1948 Chev Fleetmaster , Australian body

[sports850]

I've got to say first up that this isn't going to be a quick build ...

This is to be a build of a mate's 1:1 rod he's building , a quick bit of background first though . The Australian version of the

'48 fleetmaster shared the bonnet/front guards etc of the US version but the rest of the body was different and closer aligned to the '39 chev you would be familiar with . Because of this I am starting with a donated fiberglass '39 body (Thank's to Rod aka Fat141 after we were discussing the best way to make the body) and the Galaxie '48 sedan delivery kit .

This is an image from google of the Australian body style , not my mates car but same body .

The starting point

Differences between bodies , still not sure how much of each I'll use , will be a matter of trim and test for a bit ...

Long way to go yet but sort of coming together , I was warned the fiberglass body was brittle but didn't expect it to be just this brittle with a lot of little cracks to deal with now ....Also since taking this pic I've realised the galaxy firewall should go under the scuttle panel of the fiberglass body and not sit flush as in this pic . Trial and error all the way

[cobraman]

Cool project.

[slusher]

Very interesting project.. got to watch this one...

[PappyD340]

Looks like your off to a real good start Ian, I'll be watching too!!

[sports850]

Thank's guy's , there's a little progress so far , I've got the sedan delivery's firewall attached to the '39 body but no photo's till I've finished shaping and blending them together at the scuttle panel .

My question is , does anyone know if these wheels are available in 1:24/25 scale ? To make it harder the fronts are 18" and the rears 20" ...

I have these wheels from the Prowler and trailer kit which has 18" and 20" wheels , they're not quite right but will do if I can't find anything closer .

[Skydime]

Closest thing I remember in recent history are the Pegasus that look like torque thrusts

[mikelo]

Try Revell's 50 Ford F-1 Pickup 2'n1 kit. Not exact match but closer than what you have or Pegasus'.

Mike

[Ace-Garageguy]

Interesting project...looking good.

[sports850]

Thanks Mike and Ken , well spotted Mike , the pickup wheels look just about spot on , looking for the kit now

[Guest]

Cool project, would like to see it done stock.

[Nate]

Also the Revell 64 Chevy Truck California Wheels kit or the Revell 65 Chevy Stepside kit, with the green truck box art have a set of wheels like the ones you're looking for. They're more like the American Racing Torque Thrust II's, though.

Edited December 6, 2013 by Nate

[sports850]

Thank's Nate , I've added those kits to the list and will see what I can find first .

Slowly getting there with the body , got the rear guard and curved sill panel from the '48 sedan delivery bonded to the '39 body on one side now and it's all lining up nicely , still a lot of filling and shaping to blend everything in perfectly but so far so good.

I've been gathering more info on my mates car so starting to work on the chassis now , need to find a Ford 9" diff and then make a 4 link setup for it and disc brakes all round . Still waiting on a local resin supplier to see if he can find a resin fuel injected late model Holden 308 (why couldn't my mate have picked an American style body with an American V8 ....)

[brewsterg6]

Great looking project! The Aussie cars were bodied by Holden, and they built many different bodied Chevys from '28-'52 that were not made elsewhere. Make sure you get a picture of the rear window of your buddy's car. I believe it should be a two piece split window...

[mnwildpunk]

Neato torpedo

[sports850]

That's right Bruce , the rear window was a split window , I was able to sneak some photo's from my mates '48 while I dropped in for a chat yesterday and also had a chat about his plans for it without tipping him off what I was doing .

The rear showing the back window ,

rear end treatment and also the Holden VT commodore (you guy's got them as Pontiac G8's I think) number plate recess and extra panel mould line running back and down from the window line that the '39 Chev doesn't have so will have to figure that out as well ,

Rear of roof line and boot/trunk profile , again slightly different from the '39 Chev so reshaping required ,

Rear quarter with fuel filler in the rear guard ,

Grille ,

The engine is also from the VT commodore and is a fuel injected 308 Holden (billed as Australia's own V8 though I believe it was originally a buick design that was modified) , does anyone have the injection from the 2007 Pontiac GTO (I think it was , the Holden Monaro rebadged and sold in the US) kit spare they would part with or any ideas of any other engine with similar injection ?

Photo of a crate engine of the same type taken from an ebay listing for better detail ,

[gman]

Thank's guy's , there's a little progress so far , I've got the sedan delivery's firewall attached to the '39 body but no photo's till I've finished shaping and blending them together at the scuttle panel .

My question is , does anyone know if these wheels are available in 1:24/25 scale ? To make it harder the fronts are 18" and the rears 20" ...

I have these wheels from the Prowler and trailer kit which has 18" and 20" wheels , they're not quite right but will do if I can't find anything closer .

This kit had big/little wheels that were sort of close:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/REVELL-DODGE-CONCEPT-CAR-IN-1-25-SCALE-SNAPTITE-/161169941250?pt=Model_Kit_US&hash=item25867a2302

[kruleworld]

NIce model. it'll be interesting to see how it comes along.

The Australian version of the

'48 fleetmaster shared the bonnet/front guards etc of the US version but the rest of the body was different

prior to WW2 most cars were either 100% imported or imported Engine/Chassis with locally built body (coachbuilders). GM bought the coachbuilder 'Holden' (hence it became General Motors Holden) and started fully locally built cars in 1948.