Replica of my first race car: 1953 Oldsmobile 4 door Stocker I ran in the 1960’s.

[R. Thorne]

First, some pics of the car taken around 1965-1971, then a Car Craft article from 1969 detailing what it would take to build an Nhra legal Oldsmobile Stock Eliminator car.  In the second pic, I am racing against a 1953 Hudson owned by Gary Ellard, a friend of mine.  This was at an airport in Sturgis, Ky. (Note the hay bales used as guard rails).  Next post will begin the actual build.

[R. Thorne]

Couldn’t resist a pic of Jack Mullins’s 53 Olds (stick shift, 165 hp) at Indy.  Another friend of mine.  Now, on to the model.  This is what I started with.  I am planning to convert it to a 4 dr model.  A lot of thick flash to remove, but I am getting there.  Whoops, missed Jack’s pic.

Edited June 7 by R. Thorne

[R. Thorne]

[Rigor]

That’s super cool. Probably could of saved your self couple hundred pounds with all that trim 😁

[R. Thorne]

6 hours ago, Rigor said:

That’s super cool. Probably could of saved your self couple hundred pounds with all that trim 😁

Actually, mild customizing was legal then.  You’ll note my car (and Jack’s, too) don’t have the hood ornaments on them.  Some more work on the flashing.  What works pretty good is scribing with a hobby knife, then breaking off with some small needlenose pliars.

[Rattlecan Dan]

Man, quite the undertaking. Good luck.

[M W Elky]

That’s a really cool and very personal project . Are you going to build the ramp truck also ? 

[R. Thorne]

23 hours ago, Rattlecan Dan said:

Man, quite the undertaking. Good luck.

Thanks, I’ll need it.

 

5 hours ago, M W Elky said:

That’s a really cool and very personal project . Are you going to build the ramp truck also ? 

Almost all of my models serve as “memory joggers “ and have a connection to the past.  Yes, i plan on purchasing a 57 Chevy resin truck in the near future.  I also have plans for a 1963 Dodge lcf that I used later on.

[meechum68]

Fantastic! Gonna follow this as a fellow Oldsmobile car guy and a lover of drag racing!  Can't wait to see this as you do bit by bit and then wrap it up. 

[R. Thorne]

20 hours ago, meechum68 said:

Fantastic! Gonna follow this as a fellow Oldsmobile car guy and a lover of drag racing!  Can't wait to see this as you do bit by bit and then wrap it up. 

Speaking of bit by bit, some small progress on the body.  Sanded off the hood ornaments.  Tedious sanding, but necessary.  A look at the great instructions in the box.  Next major body work is to turn it into a 4 door sedan.

[R. Thorne]

Some of the mcw resin kit’s parts.  As that engine is coupled to a stick shift (my car was an automatic), I am using the engine from the Revell Club Coupe kit and may also use some parts from the Olds Custom kit.  

[R. Thorne]

Scrounged up some engine parts from miscellaneous amt parts packs.  Then dug out the Rochester 4GC that I got last year from Texas 3D custom.  The most realistic 4GC I have seen and the size looks good even though it is supposed to be 1/24 scale.  

[Texas_3D_Customs]

On 6/13/2025 at 4:19 PM, R. Thorne said:

Scrounged up some engine parts from miscellaneous amt parts packs.  Then dug out the Rochester 4GC that I got last year from Texas 3D custom.  The most realistic 4GC I have seen and the size looks good even though it is supposed to be 1/24 scale.  

I can promise you at the scale is perfect The reason I can say this is that I scanned a real carburetor to make that so everything is exactly how it is on the real one and the scaled perfectly to the original

[R. Thorne]

7 hours ago, Texas_3D_Customs said:

I can promise you at the scale is perfect The reason I can say this is that I scanned a real carburetor to make that so everything is exactly how it is on the real one and the scaled perfectly to the original

Truly outstanding work.  I am very familiar with this carb as I used them on the 53 Olds and, later on, my 1966 Chevelle 283 race car. The linkage, fuel inlet, choke housing, and four center vents are, of course, dead on.   Thank you for making these available.  Got a little done.  Cut off the 2 barrel seat on the manifold.  Will build a short 4 barrel stand for the carb to set on.  Worked on the 50 Olds frame and the rims.

Edited Monday at 08:52 PM by R. Thorne

[sah5150]

Cool project! Man... it's a lot of work getting rid of that thick flash...

Steve

[Shark]

Neat project you have going. I like working with resin kits, opens a lot of doors for not so common projects. Don't know how long you had the resin kit, but as the molds start getting older, the plug shrinks slightly which in turn creates the thick flashing in the windows you experienced. I like how you are incorporating some of the styrene kit parts on your build.

[R. Thorne]

2 hours ago, sah5150 said:

Cool project! Man... it's a lot of work getting rid of that thick flash...

Steve

 

55 minutes ago, Shark said:

Neat project you have going. I like working with resin kits, opens a lot of doors for not so common projects. Don't know how long you had the resin kit, but as the molds start getting older, the plug shrinks slightly which in turn creates the thick flashing in the windows you experienced. I like how you are incorporating some of the styrene kit parts on your build.

Thanks, guys.  First trial fit on the Revell 50 olds chassis.