building a lowrider

[Porky]

Hey Eelco, hard to belive that started out as a nascar kit, looking good !!!

How's the wife and lil one doing ??? all good I hope.

[diymirage]

thanks

the wife and baby are both good

it sure does take some getting used to

i miss the nights where i decided when to sleep and when not

[diymirage]

got some more work done today

i scratchbuild the headlight housings

it is all i can do to them untill im done painting the rest of the body

then ill detail in bulbs, reflectores and lenses

these also show off the final stand nicely

not quite as low as i wanted the rear to be but i guess it looks pretty impressive

any opinions ? (in case any one is following this)

[Jared Roach]

got some more work done today

i scratchbuild the headlight housings

it is all i can do to them untill im done painting the rest of the body

then ill detail in bulbs, reflectores and lenses

these also show off the final stand nicely

not quite as low as i wanted the rear to be but i guess it looks pretty impressive

any opinions ? (in case any one is following this)

This is looking fantastic! But I think those revell lowrider wheels are killing it?? They seem too small or something to me. If you could find some pegas rims or something along those lines I think it would look alot better, because it looks like it needs something to fill those wheel wells.

[diymirage]

This is looking fantastic! But I think those revell lowrider wheels are killing it?? They seem too small or something to me. If you could find some pegas rims or something along those lines I think it would look alot better, because it looks like it needs something to fill those wheel wells.

thanks for the compliment

your probably right

maybe ill fill in the front wheel wells a little bit more to narrow the gap some

because i really do like the design of those rims

and to be honoust, i pulled the rear end off about 4 times before i got it where i wanted it and id hate to redo all of that

[Railfreak78]

I like the start of your headlight section. The fact that this is a Pontiac Grand Prix body, The headlights look to me almost like a Baretta or Corsica or Celebrity, style minus the "Euro" cover they did on them. I know I named all Chevy's there but Pontiac had their own such as 6000 and such. It's period correct "looking" if the clear lens over the housing was missing.

[Porky]

thanks

the wife and baby are both good

it sure does take some getting used to

i miss the nights where i decided when to sleep and when not

Hey Eelco

Glad to hear the family is good.

Hey brother it gets better after about a year on the sleep thing Hang in there

Edited February 25, 2010 by Porky

[diymirage]

I like the start of your headlight section. The fact that this is a Pontiac Grand Prix body, The headlights look to me almost like a Baretta or Corsica or Celebrity, style minus the "Euro" cover they did on them. I know I named all Chevy's there but Pontiac had their own such as 6000 and such. It's period correct "looking" if the clear lens over the housing was missing.

to be honoust...im not sure yet if i am planning on putting a clear lens over them

right now im thinking of going with something more "projecter: light looking

the housing themselves need some more putty and sanding but you're right, they do look like the berretas

you know what they REALLY look like ?

(im gonna hate myself for saying this) a geo metro

im not hating the look of it though

Hey Eelco

Glad to hear the family is good.

Hey brother it gets better after about a year on the sleep thing Hang in there

he did pretty good last night, slept for 4 hours straight

of course, i had something going on in my eye so i was on benadril which might have made things mroe bareble for me

[Railfreak78]

LOL@ Metro now that I look again It would be like un-masking the soon to be wifes Dodge Shadow. It does really look good on your car man I am most impressed!

[diymirage]

LOL@ Metro now that I look again It would be like un-masking the soon to be wifes Dodge Shadow. It does really look good on your car man I am most impressed!

thanks

im very pleased with the way this is coming out so far

(though the idea of some peggies does roll around my head now)

[BigBeze]

Thats looking pretty cool so far!

[diymirage]

Thats looking pretty cool so far!

thanks

im making pretty decent progress with it

here is a sneak peak at the exhaust im planning on making

(this will be my first time custom building headers from solder and pipes from aluminum so bare with me here)

this is just a quick mock up, the final version will have the exit horizontal rather then pointing slightly down

anyone notice those tires i found in the partsbox ?

its like mounting a set of 16X195/65 tires on a 14J6 rim but luckily the good people at lock-tite make superglue now too

[diymirage]

well, got a little more work done

as you might be able to tell, i finished up the trim around the headlights

i got about as much done as i can before paint sooooooo i started paint

as you might have caught somewhere else i screwed up my decal but im gonna run with it anyway

it just means i have to change the paint scheme some

now the colours will be RAF training yellow (like the cuda in my avatar)

with blue and silver and a black top

the first coat went on last night

it is model masters german silver metallic

funny thing

when everything is said and done this silver will look (hopefully) like it lays on top of the rest of the car

[Railfreak78]

I cant quit watching, this thing is going to be great buddy.

[diymirage]

I cant quit watching, this thing is going to be great buddy.

thanks i apreciate the input

as we speak i am waiting on the second coat to dry

this is actually the base coat of RAF training yellow which looks a LOT like mopars butterscotch which is why i bought it in the firstplace for my chicken of the sea

cant wait to see how the taped of parts will look once the paint dries properly

then comes the hard part, decal placement and the final coat of paint before the clearcoat

if you are wanting a sneak peak of the paint look up my sardinechallenger

i will be using the same tecniques on the sides of this one

[diymirage]

got some pictures of the second coat

so for we have have model masters RAF training yellow and modelmasters german silver

now i need to apply the hood decal

(my first custom decal)

then do a lot of taping and finish shooting the last colour, modelmasters ford engine blue

hopefully onces that is on it will no longer look like a new york taxi cab

[diymirage]

got the 3rd coat of paint done AND slapped on the decal

(actually slapped on the decal between the 2nd and 3rd coat)

so...here is a paint revail

(keep in mind, i still need to paint the top black)

starting on the back

and then the driver side

and finally a shot of the decal

anyone wanna gues who modeled for the hood ?

passenger side for good measure

and a birds eye view

the way i painted the hood was as follows

first i shot a coat of german silver

then i taped of the sides of it (like a frame) and shot a coat of RAF trainer yellow

(shot it to look like a rising sun)

once that dried i put on the decal and when that dried i taped a piece of screen door over the hood

with the screen door in place a shot a coat of modelmasters true blue pearl

(tried to shoot the ford engine bleu but it was to thick and wouldnt pass through the screen)

with the true blue i shot basically half a coat to hit everything that i didnt hit with the trainer yellow

noooooooow i gotta finish up the interior and call it good

thoughts ?

[Railfreak78]

hopefully onces that is on it will no longer look like a new york taxi cab

[diymirage]

hopefully onces that is on it will no longer look like a new york taxi cab

More like an L.A. Cab On a serious note the screen thing is a cool idea and one thing that I noticed after my last visit and did not say anything about was the body lines on the rear from the mold tail light area. When you added in you smaller lights I thought it would look odd with that gap under the spoiler area. The way you did your stripe detracted from that and it looks really good. My one concern is how big your dividers are for the top. That big I would maybe (with out glue of course) play around with a rag top or vinyl top? Just a thought.

[Blake Rogers]

so you modeled for your hood ????

[diymirage]

so you modeled for your hood ????

close but no

i thought of putting my mug on the trunk

that should keep the tailgaters off

[diymirage]

started on the hinge today

i figured if this was my 1:1 id want to be able to show of the hood even when its open so i went with you basic flip-flop hinge (i believe that is the technical term)

no pictures of the hinge itself (trade secret and all that)

but here is a mockup of the hinged hood superglued in place

(i like to use teeny tiny drops of superglue for mockups like this so i can tear it apart and redo it properly once i know exaclty where it goes)

so, mockup with the hood in place

slightly opened

and completly open

i know its a little bit cockeyed in that last picture but that is why its a mockup

i took the body and put her back into the paintbooth for a quick coat or two of cleat just to be sure i dont rub the paint off doing all this mocking upping

[diymirage]

got a little bit more work done to the pontiac today

the main thing i did was finish the vinyl roof

this was my first time installing a vinyl roof (though i have changed a few of them into hardtops)

i used paper tape to achieve the texture

i also wired and mocked up the engine

i got rid of the powerfull pontiac race engine for the 302 cross barrel chevy

i even went as far as move the distributor to the front of the engine where it belongs

( why in the world chevy put it in the back i'll never know but i fixed it for them and now it fits in the engine bay)

[JamesW]

lookin good.

[rustybill1960]

I would not have believed it, if I had not seen it with my own eyes!

A stock car into a low rider?!?!?!

WOW!

You have shown quite the "intestinal fortitude" with such a build!

My plastic building hat is off to you Sir!

Great job! Really like the bondo work on the rear wheel wells, I will attempt said on the '74 Chevelle convert to a '73 Chevelle, as soon as I find the '74 again!

Thank You for sharing

Later

Russ