'66 Mustang Street Freak

[Snake45]

Started this AWB '66 Mustang at least four years ago, maybe more. The kit's a bit of a disappointment as none of the real '65 A/FX Mustangs had a wheelbase this short, and most of the '66s had long noses. The body is closest in proportion to the “Pyscho,” which was a Mustang body on a former Fiat Altered chassis. It was never a legal A/FX but ran as a match racer (and maybe an Altered in formal competition). The kit's chassis isn't very good, and puts the front wheels too far back instead of as far forward as possible. The rear wheel openings are far too big, making almost any tire look too small in them. And so on.

Not quite sure how this one will end up; it could go one of three ways: A (non-factory) '65-'66 match racer; a late '60s-early '70s Altered made from an obsolete A/FX or a bracket racer; or perhaps a present day “gasser tribute” street freak. I plan to build a completely new front half of the chassis. I know exactly how I want the model to look, I just don't know yet what it will best represent.

So far I've removed the windshield wipers and started filling in the roof vents.

I've also started filling in the giant hole in the T-Bolt teardrop. To do this I Vacuformed the teardrop hood from an AMT '66 Galaxie, cut out the teardrop, put it on top of the Mustang hood, marked the hole from the underside, then carefully cut out a plug to fit tightly in the hole to minimize necessary filler. I glued it in place by hitting the seam with liquid cement. Then I puttied up the joint on the topside.

And then I realized how hard it was gonna be to blend the whole rear part of the plug into the hood, and sentenced the whole mess to a long stay on the Shelf of Doom. Last week I finally got the urge to try sanding the evil thing, so started on that nasty job. (On the plus size, after four years, the putty was VERY cured and isn't going to shrink any more!) Here's where I am at the moment. Imagine trying to sand the rear of that teardrop and keep everything looking the way it should. Yeah, it's just that difficult. I've ALMOST got it to where I can lay a coat of primer on it and see where I'm really at.

Wish me luck—if I can't get the teardrop right, it's back to the Shelf of Doom for the whole thing. I'm only driving on IF I can get the hood right.

[glue fumes]

Snake,

Could the fenders from the 66 coupe, be cut to fit on this body, to make it a more stock looking body? 

Ron

[Snake45]

21 minutes ago, glue fumes said:

Snake,

Could the fenders from the 66 coupe, be cut to fit on this body, to make it a more stock looking body? 

Ron

Yeah, but I'm not gonna do it on this one. Also, if you do that, you have to remove the "scoop" trim from the coves, and it is NOT easy to sand that stuff out. (I know, I did it on one.) 

[Scott8950]

im definitely tuned in for anything awb or gasser ?

[dragcarz]

I pushed the following button, don’t let me down, you can do it !!!!

[Snake45]

16 hours ago, Scott8950 said:

im definitely tuned in for anything awb or gasser ?

 

13 hours ago, dragcarz said:

I pushed the following button, don’t let me down, you can do it !!!!

Thanks for the cheers and votes of confidence! I shall strive to endeavor to persevere! 

[glue fumes]

thanks for the reply, I was thinking it might be doable but I have never seen the fastback in person. Now I will have to round up both to try it myself.

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, glue fumes said:

thanks for the reply, I was thinking it might be doable but I have never seen the fastback in person. Now I will have to round up both to try it myself.

I did one using a roached glue bomb fastback body and a new coupe kit body. I ended up cutting the roof, most of the trunk, and the top of the rear fenders off the FB body and grafting them to the new coupe body. But that FB body was pretty wasted from the beltline down. It might be easier to just cut the rear fenders at the doorline and do it that way. 

 

The leftovers: 

[Snake45]

Today I decided I'd sanded the hood as well as I could before its first coat of primer to see exactly where I stood. 

Not perfect, but not bad. Actually a lot better than I expected when I started. Little bit of a crack showing on the left side of the cutout. I took the opportunity to lay a bead of superglue gel on the joints on the underside of the hood for reinforecment. Dunno why I hadn't done that before. 

I drilled the two holes just to define the inner boundaries of the cutouts, before I lost the markings under the primer. These will be cut and filed out to their full lozenge shape when I get the rest of the bubble exactly where I want it. 

[geemoney]

that hood patch is excellent!

[Scott8950]

1 hour ago, geemoney said:

that hood patch is excellent!

x2 ^

[STYRENE-SURFER]

Hood looks good.

For the rear wheel openings I would just choose some big tires. 

the work involved to fix is driving me crazy on my project.

A picture of how this body looks with 0.01 styrene glued into the arch. Then backed up with filler (I chose milliput).

Sanded off the entire wheel lip.(see my thread for more details)

Have glued in another strip of 0.02 after this picture more work needed.

[Snake45]

16 minutes ago, STYRENE-SURFER said:

Hood looks good.

For the rear wheel openings I would just choose some big tires. 

the work involved to fix is driving me crazy on my project.

Thanks! 

Yeah, that's what I'm gonna do. I finally found some that will more or less fill them up. 

And I know what you mean about driving you crazy. As you know I've followed your project from the beginning. And it's a part of the inspiration for this one:  "There must be SOME way to get a somewhat acceptable looking result out of this backbirth that's gotta be easier than what Styrene Surfer's going through." 

[Misha]

Congrats Snake on tackling this one after four years. Great job on the hood, the original kit one never made sense, just more work. I have this one sitting on the back burner, older WIP than yours, plus the Falcon as well. Learning  more from the builds that are going on now. Those old kits seem to offer a certain fascination for detail builders, as they are such plain canvases with tons of enhancements possible! I’m currently working on the rear engine Corvair as my isolation project ?

Carry on! I’ll be following, cheers Misha

Edited April 18, 2020 by Misha
Spelling

[Dann Tier]

Love this kit/car!, and you're off to a fantastic start!!!

[Snake45]

11 hours ago, STYRENE-SURFER said:

A picture of how this body looks with 0.01 styrene glued into the arch. Then backed up with filler (I chose milliput).

Sanded off the entire wheel lip.(see my thread for more details)

Have glued in another strip of 0.02 after this picture more work needed.

Last night I was scribing out the door lines while watching TV and the more I looked at the rear wheel openings, the more I hated them, especially the lips. I'm thinking seriously of filing those flush and doing something like you're doing here. 

[David G.]

It'll be interesting to see where this one carries you.

I like when the modifications begin to write their own story.

David G.

[MeatMan]

I'm diggin' it!

[Snake45]

On 4/18/2020 at 7:46 AM, Snake45 said:

Last night I was scribing out the door lines while watching TV and the more I looked at the rear wheel openings, the more I hated them, especially the lips. I'm thinking seriously of filing those flush and doing something like you're doing here. 

Yesterday I did the same thing, except I used .040 instead of .010 and .020. I'm hoping that's enough. Hope to get the whole hot mess filed flush today. 

[rustybill1960]

ok ok You got me

This looks interesting must see what's going to happen

Thank You for sharing

Later

[Snake45]

On 4/15/2020 at 2:17 PM, Snake45 said:

Not quite sure how this one will end up; it could go one of three ways: A (non-factory) '65-'66 match racer; a late '60s-early '70s Altered made from an obsolete A/FX or a bracket racer; or perhaps a present day “gasser tribute” street freak. I plan to build a completely new front half of the chassis. I know exactly how I want the model to look, I just don't know yet what it will best represent.

A fourth idea occurred to me--a '65-'66 match racer that has ended up as a late-'60s/early '70s street racer. Kind of a "street outlaw" of its day. It's rumored that a few well-known race cars ended up this way. 

[Gizzy]

On 4/15/2020 at 2:17 PM, Snake45 said:

Started this AWB '66 Mustang at least four years ago, maybe more. The kit's a bit of a disappointment as none of the real '65 A/FX Mustangs had a wheelbase this short, and most of the '66s had long noses. The body is closest in proportion to the “Pyscho,” which was a Mustang body on a former Fiat Altered chassis. It was never a legal A/FX but ran as a match racer (and maybe an Altered in formal competition). The kit's chassis isn't very good, and puts the front wheels too far back instead of as far forward as possible. The rear wheel openings are far too big, making almost any tire look too small in them. And so on.

Not quite sure how this one will end up; it could go one of three ways: A (non-factory) '65-'66 match racer; a late '60s-early '70s Altered made from an obsolete A/FX or a bracket racer; or perhaps a present day “gasser tribute” street freak. I plan to build a completely new front half of the chassis. I know exactly how I want the model to look, I just don't know yet what it will best represent.

So far I've removed the windshield wipers and started filling in the roof vents.

I've also started filling in the giant hole in the T-Bolt teardrop. To do this I Vacuformed the teardrop hood from an AMT '66 Galaxie, cut out the teardrop, put it on top of the Mustang hood, marked the hole from the underside, then carefully cut out a plug to fit tightly in the hole to minimize necessary filler. I glued it in place by hitting the seam with liquid cement. Then I puttied up the joint on the topside.

And then I realized how hard it was gonna be to blend the whole rear part of the plug into the hood, and sentenced the whole mess to a long stay on the Shelf of Doom. Last week I finally got the urge to try sanding the evil thing, so started on that nasty job. (On the plus size, after four years, the putty was VERY cured and isn't going to shrink any more!) Here's where I am at the moment. Imagine trying to sand the rear of that teardrop and keep everything looking the way it should. Yeah, it's just that difficult. I've ALMOST got it to where I can lay a coat of primer on it and see where I'm really at.

Wish me luck—if I can't get the teardrop right, it's back to the Shelf of Doom for the whole thing. I'm only driving on IF I can get the hood right.

I've had one of these on the shelf for years that I got in a trade deal.I keep thinking I'll do something with it someday but it's just a little off its proportions so I've never done anything with it.I'm very interested in seeing how you deal with those oddities.I'll be watching

[Snake45]

Two rounds of filling, trimming, and priming later, I think I have the hood about where I want it, more or less. 'Taint perfect, but it'll do. 

 

Meanwhile, I "de-radiused" the rear wheel openings by about two scale inches by gluing a strip of .040 styrene around the rim, then filing the lip off. Big improvement in looks for about 2-3 hours of work accomplished over 24 hours.  The slicks no longer look "lost" in there. 

 

And here's a "preview of coming attractions" set-together, on a chassis I built last year for an AWB Falcon also on the workbench. I'll be building a new chassis for the Mustang, but this shows me I'm on the right track, more or less. 

[DonW]

That stance is too sensible for a true 'Freak. Not suicidal enough?

Wheelbase looks okay though!

Edited April 19, 2020 by DonW

[STYRENE-SURFER]

The hood looks so much better,well done.

Your quarter panel just above the wheel arch sanded through almost exactly like on my project Mustang.

Not at all on the passenger side, but I bet its very thin. Hope it doesn't ghost thru after paint, I'll probably 

use Lacquer base primer/base coat. Do you think it could be an issue?

I tried some different chassis I had laying around in my spare A/FX Mustang body just out of curiosity.

Miss Deal funny car, AMT '67 Shelby GT,         it's surprising how much shorter this bodies wheelbase is.

??