'40 coupes ain't so tough.

[customline]

1 hour ago, Plowboy said:

Thanx! I think you could get by with moving the rear wheel openings forward. Maybe the fronts slightly towards the rear also. In my case, I had already done so many modifications, what was one more? 

Yeah, Roger, I get it. Trying to deal with the self-imposed issues of the firewall/trans tunnel/ floorboard has been labor intensive because of the way the whole thing is configured. A lot of temporary "tack-ups" with CA because tape won't work, etc. It's easier to do a little body work for the wheel thing but not until the other issues are sorted and the body/chassis relationship is finalized. It may not be necessary at all. 🤞

[dino246gt]

All good stuff Jim!

I used the 390 from the AMT Starliner in my '53 pickup, tons of mods but that's what is so fun about this hobby! (it's more of a 352, but I call it a 390)  LOL

Good choice for your build, vintage Ford engine!

[customline]

3 hours ago, dino246gt said:

All good stuff Jim!

I used the 390 from the AMT Starliner in my '53 pickup, tons of mods but that's what is so fun about this hobby! (it's more of a 352, but I call it a 390)  LOL

Good choice for your build, vintage Ford engine!

You can call it anything you want, Dennis! Let's call it a 406! I can't.... I'm stuck with a 390 😕

That's some super detailing on that 427, Dennis! (Ya gotta think of re-sale) 😉

 

[customline]

Slight update....and a question 

It took all of about 3 minutes to make the plating disappear from my 390. Yay. 🥴

Why do I need the bottom floorboard of the passenger compartment except for the bead roll detail?  It just raises the body a mm or two more than is needed...  I know how to roll beads 🙂.   Nurse! RAZOR SAW!

(LAUGH)

Edited December 5, 2022 by customline

[Plowboy]

If you remove the floorpan from the frame, it may cause a fit issue with the rear splash guards and the body. It may cause an issue with the splash guards up front as well. It may cause no issues at all. If your luck is like mine, it will cause many issues that will delay completion by at least a week!

[customline]

21 minutes ago, Plowboy said:

If you remove the floorpan from the frame, it may cause a fit issue with the rear splash guards and the body. It may cause an issue with the splash guards up front as well. It may cause no issues at all. If your luck is like mine, it will cause many issues that will delay completion by at least a week!

I tend to under-think this stuff. I'm gonna hack this puppy and then see how it fits. Real back-yard. The interior floor will rest neatly on the frame with no " extra styrene"  in the way.  I can hide the separation with a "blinder".   I only use math when I'm on the Hobbylinc site. Seriously though, the rear wheel wells will be glued into the body behind the interior tub and some sort of method will be used to conjoin them. Then that assembly will sit on the frame an eency-bit lower. I'll roll some beads on the tub and call it a day. Anything else rears it's ugly head, I can fix with Evergreen,  CA and a Dremel Micro. 😎

[stitchdup]

6 minutes ago, customline said:

I tend to under-think this stuff. I'm gonna hack this puppy and then see how it fits. Real back-yard. The interior floor will rest neatly on the frame with no " extra styrene"  in the way.  I can hide the separation with a "blinder".   I only use math when I'm on the Hobbylinc site. Seriously though, the rear wheel wells will be glued into the body behind the interior tub and some sort of method will be used to conjoin them. Then that assembly will sit on the frame an eency-bit lower. I'll roll some beads on the tub and call it a day. Anything else rears it's ugly head, I can fix with Evergreen,  CA and a Dremel Micro. 😎

theres another way that might work, mark where the lower floor lines up with the interior floor and remove that area. Then glue the interior flooor to the lower floor and you've just given it a slight channelling and kept the under floor detail. You might need to swap the tran area for fitting the engine but it should work and keep the interior panels and dash fitting

[customline]

4 hours ago, stitchdup said:

theres another way that might work, mark where the lower floor lines up with the interior floor and remove that area. Then glue the interior flooor to the lower floor and you've just given it a slight channelling and kept the under floor detail. You might need to swap the tran area for fitting the engine but it should work and keep the interior panels and dash fitting

Yup. You got it. Exactly.  The trans tunnel is still not a thing yet but it's on the docket. The interior floor has been cut to accommodate the 390s tyranny. Just need to find an old wheel barrow to cover it.

I went ahead and bisected the kit floor, added "beads" to the tub bottom to approximate the floor that was eliminated. I added a heavy member (yellow arrow) to the rear of the tub to catch the trunk floor/wheel wells part. It would be very difficult (maybe impossible) to install the tub and rear floor section as an assembly so I have set it up to be installed into the body tub first, then trunk floor. A device will be created to clean up the joint (red arrow). 

I really like this kit for the full width floor (the tub bottom). I built the stock version as a "mild" hot rod with stock rear suspension and the kit flathead ( the dark red car.)  I will very likely build it at least one more time; maybe as an early west coast tail-dragger. 

 

[customline]

All right then...the weather permitted me to give the big FE some color.   Please don't judge 🤨. I figured it's a custom/hot rod so the correct color (gold?) be damned. I figured a monochrome style for this one anyway, so turquoise  it is !   It's Testors Extreme Lacquer which usually dries pretty fast, but not so much yesterday. Temp was around 60 and the RH was 65%. Less than ideal but not bad. I keep a hair dryer handy but even with that it was a bit slow.  I know, it looks like a Pontiac. Arrows point to changes I made to (hopefully) improve this urine-impoverished rendition of a Ford 390. I'm not sure what to do about the oil filter. 🤔 I suppose I could use the bee hive that came with the kit 🥴

Got some primer on it to see where the bad stuff is and, as predicted, there was some. I wet-sanded with 600 and a bit of Dawn and revealed a number of areas needing attention. I've gotta say this is the best chop that I have done so far. In this case of a mild chop (maybe 3"), restoring the drip rails was a very good idea. It gives the chop the look of having been professionally done and not a back-yard hack job. I thank those of you who encouraged me to do so. It was not difficult and well worth the effort. It took me about a half hour. Time well spent. 👍  Chopping a pre-war coupe like this isn't as difficult as I once thought. The glass is flat and easy to fabricate. Glass is a big problem with cars of the '50s. Those deeply curved backlites and wrap-around windshields can be very frustrating. Trying to chop the kit windshield on, let's say, a '55 Chevy may prove to be an exercise in futility. It can be done but the result won't be pretty. But I digress. 💩

nthe arrows point to the added water neck, replacement oil filler tube, and replacement distributor. OK, it still needs work.💩    question: what do you use for ignition wires? 

these arrows point to my next tasks. I will probably paint the low spots with Mr. Surfacer and the parting lines on the front fenders should be just a sanding job. Those were invisible to me before priming, a sign of advanced age. There are also some minor fixes on the B pillars to be done. Maybe later. 🥱

 

[customline]

Update 

Got some odds and ends out of the way. Sanding, filling small defects, etc. Need a good day for some paint work.

Here's a mock-up...headlight lenses held with clear gloss lacquer, my preferred method these days.  The taillight choice for this build is '39s from the '29 roadster kit ( I 🤔 think). Not a fan of the '40 lights.

Edited December 10, 2022 by customline

[customline]

Had some good weather on Friday so I got a little paint done...still some tiny gaffs on the body but it's good for a mock-up.

[Bills72sj]

Cool build, a black Pro Street 40 coupe is one of dream projects.

[customline]

Yeah, I got a few of those, Bill. They are all dream projects until they become nightmares. I have several boxes full of that kind. Seriously, though, I have loved the 39/'40 styling forever and I suppose I'll build another if I can get ahold of another kit (for a decent price. Of course.)  But the elusive Tudor kit ....that's the one I need 🤨.

[slusher]

Looking really nice!

[Andy Oldenburg]

Great work so far and a pleasure to watch the progress! I´m very interested to see where this will end.

[customline]

7 hours ago, Andy Oldenburg said:

Great work so far and a pleasure to watch the progress! I´m very interested to see where this will end.

So am I, Andy, so am I 🤔.  Thanks for your interest! 

[Andy Oldenburg]

you asked what we use for the ignition wires. I have an supplier for 0.5mm wires with just the right feeling to stay put once bent into place. Unfortunately he is here in Europe. I know how hard it is to get an hand on good wires that are not too thick. In the worst case I can recommend slashing an old LAN or HDMI cable. The wires in there are quite thin and match to our scale. Some wires are too colorful but there is enough usable stuff in a cable to last a while.

[customline]

Haven't done squat. We'll, that's not quite true. I did do a little but not on this one. If you're tuning me in, you are either building a '40 or you want to. So here's the ones I would like to enshrine in styrene. Slice 'em every way there is. I love this body style. You can't muck up a '40 unless you are vision impaired. They even look good unfinished, abandoned, or rusted out.

[ybsluos]

Very nice bodywork Jim!

[customline]

On 1/10/2023 at 12:34 AM, ybsluos said:

Very nice bodywork Jim!

Thanks, kraM!   May as well post these while I'm here, there's not a lot of progress. I  need a good day to shoot this puppy and then I can bring it home. Nothing fancy inside but it wish I could remember what kit the seats came from. 🤔

 

 

[customline]

OK. Took a shot today with a 54f/48% RH day and sprayed this puppy using Testor's Extreme Lacquer. Let it be known that I am eager to bring this one home and that my paint efforts sometimes end badly (and once in a while turn out well.) This one seems to be headed to a do-over but with some good advice from one of you paint gurus, I may be able to complete this project with my dignity intact 😑. 

As you all know, Testor's rattle cans are so bad that saying they suck is an insult to sucking. I have to use a pistol grip attachment in order to push the valve, giving me better control.....and I still messed it up. So....what's my next step to get this thing right? Anyone? This is a single coat so I wouldn't plunge it in the pond....not yet. I'm thinking a little sanding with 1000,  and maybe decant the rest and go with my airbrush?

[gman]

It wouldn't hurt to wet sand, provided you have enough paint left to do a couple of light colour coats to obtain even coverage. If you achieve that, some clear might get you the gloss in the end rather than shooting for a glossy finish with the colour coat alone.

The remaining paint will go farther if you decant and airbrush (a plus, unless you happen to have another can laying around), plus it will give you greater control compared to the spray can.

[TransAmMike]

Well I'm certainly no expert... Heck, not even close but the paint looks good to me. Clear will shine it up beautifully. 

I'm on the verge myself of doing the AMT '40 Coupe so some great inspiration in those pictures. 

[customline]

Thanks Greg and Mike. The Testor's can valve is very hard to push (and I have several of the other colors- I was stocking up on the Extreme stuff whenever I made the long trip to HL because I was happy with a previous job with one of them) so I use a "helper" to push it but this particular can was a bit ornery. I tried to mist the first coat over long-dried Tamiya fine surface primer but it just didn't go well (pilot error 🥴 maybe). Notice the way it collected on the drip rail and check the door lines where it pulled away. Misting those areas might have kept that from happening but the can has too much volume out of the nozzle. You just can't mist it (I couldn't,  anyway)

I was looking for validation on my idea to continue with a light wet sand and then decant the rest and run it through my Wren.(I guess I'm not so dumb after all 🤤) I may add a tiny bit of thinner too because it seems a little thick. I'm glad I stopped when I did 💩.

To tell the truth, I'm not loving this color. It might be okay when the chrome is on........ Good talk!

Edited February 7, 2023 by customline
More thoughts

[customline]

It's totally dry so maybe I'll do the sanding tomorrow. Gotta wait for paint though. Anyone like to recommend a clear coat for this paint? I did a quick mock-up for you mock-up lovers.