Resurrection: Marrs Boys 1963 Corvette BB/G

[R. Thorne]

After finishing my Corvette NHRA Stocker, I remembered I had started this car about 4 years ago.  I had to dig up some old WIP pictures (only took a few).  I am going to endeavor to finish this one.  Here’s the beginning body work from 2021.

[Altered Ego]

This car and the Blue Hell were two of my favorites Corvettes from this era.  I can't wait to see the finished product.

[R. Thorne]

10 hours ago, Altered Ego said:

This car and the Blue Hell were two of my favorites Corvettes from this era.  I can't wait to see the finished product.

Hopefully, it won’t take too long.  From 2021, some engine work and header trial fitting.  The headers came from an amt partspak, I think.

[R. Thorne]

As this car ran a B&M clutchflite trans, I thought you guys might like this information I dredged up in 2021.

[R. Thorne]

This is how the clutchflite evolved for me then.  Sawed off the stick trans, cut the bellhousing off an Mopar 727 type auto trans, used an bellhousing out of an partspak, then some sanding on the front of the Mopar trans.  Also, a pic of the specialized B&M throwout bearing adapter.

[R. Thorne]

My last update on what I had accomplished back in 2021.  I think the car was painted with Testors metallic green and lacquer thinner (this was in my airbrush days).  I had put some larger slicks on and had test fit the chassis and hood.

[M W Elky]

It looks great so far I also have one of these as a stalled project so i can’t wait to see how yours turns out. On the one I was building I just couldn’t get the hood right . It looks like you have it pretty spot on 

[papajohn97]

Very cool build Ron. If you don't yet have decals, Fremont Racing Specialties ("paintinjoe" Joe Curtis on eBay) offers a nice set at a very reasonable $5 + shipping. His listing also features some pics of a nice built model of this car. 

I forgot how fast these supercharged gassers were (9.79 -144 mph, WOW!). Looking forward to seeing this one posted in 'under glass'!

[R. Thorne]

One of my stumbling blocks a few years ago was headers and I had put some small block Chevy partspak flanges on and test fitted the individual tube headers on.  After looking at them today and my allergy to inauthenticity arose again.  I did a little research and found a decent set of big block headers in my 67 Chevelle.  Were the Jardine headers on the car equipped with collectors?  I don’t know, but sometimes you have to use a poetic license.  Painted them and the lower trim with  some Fusionfirm.

[R. Thorne]

21 hours ago, papajohn97 said:

Very cool build Ron. If you don't yet have decals, Fremont Racing Specialties ("paintinjoe" Joe Curtis on eBay) offers a nice set at a very reasonable $5 + shipping. His listing also features some pics of a nice built model of this car. 

I forgot how fast these supercharged gassers were (9.79 -144 mph, WOW!). Looking forward to seeing this one posted in 'under glass'!

I am always grateful for helpful information.  Fremont supplied me with those decals in 2021.  Though not as fast, the blown small block of Moody & Jones’s C/GS 37 Chevy that I saw run in the 60’s remains my favorite sounding car.  Someday I will finish my model of it (sigh!).

[R. Thorne]

Some Hasegawa chrome and some Tamiya paint on the bellhousing, as the acrylic marker orange was a bit off in color.  I cut off long thin strips, then stretch and apply.  Virtually no cutting on the body.  Done in one hour.  Much easier on these old eyes.

[papajohn97]

1 hour ago, R. Thorne said:

 I cut off long thin strips, then stretch and apply.  Virtually no cutting on the body.

Interesting that you applied the BMF this way. I recently foiled a build with frustrating results because of soft molded edges on window frames. The X-acto tip kept wandering on me. I removed all the BMF and precut lengths with the width eyeballed to match the final frame widths and just applied the foil strips along the edges of the front & rear windows using tweezers, a foam swab stick and my fingertips. It came out great without the need for any X-acto cuts on the body and was much quicker. 
I'm going to use this technique on future builds and ditch the X-acto knife cuts directly on the body wherever I can.

Your foiling looks great on this vette using this technique.

[R. Thorne]

Keep in mind that this is Hasegawa chrome with its advantages and disadvantages over Bare Metal Foil.  It is inherently flexible and, more importantly, stretchy.  This creates issues with the width of the strip you are installing.  But, it doesn’t break easily like BMF.  It allows me to use one long strip, for example, to go all the way around the rear window.  You can also pull it back off and reapply it if you misapply it the first time.  I use my fingers to hold one end in place and press it down with another finger while stretching it slightly.  No adhesive residue is another plus.  While my work is not perfect, it suits me and frees up some time on my builds.  

[R. Thorne]

Installed the “glass” and those pesky tailights.  Had to ream out the holes and finally got them to fit.  Started to use canopy glue, but it came out real thin and runny (haven’t used it in quite a while).  Usually use Bsi gold ca, but wanted to try something different.  Instead, went with Alene’s quick dry tacky glue.  

[R. Thorne]

Instructions for the Fusionfirm “chrome”.

[R. Thorne]

The finished clutchflite trans and used a magneto out of a Revell partspak for small block Chevy.  Used a couple acrylic markers and went over the chrome on the magneto, instead of stripping and painting it.  Then added some chrome to the trim work with Fusionfirm.  Used an eraser on a pair of tweezers and a toothpick.  

[R. Thorne]

Made some windows and put the hand lettered class and numbers on.  Used .005” clear.  My white acrylic marker came through for me again.  Had to find a dark background to letter on.  I think Marcus Aurelius would have forgiven me.  Installed with Aleen’s tacky and a micro brush.  One of my pet peeves is no side glass on virtually any model car kits.  If you wish to depict a race car, the windows need to be up, or you’re not gonna run.

Edited Sunday at 02:15 AM by R. Thorne
Damn spell check

[bytownshaker]

Totally agree with you on missing side windows but if the drivers door glass is missing and there's no driver in the car its not ready to run so I would forgive that.

On a couple of hot days with long staging lanes I have been reminded to put it up.

[R. Thorne]

Installed engine/trans, had to trim the tail housing a bit.  Headers fought me a bit, probably because I was using too slow ca glue.  A bit crooked on one side.  Installed interior with just a touch of ca glue, then chassis held in place and kicker applied to hold the position.  Applied the decals with microsol and microset.  Keep in mind these decals are an integral part of a sheet and must be trimmed close to the lettering to eliminate overhang.  They turned out great after some smoothing out with a q-tip.  I am done with this one.  Amt did a nice job with the body, the chassis, not so much.  I think another one is in my future, especially if I can find a more detailed chassis.  Still, sitting on my table, it is one of the prettiest, meanest looking cars I have built.  More pics tomorrow on the finished under glass section.  Thanks for viewing.  It has been a fun build.