Geez! Another Stocker! 70 Formula Firebird B/SA

[R. Thorne]

Did some painting today.  Thought I would show some of the steps I take before painting the body.  Warm up cans, spray water in the booth, wipe off body with alcohol wipes, finally Tamiya brush off.  Then, hope for the best.  Was doing okay, then the metallic burble on the top of trunk.  Gonna let it dry a bit, then another coat.  Hopefully, get the clear red on today, if it looks ok.  Painting the ram air hood, but, hopefully the other dual snorkel hood will come sometime soon.  Almost forgot, gotta dig out the scoop.  Also forgot about my paint can spinner that I modified to fit the Tamiya cans.  Invaluable tool.

[R. Thorne]

No primer on this car, by the way.  After the gold base, I put 1 light coat of clear red on,  paused 15 minutes, then a heavier coat, another pause of 15-20 minutes, then a heavier coat, then done.  Covered it up.  Almost forgot the ram air scoop.

[keviiin86]

Looks like a nice finish!  Just out of curiosity why the odd color paints on the chassis and not typical chassis black or body color? Is that the color they painted it on the real car?

[R. Thorne]

13 hours ago, keviiin86 said:

Looks like a nice finish!  Just out of curiosity why the odd color paints on the chassis and not typical chassis black or body color? Is that the color they painted it on the real car?

Good question.  These are considered race cars, not restored cars, so some leeway is allowed in paint colors.  You can paint it any color you want.  On all the 1:1 race cars I have had, I have always painted the chassis/undercarriage a lighter color in order to show up any oil, trans, and rear leaks.  Discovered some runs on the passenger side that will have to be fixed.  One of the disadvantages of using a clear red.  Painted the engine blue after masking the trans off, touched up the dash due to some overspray from painting the body.  Glued the differential cover on and installed rear and front suspension.

[R. Thorne]

Finally got these hoods from Greg Wann, so, I’m back on the Firebird after finishing the 56 Stocker.

[Tony Coomer]

Looking good so far…

[R. Thorne]

On 4/10/2025 at 5:10 PM, Tony Coomer said:

Looking good so far…

Thanks, Tony.  Got the 3 hoods cleaned up in Purple stuff, then primed with Tamiya white primer.  Noticed some runs where I had painted the body with clear red.  Sanded it down, noticed a couple of other spots, so, decided to start again and dunked it in 91% alcohol.  This took place on Friday.  

[R. Thorne]

Saturday was a full day with timeouts in between painting.  Primed with 1 light coat, then 1 medium, base gold the same way, then clear red (1 light, then 2 medium), clear (1 light then 1 medium).  This was all done in 1 day.  I usually waited 5-10 minutes between coats, then, an hour or so between different colors.  Finished about 2 o’clock this morning.  It looks good, so, moving on.

[keviiin86]

nice job on the paint work..looks real good!  Definitely like the formula hood better also.

[R. Thorne]

On 4/20/2025 at 12:26 PM, keviiin86 said:

nice job on the paint work..looks real good!  Definitely like the formula hood better also.

A belated thank you, Kevin.  I am finally back on this build.  “Painted” the driveshaft with one of my “new” acrylic markers.  Also, the distributor cap and quadrajet carb.  I then blocked out the Goodyear and blue stripes on the slicks.  The markers make it easy and fast.  Thank you, Chief Joseph, for your great carbs.

Edited October 26 by R. Thorne

[meechum68]

Looking really really nice Ron!!  Can't wait to see where this goes! Love the paint!! 

[R. Thorne]

Thanks, Michael, it’s coming along, albeit slowly.  Some wheel work front and back.  Narrowed the aftermarket wheels from a scale  12” to about 9”, more appropriate for Stock Eliminator racing.  Then drilled out the aftermarket disc brakes to fit the kit stubs.  Then applied some Fusionfirm to the wheels.  The wheel on the left had been painted with GreenStuffWorld and the right wheel  is FusionFirm.

[R. Thorne]

Trimmed the ends off the rear axle and front spindles so the wheels would fit farther in.  Used hollow front tires on the front as these wheels are .667” and most tires are considerably smaller.  Sanded the inside of the tires out slightly then the outside of both the front and rear tires. ca glued the disc brakes on then the assemblies.

[Daverde]

Nice !! I like the rims and tires !

[R. Thorne]

On 10/30/2025 at 10:25 PM, Daverde said:

Nice !! I like the rims and tires !

Thanks, I try to make them representative of most 1:1 present day Stocker cars.   Worked some on the interior, then put some Hasegawa chrome on.  Did both hoods.  I like my new Hozan tweezers as they are knurled and grab the decals and strips of chrome better than my Dspiae.  Still need some trimming, but enough for today.

[R. Thorne]

Well, succeeded in messing up the rear window installation.  It is a fiddly install , as the glass is quite small for the inner framework it fits to.  It fell out as I was installing it.   Not sure if I will try to fix it, or just make one out of .005” clear styrene.  Did some interior work and put some aluminum on the grille.

[R. Thorne]

Cut some windows and a new back glass out of .005” clear styrene (used Alene’s quick dry tacky glue this time) and found another use for Tamiya cement.

[R. Thorne]

Last big stumbling block:  headers.  Got all the materials out to scratch build a set.  This was gonna be my second try at building headers and the memory of my first try 7 years ago still haunts me as I was not happy with the way they turned out.  Anyway, as a last resort, I looked in my casting bin and saw a driver’s side header that seemed to fit all right and more resembled a “tuned” header.  After some research, I realized it was from a Revell 69 Camaro and/or a Revell 69 Nova kit.  After some digging, I found a kit in my room and stole the headers out of it.  I put them together, trial fit them and they fit great.  Don’t tell anybody they are for a sbc.  Then I dug up some stainless steel buffing model master, put one coat on, will put another coat on later.  Oh, btw, I realize the shape of the 2 center ports are shaped differently on a Pontiac, but they are difficult to see once installed.  My ocd be damned, I am moving on.

Edited Tuesday at 10:43 PM by R. Thorne

[R. Thorne]

After the second coat of paint, then after some buffing with a q-tip.

[R. Thorne]

Hey, every build is an experiment, right?  I have used these vinyl stick on letters before, but have not been able to find 1/8”, only 1/4”.  Since this is really a “C” build (not my best), I decided to use these vinyl letters 1/4”.  I also used a simple roll bar left over from a 1968 Firebird kit.

Edited Thursday at 12:05 AM by R. Thorne

[R. Thorne]

Closer and closer.  Installed Caltracs and sub frame connectors.  Cut off bosses for pins? that  are supposed to be on the bottom of the seat frame.  Not my first bogus instructions.  Trimmed the inner front fenders so the grille would go in.  Instructions say to install that before the body section is installed, but I always, if possible, install all body parts before painting.  Helps to eliminate mismatched painted parts.

[R. Thorne]

The lettering is just too big and I think I will take it off and use smaller waterslide decals.  It sure went on fast, though.  I have searched for 1/8” stick on vinyl lettering/numbers to no avail.

[R. Thorne]

I compromised and took off the class designations and used the Slixx 1/8” waterslide decals.  More tedious work, but looks better.  Anybody know where I can find 1/8”, 5/32”, or 3/16” stick on letters/numbers?

[M W Elky]

9 minutes ago, R. Thorne said:

I compromised and took off the class designations and used the Slixx 1/8” waterslide decals.  More tedious work, but looks better.  Anybody know where I can find 1/8”, 5/32”, or 3/16” stick on letters/numbers?

I’m right there with you on finding stick on letters in different fonts and scale sizes who ever knew that it would be so hard . Unfortunately all of the old school hobby and craft supply stores near me are long gone . I’m stuck with one LHS a Michael’s and a couple of Hobby Lobby’s and they all came up empty. The next time I’m near a dick block art supply I’ll try to see if they have anything. The best option might be to have sts decals custom make a sheet . I do miss the days of going into a well stocked hobby store and getting what you need .