Boyd Coddington’s Chezoom

[CabDriver]

I’m a big fan of Boyd Coddington but never did a Boyd kit, so I’ve been slowly collecting the various Testors and AMT offerings the they did of his cars (some nicely done, some not so much…).  I wanted to actually build one of them this year rather than have them sit on my shelf, so I’ve been picking up some old books and magazines for reference material and decided to start with the Chezoom:

The car debuted at SEMA in October of ‘92, and was built for a guy named Joe ‘Mr Gasket’ Hrudka after Boyd showed him a sketch that Thom Taylor had done, and featured a LT1 Vette motor, Vette suspension, a custom tubular frame and about 10% of the bodywork of the 57 Chevy they used as a starting point.

The Testors full detail kit is pretty well done - but the detail is lacking in a few key areas and there’s definitely room for improvement.  On the flip side, they have some nice heart-warming words of encouragement in the manual to give you that warm fuzzy feeling if you screw something up…

First thing I’m going to tackle is the engine, which should look like this:

As a sidebar, researching this car for good reference pictures is hard - there’s plenty of photos out there, but the car was redone later and has some fairly substantial changes to about everything but the body.  For instance, here’s the engine as the car is today:

As such, I need to do some figuring out and make some assumptions when it comes to detailing this build…I suspect they just didn’t take a bunch of photos of this car as they were building it so they aren’t out there to find…

Here’s the engine parts as they come:

A good starting point, but there’s some little details missing that I’d like to add to make this thing a little more accurate:

That hollow air filter was first thing that needed to go, so I scratchbuilt a replacement, then turned to that little catchcan that you see on LT1s that sits between the passenger side valve cover and the pulleys.  Now, the Chezoom has a little cap atop that can that (somewhat) matches the one on the valve cover so I made a Silly Putty mould so I could replicate it:

Actually, a bunch of them:

And then after the first batch got smart and added some gray dye to the resin so I could actually see the finished piece properly.

Next up, drilled the engine for hoses, added an alternator bracket and made some plug wire looms out of brass so I can route the plug leads nicely, then scratchbuilt that dipstick that you can see on the 1:1 that looks like it’s maybe for the trans fluid?

Starting to look like the real thing a little more!  I was surprised how little unpainted billet there is on this car considering Boyd’s reputation for using it for everything…won’t need the lathe as much as I thought for this build!

That’s about where I’m at with this one so far - just getting rolling.  If anyone has any good detail shots of the original version of this car please feel free to post them below…more soon! 

[cobraman]

Cool. I will be watching.

[stitchdup]

Cool, one of the best cars to come out of boyds imo. I've got a magazine feature somewhere on the original version if the pics are any help?

[CabDriver]

1 hour ago, stitchdup said:

Cool, one of the best cars to come out of boyds imo. I've got a magazine feature somewhere on the original version if the pics are any help?

That would be a HUGE help!  

I’ve been collecting everything I can find when it comes to the original version of the car (link here, for anyone who ever needs reference pics to build their own), and I’ve got a couple of Boyd books (with another on the way) and some old magazines - but any shots of anything interesting would be a big help!  Thank you!

 

[BDSchindler]

Not trying to hijack the thread but like so many other custom cars, CheZoom was one of those iconic cars that set the bar for custom cars.  I used to watch American Hotrod for the builds but in doing so, I lost every ounce of respect I ever had for Boyd Coddington.  He was a total jerk to his people and I don't think he ever realized that if it wasn't for his techs, he would never be in the position he once was.  I think there was something like an 85% turnover in employee in just a year.

As for that puppet of a shop forman, he was nothing more than a Coddington wannabee.  Interesting that he couldn't even hold a job after Coddington died.

That's one of the reasons that I love "Bitchin Rides" and Overhaulin'.  Foose and Dave Kindig really appreciate their people and know how to get the job done without all of the unnecessary stress.  It shows in their results too as both churn out some of the nicest custom cars the hobby has ever seen.

[Dennis Lacy]

On 8/1/2021 at 3:25 PM, BDSchindler said:

Not trying to hijack the thread but like so many other custom cars, CheZoom was one of those iconic cars that set the bar for custom cars.  I used to watch American Hotrod for the builds but in doing so, I lost every ounce of respect I ever had for Boyd Coddington.  He was a total jerk to his people and I don't think he ever realized that if it wasn't for his techs, he would never be in the position he once was.  I think there was something like an 85% turnover in employee in just a year.

As for that puppet of a shop forman, he was nothing more than a Coddington wannabee.  Interesting that he couldn't even hold a job after Coddington died.

That's one of the reasons that I love "Bitchin Rides" and Overhaulin'.  Foose and Dave Kindig really appreciate their people and know how to get the job done without all of the unnecessary stress.  It shows in their results too as both churn out some of the nicest custom cars the hobby has ever seen.

You should realize that American Hot Rod followed the same recipe as every other automotive show by Pilgrim/Discovery. Looming almost impossible deadlines, employees ranging from serious workers to shop clowns and a Jerk boss. Do not take anything you saw on that show as a true representation of the people involved. There was no Chip Foose rivalry, Blue Bear didn’t really tell Boyd to F.O. And quit over a frame, Charley Hutton and Mike Curtis weren’t really exiled for leaving to team up with the “competition”. It’s all choreographed TV B.S.  and several of the people involved directly told me so. Many people mistook Boyd’s introverted personality as unfriendly out in public. 😎

Edited August 3, 2021 by Dennis Lacy

[Claude Thibodeau]

HI!

Having dealt with Mr. Coddington a couple of times, I can attest that he was a polite and reserved man. Having been in TV myself for many years, our conversations confirmed that he was not really at ease with all the convolutions of the "plot", but agreed to it anyway. A "devil's bargain", to get the TV exposure? I guess so...

His body of work speaks volume to me. 

CT

[Phildaupho]

I really like your project and look forward to its completion as I have never seen a full detail Chezoom model. No matter what some people may feel about Boyd as a person there were some incredible cars that came out of his shop that deserve a prominent place in rod & custom and model car history.

[CabDriver]

Thanks for all the replies guys!  I never met Boyd, but I appreciate the detail in about everything I’ve seen of his - and I’ve been picking up every old book I can to find out more about some of his older, lesser known builds - enjoying this one currently:

Back to the build, I’ve been trying to figure out what all needs to be done to the frame so I can get that into primer and paint.  First up, a bunch of Bondo to get it straight inside and out (and a little on the body, which I’m slowly getting in line too)

I added that aluminum bar to the front to keep the frame rigid so I could sand it and not break anything - the real car’s frame actually doesn’t have that whole piece that I drilled through there, so I sliced that off and made some brackets for the core support that I think are more accurate to the 1:1, and made a piece that looks more like the real thing. 

The kit is missing a steering rack too, plus the sway bar that the real one has; most of the running gear on the Chezoom is ‘92 Corvette stuff, so finding reference pictures was easy enough at least.  I’m just making simple ‘sketches’ of the parts right now to make sure everything fits ok - I’ll detail them up some later…

Oh, and I found a good detail shot of the frame mostly assembled showing off the little transmission cooler and how the lines run for that, so I added some receivers to the frame and drilled out the transmission ready for lines later on:

The front suspension is going to need some scratchbuilding I think - the kit wishbones are pretty blocky and don’t look like the actual car…I think the upper ones will be mostly hidden when the body’s in place anyway but that probably won’t stop me making some anyway - more soon!

[Zippi]

Your buld is coming along nicely.  The 1:1 CheZoom looks pretty kewl so can't wait to see your's finished.  

[bluestringer]

Looks good. I remember building one of these way back in the day. Cool car. I had bunch of old finished models and kits that I either sold or gave away many years ago, it was one of them. 

[slusher]

looking good Jim!

[CabDriver]

Thanks fellas!

A little work on the body today - this kit has the hood moulded closed, so first job was to scribe it open, then figure out hinges and details.

First step:

Next up, add some bracing to make sure it sits nice and level with the fenders:

Then, I made a brass hinge and added receivers to the underside of the hood:

And the moment of truth…all fits back together properly with the hood closed:

And it opens too!

I’ll need to mess with the firewall a little now that I’ve done this, but I’m pleased to get the hinge done and working at least.

Speaking of the hood, I found a good shot of the 1:1 that shows the bracing on the underside:

So I laid out a version of that in Illustrator:

Cut it on my Portrait cutter:

And got it glued in place ready for fettling and cleanup tomorrow once the glue’s dry:

Just a little extra detail to notice when the hood’s open.

Thanks for looking…more soon!

[slusher]

10 hours ago, CabDriver said:

Thanks fellas!

A little work on the body today - this kit has the hood moulded closed, so first job was to scribe it open, then figure out hinges and details.

First step:

Next up, add some bracing to make sure it sits nice and level with the fenders:

Then, I made a brass hinge and added receivers to the underside of the hood:

And the moment of truth…all fits back together properly with the hood closed:

And it opens too!

I’ll need to mess with the firewall a little now that I’ve done this, but I’m pleased to get the hinge done and working at least.

Speaking of the hood, I found a good shot of the 1:1 that shows the bracing on the underside:

So I laid out a version of that in Illustrator:

Cut it on my Portrait cutter:

And got it glued in place ready for fettling and cleanup tomorrow once the glue’s dry:

Just a little extra detail to notice when the hood’s open.

Thanks for looking…more soon!

Very nice, Jim

[Mattilacken]

Beautiful work on a classic custom car. 

[TooOld]

Great work so far Jim !  Never seen the full detail kit before (I've got the snapper), looking forward to more !

[FLHCAHZ]

Looks great.  Niec job on the disection!

[Claude Thibodeau]

Hi Jim!

Great progres, bravo!. 

One question for you: you say that the hood on this kit was molded shut, but your box says "full detail" kit, with "engine included". Does-it mean that on the fully detailed kit (not the curbside) the hood is shut? Just curious... I have the curbside in my stash, and it IS molded shut. 

CT

[CabDriver]

Thanks everyone!

2 hours ago, Claude Thibodeau said:

One question for you: you say that the hood on this kit was molded shut, but your box says "full detail" kit, with "engine included". Does-it mean that on the fully detailed kit (not the curbside) the hood is shut? Just curious... I have the curbside in my stash, and it IS molded shut.

I think it’s the exact same body as the curbside, right down to the closed hood.  The very last step in the instructions, is to open the hood “if you feel comfortable with the procedure” 😂:

Kinda late to be cutting the hood open once you’ve finished everything else and already glued the body to the frame if you ask me 🤷‍♂️  The kit does include some nicely moulded hood latches, but if you use those you're stuck with an open hood so they won’t work for what I’m doing here.

I’d to see your take on a Chezoom by the way Claude - always enjoy and appreciate your work!

Tiny update, as I was replying anyway - got the frame all cleaned up and ready for color, and mixed up some very-dark-gray paint to match the semi-gloss powdercoating on the real one:

I’m contemplating picking up either a Monogram or AMT C4 Corvette kit to help with detailing up the suspension on this build, seeing as that’s what the real one used.  Anyone reading this got either of those kits in their stash?  I’d be interested to hear which has the nicer detailing.

More soon!

[Dennis Lacy]

Excellent work going into this, Jim! All the extra little details are going to go a long way on the finished product. Especially nice work on the hood. I can’t believe they left it molded shut on the full detail kit. So lame!

[beeRS]

Fantastic work Jim. I like what you’ve done with the hood hinges and extra detail. I’ve never seen the full detail version of this kit, and it’s a treat to see it coming together. 
 

Chezoom is an icon of customising history. I remember when I first saw it in a copy of Hot Rod (not easy to find in the UK), in the early 90s. I was just blown away. 
 

looking forward to seeing this come together. 

[Claude Thibodeau]

Hi Jim!

Thanks for the infos. With two versions on the market, they chose to spare the cost of a second mold, I guess... I have the remnant of a Chezoom that gave its roof on a mash-up. Still looking for a second copy, but of the full detail kid, for the windows mostly.

CT

[espo]

I have enjoyed watching your fabrication work along with the attention to details to the real car. 

[CabDriver]

Thank you for all the nice comments everybody!  Love hearing people’s memories of the 1:1!

I picked this book up from Goodwill - got some more research material to help me along here:

I’ve been trying to make a conscious effort to have something worth showing after my usual two/three hours of bench time every night…tonight’s project was the front brakes.  Now, the kit didn’t come with any, but I had some of the right diameter in my resin parts stash that would work. 

Problem was, the front wheels have these unusual pill-shaped centers:

I carefully chucked them into my little lathe so I could machine a little off, and clean up the back of those rims a little too whilst I was at it:

Success!  I’ll need to modify them a little to look more like the 1:1 parts but they’re pretty well hidden in the wheels anyway.

In other news, I picked up this Vallejo Plastic Putty last week to try, having seen some good reviews of it - I guess it’s kinda like when people melt styrene in some glue to make a paste?  Works GREAT for filling little pinholes, I’ve discovered:

And I’ve started prepping some of the suspension pieces and getting them into paint - there’s surprisingly few bare-metal components on this car, but there’s a few on the frame where I’ll get to use some metalizers:

Not a very exciting update - but a little progress from the bench at least!  More soon!

[TooOld]

Interesting that you used Vallejo Plastic Putty . I've been told that it's very thin , dries to a rubbery consistency , and is not sandable . What do you think ?