'66 Olds 442 Pro Street

[Chuck Most]

Yes, yes, Pro Street is pretty much 'dead', but I don't care.

The body is from the AMT kit, while the chassis is from the new reissue of the Revell '67 Chevelle pro street kit. Both the body and chassis needed some trimming to fit together, but wheelbase, track, and the general position and location of parts are perfect for the Olds... which they should be, as the 1:1 cars shared a basic platform.

As it is now, the car sits a bit high for my tastes, so the nose will be going down a few scale inches at least. I've got a bit of room in the fenders to play around with, but the rear is another story- in this photo, the rear tires are touching the tops of the tubs.

The Chevelle kit comes with modular wheels with Bow Tie patterns engraved on them, obviously not going to cut it on an Olds, so I got a spare set of wheels from a Monogram '37 Ford Tudor street rod kit. The front inner and outer wheel halves were filed down a bit to fit better in the wheels- the assembled wheel would have been a tick too wide for the Chevelle front tires had I not done that.

Rear wheels were another story. For those, I cut the Chevelle rear wheels roughly 1/8" above where the wheel gets wider. I then filed the cut flat, painted the modified Chevelle wheel flat black, and glued the Monogram outer wheel to that.

Here's a view of the modified wheel-

Edited May 10, 2012 by Chuck Most

[LoneWolf15]

Who told you that big fat lie , Mr Most ? Pro street is alive and kickin' here in Yostville ! Please carry on , Sir ! This certainly has my attention . Of coarse, this build will have a shine to it .........right ?

[Guest]

I'll be tuned in on this one Chuck! I still love pro street cars! I think once you get that front end down a little,it should look about right.

[camaroman]

... Of coarse, this build will have a shine to it .........right ?

With Chuck that's not a sure bet ... He is liable to do it rusty, crusty like a barn find!!!

But I can't wait to see !!!

[Bonekrosha]

I LOVE Pro-Street and am so very tired of all the Pro-Touring that is continuously shoved down the throats of readers of Hot Rod, Car Craft, etc.

[Chuck Most]

I'm leaning toward Duplicolor School Bus Yellow, but nothing is set in stone at this point. I might look at available '66 442 colors and see if there's one I like.

Fixed the front ride height issue- cut the axle stub off flush with the vertical surface of the spindle, then moved it up as high as it would go. Unmodified side on the left, dropped side on the right of the photo. Works out to a rough 3 scale inch drop.

Now THAT'S more like it! Yes, I know the rear axle isn't centered, we'll worry about getting the rear suspension all sorted out later.

[Steven Zimmerman]

While I like Pro street, and understand your point - - - the car mags show what's popular, and what sells magazines, the same as MCM. Like it or not, Pro Touring is what's popular, at the moment.(Actually, for about the last 10 years)Years ago, when Pro Street was the trend, people said the same thing ! The same could be said for the mags that feature 'old school, rat rods, low riders, etc...If they did not cater to a majority of their readers they would not be around long.....'Z'

[Dr. Cranky]

I too am watching this one. Keep it going. In my book not style or subject matter is DEAD. Everything is alive and kicking, and if I need to build it, I will, so do carry on, Chuck.

[mikemodeler]

That should look nice when you are done Chuck. Not sure about school bus yellow but mayeb once I see it will look better than it sounds.

What are you doing for an engine? A mild or wild setup?

That Chevelle chassis is so easy to adapt to other kits, I have a couple of them just for that purpose.

[XXXfire700]

pro street is far from dead. nothing beats a classic slammed with a huge big block in it an 30 + in of rubber in the back . i did a pro street nova not that long back i had a lot of fun doing it.

[Guest Darkside Customs]

This thing is sweet! Can't wait to see more

[Scale-Master]

A lot of things are "dead" or out of style in the real world, but they can live on forever in our models. Pro Street seems to have been replaced by Pro Touring and in ten years who knows what might replace it? Pro Electric maybe? Pro Dinosaur?

[crazyjim]

I like it, Chuck, and will probably love it if it's SHINY :)

[W-Machine]

Looking forward to how this build will turn out.

[Chuck Most]

Well, for power I believe there is only one correct choice for this car- an Olds V8 with a supercharger! I know a big block Chevy would probably be the easy way to go, but I just think an Olds pro street car needs Olds power.

[Fat Brian]

You need to build the experimental W-43 Olds hemi for this car. The block is a standard Olds 455 piece with four valves per cylinder hemi heads. It never went into production but is rumored to have pulled almost 600hp on the dyno.

[bryan_m]

cool project chuck! yea that olds "hemi" would be a cool addition!

cheers

bryan

[1930fordpickup]

Well, for power I believe there is only one correct choice for this car- an Olds V8 with a supercharger! I know a big block Chevy would probably be the easy way to go, but I just think an Olds pro street car needs Olds power.

You could not say this any better ! The big block Chevy could be leg for the work bench !

[RANDY L]

Prostreet is never dead

Rock on

Randy Ludi

[Guest]

Well, for power I believe there is only one correct choice for this car- an Olds V8 with a supercharger!

Exactly! If you could get the blower setup and valve covers from the old original Revell SWC Willys,that would be the icing on the cake!

[Casey]

I always liked Cary Weisner's orange Pro Street '66 Olds Cutlass, so this build should be a good one to watch progress.

[Chuck Most]

Ixnay the body-color bumpers and that's more or less the look I'm after.

[bbowser]

Great idea! Definitely keep the chrome bumpers and trim, I hated the monochrome look, but love the big meats and over the top engines.

[Chuck Most]

Oh... no pastel, evocative-of-the-Miami-Vice-title-card graphics or lettering on the car either. At least that's the plan at this point.

[bryan_m]

no way pro street is dead chuck......

let `er R.I.P. (tounge firmly in cheek)

cheers

bryan