Old Custom Valiant Rebuild

[Tom Geiger]

I haven't posted these on this forum yet, so let me explain. I have been collecting old customs that were done by builders back in the day. Many folks take these and break them for parts or strip them into new builds, but I see these as our folk art.

Last year at NNL East my friend Dave Burket gave me this body. He said he just wanted to put it where it belonged and urged me to do something with it. It was just the body, I put this chassis under it for the photo. What it lacks in build quality and especially paint skills it makes up for in imagination.

In the "Very Cool" category is how our original builder created this beauty. They didn't have Evergreen sheet back in the day so he used the cover from the S&H Green Stamp Catalog. Note that on Dave Shuklas's Bobtail Cat, a bit of an AutoWorld reply card is visible on the underside so this is period correct. Also note where the fins were cut off the back and filled in with some kind of filler.

And here we are with the finished product after a few days of fun low pressure work. Note that the goal of my Olde Kustom Kollection is to restore and preserve in the original builders intent and skill level. So we save everything we can, and only add parts and materials that would have been available in 1962

In this view I added a cover for the grill opening. The original builder reshaped this poorly so a Valiant part (which I have) wouldn't fit. So I made a cover which also covers up the badly shaped opening. Note how rough the putty job was, which is typical and needed to be preserved for our period look.

I made a quick interior and roll bar. I cut down a '57 Chevy dash and used a single bucket and steering wheel, all from the parts box. I cut down the roll bar to fit and I left the splice seam showing as would have been done back then. I gave that a quick coat of red to contrast with the stripe.

The roll bar actually sits on a little platform I added inside the body so that I can still unscrew the body and take it apart. No doubt the original builder would have just glued it to the inside floor. The once concession I made.

Side view - Since this car just screams Salt Lakester and didn't come with wheels, I decided to use the ones from the old Monogram Green Hornet kit. The tires were way too large, so I found that the discs would fit into the side of tires that had white wall inserts like they were made for them.

Rear View - The original builder had the holes nicely done, all I did was add some little rinestones for tail lights. I don't believe the original builder ever completed this car since there were no glue marks near any of the missing parts. Also the body had never been screwed to a chassis. So I fixed history by finally finishing this one and adding it to my Olde Kustom Shelf! And now she's ready for the next 50 years!

[Draggon]

That is very very cool. I just love these old vintage models. As you said, lots of imagination!

[trogdor]

Good on you for preserving a part of modeling history.

[realgone58]

That is awesome! I love seeing these old original kustoms. Very cool!

[Sixties Sam]

Very cool! Brings back memories of some of the stuff I made in the 1960's. I remember making a 40 Ford pickup by cutting off the back of an AMT sedan and making a bed and cab back from plastic I got from (I think) a milk carton. And, of course, Mom's sewing thread for plug wires. We had to be creative then!

Sam

[Tom Geiger]

Thanks guys! I have more of these old builds, some that I just cleaned up a bit, and some that required a bit of work to bring back. I'll post more since there is some interest!

[Austin T]

I just love finding an old custom like the one you found,I was at a flea market and this guy had a box with about 20 or so "Customs" in there he was holding for someone,I was only able to get one for 15 bucks.It was a rootbeer colored 53 ford pick-up that had some serious chops and putty work.Heres a pic of it http://public.fotki.com/Austin48HD/my-first-album/.