vwrabbit Posted January 24, 2012 Posted January 24, 2012 (edited) Picked up the AMT repop of the 55 Corvette 2-in-1 kit. I've been wanting to do a vintage racer for a while and decided to do Noel Park's 150mph milestone tribute. Body has had the mold lines smoothed out and applied some Squadron green to the front and rear pan joints. And smoothed out the molded in trim atop the door that usually carries down from the bottom of the windshield and removed the molded on wipers. Got the front suspension temporarily in place to check ride height. Reviews have complained about the 4x4 look the kit has. Verified and needs to be remedied! Working on getting the rear in place and then fixing the ride height. Tim Edited January 25, 2012 by vwrabbit
Dr. Cranky Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 Wonderful start. Love the reference pic. If you add a driver to it, it's going to look just like the picture. Keep it going.
Cato Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 Think that Squadron putty will shrink. Two part Bondo will not.
vwrabbit Posted January 25, 2012 Author Posted January 25, 2012 Do you mean over time or when it dries? I assume the Bondo glazing putty (red) shrinks too? I use both, but haven't really noticing much shrinkage from the glazing putty. Tim
vwrabbit Posted January 25, 2012 Author Posted January 25, 2012 Got some work done w/the frame, it was slightly bowed increasing the ride height. Had to put 2 notches in it in either side and use some Ambroid ProWeld to soften the frame at the cut and a weight to hold it flat. New front wheels ready and modified the front spindles to help lower it. Still need to get it lower. Removed the front rear spring perch. The plan is to flip it to bring the rear springs down more. Pics in the morning. Time to get to bed. Tim
vwrabbit Posted January 25, 2012 Author Posted January 25, 2012 Thanks guys! Dr. Cranky, I'd love to add a driver. Any idea where I could find one? Here are some pics/updates. First are the images of the cuts I made in the frame to take the bow out of it. Then I removed the rear front spring perch. These will get flipped to help lower the rear end. Then I removed the front A-arm assembly from the frame. Here you can see where I undercut it and marked the frame where the edges were so I knew where to notch the frame. Tim
vwrabbit Posted January 25, 2012 Author Posted January 25, 2012 Here are the new front wheels. Tires are from the parts box. Wheels needed shimmed to fit tightly in to the tires. Here's the frame notched up front w/the A-arms removed. Helps drop it another 2 scale inches or so.
vwrabbit Posted January 25, 2012 Author Posted January 25, 2012 Thanks guys! Got camber and ride height set up front. Tim
Cato Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 Do you mean over time or when it dries? I assume the Bondo glazing putty (red) shrinks too? I use both, but haven't really noticing much shrinkage from the glazing putty. Tim Yes and yes-shrinks forever. No, not the one part Bondo red. Look for 'Bondo Professional Glazing and Spot Putty' (number 801) in a blister pack with a small tube of hardener included. About $8 last time I bought. Harry swears by it too.
62rebel Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 i have a love/hate relationship with these kits... they have so much potential but so many stumbling blocks built in! the others like these, the '51 Chevies, are the same way. pretty good proportions and decent detail, and suspension like a monster truck. you're making great progress with this; keep going!
James2 Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 Interesting build. Thanks for sharing the WIP.
vwrabbit Posted January 25, 2012 Author Posted January 25, 2012 Cato, thanks for the tip on the putty. I'll have to pick some of that up. Tim
garryrenfro Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 Dig it, dig it! there is a lot of potential with that chassis, but you have to throw a lot of thoughtful, creative work into. Just like you are doing!
jeff ewaskey Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 This is gonna be really cool!!!!! Keep it going because I really dig the Vette builds.
vwrabbit Posted January 26, 2012 Author Posted January 26, 2012 Rear suspension done, ride height set. Hoping this will be a quick build. Want to concentrate on the exterior more than anything else. Tim
vwrabbit Posted January 30, 2012 Author Posted January 30, 2012 (edited) Weekend update. Did a bunch of work. Just about ready for primer and color. Trimmed off the tops of the door panel padding. They are sagging and twisted and spaced away from the door assuming you'd like to use the optional windows supplied w/the top. These will be sanded smooth and glued right to the body. Here you can see the twist/sag. Glued to the body along w/the dash top after some sanding. Tim Edited January 30, 2012 by vwrabbit
vwrabbit Posted January 30, 2012 Author Posted January 30, 2012 Opened up the trunk. Finally found some more pictures of this beast and found a trunk shot w/the fuel cell and battery. Will emulate that. Glued the hinge in place to make locating the trunk lid to hinge nice and straight. Probably unnecessary, but sounded like a good idea at the time. Spare tire well WAY too small. Used the bottom of a prescription bottle. Fits the stock tires perfectly, but this will have a fuel cell and battery instead. Tim
vwrabbit Posted January 30, 2012 Author Posted January 30, 2012 Needed to add a wedge to one side of the chassis to bring the wheelbase in line and straight. More shots of the new spare tire well. Tim
Modlbldr Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 That is a great idea with the prescription bottle bottom. Looks perfect. Nice work in fixing all of the small problems in this kit. I really like the early 50's Corvettes. This will be an interesting replica. Later-
nascarfan12 Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 This is a great idea, and I really like your work. Could you show us the grille opening? It looks like you did some drilling. I wonder if the Revell '53 would work for this kind of project?
vwrabbit Posted January 30, 2012 Author Posted January 30, 2012 I did drill out and file the grille. Forgot about that. Started that before I did any other work, when trying to figure out what I was going to do w/this kit. And thanks guys! Tim
vwrabbit Posted February 5, 2012 Author Posted February 5, 2012 Got more work done today. Body and chassis/interior primed. Interior has its color coat. Will get pics in the morn. Tim
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