Cheez Whiz 55 (AMT)

[crowe-t]

Scott Sullivan's Cheez Whiz 55 was always one of my favorite Pro Street cars.  It's a very clean looking car and the color is beautiful on a 55 Chevy.

I started building a model of his car using an AMT 55 Chevy.  I used the rear tubbed section from an AMT 1970 Super Bee Pro Street kit that I attached to the 55's chassis.  The 1:1 Cheez Whiz 55 actually has a 69 Camaro front chassis but it would be near impossible to remove the 55's frame rails from it's floor so this is the compromise.  

I re-shaped the hood and filled in the vents in the cowl under the windshield as well as removed the wipers and vent windows in the doors.  I also added the half round molding under the side windows using Evergreen 1 mm half round rod.  I angled the ends of the radiator support and cut the top of the radiator so it's level with the support. 

I covered the engine compartment inner wheel wells to make them resemble Scott's car and removed the molded in exhaust from the 55's chassis.

I took some pictures of the modified body next to a stock body and chassis(modified on left, stock on right).

Edited July 12, 2020 by crowe-t

[OldNYJim]

I like that car too - still looks good today!  I’ll be watching!  Bodywork you’ve done already looks good ??

[espo]

This is going to be a fun build. The Revell '69 Z-28 Camaro kit is being sold cheep at Hobby Lobby especially with the 40 % off coupon and Michael's is doing the same. I'd consider buying one of those kits and just cut off the front sub frame and add it to the '55 Chevy frame much like the 1:1.  

[crowe-t]

Thanks guys!

David - I thought about putting a 69 Camaro front subframe on the 55's floor.  Cutting the Camaro's front subframe from it's floor will be the easy part since it doesn't matter what happens to the floor.  However removing the 55's frame rails from it's floor and filling all those areas in will be a nightmare.  I removed the exhaust and it was a big job.  I had to back fill the area under the muffler and then cut off the exhaust and carve out all the floor's details.  Some of the raised details where the exhaust was had to be added back.  The frame rails take up a lot more real estate on the floor pan.  I don't know if it's worth all that time.  The 55's front part of the chassis lines up nicely and it has an adjustable ride height.  There are 3 holes for the front spindles.  I used the top spindle holes and it sits perfectly in front.  The 70 Super Bee's tubbed rear chassis isn't exactly 100% correct to the 1:1 Cheez Wiz 55 but it also worked out great.  The rear end is a 9 inch like the 1:1 Cheez Whiz 55 and it sits at the correct height.  I didn't have to make any adjustments.  It worked perfectly.  I even cut the chassis rail from the rear of the 55's floor that the rear bumper attaches to and glued it on the ends of the Super Bee's(tubbed rear section) frame rails and it lined up perfectly.  I'll think about it some more but I'll most likely use the chassis I modified.

I want to concentrate on the details under the hood and the interior.  I contacted Scott and asked about more interior pictures.  It's hard to tell the exact pattern of the seats in the pictures I've seen online.  

I bought a set of the Motorwheel Flys Pro Stock wheels from Competition Resins.

I contacted a friend on Facebook about making me a decal and license plate for the trunk lid.  I'll see how that goes.

The stock body on the right side in the pictures I posted above will also be painted like the 1:1 Cheez Whiz 55 and used on a drag slot car.  The hood will be glued in place and re-scribed to match the 1:1.  I'll post pictures of the slot car as well in this thread.

I'll post another update in a few days.

Thanks for looking in and Merry Christmas everyone!

Edited July 12, 2020 by crowe-t

[crowe-t]

I was looking at the 1:1's chassis and I think I'll extend the tubbed section rails forward a bit onto the 55's floor and angle the 55's frame rails in to meet them.  This way it'll sort of resemble the 1:1's chassis and I can run the exhaust through the frame's angled areas.  I'll work on this in a couple of days.

Edited December 25, 2019 by crowe-t

[alan barton]

That's very precise work there, Michael.  Have you considered simply grafting on the Firebird lower control arms to give the illusion of an upgraded front end?

Cheers

Alan

[crowe-t]

1 hour ago, alan barton said:

That's very precise work there, Michael.  Have you considered simply grafting on the Firebird lower control arms to give the illusion of an upgraded front end?

Cheers

Alan

Alan,  Great idea you have there.  I have a chassis and parts from an AMT/MPC 69 Camaro.  I should be able to graft the lower control arms onto the 55's frame.  

Thanks,

Mike.

[dino246gt]

Cool project, and looking great so far!

 

 

[crowe-t]

10 hours ago, dino246gt said:

Cool project, and looking great so far!

 

 

Thanks Dennis.

[oldrevellfan]

sweet idea, I will follow !!

[crowe-t]

Thanks Gilles!

I started working on angling the 55's chassis rails in to meet up with the tubbed section frame rails.  I'll post some progress pictures soon.

Edited December 26, 2019 by crowe-t

[crowe-t]

Here's some work I did on the body seam(molding) that runs along the fenders and onto the door.  I removed the part on the door and thinned it out a bit towards the end.

 

[Lowlife ! !]

 

Really nice work on this so far Michael,  I'm looking forward to more !

[Karl Sheffer]

I've always loved the Cheez Whiz car and your model is doing it justice.  Very cool project!

[LouO]

nice work

[crowe-t]

Thanks guys!

I'm looking for some interior pictures of Scott Sullivan's Cheez Whiz 55.  I can't find any that show the rear door panels and the seat pattern too well.

Edited July 12, 2020 by crowe-t

[Cpt Tuttle]

I remember reading about the Cheez Whiz in the 90s, it even reached Swedish car magazines, and my 6 year old myself was impressed. ?

But honestly speaking it has stood up to the test of time very well, which is much more than you can say about most 90s builds.

[crowe-t]

Does anyone have Hot Rod magazine, December 1988 and/or January 1989?

I have these 2 but they are packed away in storage.  They both have articles on Scott Sullivan's Cheez Whiz 55.  Can someone here tell me if either one has any pictures of the Cheez Whiz 55's interior?  If one does than I'll get the issue off of E-Bay.  If not I won't bother since I do have these. 

Edited July 12, 2020 by crowe-t

[speedy5963]

Sweet start, look forward to following this build

[Cpt Tuttle]

Maybe, and I say maybe, I have the chance to look through a magazine today that featured the Cheez Whiz. If so, and if there is any interior pictures, I promise to put them up here. But don't take it for granted....

[crowe-t]

On 1/3/2020 at 12:23 AM, speedy5963 said:

Sweet start, look forward to following this build

Thanks Paul!

[crowe-t]

I got some more work done on the chassis.  I didn't want to totally rebuild the chassis.  Removing the molded on exhaust and parts of the chassis rails was tedious and needed to be filled in and re-shaped.  As the chassis is now with the 55 front suspension and the tubbed rear it sits at the correct height.

I cut off the backs of the 55 chassis rails and angled them in to meet with the extensions I added to the tubbed area.  I think now it more closely resembles the Cheez Whiz 55 and looks more realistic than in my earlier pictures when I first attached the tubbed area.  I also added some round tubes in the angled chassis rails for the exhaust to go through.

I'm using the engine from the AMT 57 Bel Air Street Machine kit.  I cut off the rear of the engine cross member from the 57's chassis that has the mounts for the engine and attached it to the 55 chassis' cross member.  I added the plate where the back of the transmission attaches to a cross member I made with 1.6 mm rod.

I'm not sure what transmission it's supposed to represent that's on the 57's engine.  I have a resin Turbo 400 I might use instead.  I bought the issues of Hot Rod magazine, December 1988 and January 1989, that the Cheeze Whiz 55 appears in.  It should tell what transmission is in the car.  I should have them in a few days.

Edited July 12, 2020 by crowe-t

[Cpt Tuttle]

Unfortunately, he had thrown away the old magazines, but it was worth a try anyway.....

[crowe-t]

On 1/12/2020 at 9:23 AM, Cpt Tuttle said:

Unfortunately, he had thrown away the old magazines, but it was worth a try anyway.....

No problem!  I bought the 2 magazines on E-Bay and they arrived today.  

[crowe-t]

Does anyone know what transmission this is supposed to be on the AMT 57 Bel Air Street Machine's engine?

In the January 89 issue of Hot Rod Magazine it says the transmission in the Cheez Whiz 55 is a Turbo 400.  I'll use the resin Turbo 400 I have.  I'm still curious what transmission is on the AMT 57 Bel Air Street Machine's engine.  I think it's just a generic automatic and nothing specific but I could be wrong. 

Edited July 12, 2020 by crowe-t