Psychographic Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 (edited) If you were a big fan of Topolino bodied fuel altereds of the 60's-70's, and you aquired just the shell of the Fiat body from the Double Dragster kit. What would you build? Better yet, what do you think I will build? Edited January 31, 2012 by Psychographic Quote
Chuck Most Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 I built mine mostly out of box, but with a Pontiac engine instead of the Hemi. But I'm thinking what you have in mind will be quite a bit more interesting. Quote
george 53 Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 With VERY slight mods, you CAN mount that body onna old Revell 34 Ford coupe kit. The Revell kit IS undersized anyway, an the only really good thing about it is it's chassis! BUT the body WILL drop onto the FENDER unit of the 34 and with just a little bitta work an it makes for a REAL nice full fendered Topolino! Mine came out pretty cool, and you WILL have a unique/different model on your shelf. (besides, it's the only way to get a fendered Topo. That I know of.) Quote
elan Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 I would go with the full fender look also. Maybe with a slant six up front. Something different. Quote
randx0 Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 I think you are going to narrow it and then use a bunch of parts from the amt silhouette show car. Quote
Psychographic Posted January 31, 2012 Author Posted January 31, 2012 Well, it will be fendered, but I'm not sure you would call them full. Randy is so close, nope not a Silhouette, this time it's a Roth creation and it fits the Topo perfectly, it's the Beatnik Bandit. Now I didn't narrow the little Fiat, it's already pretty small, I did however have to narrow the Bandit about an 1/8". My first cuts and mock up. Quote
Psychographic Posted January 31, 2012 Author Posted January 31, 2012 I glued the Bandit to the Topo right at the body line, so although not stock, it follows a stock line. This left the fenders too low for the cowl. There are "bullets" that run from between the headlights to the back of the fenders. I sliced the body along the outside of the bullet, from the back to about 1/2" shy of the front of the fender. A small filler piece was cut and glued in place and now the fender lines up with the cowl. Most of the Topolino body is trimmed way where it overlapped the Bandit body. The nose had to be narrowed about 1/8". The easiest way to do it was to cut the grille off and then glue it back in place.When the headlights are done, you will never know it's narrower. I also didn't see a purpose for the bullets and removed the front of them but left the hump in the fender, Some Mock up shots Quote
Psychographic Posted January 31, 2012 Author Posted January 31, 2012 The pieces needed to finish the blend from Bandit to Fiat. Quote
mr.camaro Posted January 31, 2012 Posted January 31, 2012 Very cool idea! Kinda reminds me of a legend race car Quote
W-409 Posted January 31, 2012 Posted January 31, 2012 This is cool project, that idea is great. Interesting to see how it turns out, starting point looks like very interesting. I'll be following this very surely, thanks for sharing another great WIP with us. Quote
surfjunke Posted January 31, 2012 Posted January 31, 2012 What agreat idea! I love it! I have always wanted to fill in the sides of the body & build a fenderless lowboy street rod. Quote
Modellpularn Posted January 31, 2012 Posted January 31, 2012 Very cool idea! Kinda reminds me of a legend race car Yeah! At least with those wide wheels. I think ol' Ed would dig it.... Quote
Psychographic Posted February 1, 2012 Author Posted February 1, 2012 I looked in the bag of parts for the Beatnik Bandit and found almost a complete front suspension in decent shape. The interior tub looks like it might be of use and the frame was a mess. After cleaning up the frame, it needed to be narrowed about 1/4", the only crossmember in the frame was broken and a mess. I'll start with a simple X frame to start. I like the way the stock front suspension looks, I'll proabably make airbags to replace the springs. I'd like to go IRS on the back, I just need to dig something up, or make something. I might have to shorten the frame a bit, I won't know until I find a rear for it. The frame, Quote
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