72 Chevelle Sport Coupe

[Steamboat]

This one is going to be a recreation of my first car.  It was a 72 Chevelle, non-SS, non-Malibu, with a 307-2bbl engine which had a whopping 130 hp.  It was Hugger Orange with a white vinyl top. Wish I still had it!

I started with a glue-bomb AMT kit.  Both a-pillars were broken. Here is the progress after making them from evergreen strips. 

I removed the wheel molding chrome.  It will still need a little filling to get them right.

The car had a flat hood.  I've never seen on a 1/25 kit, so I'm making one.  Here you can see the inserts from the bottom. 

And progress from the top:

Lastly, it had the base model dash, not the SS gauge cluster.  Still working through this. I'm thinking gauge decals from a Nova or Impala would be pretty close.

Rallye wheels and a small-block and I'm there!

[Snake45]

I like where you're going with this. Drive on! 

[charger74]

I'm going to follow this one, thats going to be a nice one

[slusher]

Really nice start...

[Steamboat]

Here's a picture of a picture of the 1:1 car.  Check  out  the unique half vinyl top and the white side molding. That's me trying to get the Honda started. 

[Geno]

This is gonna be cool, keep us posted Bill.

[espo]

Very impressive looking A pillars. The picture of your 1:1 car looks like the vinyl roof and the side moldings may have been dealer installed. At least you had the Rally Wheels.  

[Carmak]

My new neighbor has a similar car to your 72 Chevelle. It's a 72 Chevelle convertible in Hugger Orange with white top and white bench seat interior. Car is a nice unrestored example. Bought new by his father.

[Bills72sj]

I built (2) '72 Chevelles last year. I am interested how yours turns out.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Pillars look good. Nice fab work.

[Spottedlaurel]

A great start you've made, I look forward to seeing it progress.

Love that old photo! Can you build a bike to go with the Chevelle?......

Edited June 17, 2020 by Spottedlaurel

[Mattilacken]

Cool build will be following!

[Scale-Master]

Nice work on those A pillars.  Looks like a '76 XL 250?

[Steamboat]

21 minutes ago, Scale-Master said:

Nice work on those A pillars.  Looks like a '76 XL 250?

XL 350 one-lunger. I can't remember what year. It would be way cool to build it in 1:25 scale though. 

[Nazz]

I will follow also.

[Scale-Master]

On 6/17/2020 at 8:47 AM, Steamboat said:

XL 350 one-lunger. I can't remember what year. It would be way cool to build it in 1:25 scale though. 

That tank is definitely a '76.  Love those thumpers.

I had a '75 XL250 with a 350 piston kit to make it a 305 and a super high lift Webcam.  My riding buddy had a twin to yours and he kept it immaculate.  That was a good looking bike. 

Yes, a model of that would be great, especially in 1/12 for me...

[Steamboat]

I got a little more accomplished on the Chevelle. Below is a photo of the stock exhaust manifolds for a 2-bbl v8. You can see why it only made 130 hp!

I started with a set of manifolds from a Monogram C4 Corvette. The one on the right has had all the bumps removed. 

Here they are after modification. 

[Can-Con]

You might want to check out the engine in the current MPC "Deserter" Chevy pickup or an MPC/ MPC ElCamino 

Both have well detailed 2bbl Chevy small block engines with the cast iron exhaust manifolds that can easily pass for a 307 2bbl.

The AMT Chevy van kits also have a similar engine with those exhaust manifolds but with a 4bbl intake.  

[dragcarz]

Very cool project, I’m following 

[Steamboat]

9 hours ago, Can-Con said:

You might want to check out the engine in the current MPC "Deserter" Chevy pickup or an MPC/ MPC ElCamino 

Both have well detailed 2bbl Chevy small block engines with the cast iron exhaust manifolds that can easily pass for a 307 2bbl.

The AMT Chevy van kits also have a similar engine with those exhaust manifolds but with a 4bbl intake.  

Thanks. I've got an original Mule Skinner pickup but it would be a shame to part it out. The exhaust manifolds are not that obvious from the top, but the connections to the y-pipe on the bottom will look better this way. 

[espo]

Nice exhaust manifolds. The original Revell '69 Nova SS kit offered stock exhaust manifolds as well as headers. The stockers would be a very close match to your stock exhaust. 

[Oldcarfan27]

I like this build. I've been in the planning stages to build one of these Malibu's for some time.

I was thinking of using a Monte Carlo hood as a basis for the non-cowl induction hood. Have you considered?

[Steamboat]

3 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

I was thinking of using a Monte Carlo hood as a basis for the non-cowl induction hood. Have you considered?

I didn't think of that. It's probably pretty similar and readily available.  After all the slicing I did on the hood, it doesn't lay flat.  The Monte hood may be a good option. 

[TooOld]

Really nice work so far and your modifications look great !  Too bad about the hood , I'm sure you'll figure it out . 

[drodg]

Looks good.  I have never seen a canopy top on a Chevelle like that, so weird.  My friend in high school had a dark green white vinyl top 72 Malibu 350 two barrel.  It was a nice car.  Man it took a beating.