Chuck Most Posted January 7, 2013 Posted January 7, 2013 ... maybe pull the Pontiac mnt motor from a PS kit. I'd go that route! I think one of the Revell kits ('55 Chevy?) even has Pontiac valve covers.
sdangers Posted January 7, 2013 Posted January 7, 2013 Hey guys Wow - some incredible builds coming along here - great looking machines. Well, my "goat" is also coming along - allthough it looks more like a disaster at the moment. Unfortunately i invited Mr. Dremel and his friend the cutting wheel to join me Started to cut apart the interior - removed the tunnel and back seat, to replace it with tube and plain sheet from Evergreen - will give it a clean look Also cleaned out the rear part of chassis as it has to be narrowed to fit the wide rear tires Cut apart the wheels i found for this build as it had all been glued together - and as i want an "open" look, i had to change that. Will look okay when finished i think Might go for the slicks instead of road tires for the rear though. Mid section of the bonnet was cut out aswell - i want to try make a center raised "original" hood - and if there is not room enough, i´ll simply drill two holes for the air filters Front and rear bumper were fitted to the body and sanded in place - want to have a clean look on both front and rear - and painted in body colour. Cut out the rear lights, and will try to replace them with clear lenses. So, thats all from me for now - hope You like my progress so far. Thanks for looking Cheers Søren
diymirage Posted January 7, 2013 Posted January 7, 2013 Soren, that is looking very good allready one thing to consider, these cars are basically street cars which have been modded for the drag strip as much as the law allows in order for them to maintain thier street legal status they need to retain certain features like headlights, taillights, wipers and DOT aproved tires those slicks might not make the cut
1320wayne Posted January 8, 2013 Author Posted January 8, 2013 Yeah Soren, your progress is coming along nicely but Eelco is correct. Pro Street cars must be street legal which means treaded rear tires. I failed to mention that in the criteria listed in the initial post. Hopefully that small detail doesn't throw a curveball in your plans.
diymirage Posted January 8, 2013 Posted January 8, 2013 you know Wayne, i could use a pro stock hood for this build and your name came up whats the story, you casting them?
Custom Mike Posted January 8, 2013 Posted January 8, 2013 OK, here we go with my part of this build, let's start with the backstory on this one... This one stretches way back in history to my BMC days, Sam (Sam I Am over here on MCM) and a couple of other guys had tossed this idea around prior to my joining, but nothing ever came of it. I arrived, and it popped up again somehow, and I volunteered my services to make it a reality. So Sam sent me an AMT '71 Duster kit, and the nose and wing from AMT's horrible '69 Daytona kit, and I made them magically come together. This one has large amounts of Acrylic Filler around the nose, and it shows zero signs of shrinkage, even though it was completed back in 2007! Here's some pics of how she looks right now, let the completion of this long suffering build commence! And a few close-ups of the nose. I took build this on for Sam mainly because I wasn't happy with my '71 Daytona's bodywork around the nose, so this one allowed me to fix my mistakes. It's also where I learned that you could cut a perfect panel line in Acrylic Filler, along with character lines from the existing body.! The underside of the nose has the lower pan from AMT's '71 Charger molded in, this was done to cover the front suspension and K-member that was clearly visible from the front. .
Custom Mike Posted January 8, 2013 Posted January 8, 2013 Now onto the real work, making the AMT '70 Super Bee Pro-Street chassis play nice with the '71 Duster chassis. This will be my 3rd or 4th time doing this, so I've gotten pretty good at it I hope. I started with the Pro Street chassis, I cut the rear section off so I could mate it to the Duster chassis, then removed the front section so I could use the front of the Duster chassis. Hacking the rear of the Duster chassis loose so I can attach to the body easily with the new, modified chassis... Next up, removing the rear wheel well area from the Duster chassis. I left the two side "rails" so I could make sure I had proper alignment with the original chassis location to make assembly of the modified chassis easier... Once the rear section of the Duster chassis was removed, I needed to fill in the holes for the kit exhaust, and fill in the holes left by the original frame rails...
Custom Mike Posted January 8, 2013 Posted January 8, 2013 (edited) Here's the cleaned up and prepped section of the Pro Street chassis... And it's soon to be mate, the front section of the Duster chassis! Now here's where I got smart for once. The Pro Street wheel wells will not fit in the Duster body, they're too wide and straight. So I took the wheel well section of the Duster chassis and "painted" the edges with a Black Sharpie, then set it in the Pro Street wheel wells. Now I'll start sanding the Pro Street wheel wells until they match the curvature of the Duster wheel wells. When the Sharpie is gone, I've sanded far enough... Look at that, it worked! No sign of the Pro Street wheel wells anywhere! Not too bad, huh? A bit more sanding was needed, mainly because of the height of the Pro Street wheel wells, but it fits perfectly now! Now comes the fun part, making sure my wheels line up in the wheel wells. I taped the sections of the chassis together, built the rear axle, and front suspension temporarily, and checked out my work... Since we look good and lined up, a bit of Tamiya glue was applied to the joints between the different sections. Once the glue has dried, I'll pop the chassis loose, and apply some Acrylic Filler to the top sides of the joints to strengthen it all! Edited January 8, 2013 by Custom Mike
Custom Mike Posted January 8, 2013 Posted January 8, 2013 (edited) The chassis has been removed from the body and Acrylic Filler was added to the top side of the joints. Once it's cured fully, I'll work on getting the driveshaft tunnel to match between the front and middle sections, then I can move on to the rest of the build! Edited January 8, 2013 by Custom Mike
Custom Mike Posted January 8, 2013 Posted January 8, 2013 The chassis is now set, I got the driveshaft tunnel to match between the front and rear sections, threw some primer at it, then laid down some Flat Black to make it all pretty! It's not flawless, but I'm not expecting anyone to be inspecting the underside of this model! That's all for tonight, I'll bring it up to it's current state tomorrow night! And I'm going to go with a basic Black interior, just to make it easier. That, and the body is the big draw on this one, who cares what color the interior is, it's a SuperDuster!
1320wayne Posted January 8, 2013 Author Posted January 8, 2013 Looks like your making some really nice progress.
1320wayne Posted January 8, 2013 Author Posted January 8, 2013 you know Wayne, i could use a pro stock hood for this build and your name came up whats the story, you casting them? Here's the link to my album showing all current available scoops that I cast in resin. If you see something send me a pm and we can take care of it offline. http://public.fotki.com/1320wayne/holeshot-resins/scoops/
Guest Posted January 8, 2013 Posted January 8, 2013 Nice work Mike! I used the same backhalf, but I made my cuts a little different. I wish I had thought of your idea to add the lip with the bumper brackets onto the rear of it. That's a good one! I can't remember if my rear seat wouldn't work with the tubs or if I just lazied out and decided to get rid of it. I don't think it would work without a lot of mods done to it. I do remember that it was a pain getting the package shelf located in the right position. I haven't touched mine since I got the stance adjusted on it. I'm thinking about ditching the two small scoops on the hood and replacing them with a Hemi Dart type hood scoop. I am going to ditch the two fours intake and go with a single Dominator or maybe a smaller carb.
diymirage Posted January 8, 2013 Posted January 8, 2013 no pics on my back half but i have started cutting AND i know it will fit with the back seat and package shelf just fine no pics until the rear end comes un but i have allready stared cutting the stock frame allready Wayne, those scoops look sweet but i have a few different leads on these so ill pursuit those first
tubbs Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 (edited) GREAT GOOGELY-MOOGELY!!! how did i EVER miss this!! maybe cause i dont visit this part of the forum.... oh well, i am here now. there are some really nice builds going on..... some i would like to do but since 90% of my builds are pro street i will get something different. like another, i may need to get the OK on this. its one i have started and if it is too far, Wayne, not a problem, i have a list as long as my arm i can pick from. this is the 70 super bee, i am changing it into a coronet 500, typical lowering of the suspension, channeled the body over the frame to get it lower. let me know Wayne. like i said, i have plenty to pick from, just looking for that push to get back building again for the new year. Edited January 9, 2013 by tubbs
1320wayne Posted January 9, 2013 Author Posted January 9, 2013 Al you still have a ways to go to create a finished model so your good to go with that one.
Bartster Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 Lotsa groovy cars being built here! I'm gonna keep my eye on this one !
Custom Mike Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 (edited) OK, I'm back at it, we'll bring it up to speed real quick tonight. Once the chassis was painted, I decided I needed to run a fuel line, why i don't think of this before I paint is beyond me. I carefully drilled some holes in the chassis to run the fuel line, you'll have to imagine a beautifully detailed, absolutely perfect fuel cell in the trunk, which does not open! Edited May 6, 2014 by Custom Mike
Custom Mike Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 And now we're on to the engine! I drilled the head for plug wires, drilled the carbs and fuel pump for fuel lines, and made a fuel rail to get the fuel line up to each carb. It may not be accurate, but it looks cool! I also painted the freeze plugs with some Metalizer Brass, and picked out other parts with Metalizer Aluminum Plate.
Custom Mike Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 And on to the part that took the longest, making a fitting for the fuel rail. I put a piece of sprue in the Dremel, and thinned it down to almost the diameter of the aluminum tube I used for the fuel rail. I carefully drilled a hole down through the center, then I made a crude hex-head shape with some careful sanding, cut a sliver of it off, and stuck it on a piece of 26 Gauge craft wire. I attached it to the fuel pump, and once the epoxy cures, I'll put a few more bends in it and attach the fuel rail to it!
Custom Mike Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 (edited) Now here's where a big issue popped up. Sam sent some resin valve covers he bought along with this kit, and they were horrible. Out of the three he sent, one had a huge void in it on the corner, another had a bad pinhole, and the third had most of the flange missing, along with the fact if was badly warped into an arc. I did my best, then the flange broke off of the second one, and I gave up and put 'em back in the bag. A quick search through my parts box yielded the same engine he sent (Apparently Sam robbed it from an AMT Challenger Convertible kit), so I stole it's valve covers and smoothed 'em out in preparation for the decals that came with the crappy resin ones. Problem #2, they fell apart as soon as they hit the water. So the valve covers were painted with Metalizer Titanium and buffed out. Whoever you got those valve covers from, lose their address, their stuff sucks! Nice pinhole, huh? Look at the missing flange on the two on the left, and that pretty void on the right hand one... And this guy charges for these? What a rip-off! The old AMT Valve covers, cleaned up and smoothed out. Edited May 6, 2014 by Custom Mike
Custom Mike Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 Next, I got the fuel rail attached, and fuel line all bent up nice and pretty, then attached the freshly painted and buffed valve covers... And a shot of the chassis with the rear end installed, The rear end was painted Metalizer Steel, the shocks were painted Chrysler Engine Red, and the coils were painted with Metalizer Aluminum Plate.
Custom Mike Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 (edited) And this brings the build up to it's current state, since I'm out of Primer/Sealer, I can't do much else at the moment. I got my fuel lines run from the fuel rail up to the carbs, which was really fun, you should all try it! Then I got my belt/pulley assembly painted, and looked at the white metal alternator that Sam sent with...it's a GM alternator! That just won't cut it, so it went back in the bag it came from, and the alternator from the '70 Coronet Pro Street kit was snatched and detail painted. Once I get back on this, I'll add some photo-etched brackets to the alternator and possibly the power steering pump. I have one that will fit, but there's not a whole lot of room around the power steering pump to attach a bracket, so I'm not sure if I'll add one, we'll see! Edited May 6, 2014 by Custom Mike
diymirage Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 got a little bit of work done on the Fastlane i found an oilpan that will work with it in the partsbox so no need to scractch build one this is about where the engine will sit in the frame i have not yet fully decided if i want to keep that blower hat or go with a smoother, smaller one, but for now it will stay apart from some small detail items the engine is done
tubbs Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 i have not yet fully decided if i want to keep that blower hat or go with a smoother, smaller one, but for now it will stay apart from some small detail items the engine is done if i may, i tend to lean towards 2 carbs and the oval 2 carb air cleaner found in the 427 kits for the street. i like your build, its looking great.
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