79 Chevy Nova street beater

[rv1963]

Hi guys and gals after over 500 views on my Monaco build in the under glass section I thought I would do a build showing what and how I do one. I will start off with the mpc squad rod Nova around the same time frame as the Monaco.

Some pics below show plenty of dents and rust holes already, rust holes were made with a steel cutting from the inside with a dremel on slow speed ( I use the rechargeable one it's really slow) you want to grind away the plastic till it's paper thin so you can just start to see light through, next take any sharp hobby blade from the outside and push and twist just a little to get a nice tare or rough hole. When making dents I like to use one of those half round scalpel blades I cut into the plastic making a shallow dent and sand the edges down just a little. I also removed a few of the emblems with a hobby blade and drilled a couple of hole showing where they would be located. There are a few pics showing the rust holes from the inside of the body I think you can see how I did it, pretty simple stuff what you see here took less than 40 minutes. All comments welcome.

[DJMar]

That's a great technique, thanks for showing it!

A cutter ball in rotary tool also works for making worn out upholstery too. It's the same idea, basically, and looks really convincing.

[rv1963]

Thanks DJ, yes I have used the same technique for seats also works great there to.

[LennyB]

I drove one of these back in the day. Got one of these kits in my stash that I’m hoping to replicate mine with at some point. It was a four door and only had one dent on the front of the hood. So I won’t have many dents to contend with but I’ll have to find two extra doors along the way. 

I’ll be watching to see how you turn this into a beater.

[rv1963]

Thanks Lenny, just to warn you the chassis on my kit was a bit twisted so had to force it back into shape, I hope yours will be straight.

[rv1963]

Time for an update, got some engine work done, the kit engine is a Pontiac not a Chevy engine so it has been replaced by pieces from 2 old pro Nova kits. I added some detail like a trans dipstick and tube, oil dipstick and tube, also the automatic trans pan looked terrible so I replaced it with a scratch built unit, I cut off the trans tail shaft because it looked to fat and blunt I added another tail shaft from a parts box tranny. The engine will be painted the GM corporate blue I think that's what it's called, the closest I have is a Pontiac color I think that will work. All comments welcome.

[slusher]

Real nice work, you put your rust holes in the right place…

[rv1963]

Thanks Carl.

[stavanzer]

I am liking what I see, very much.

Thanks for showing us how you get such spectacular results!

Alan

[rv1963]

Thanks Alan, should be an update soon.

 

[rv1963]

Time for an update, got some engine work done. Lots of scratch built parts like the power steering pump and all the pullies, ignition coil, belts I didn't have what I needed so I made them. The engine is painted my version of GM blue its 3 parts Testors white 1 part Testors Ford & Gm light blue and a few drops of green. I have started to weather the engine will have an update on that soon. All comments welcome.

[slusher]

Engine wiring very nice and neat..

[rv1963]

Thanks Carl, next update will be weathering the engine.

[rv1963]

Past time for an update, couple of pics show the weathered engine, I did a black wash, some rust stains and added some texture and heavy rust to the exhaust manifolds than the entire engine was given a flat coat, I think it needs a good dusting still, next pic shows some mods to the the engine compartment, I modified the master cylinder for better detail and scratch built the rad support and hood latch area. All comments welcome.

[slusher]

Good looking weathered engine, sir!

[rv1963]

Thanks Carl.

[David G.]

You've made a great start on this Robert!

The engine weathering and rust look right so far.

David G.

[rv1963]

Thanks David, Working the body now.

[rv1963]

Time for a small update, did some weathering on the hood, in the first pic the hood has been given a coat of red oxide enamel primer after it dried I applied two coats of hair spray, in the second pic two very light coats of Vallejo Greyish blue and white were applied, in the last pic I used water and an old beat up paint brush to lightly scrub the surface to get the larger rusty paint chips to show, after that I used a very small piece of ripped foam to lightly apply 2 different enamel rust tones and the paint should almost be dry. I think so far I am pleased with the look. All comments welcome.

[David G.]

I'd say you nailed it Robert!

Your rust painting technique yields some very convincing results!

David G.

[rv1963]

Thanks David, the best part of these beaters cars is that they are a lot of fun for me to work on.

[customline]

Oh yeah  ?.  Now we're cookin'!

[rv1963]

Thanks Jim.

[rv1963]

Time to get this beater looking more like a beater, the entire body was first base coated with the same enamel red oxide primer as the hood, after it was dry I added blue to the hatch and white for the drivers door. The last 2 pics show close ups of the paint chips and scratches the large chips were made with a crappy stiff brush and water which I use to lightly scrub the surface, all the small chips were made by lightly scrubbing the surface with some 600 grit sand paper. The rest of the body still needs it's color coat and a lot more weathering to go, so far I am pleased with the results. All comments welcome.

[slusher]

Looking really good, sir!