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Posted

With all due respect to Eric Clapton, I don't get off on '57 Chevys. When the 150/Black Widow kit came out, I thought "Wow... one more supposedly great kit I'll never buy!" Today, I did a really, really bad thing. I bought one of those 150 kits. But I have a good reason for that, I swear!

You see, there is a guy in the little Michigan hamlet of Breckenridge who has this beat up old '57 Chevy sedan. Well... it was a sedan at one time. At some point, the car was relieved of its body from the b-pillars back, and a flat bed was added. I don't have any pics of this unique machine, but I've seen him oot and aboot lately, so I'm pretty sure I can snap a few later on. This model won't be an exact replica of that car, anyway, I'll be putting my own spin on things.

I went to St. Ignace last year, and saw the first '57 Chevy I actually liked. This one...

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Now, I don't know what it was about this particular '57 that appealed to me, but I really liked it's overall crustyness. The model will more closely follow this particular car.

Oh yea, the model...

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Don't worry- later photos will be much better than this one! First order of business was cutting away the molded-in floor from around the rear 1/3 or so of the frame rails, and reshaping the inner parts of the rails to follow the curve of the outers. The wheels are MRC Muscle Car Hop Up-Set Keystones and Goodyears- I always thought they were a bit too chunky looking for use on a muscle car, but they'd look okay on a truck. Even a truck that used to be a car!

I also liberated the rear part of the roof and trunk, from about 1/8" aft of the b-posts. I made up the rear cab wall from .020" styrene, still needs a bit of blending into the original Revell plastic, but gives a pretty good idea of where this one's going...

Posted

Put Holden badges on it and confuse people :)

And for those already confused..............................................................

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B)

Umm, that is a holden lol It's a 76 Holden Premierm great ute!

Posted

A minor progress report...

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Here's the finished rear cab bulkhead, with window in place. The window is from a '60 Chevy pickup, installed 'inside out'. I also added a rear shock crossmember and added the kit's shocks- I'll detail paint the various bits later on.

Posted

Today's efforts- wedged in the Big Block Chevy V8 and 4-speed, and the '72 Cutlass brake cylinder/booster. Had to shuffle some stuff around to fit the Rat, but I made it work...

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Posted

Chuck, you are amazing. I love the fact that you take that hacksaw and go to work, and you always produce one-of-a-kind builds. Your imagination is at a premium, buddy. Great work. You keep raising the bar. I love this thing!

Posted (edited)

Chuck, I grew up in Lapeer county, and we had a few vehicles running around like that when I was a kid. One in particular I remember was a '56 Olds 88. The car had been hit in back, so the owner lopped it off at the b post and made a bulkhead out of plywood and a piece of glass.He then mad a stake bed for the thing. It looked pretty sweet.

Edited by Harold
Posted

Interesting...I've seen stuff like this in 1:1 before..reminds me of some the 'Keys Cruisers' or Kruzers I saw in the '80s in the Florida Keys..old rusty cars (usually wagons) w/ the rear bodywork removed and a flatbed added...I remember a mid '70s Torino and a mid '70s Mercury Colony Park..w/ woodgrain.

Posted

I know I've said it before Chuck,but you can come up with some of the coolest stuff! Wish I had just half or your imagination.

Posted

The fun continues!

Used some AMT Parts Pack headlight buckets, to replicate the black '57's missing bezels...

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And wrapped up the bed, with some scratchbuilt toolboxes, a wooden bumper, some tie-down eyelets, and some taillamps from a Revell midget trailer...

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