Great color. Very clean build.

[crazyjim]

Clean, very nicely detailed, and SHINY .

[Snake45]

VERY clean build, very impressive! Love the color. Well done and model on! 

[Gramps46]

I have a soft spot for 1959 El Caminos and you have done a super job with this one.

[Modlbldr]

I love the work that you did on this one. I need to pick one of these up.

Later-

[bigdrag1]

Beautiful build !!

 

[cdgamble]

Excellent Build !!

[donb]

5 hours ago, Koellefornia Kid said:

Like this mild custom very much! Nicely detailed and the paint looks awesome. Well done, Niko!

X2

[1930fordpickup]

Looks good. 

[TooOld]

Beautifully done Niko !  That's one super clean El Camino with just enough custom work done to it to make it stand out , one of the nicest 59's I've seen ! 

[cobraman]

Nicely done ! Love the details.

[Lordmodelbuilder]

Beautiful car!! Love what you have done with it!

[Hi-Po]

Very nice!!

[bbowser]

Very nice!  Removal of the "eyebrows" completely changes the look.  

[Flatout]

Very Cool Niko.  Nice paint and the engine compartment looks great?

[espo]

Great looking paint and I really like the body mods. as well. Very nicely done Port Injection set up. 

[Carl D]

That's one sweet little pickup.

[ChrisR]

Awesome!

[tbill]

You really nailed it, clean looking and not over done. You’re running low on windshield washer fluid though?

[James2]

1960 Elco being my fav, this is one of the nicest 59's I've seen. Great color, good stance and the attention to detail is spot on. Well done!

[W-409]

Thanks very much for the kind comments, everyone! I appreciate them!

James, I really like these X-Frame Chevrolets, and I agree, the '60 El Camino is my favorite too. Luckily I have one old SMP '60 Elco to build some day, which will also be a Traditional Custom.

 

[Dave Darby]

I hate to nitpick but that car is residing in the totally wrong zip code. But send it here to South Carolina and I can fix that for you! Seriously though, that's a gorgeous build. Well done.

[<profile removed>]

Oh man, shame on me! I have looked at this build several times and just realized I hadn't left a comment. This is absolutely incredible work! The color, the stance, the subtle customization...perfect, perfect, perfect!