1963 Chevy Nova Wagon Street Rod FINISHED 3/20/22

[OldNYJim]

Man, that wiring job though!  That’s gorgeous

[Zippi]

The engine detailing looks nice.  

[Tom Kren]

looks great so far going to be killer when finished!

[Limeyglue]

Great engine details. Love the finish on the wheels also. Look forward to your next update 

[speedy5963]

Great start, like the direction this is going in!

[Dennis Lacy]

On 9/5/2021 at 8:26 PM, CabDriver said:

Man, that wiring job though!  That’s gorgeous

Thanks! I’m happy with how they turned out. Little bit of a pain to get around those tight headers on the ends. 

Edited September 8, 2021 by Dennis Lacy

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

That's a good looking mill. I really like the black stacks on top. Now, put the Wiend "W" decals on the side of the blower ? -RRR

[lucky 130]

I had no intentions of getting this kit. Since seeing your build, I've gotten an idea, now I got to get one. This of course will require stealth, to sneak it into my collection, due to the no more rule made by she who will be obeyed. So thanks for getting me back into the dog house. 

[Bainford]

Good looking ignition wiring.

[Dennis Lacy]

1 hour ago, lucky 130 said:

I had no intentions of getting this kit. Since seeing your build, I've gotten an idea, now I got to get one. This of course will require stealth, to sneak it into my collection, due to the no more rule made by she who will be obeyed. So thanks for getting me back into the dog house. 

Glad I could help! ?

[Dennis Lacy]

2 hours ago, Rocking Rodney Rat said:

That's a good looking mill. I really like the black stacks on top. Now, put the Wiend "W" decals on the side of the blower ? -RRR

Quiet, you!

[Dan Hay]

Looking good!  I should have done that treatment on the wheels to the Eliminator coupe I built. Looks much more like an authentic centerline finish.

[Dennis Lacy]

UPDATE!

 I had just enough time at the bench today to finish the rest of the exterior modifications. 
 

Every time I’ve had this model mocked up it’s occurred to me that there’s a lot of air below the front bumper, which is considerably higher relative to the rocker areas down the sides of the body. I decided that what the front end needed was an air dam to close the gap between the bumper and the table top. 

I started out with some .040” Evergreen sheet cut into a long enough strip that was 1/4” wide. I drew a line across the strip 1/16” down from one of the long edges and glued it the back edge of the bumper leaving 3/16” hanging down which is about 4.5” in scale. I then glued some 1/4” wide side extensions to the back edges of the dam, again with 1/16” up inside the front fender edges but I did not glue them to the fenders. This allows the air dam to come off with the bumper. I then added some strips to the inside corners for support. 
 

With the basic shape and structure roughed  in I trimmed the edges of the extensions even with the wheel wells, rounded the front corners (another reason for the support strips in the corners) and then added a strip of .060” half round rod around the bottom edge and up the back edges of the extensions to match up with the raised bead on the wheel opening of the fenders.

From there I scribed all of the door lines deeper with the back of a #11 blade then sanded away all of the ribbed rocker trim.

Lastly I filled the little depressions in the fenders behind the headlights since the rear of the body is smoothed out.

And some final mock ups with the finished exterior modifications. I set the finished engine in because the air filters sticking through the hood are a significant design element. I really wish I had hung the exhaust system for the full effect. I’m very happy with the addition of the air dam and how much aggression it adds to the car. 
 

At this point the body and other exterior parts are ready for final clean up and onto primer. Next I’ll be focusing on a major update to the interior to bring it into the early 90’s with the rest of the car. Stay tuned! 

[afx]

Always enjoy a Dennis Lacy project.

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

Very nice, indeed. I'm borrowing some of those tricks at some point.... -RRR

[Limeyglue]

Nice work Dennis. Love the mock up.

[Tom Geiger]

Nice work!  I see we all are having fun with this new issue.

A year ago people would be horrified if you did that to an old mint kit!  ?

I was at a show yesterday and a dealer had a promo marked at $30! How things change at the drop of a hat! 

[Dennis Lacy]

16 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

Nice work!  I see we all are having fun with this new issue.

A year ago people would be horrified if you did that to an old mint kit!  ?

I was at a show yesterday and a dealer had a promo marked at $30! How things change at the drop of a hat! 

I’m having a blast! The original kit wasn’t even on my radar until the big thread got going here leading up to the new tools release. By the time it hit the shelves I had read all the hype and knew I had to get one.  That said, had I had an original prior to AMT recreating it I wouldn’t have hesitated to build it the same way if that’s what I wanted. Did you ever see what I did with my mint AMT/MPC ‘28 Ford Sedan? It’s only plastic!

[gotnitro?]

Remarkable work ! Looking forward to your update

[chris chabre]

It needs something...Like the 37 Ford convertible billet dash haha

[Tom Geiger]

1 hour ago, Dennis Lacy said:

I’m having a blast! The original kit wasn’t even on my radar until the big thread got going here leading up to the new tools release. By the time it hit the shelves I had read all the hype and knew I had to get one.  That said, had I had an original prior to AMT recreating it I wouldn’t have hesitated to build it the same way if that’s what I wanted. Did you ever see what I did with my mint AMT/MPC ‘28 Ford Sedan? It’s only plastic!

I get ya Dennis!  Still, repops open a world of possibilities.  Both the Hemi Under Glass and Fireball 500 were once $200 kits.  In fact I once had a dealer offering a Fireball 500 and Little Red Wagon for $200 each.  I offered him $300 for the pair and he started yelling at me!   Above is a photo of a repop Fireball 500 body and an original HUG I had with a broken roof.

 

And at $200 a kit, I wouldn't have built this one!   

[Dennis Lacy]

3 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

I get ya Dennis!  Still, repops open a world of possibilities…

Absolutely agree! In that regard I’m very pleased with AMT for restoring or all out recreating these old kits because there’s no original issue that I want so bad that I’d pay hundreds of dollars for it. But, if I lucked into a rare original issue in decent condition on the cheap or having it given to me I’d have no reservations cutting and kit bashing it. ?

[1930fordpickup]

This is turning out very nice Dennis. Spent many an hour walking around cars shows in the mid 80's until now. This is right in the sweet spot for me with the mods. Right before it all went to the wallet builds.  

[Chevy II]

Just found this build. Recently purchased 2 of this kit. One being build as a Super Stock race car and the other was going to be stock with a set of 5 spoke wheels from the 32 Ford kits, but this build has made me rethink that direction. Awesome build Dennis and your scratch building ability is really impressive. 

[slusher]

On 9/13/2021 at 10:12 AM, Dennis Lacy said:

I’m having a blast! The original kit wasn’t even on my radar until the big thread got going here leading up to the new tools release. By the time it hit the shelves I had read all the hype and knew I had to get one.  That said, had I had an original prior to AMT recreating it I wouldn’t have hesitated to build it the same way if that’s what I wanted. Did you ever see what I did with my mint AMT/MPC ‘28 Ford Sedan? It’s only plastic!

I really enjoy what you doing with you wagon and all the kit bashing bringing it together. I feel like I am reading car craft and getting ideas for my ride. A model is worthless if you don’t build it..