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Posted (edited)

Yes, a rather odd vehicle, but it has a certain period charm for me.

 

I'm starting with this dusty specimen:

 

XR6RR-vi.jpg

 

XR6left-vi.jpg

 

I've got it dis-assembled and cleaned up - starting to figure out how it all needs to go back together (with a bit of added accuracy). I'll post some "in progress" shots tomorrow.

Edited by RancheroSteve
Posted

Sure don't see one of those every day ! The styling was cutting edge in it's day .

I'm looking forward to your restoration ! :D

Posted

Very cool Steve! And after your Deora, I know you will build this one to original perfection! And it's great to see the 1:1 survives today!

And a bit of trivia. Back in the early 1960s Chrysler shipped a 1:1 slant six engine to Revell to use as reference in creating their large scale slant six engine. Once they were finished with it, it just was sitting in a corner of Jim Keeler's office. Tex Smith visited Revell and mentioned that he was working on this XR6 (then unnamed) rod and didn't know what type of engine to put in it. Jim pointed over to the slant 6 and said he should put it in his rod. Done!

So the engine in Tex Smith's XR6 is the actual engine that Revell used to engineer the big Slant 6 kit. And irony that the car was later kitted by their competition AMT! And it's been said that XR6 stands for EX-Revell 6.

Posted

I am not sure I have ever seen a kit in person. only pictures..Its a kit I would like to have (or a built up to redo like you are doing) So I will be watching to see how yours turns out. I think its a pretty neat car

Posted

Thanks for the interest, guys. I don't think I'll be going quite as crazy on this one as I did with the Deora (that project took WAAY too long). It helps that it's generally a more accurate kit to begin with, although there are a few things that need fixing (more on that later).

After getting the thing apart (and breaking a few parts), here's an overview of where I am so far:

The frame and engine cleaned up. I made new mounts for the rear coil-overs, repaired one engine mount and the transmission tailshaft, made a radiator mount and made new axle tubes. Most of this was necessitated by the brittle plastic and excess glue, but it was also a chance to add a bit more detail.

frameplus-vi.jpg

The kit tail section of the body is split in a non-prototypical way and leaves an ugly seam. Guessing here about how the real car goes together, I've separated the belly pan at the rear axle and joined it to the tail, allowing me to glue the tail section together and putty the seam.

bodyunder-vi.jpg

The interior tub is far too shallow and looks toy-like. I realized there's a lot of unused room between the floor and the frame rails, so I cut the floor out and I'm extending the depth of the interior. I'll make a new floor and extend the sides and console down to meet it.

interiortub-vi.jpg

bodyinterior-vi.jpg

Some more random parts. Some of these will need upgrading or replacing.

randomparts-vi.jpg

Finally, a shout-out to Bob Kremer, who sent me this bag of parts a few years ago - exactly what was missing from the glue bomb, and without which this project wouldn't be happening.

Kremerpartsbag-vi.jpg

More to come - thanks for watching.

Posted

Roger: I'm not sure how it escaped my notice, but I didn't know about this car either until I saw it at the Petersen Museum a few years back, then of course I found out about the model and had to track one down.

Mike: thanks for the encouragement. I'm going to try to correct some of the inaccuracies in the nose, and add a few details here & there, but otherwise just try to do a decent "out of the box" build. I haven't quite figured out the paint yet, although I did pick up a can of Duplicolor Red Metalflake that looks fairly close; still need to test it though. Maybe over an orange undercoat?

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Very cool Steve! And after your Deora, I know you will build this one to original perfection! And it's great to see the 1:1 survives today!

And a bit of trivia. Back in the early 1960s Chrysler shipped a 1:1 slant six engine to Revell to use as reference in creating their large scale slant six engine. Once they were finished with it, it just was sitting in a corner of Jim Keeler's office. Tex Smith visited Revell and mentioned that he was working on this XR6 (then unnamed) rod and didn't know what type of engine to put in it. Jim pointed over to the slant 6 and said he should put it in his rod. Done!

So the engine in Tex Smith's XR6 is the actual engine that Revell used to engineer the big Slant 6 kit. And irony that the car was later kitted by their competition AMT! And it's been said that XR6 stands for EX-Revell 6.

Tom, I have to take issue with your history of the XR6, here is a link to an article written by Tex recounting the history of the XR6. http://www.streetrodderweb.com/milestones/0302sr_xr6_hot_rod_project_car/http://www.streetrodderweb.com/milestones/0302sr_xr6_hot_rod_project_car/

Posted

Tom, I have to take issue with your history of the XR6, here is a link to an article written by Tex recounting the history of the XR6. http://www.streetrodderweb.com/milestones/0302sr_xr6_hot_rod_project_car/http://www.streetrodderweb.com/milestones/0302sr_xr6_hot_rod_project_car/

Great pictorial article written by the guy who actually built the car. I remember following parts of the build in Hot Rod back when, and much of it was used as reference material in 'how-to' articles in other Petersen publications.

Posted

were those wheels on the tognotti car?

If you mean Tognitti's King T, it had similar centers, but they had wood spoke overlays to simulate the 'artillery' look, and are represented as such in the kit.

3232051255_7b789dcdf0.jpg

Posted (edited)

Doesn't the AMT Custom Parts Pack reissue have a set of those wheels?

The AMT parts pack wheels are the same diameter as the kit rear wheels, but are 4-bolt, while the kit rear wheels are 5. The parts-pack version also has some raised-edge rib detail on the spokes that's not present on the XR-6 kit wheels.

EDIT: Sorry...didn't see that you had already posted comparison pix.

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
Posted

I was planning to use the Parts Pack wheels on my build - the originals have a bad case of tire melt damage. I haven't decided yet if the bolt issue is worth fixing; it's probably not a detail most people would notice or care too much about. It looks like the knock-offs are slightly different, too.

rearwheeltire-vi.jpg

Hmm, looks like the front wheels that came off the glue bomb are four bolt - what gives?

frontwheeltire-vi.jpg

And another shot of the Parts Pack wheel:

partspackwheel-vi.jpg

Posted

if you need wheels pm me as I may have an extra set.

I started out like you, had bought two early bulds, one never painted and the other a decent but faded/dulled red color. then I found a used bunch of parts and then a complete kit, so I was ready to start on this as a winter project...its great to see this thread and the progress you are making. nice call on lowering the floor and cutting the belly pan, the belly pan at least I had already wondered what to do but that lowering the floor part is a great idea!

I am always kinda torn about the fenders, they have that funky kool vintage look but I don't really like them, but I can appreciate for what they are...kinda like a Honda "Dream", squarish, flat. I would use them just to keep accurate I suppose, and I do really dig the assymetrical body and nice choice of powerplant.

check out my thread on a build of tognottis king t for an indepth look at the kit wheels there

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=58494

Posted

(PM sent - thanks!)

Great work on the King T and the Wild Dream!

I'm trying to go as reasonably accurate and correct on this one as I can, but I also have another XR-6 (very cleanly started but incomplete) that came with the box. I figured one day I'll do it as a updated/custom XR-6, maybe with a modern six cylinder, wider tires and no fenders . . .

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