Grooms Bros. 1965 Plymouth Sedan awb Black Trash II

[R. Thorne]

This may not be an exact replica due to lack of decals, but pretty close.  This car was from Fulton, Ky.  It was tuned by Don Leneave, who was involved with a number of competitive drag cars in the 60’s.  I am using the Moebius (what would we do without them?) Strickler kit and a FremontRosins body.  

[Shark]

Nice looking resin body, you must have had it awhile, seems the times I have looked at their site, most everything is out of stock. Always interested in any WIP on an AWB.

[R. Thorne]

2 hours ago, Shark said:

Nice looking resin body, you must have had it awhile, seems the times I have looked at their site, most everything is out of stock. Always interested in any WIP on an AWB.

Available on eBay.  Got mine 2 weeks ago.

[ron hobby]

dons garage is 10 mins from me..don has passed away...he was most famious for the 1933

williys QUICK SILVER car....held a lot of records......ron

[R. Thorne]

5 hours ago, ron hobby said:

dons garage is 10 mins from me..don has passed away...he was most famious for the 1933

williys QUICK SILVER car....held a lot of records......ron

Thanks for pointing that out.  The ‘33 has been on my list for quite some time.  Sorry to hear of his passing.

[R. Thorne]

“Chromed” the front grill, sanded the body and shot some 500 primer,  found some Radir rear wheels from a Thunderbolt kit, then rescribed some lines.

[R. Thorne]

Assembled the chassis and sprayed some it with some  ts30 Tamiya.  Also, the front wheels.  Then, some ts14 gloss black on the body.  Turned out badly, don’t know why.  Will be a do over.  Chromed the rear bumper.

[MeatMan]

Cool project!

[R. Thorne]

4 hours ago, MeatMan said:

Cool project!

Thanks, Dennis.  I forgot to mention all comments (good, bad indifferent) are welcomed as are questions.  As Guy Beaudette said:  I love questions, that’s how we learn.  Anyway, put some “chrome” on the lug nuts and the resin grille.  Spun the slicks on my head porting sanding pad and sanded them off a bit.  A pic of the Radir wheels.

[Shark]

You said the black paint job will be a do over, be careful with what you strip it with as some resins don't have a reaction to purple stuff and other chemicals.

[R. Thorne]

5 hours ago, Shark said:

You said the black paint job will be a do over, be careful with what you strip it with as some resins don't have a reaction to purple stuff and other chemicals.

You are correct, Todd.  This is my first resin body paint job, so, caution is the key and try not to soak them very long.  Put some paint on the front tires to replicate the less than average pit conditions that existed in the mid 60’s.  Perhaps too light a color.

[R. Thorne]

Cut out some foam for a new ca glue (brush on Bsi) I am trying out.  The jury is still out, I like the brush type, but doesn’t seem to set up as quick as the medium bsi gold I normally use on painted parts.  Glued the tires on, then checked the fit of the Moebius grille on the resin body (looked okay).  Tried some panel wash on it.  Didn’t like it, so washed it off.  Then painted some interior parts with ts30 Tamiya silver.

[R. Thorne]

Reamed out the collectors with my new Dspiae tool, then decided against the stick shift trans that came in the kit, went with the MorganAutomotiveDetail 727.  I cut off the old one, compared and marked the alignment hole, then drilled it.

[R. Thorne]

Then I test fit the alignment hole on the crossmember.  These drill bits are so handy.  I “painted” the trans with my new AK aluminum marker.  Sure speeds up the build time.  Then, some FusionFirm on the trans pan, glued it on with the brush on ca glue, then used a black marker on the collector insides.

[R. Thorne]

Put the starter, oil filter, distributor, fan, fuel injector pump on the engine.  Used a black sharpie on the injectors.  Not a great job, but ok.  Installed engine and headers.

[R. Thorne]

Installed firewall along with master cylinder and steering box with shaft.  Then inner fenders (along with radiator and support), and interior side panels (at the same time as the dash) then roll bar.

Edited Thursday at 02:42 AM by R. Thorne
Added radiator

[R. Thorne]

Started working on the botched, mysterious, paint job.  First, I tried just sanding the top with some 180 Dspiae pads, then 400, and 1000.  Then, decided to remove the rest of the paint.  The manufacturer of the body was kind enough to answer my question about removing the paint from his resin bodies.  He recommended Westley bleach whyte, but he had never used lacquer paint.  Since I have a variety of “tanks” , including the Westley’s, I soaked it overnight, with no effect, as I suspected.  Then, a bath in the purple stuff with the same result.  I was being over cautious, as I had never stripped a resin body before.  Then I used what I knew would work (91% isopropyl alcohol), but only dunked it for 3 hours.  Finally, success.  Now I will sand the rest of the body as I believe the splotchiness in the paint job was due to a rough texture.  

[R. Thorne]

Well, at least the paint mystery has been solved.  The 500 (grit) Mr. Surfacer does not like the Tamiya ts14 black.  I had forgotten I sprayed the same thing 3 years ago on a 1965 Plymouth Stock Eliminator build with the oem style styrene body with the same results as the resin body now.   I think the primer needs to go in the trash so I will never use it again.  The first pic is 3 years ago and the 2nd is 2 weeks ago.  I will be sanding for the next day or so.