'39 Sports Wagon

[Jantrix]

Okay you lost me back with that super sectioning job, but I think now I'm back on board.

I have a suggestion now.

With the sweeping lines of the fenders, that rear sedan roofline doesn't work aesthetically anymore. How about dropping the roof further in back to a fastback style. Maybe match the angle of the back of the rear fender?

[Dirty Gringo]

I just wanna see pics of the art morrison frame and air ride parts. I was so close to paying $20 on ebay for one but think I can find it elsewhere cheaper

[Casey]

I'm going to try to cast this thing. If it works out I can make as many as I want.

Looks like you already have?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/resin-Sports-Wagon-trans-kit-for-the-AMT-ERTL-39-Wagon-Rod-kit-/170837626808?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27c6b74fb8#ht_500wt_1158

[wisdonm]

I'm considering a series of three versions. This one is a sports wagon or shooting brake style. I think the roof pretty much follows the center third of the fender. The second version will have a more radical fast back. The third will be a roadster, with the trunk mimicking the back half of the rear fenders.

Yup Casey. That's it.

Edited May 8, 2012 by wisdonm

[Agnaldo]

Wow, what a transformation. Was very good your work in the body. Congratulations.

Hugs.

[surfjunke]

Really cool idea! Great body work & it looks really nice. This just gets better.

[wisdonm]

Here is a pix of the mold and master.

After spending time cleaning up my mold, I was ready to proceed. I mixed up some resin and cast a part. Now came the moment of truth. Thankfully it opened up OK.

Sadly the body was less than appealing. The body texture is quite ruff. Like fiberglass without gel coat in many places. I believe the reason for this is that I used the last of some resin that I probably bought five or six years ago. In fact the polymer was crystallizing in the bottle.

So the next step was to use some resin that I had recently purchase, but had never used. More surprises. This resin is a translucent green. Not at all what I expected. It seems like resin for fiberglass or 1-minute epoxy. The container says it's for models. It is very thin and easily gets into every nook and cranny.

The second body looks very good, if a little weird. I thought the acid test would be if the hood fit into the slots next to the fenders. It fit very well on the first try.

Now I can make all the Sports Wagon/hearses that I want.

Gotta go. I have a model to build.

[Bugace]

That is very close to the lines of the Jag XK120.

If you lay down the rear roofline just a bit, and make the windows that end in the C pillar have the same line as the rearfenders..............

Oh!!

I'll swap some Street Heat Concorde wheels, and tires, for one resinbody.

Edited May 11, 2012 by Bugace

[Foxer]

This keeps looking better and better. Glad to see the body casting is working.

[wisdonm]

Temporarily reunited the floor pan and body . Next I cut the fire wall to fit. It is less than half it's original height. After some clearancing I got the floor pan to fit for the first time.

That piece on the side is what was cut off of the fire wall. 11 scale inch section and a little off the top.

First pix of hood and grill in place.

[Bugace]

That seemed to go rather easy after all. With so many mods, it's not given You can use as many kitparts as wanted. Still thrilled abouth this one, and wish to see more.

[Kustom Rodder]

Wow thats a lot of work but the end result will be woth it gona be sweet.

[wisdonm]

Scribed the new door lines.

I made tail lights from sprue. Not the prettiest, but they match the head lights and dash. They are just pressed into place. Looks like they should be pressed in further.

The tail lights look better pushed back into the body.

Next I made wheel spats from flat styrene and super glued them into place.

Finally, I made new B pillars. I glued two strips of quarter round onto a styrene sheet. The two pieces of quarter round were separated by an exacto blade, since I use a blade to make the panel lines.

These were cut to length and installed with super glue.

[surfjunke]

The '39 looks so cool. Great work.

[wisdonm]

I made a license plate out of regular paper with a piece of transparent tape over it.

You can also see parts for my hood hinge.

This pix shows how the hood hinge functions. When open, the hood stands vertically, giving complete access to the engine. When closing the hood, the hood is rotated horizontally and the hinges pivot on the cross bar until they face backwards and nestle alongside the engine air intake.

Here's a few pixs of the power-train, a '94 Chevy LT5 and Brog-Warner 5 speed manual. The engine is a 405HP 349 cubic inch, all aluminum, DOHC, 32 valve, and electronically fuel injected V-8.

This is the first time I've used wire separators. With my eyes and fingers it was a major accomplishment. Also drilled the power steering pulley.

It still fits nicely under the 11 inch lower hood.

[bryan_m]

looking good!!

bryan

[wisdonm]

Time to work on the interior. Been working on the dash for some time. The original dash is a 1990 Corvette dash, seen in the lower part of the first pix. It's OK, but I thought I'd try something different.

I'm going to use the dash from a Dodge Sidewinder show truck. I think it carries the front end styling. It was too wide, so it had to be narrowed. I couldn't just cut the ends off, so I had to section it in two places.

I used the steering column and pedal assembly from the original Wagon Rod kit. The steering wheel is from a watch. I think it looks period correct. The flip down central navigation/infotainment center cover/drink holder is made from a leftover piece of the original grill. The knobs are painted period ivory.

At the bottom of the second pix you will also see some floor mats that I made.

I used embossing powder for the first time to flock the floors and door trim. I think it's much more in scale than traditional flocking powder.I didn't have to paint it. The color is called Walnut, and Michaels was closing out big containers for $1.48

The side panels had 11" cut from the bottom edge. The seat bottoms had 3" removed from the bottom.

[wisdonm]

I mocked up the suspension. I found that the ends of the shock absorbers had to be enlarged so that they could fit on the mounting pins. Upon looking at the kit shock (far right) I thought, maybe I could make it look better.

So, I whacked off the rod end of the kit shock and added a piece of fish hook (second from right).

Even the eye of the size 6 fish hook was too small for the mounting pins, so they had to be enlarged. From previous experience, I know that fish hooks are made of hardened steel. If you try to drill the eyelet, bend the hook, and even cut it, you will have trouble. You have to anneal (soften) the hook before you can work with it. I held the hook in a paper clip (far left) and heated it with a butane lighter until everything was cherry red. Let it cool by itself. This will only take a few seconds.

Once it is annealed, it can be easily drilled, bent, and cut. The annealing process also burns off the gold colored plating. While in the holder, I cleaned the hook up with a piece of ScotchBrite.

Cut off the kit shock rod end, after measuring it's length. Then drill a hole in the shock body for the new rod end (fish hook) to be inserted. Adjust the length, glue, if necessary, and you're done.

Then came the wheels and tires. They are a nice set of big n littles. The tire treads were buffed, the wheels striped, and valve stems added. The valve stems are pieces of mechanical pencil lead that are super glued into holes drilled into the wheels.

I then foiled the brake rotors. They look much better in person.

[Casey]

I'm going to use the dash from a Dodge Sidewinder show truck. I think it carries the front end styling. It was too wide, so it had to be narrowed. I couldn't just cut the ends off, so I had to section it in two places.

Great idea, and it definitely ties in with with front end design.

[Bartster]

this is looking so cool. Lotsa neat, creative touches.

[wisdonm]

I like this chassis. I will be using it as a reasonably priced donor in the future, especially if I need air bags. The front sway bar and steering shaft are not mounted yet.

The kit comes with a nice set of big and littles, but it won't be apparent because of the fender skirts.

Here it is in a coat of Rustoleum Almond. Sorry, it's not as exotic or flashy as the other builds, but I think it suites the classic lines of this build in an understated kind of way.

[jbwelda]

totally spectacular and totally jaguar, like someone mentioned. spectacular.

[Assa9]

Very very classy!!!!!

[thatz4u]

what kits will the wagon rod frame fit under?? pm answers please

[wisdonm]

I don't believe it is a direct fit under any specific kit. But it would be a great chassis for many resin (ie. Flintstone) bodies.