Nascar builders, riddle me this:

[DocLong]

I'm wondering if one of you could take some measurements off of a revell 06ish monte carlo chassis for me. I dont want to open what I've got unless it'll work because it's one of the Budweiser cars.

I'm planning a silver state/one lap style 69 Nova, and am wondering if a nascar chassis would work without a TON of work, as I am not that talented.

What I'm wanting is a WB, Track (from outside to outside with wheels/tires) and height of the chassis with the roll cage.

[highway]

If you think this would help, I have some 01-02 Revell Monte Carlos. There should be little or no difference between them and the Bud car you have, so if those would work, I would be more than happy to help. You're on your own measuring your Nova, though!

[highway]

I checked out these two kits,

and the Kevin Harvick car should probably be very close, if not exact, to the 06 Budweiser car.

The height from the chassis to the top of the rollcage=1 7/8 inches.

The wheelbase=4 1/2 inches.

Front track=3 inches.

Rear track=3 1/8 inches.

I also compared the newer chassis to the older car's chassis, the older chassis is the same except for the width.

The white frame is from the Harvick kit, and even though the rollcage width is the same, there is added chassis sides on the newer frame. I hope this helps you, and if not, give me the dimensions from the Nova (because I don't have one yet ) and I'll check some of my other NASCAR kits out and see if I can point you in the right direction. I have some older Monogram and AMT kits, and the AMT kits may work better for you, anyway, because, if I remember, the Nova is 1/25 scale, isn't it? The Monogram and Revell kits are all 1/24 scale, where the AMT kits are 1/25 scale, and the difference in scale may or may not cause a problem for you.

[highway]

Doc, I just wanted to give you a little update, I now have the 69 Nova! I've been wanting it anyway, and I used my 40% off Michaels coupon to pick it up. I figured if the frame you want to use doesn't work, it would make life much simpler for me to help you possibly find one that does.

[Roadkill2525]

Nick, the AMT NASCAR kits would work alot better being that they're 1:25.

[highway]

Nick, the AMT NASCAR kits would work alot better being that they're 1:25.

Michael is absolutely right! I check out one of my AMT frames with my new Nova body, and I think something like this is definitely what you need.

I even took a couple of mock up pics, and it looks like you may have to do some trimming here and there, but I was able to get it in the body, even though it spreads it out some the way it is unmodified. One place you would have to trim is the rear wheel arches on the frame to make it fit properly in the Nova's body.

Here is an idea of the difference in the frame width compared to the body,

and the difference in the thinner of my Revell frames.

The difference between the newer white frame I pictured earlier, which is probably the one you have, compared to the AMT frame here is almost 1 inch! I also mocked up one side of the rollcage, and it looks to me like it would be a perfect fit.

I also put the two bodies together, and wheel openings are very close to a dead on match.

I hope this helps get your idea from the idea stage to the workbench, and if you need an AMT kit to build it, PM me, we'll work something out! The kit in the pictures is complete, and the parts inside were factory sealed until tonight to take the pictures!

[DocLong]

Wow, that's some tech info!

I read this and went down to my LHS, which is always DEAD... Went in with my sealed Revell Budweiser car and walked out with the Country Time Bobby Hamilton Olds.

Thanks for all the help.

NOW...I need to figure out how I'm going to get this stuff to go under a FINISHED Nova body....ugh.

[highway]

Wow, that's some tech info!

I read this and went down to my LHS, which is always DEAD... Went in with my sealed Revell Budweiser car and walked out with the Country Time Bobby Hamilton Olds.

Thanks for all the help.

NOW...I need to figure out how I'm going to get this stuff to go under a FINISHED Nova body....ugh.

I'm happy I could help you get this project rolling, Doc. I'd like to know where that hobby shop is, because to find that kit on the shelf is simply amazing, that kit hasn't been released since the early 90s! A shop that has 15-20 year old kits on the shelf is definitely a jewel to find! Of course, I guess that puts the idea of us trading kits down the drain! I'm happy you found that kit and it will be a much better donor, and you get the added plus of the pit accessories.

As for getting it under the body, I'd suggest assembling the frame and rollcage before you do any painting. I do that with all my NASCAR frames and then paint it as one unit. Of course, do whatever cutting and trimming you have to do first. A few projects like this that I have done, I usually cut a little at a time, test fit it, and cut and sand some more, then repeat it until I get the fit just right. Since it sounds like you already have the body painted, just cover the outer surfaces near where you might need to sand some of the inner body down with some masking tape. That should help protect your paint job and still allow you to trim the inner thickness of the body down to help the fit of the frame. I'd suggest, too, maybe use the 3m Blue painters low tack tape to do that so the tape doesn't lift the paint off after you're done. If you need any more help, feel free to ask me, I'll try to help you the best I can!

[DocLong]

This LHS does more R/C car/plane stuff than anything else. He's got about 400 or so kits, about 100 of those being Nascar stuff. He still has the two car kits from years ago (the pepsi/mtn. dew for example.) Most of his non nascar stuff is newer, say 5 years old or newer.