1973' Chevrolet El Camino

[Sergey]

👍

[Sergey]

Hello again!

Some body work

While putty is gaining firmness, I remembered how wonderful the "out-of-the-box" modeling was

One of my 4 cats help me not to lose small parts

I’ve found suitable engine in my spares It came from model like this

Well, the first thing I had to saw off was the gearbox crankcase

It's a little cramped for him there... and you can't slip the driveshaft in this position

And the lower part of the engine crankcase should also be (and will be) shortly

I’ve used these reference pictures as a base:

I had to take my Proxxon and modify the chassis.

Now the driveshaft should fit. It remains to make it

I tried the engine on. It seems to fit

Let's move on. Taking the opportunity, I have made silicon moulds from various under-the-hood (and not only) small parts.

Gray details from the Mobius 1969 F-100. After all, how much modern models have advanced in detail (although failures also take place here)! There are even horns!

Edited January 20, 2023 by Sergey

[Mattilacken]

Looking great mate! Some pictures are not showing, only a link is shown. 

[Sergey]

On 1/19/2023 at 10:49 PM, Mattilacken said:

Looking great mate! Some pictures are not showing, only a link is shown. 

Thank you! Fixed!

Edited January 20, 2023 by Sergey

[Mattilacken]

Nice now it works 🙂 what they usually do when they use a different transmission is to move the transmission crossmember to where ever the “cone” on the transmission is. And there is a ruber mount that goes there. And Refering to your pics I take it that is what you did 🙂 nice work

[Mattilacken]

I might have more pictures of my old 77 by the way.. I see if I do and send a link.

edit:

did not have chassi pictures just of the front suspension, engine and such. 

Edited January 20, 2023 by Mattilacken

[Sergey]

On 1/20/2023 at 11:58 PM, Mattilacken said:

did not have chassi pictures just of the front suspension, engine and such. 

Thank you, Anton! I would glad to see everything you have!

So, after I made shafts for IronHide, it's time to do so for El Camino

It was shortened a little in fitting process.

Now I was ready to bend exhaust pipes, which should connect to exhaust manifold 

I glue the pickup manifold to its engine, try it on the chassis. The collector rested against the crossbar. Hm.....

I looked at the reference photos and for sure: on passenger cars of those times, the exhaust outlet was at the back, at the last cylinder, and not in the middle, like mine.

I decided to cut the exhaust manifold and swap the pieces

Dismembered! Tried it on! Fiasco! Did not get into the middle exhaust outlets. 

Calm down! Now we will bend this collector from a rod and glue it together! Glued! Here is this masterpiece!

I look at it and my eye twitches. After all, it seems like a simple thing, but there it is.

An idea! Why not to take a collector from extensive kit collection? There must be something suitable. And exactly! And also in a Chevrolet pickup truck, but - of '73.

Well, from lousy pants collectors - at least a shred of flanges.

And they suit to engine though they of different scales

Here is this insidious crossbar! Yes, I also added a crossbar behind the tank. I've seen it on references. Now everything is ready for laying the exhaust pipes and you can enjoy the process. The sponsor of pleasure is 2mm solder.

It's the right one! It's beautiful, isn't it? And characteristically, it bends easily!

While I was chatting with you here and the second one bent! The eye rejoices! Well, I'm a handsome man!

However, it's too early to celebrate! We continue to eliminate the shortage of parts. That suddenly I was seized with the desire to weld the radiator and all its surroundings

The rest is in the next episode!

 

[Mattilacken]

Nice progress Sergey! I will try to gather up some relevant pictures for you. I have allot, not much of the chassi but engine bay and fenders off and sow on. Have some front suspension pictures.

[Sergey]

Thank you, Anton! The engine bay photos - is what I need now! I have couple, but it always good to have more angles.

[Sergey]

Hello everyone!

Where did I stop long ago? Oh, yes! On the radiator! Now I'll show my efforts in this field, but first a little more under-the-hood stuff. A little!

And then someone will ask a question (although they won't ask): "Tell me, dear heart, and what are these gray lumps in the foreground with little lumps?" And I will still answer (although no one asked) - these are tanks, expansion tank and washing tank! However, a distributer tired me more than others. Here he is - a bastard. Below we see one and a half distributers. And yes, because the first attempt was torture. I missed the size. Well, it happens. A piece of tube on on contact is playing a role of tip

Here is the radiator + some more parts: alternator, battery

Yes, I couldn't help but dig into the radiator lining Here it is in its original form

We see (who can't see, there are arrows) that some holes are clogged with road debris (beetles, mosquitoes, etc.). "But it's a mess!" 

We take a drill and cut off all the excess

More on this photo you can see

An inquisitive look will naturally notice the gap between ..... uh, the bumper and the lining, and he will be right, because there is an arrow there for this. We inflated the wings from above, raised the grill. It is logical that there will be a gap. But don't get excited! When the grill finally sticks to the body, a sheet of polystyrene will close this case. In the meantime, the wings need another layer of putty, so that by increasing the volume they coincide with the contour of the front panel adjacent to the wings. 

Pay attention to the more elegant windshield pillars. I'll attach the edging to them later

And here you can not focus attention. I've already glued a strip to the trunk. So I raise the line of stamping on the body.

Thank you for watching!

[Sergey]

Hello, colleagues!

Let's continue our handiwork! Finally recut panel lines.

I composed a template from 0,1mm styrene because without a template, the back of the doors was not very successful.

Returned "chrome" trimming on the windshield pillars.

However, there are points for improvement. Yes, I closed the gap under the grill with millimeter styrene.

By gluing the muzzle with a negative slope, I increased the gap between the hood and the muzzle. I built up the hood in front with epoxy.

Do not forget about the firewall. I sawed down this incomprehensible structure. Haven't seen heater like this on Camino 4

I tried to prime it yesterday, and as the Dozer from the Matrix said: "We still have to work on it and work on it."

Put filler on the perimeter of the lens of the right headlight, lift the rear of the hood... Yes, 1-2 vertical ribs on the grill are poorly casted. In thought: is it worth bothering?

In general, there is something to work on. Here are scratches of the sanding paper

There is not evenly glued strip of styrene

But I like almost everything about the interrior

Well, except for these moments

Silicon moulds were worn out. And then a nuance came out: the interior tub turned out to be too long and the firewall, which should be UNDER the bar, simply does not fit there. I'll cut the front wall of the tub and sand down the thickness of the firewall

These are the grooves that are the most difficult to sand down.

Thank you for watching!

[Mattilacken]

Nice to see that you are making progress! Great length of accuracy you are working for! I like it! Keep on rolling!

[TooOld]

This is excellent so far , keep up the great work !

[Sergey]

Thank you, co brothers!

[Sergey]

I welcome my colleagues and all sympathizers!

Mockery of the body look in the next series, but for now the soul asks to show off.

On the fourth El Camino, the spare tire was hiding tight:

Of course, I does not have a similar 5th wheel in my spares. So we will make a spare wheel in a case. To begin with, brew a strip of styrene inside 32mm tube

Pull out, cool, glue. We get the radial part. And a Chinese cutter cut the round.

Then I glue square rod inside to sand down angles of case

The dummy wheel is ready

If you think that's all - you wrong.  We still need to break up interior tub!

Who forgot the tub looked like this:

Now looks - that

And in the chassis was scraped too. Well, the "wheel" did not fit otherwise.

Now the wheel stands almost as in the original

Thank you for stay turned!

[Mopar2]

This El Camino is going to be so very cool when finished.You don't see many 73  El Camino's...This a great project...

[Sergey]

Thank you, Anthony!

I realised that I have not mirrors for this project. I think this is replica:

... and it is - original

I tried to make my own 3D models

Stay turned!

 

[Sergey]

Hello again! Was busy some months/ Let's continue!

I took up the steering column for a change. After and Before

The steering wheel switches are made of a pin and a toothpick

The tail door was too thick, so I manage to cut it out and take off excess fat

Please note: the bottom of the rear side is almost a centimeter thick. It is clear that this is done to facilitate the removal of the model from the mold, but I would make the tailboard separate.... Well - I did so.

For speed, I removed the thickness from the inside with a circular saw, and she jumped to the front side. Fail! Filled with glue.

So, I removed the thickness and now I need to close the hole

I used 1.5mm plastic for the insert. He's tough. That's what we need.

Now you need to make a semblance of this (specifically, for now - side stops for the door):

Epoxy for this purpose is a spot on!

I made a bunch of angles to make it clearer

Yes. I also made a support plate, on which the rear bumper should lie

... and "fangs in the corners - also under the bumper.

I tried to make the edges of the bumpers thinner and to shave excess resin - at the same time.

We cut the notch for the handle!

But now someone will ask: "What about the loops?" And I will answer: "There will be loops, comrades!"

Historical background: as many have already noticed - there are "horns" sticking out at the bottom of the rear side. These are the body hinges.

I did not fully understand: where is the door hinge and the axis of mutual rotation. Perhaps the axis of rotation is just on the outside of the door or just behind the face wall of the tailboard.

At first I thought to make plastic loops.... well, in general, I did. Then I made it out of aluminum tin.

I will use both sets: I will glue the tin to the door, with the axis of rotation as close as possible to the outer skin, and I will glue the plastic into the body for imitation - at the end. In the middle of these operations I will bend right angle of wire 0.5 mm. and stick one end into the door, the other end will glue in the floor. That's the plan. Then we'll see what kind of "goat's face" (the Russian version of failure) will come out of this.

Thanks for your attention!

Who honors my lamentations! 🙂

[espo]

Amazing attention to the body details and shapes. 

[slusher]

I was reading all the captions under the pictures and I have to say you’re doing an excellent job!  Such attention to detail !    I am impressed. Looking forward to following your build!

[Sergey]

Thank you David and Carl!

[Maindrian Pace]

Very impressive detail work, and you did an excellent job correcting the exaggerated hood slope. Most of these El Camino and Malibu resin kits were based on the old MPC NASCAR kit body, which has that slope to the hood and front fenders, and the master builders didn't correct it during their conversions. That's a tricky operation, but you got it just right.

[Sergey]

Thank you, Mike! I appreciate it!

I categorically welcome everyone!

Summary of previous episodes:

As you remember, there was a ragged edge left:

... after that vandalism

But we will cover this mess with aluminum tin

Yes, in the foreground are blanks for new stamplines

I didn't like the front body shield. It stands as if he is an important detail, and not some kind of S. 

But it should look like:

In short, I cut it out. And the right shield took its place. Well, there's a better trim lines on the door now.

Loops.... I threw out the old ones. I cut new ones out of copper, because I bent/unbent aluminum once - they broke. Copper forgives this for the time being.

On the left - cutting, on the right - bent loops. From above, door's loop, from below - bodie's loop. So how does it work:

And now - on Camino:

The joy of the eyes

Yes, I almost forgot: I have joy! Friend of mine has grown mirrors! For which he has a big ARIGATO!

[NOBLNG]

Amazing level of attention to details and great fabrication skills.👍

[Sergey]

On 11/15/2023 at 5:24 PM, NOBLNG said:

Amazing level of attention to details and great fabrication skills.👍

Thank you, BRO!