55 Chevy Pro Street

[mannyclub]

Hey Tom,

well to bad about the engine! However the 55 will be sweet when its finished im sure! Look forward to seeing more of it!

Manny

[Brutalform]

Thanks Manny...It will get done!!

Dave....I just bought the 67 Chevelle on Ebay! I really like it for what it is, I mean I will just build it. Killer car!!! I can still get a 55 bel air down the road, and add the Dencon conversion kit. The kit will not arrive for about 4 weeks anyway. Im glad you mentioned the Chevelle...Thanks.

Edited August 12, 2010 by Brutalform

[Steven Zimmerman]

Race motor Replicas sells a resi '55 Chevy 2 door sedan body based on the AMT version; with a chopped top,molded in bumpers,re shaped rear wheel wells,and 2 optional hoods - one with a cowl induction scoop and one with the '67 Chevelle SS power bulges molded in. The hoods are also widened to 'fit' the body (a big problem with some of the AMT 55 Chevies) The rear wheels have been opened up higer in the body,but are still similar in shape to the stock openings-they're actually the R/M 64 Chevy truck rear wheel well openings grafted onto the AMT body before casting. The side chrome spears on the front and rear fenders have been removed. The front and rear glass is also raked and the vent windows removed,this might help you out.....'Z'

[Steven Zimmerman]

Oops,thats 'resin'...So much fer me proof reading skills.....'Z'

[Brutalform]

Well the pics I had posted a while back, are gone. Now that I have Photobucket, I can get some new ones up. I finished a 62 Bel Air, but I just gotta polish it up, so I decided to try a little fabrication on this 55 that has been sitting awhile.

For two days, I've been working on a "new" 55, since the old project was not working out with the BIG Gibson engine. I got another AMT 55 body, and scored an open Revell 55 Chevy Pro sportsman kit for next to nothing! I started to mock some of it up, just to see how it might turn out. Gonna take some work, but I am gonna give it a go, and test my skills, as I never really did stuff like this before.

Gotta alot of sanding to do, especially in the engine bay, where it was cut up to accept the moly tube chassis, and struts.

Here is a few pics. Any advice is appreciated.

[brett]

Hi Tom, looking good, but as you asked forsome advice.......... i would shorten the very back of the floorpan a little to centre the rear wheels in the opening, this is probably going to mean you need to lengthen all the front frame a little but isnt hard to do. New pics are much better by the way.

[Steven Zimmerman]

Rather than adjust the frame,it might be easier to just move the wheelwell; or lengthen it towards the front of the car....can't tell for sure with a full 'side' pic of the ca'r ...'Z'(Notice....I said "MIGHT"...)

[dwc43]

Rather than adjust the frame,it might be easier to just move the wheelwell; or lengthen it towards the front of the car....can't tell for sure with a full 'side' pic of the ca'r ...'Z'(Notice....I said "MIGHT"...)

Not a bad idea. It would center the front wheels and allow for that Altered Wheelbase look by moving the front portion of the rear opening forward. You could also open it up a little more to show a little more wheel too.

[kylexgore]

im glad to see ya gettin back to this. nice work so far.

[Brutalform]

Its been a little while since I posted an update. Been working, and I have been just modeling a bit every now and then. Not to mention, I have a few other cars I am building also. The 55 will still not be completed for several more weeks, or so. I need to buy some braided fuel lines and fittings, oil hoses, and seat belts, from Pro Tech, and I still did not even get the check in the mail. I tried the decal seat belt, but decided not to do that...looks cheap. I dug out another body from my stash, to avoid the ugly cut cowl. Not really scratch built or anything...just stretched the frame, and interior a bit to get it to look right. Thanks for the previous advice. Here is whats done so far....

[Brutalform]

Did some paint today. Went with Tamiya Pure White #TS-26, and Racing Blue #TS-51. Will need to buy some more BMF, if the supplied trim does not look right. BTW, does anyone have a drivers side chrome quarter panel molding for this Monogram body. Looked all over for it, but its gone. (posted on the "wanted" board as well). Just waiting for Pro Tech stuff now.

[Cato]

This is a really cool project and is well done to this point. I'd like to comment about the Gibson engines.

Many responders here are obviously knowledgeable drag race guys. It surprises me therefore that no one has mentioned the probable reason for Gibson's apparent scale 'oversize.' To be clear-I'm not affiliated with them nor have I built any. All the criticisms about casting quality and build difficulty may be valid.

The basic thing to remember about BBC's and their race derivatives is that they were cast in at least 3 different deck heights (distance from crank centerline to cylinder head deck). That's plus enlarged bore spacing is how the displacements got as high as 815 CI-and higher still now. Strokes over 5"' and bores too made these engines 'bigger' physically than the 427.

Deck heights were 9.8" for 427 / 454, 10,2" for 502's and up and some special cast blocks (World Merlins and some Darts) were 11.6 (IIRC) tall decks. By contrast, a SBC's deck is 9.24"-the 'Mouse Motor' and a stock 'Elephant' Hemi's deck was 10.72".

So that's why I think Gibsons Sonny Leonard and other motors seem out of scale for 1/25 models. They may have inaccuracies but I don't know. But the above can explain why they look big in model form. I saw the 737" Merlin (11.6" deck) in Tony Bartone's Camaro and it was enormous. Made 1180HP (somewhat mild) on the dyno but Tony ran less compression on the street at a little over 900HP.

Many ProMod and Super Street guys run special castings-Musi has a 903" Stratus running 5's...

See the monsters here:

http://www.streetcarsupernationals.com/pscontend.html

[Brutalform]

Hi Cato, thanks for the compliment. I 100% agree with what you said about the engines, but it was just too large for what I wanted. Then the alignment issues too.

Here is where it was going when the project started....

Maybe the Gibsons are 1/24, as to a 1/25 scale??? I don't think it would be any different between the scale sizes, but maybe it is.

[ian ashton]

great lookin 55. i would love to see someone build his yellow camaro.

I know the person that owns that car now. It's just sitting in a warehouse, never gets driven or raced.

Edit; just read the other posts and the booking racing link - I'm not sure that's the same CARS Inc car, as I know for a fact the CARS car is/was owned by Pete Tundas who owns Championship Auto Shows Inc (Autorama and World of Wheels) and TMG, which is a sports marketing company that tours a GM Performance Parts truck. Maybe he sold it. There were 2 weren't there, a yellow one and a teal one?

Edited November 11, 2010 by ian ashton

[Cato]

Hi Cato, thanks for the compliment. I 100% agree with what you said about the engines, but it was just too large for what I wanted. Then the alignment issues too.

Here is where it was going when the project started....

Maybe the Gibsons are 1/24, as to a 1/25 scale??? I don't think it would be any different between the scale sizes, but maybe it is.

Rock on Dude-you've captured the overall look. The front dress looks t!ts. If you're not 100% anal about complete accuracy-maybe if you sectioned the heads a couple MM's to get the valve covers below the hood line???