Has anyone ever ...... back dated the ZZTop Eliminator Coupe?

[Jantrix]

I built this one as a kid. Went together pretty easy. However when I was a kid that style of hot rod was what I was into. Now at 54, I'm more into nostalgia hot rods. At least on the outside. There is something to be said for a hot rod that looks old but is modern beneath and ultimately lets you drive it as much as you like. 

Has anyone tried to backdate the Eliminator to look a bit more old school? I'm thinking of replacing the headlights for something on a crossbar, maybe from a Revell deuce. Lose the smooth hood sides, and the rear rolled pan. Bob the rear fenders a bit. Wheels and tires from the Revell '29 RPU. The running boards will take some real work though. The engine, I'd leave alone aside from replacing the billet ZZTop valve covers and air cleaner with something older.

I'd love to hear if anyone else has given this a go.

[stitchdup]

I've not given it a go but you might find the earlier versions of the kit that were more stock appearing to save yourself a load of work

 

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

22 minutes ago, stitchdup said:

I've not given it a go but you might find the earlier versions of the kit that were more stock appearing to save yourself a load of work

Exactly what I was going to suggest.

And the real '34 had separate lights, not on a crossbar.

What's the issue with the running boards? I thought the ZZ Top car had black ribbed ones, like stock.

There are several versions of the kit with louvered hood sides.

 

EDIT: Or the AMT '34 5-window louvered hood sides can be reworked by adding a little material fairly easily, too. I just pulled the kits to check.

Edited October 8, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy

[Exotics_Builder]

Didn't "back date" it, but crafted this from it 23 years back.

 

[Jantrix]

On 10/7/2022 at 9:04 PM, Ace-Garageguy said:

Exactly what I was going to suggest.

And the real '34 had separate lights, not on a crossbar.

What's the issue with the running boards? I thought the ZZ Top car had black ribbed ones, like stock.

There are several versions of the kit with louvered hood sides.

 

EDIT: Or the AMT '34 5-window louvered hood sides can be reworked by adding a little material fairly easily, too. I just pulled the kits to check.

Thanks guys, I was unaware of this.

Bill, for some reason i seem to remember smoothed running boards, my mistake. I'll look for this kit, thanks.

[Russell C]

On 10/7/2022 at 7:53 PM, Jantrix said:

... I'm thinking of replacing the headlights for something on a crossbar, maybe from a Revell deuce. ...

That's an interesting custom mix 'n match idea, though. Not heading in that direction with my own offbeat '34 street rod idea where I need to retain the fender-mount headlights so that there is no doubt it is a '34. But since I was curious to see what your idea looked like, I taped together enough of the eBay glue bomb I got several years back and held up a Danbury Mint '32 crossbar / lights / horn to it. The pointed grille puts them all a bit farther forward. A person might have to tweak the appearance by maybe moving the headlights inward on the crossbar, and maybe shortening the outer ends of the crossbar so that they sit down just a bit further ....

[Jantrix]

2 hours ago, Russell C said:

That's an interesting custom mix 'n match idea, though. Not heading in that direction with my own offbeat '34 street rod idea where I need to retain the fender-mount headlights so that there is no doubt it is a '34. But since I was curious to see what your idea looked like, I taped together enough of the eBay glue bomb I got several years back and held up a Danbury Mint '32 crossbar / lights / horn to it. The pointed grille puts them all a bit farther forward. A person might have to tweak the appearance by maybe moving the headlights inward on the crossbar, and maybe shortening the outer ends of the crossbar so that they sit down just a bit further ....

Maybe it's just because of my affection for cars of this era, but that looks perfectly normal to me. Thanks very much.

[1959]

My son (age 9 then) made a quick backdating for the zztop Ford with a little help from me. Kit was once built by my brother and then I dismantled it in the early nineties to build a 90s hitech rod out of it which was luckily never finished. Unfortunately I had sanded of some of the pressings from the body which does not fit the old school look but atleast we got the kit saved.

I think the kit works fine for the backdating as the top chop and stance are OK for that style too. Hood sides would need modifications to become more period perfect but we left them now untouched.

What we did was to change the tires from the spare part box. Front wheels from amt 34 Tudor chromed with Molotow pen and some amt steel wheels with slicks to the rear end. Engine is flathead with trim parts. Inside just the steering wheel and shifter was changed. Paint is a just a spray can gold without clear coat.

We have one more built zztop ford in our stash that we will modify more to the style that Billy Gibbons' other famous 34 coupe has.

 

[NOBLNG]

Here is my rebuild of a Monogram ZZ Top edition. I basically just changed the engine and re-painted it.