Salvinos Chassis

[DoctorLarry]

The new Salvinos kits have been extensively dissected here an in other places. I have two Cutlasses waiting to be built.One of the weak areas is the chassis. Evidently it mimics the old MPC NASCAR chassis with a Chrysler type chassis with torsion bars in the front and leaf springs in the back, which is wrong on all sorts of fronts. I ordered the rear suspension "fix" which is a truck arm modification. As Dave Van (I think) noted, it is way off on scale, particularly the length of the arms.  Has anyone actually built a kit using the replacement rear suspension? I am contemplating whether to 1) use the Salvino rear with a T Bird front clip grafted on or 2) scratch build the whole thing. Any thoughts? BTW, I will also modify the body because the tops of the body and lower body have no lines so they also need some help. Tim did some of that to his Busch Cutlass in his post.

[Dave Van]

I am building one now using the AMT 90's era T-Bird rear suspension set up. The front is easy to mod into coil set up. 

[DoctorLarry]

Got any pictures?

[Dave Van]

59 minutes ago, DoctorLarry said:

Got any pictures?

Here is a AMT rear vs the Salvinos rear. 

The Salvinos is almost the exact same size as a rear suspension unit from a Monogram 1/32 scale NASCAR Cup kit. 

It's a pretty easy conversion. I notch the ends of the AMT unit front member to fit inside the Salvinos frame rails. I use the AMT coils (see the holes I drilled in trailing arms) and notch the Salvinos frame where the coils land. 

Edited February 14, 2020 by Dave Van

[gks1964]

Thanks for sharing.

 

Gerald

[stavanzer]

So, Salvinos, has Pooched it Twice?

First with the Chrysler rear suspension and now the replacement parts to correct the first error, are too small?

Great Quality Control and Research there, Rick! This pretty much ensures that I'll never need to purchase anything from them.

Why reward multiple failures?

[Mikey56]

Not doubting your assessment of the chassis and the parts. What I fail to see is why your saying that you never purchase anything from them. I understand once burned, twice learned, but as a new company, JR Salvino's is doing the best with what they have and what they can do. Monogram, AMT, all of them...they all went through it. I'm not saying that JR Salvino's isn't going through growing pains and that changes need to be made, but I would give them a break and work with them to fix what is wrong.  If the rear end is too small, work with them on measurements and see what you can do to help ALL modelers. For me, I just purchased my first and find that everything looks great and I started to mock it up and don't find any issues...at least with the size and fit. I think the only thing that I'll be measuring and checking is the tire size. Truthfully, they seem a bit too small, but i'm going to use a current Revell-Monogram kit and an older monogram kit to see if the size is comparable and if not, what can I use to bring it closer to what I like.

Again, I'm not arguing with anyone, but as a start up company with limited releases, i'm sure that things will be better in the long run and for me? I plan on buying a few more....specially the modified!!

 

Just my thought and opinions...…...

[Dave Van]

I pretty much agree that Salvinos should get credit for designing, tooling and manufacturing plastic kits here in the USA. It's a huge task, costly and it would be easier to make some other consumer good and make more money.

BUT.....when Salvinos showed early drawings that contained the errors a number of folks, all of whom have worked in the plastic kit industry, offered free help to make the kit better and more accurate. ALL help was turned down, with a bit of attitude btw.  

I must add.....I think the steep learning curve Salvinos has changed quick. They now ask for help and accept it. They are trying as hard as any kit company. And the stuff coming looks great. I have at least one each of what they make......in support if no other reason. 

But I will still call it as I see it. If it's wrong or doesn't fit well...I'll say so. I am thankful they are here and adding to the hobby.

[DoctorLarry]

I got the floor pans out and tried to see how the "fix" truck arms would fit and I can't see how they would work with the floors. Maybe I just need a better look but it does not look like it just drops in. I will probably use a TBird rear and front suspension. The floors are totally wrong as well. Should be stock frame and partial floor pans, not a generic flat plate. I use a GM A body frame/floor (Cutlass or GTO) and cut the front frame off and cut the pans for a fuel cell and the truck arms.

[Dave Van]

Correct....in that era the cars had to ave OEM stamping floor pans, same TYPE suspension....IE trailing arm/coil was free to use any trailing arm/coil thus the GM truck arms use. To make a real contest model will take work.  I'll build a few Salvinos kits and only add the AMT trailing arms and be OK with it. Good luck!

[gks1964]

Looks like a lot work ahead, can't wait to see how it turnout!

 

Gerald