1951 Chevrolet Fleetline - Custom - W.I.P.

[Joker]

Thanks John, I'll remember that tip for the next time I use a diode for a filter. Hope all is well with you & your family.

James, I'm finally using one of your laminated, teardrop shifter knobs on this car (blue and white). It looks great and hopefully tomorrow I'll have the interior finished and assembled so I can post some progress pics..

Awwww shucks...

[59 Buick]

Hi Rich, good looking custom you have got there. I like the choice of colour and it will look great with the reverse chrome or sombreros.

I like the pin striping and tuck and roll interior.

[Ramfins59]

Thank you very much Martin, I appreciate your encouraging comments.

[Ramfins59]

OK...... I need some help here from anyone who has built this kit. Not much if any progress made today as we had a family function that I forgot about which ate up most of the day.

I'm not an idiot, but I find the kit instructions to be very vague about where and how to install the engine onto the chassis. Obviously the end of the tranny locates to the tranny crossmember, but, I can't see where or how the front of the engine attaches solidly to the chassis. I would appreciate some help on this from anyone who has built this kit. It appears that pinning the engine in place would make a more solid connection but I can't figure out where for the front of the engine. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

The grille surround/rolled pan piece from the '50 Ford convertible kit sticks into the engine compartment just enough that it was necessary to trim about an eighth of an inch from the forward edges of the inner fenders in order to get them to fit in properly on a test fit.

It also appears that fitting the assembled chassis and interior into the body is going to be a bit of a chore involving trying to gently spread the body sides apart to squeeze it in, hopefully without chipping the paint. Fun...fun...fun...

And...... Because of the distributor wires and the vacuum advance piece and line that I added, I'll have to install the inner fenders, firewall and radiator separately as gluing them together as a unit wouldn't allow the engine to fit up into the engine bay as the opening was too narrow...!!!

That's what I get for waiting almost until the end of the buildup to do all of the test fitting...... I never learn...!!!

I would greatly appreciate hearing from anyone who has built this kit regarding mounting the engine. Thanks very much in advance for any help on this.

[1 bad55 stan]

Another beauty for us all to see,Super cool Rich...

[johnbuzzed]

We all learn something every day, Rich. It's just remembering what we learned that's difficult .

[TFchronos]

Amazing craftsmanship! The color, the flames, the engine, everything's perfect. I can't wait to see the finished product!

[Ramfins59]

I thank you very much for those very kind words Jonathan. It's coming along nicely and I'm taking my time, trying to be neat, clean and careful as I go along. I too can't wait to see the finished product but I'm trying not to rush it.

I solved the engine mounting issue by gluing a small rectangular piece of plastic to the top of the tie rod center piece and glued the front of the oil pan to that. I also drilled a hole through the center of the transmission crossmember and the spot where the tranny sits on the crossmember and pinned it there with CA glue. One exhaust pipe with a "Cherrybomb" glasspack muffler is attached. I'll attach the other one tomorrow and also add aluminum exhaust tips to both of them. Once the exhaust is completely installed I can then assemble the rest of the chassis components.

I got adventurous and also added a dipstick tube to the engine between the distributor and the starter using a short length of stainless surgical tubing which I painted semi-gloss black and inserted a very short piece of a high E guitar string painted yellow for the dipstick.

The headlights by Bob Dudek are in along with the amber MV lens front turn signals. I gave the teardrop ('39 Ford style) aluminum taillight bezels (also by Bob Dudek) several coats of Tamiya clear Red. They'll get installed tomorrow.

I still have more work to do on the front seat that I got from Tom Geiger. Once that is done I can start assembling the interior.

Still plenty to do but it's looking good for completion maybe by this coming weekend.

[Duntov]

Rich---

I like the motor a lot ---should look really good in the bay!!!!

Regards

Bill (Duntov)

[Ramfins59]

Thanks a lot Bill. I was able to mount the complete dual exhausts with aluminum tips and then installed the rear end/springs piece, the driveshaft and rear shocks. Tomorrow I'll work on the wheels, tires and brakes. I'll try to post update pics when done.

I ran some black Detailer in the door and trunk lines and that made things look a lot better. It seems that when I mounted the engine (as I stated above there did not appear to be a positive mounting point for the front of the engine, and the kit instructions were very vague in showing where to mount it) I mounted it about an eighth of an inch too far back... (sigh...). Of course now I have to judiciously trim both the floorpan and the firewall because of that. I am NOT disassembling the engine, exhaust and driveshaft to move the engine...!!!

These little unexpected foibles I keep running into while approaching the end of this buildup are really starting to aggravate me. Usually when a project keeps bugging me like this one has been doing for the last several days, I'll just put it all back in the box for awhile and come back to it when I'm in a better frame of mind about it. However, so many things are looking so good that I'm determined to stick with it through to the end. After all...... it's only plastic, and I'm smarter... LOL.

[1 bad55 stan]

Carn't wait to see it finished,Its well Awesome!!

[am73grand]

Carn't wait to see it finished,Its well Awesome!!

X2

[om617]

These little unexpected foibles I keep running into while approaching the end of this buildup are really starting to aggravate me. Usually when a project keeps bugging me like this one has been doing for the last several days, I'll just put it all back in the box for awhile and come back to it when I'm in a better frame of mind about it. However, so many things are looking so good that I'm determined to stick with it through to the end. After all...... it's only plastic, and I'm smarter... LOL.

This works very well,i figured it also makes less risk of doing shortcuts,or being sloppy on final assembly lol.

Looking forward to see it done.

[Ramfins59]

Thank you all again for your very kind comments.

Here are some progress pics now that Photobucket is cooperating again.

First up is a shot of the headlights and turn signals in place. The DeSoto grille teeth are just sitting in there for the picture.

Next is a shot of the taillights in place.

Here's what the chassis looks like, except for the wheels and tires.

And here's a shot of the passenger side of the engine with the dipstick installed.

Finally, here's a pic of the partial engine bay assembly. In addition to the master cylinder and booster, an Aahhooogah Horn was added and wired into the firewall. A picture I found on Google showed a car that had a Mason jar clamped to the inner fender with a piece of rubber hose and it was filled with washer fluid with a clear line to the firewall. I thought that looked cool so I cut and sanded a piece of clear sprue and drilled a hole in the top. I dipped it about halfway in my bottle of Tamiya clear Blue and carefully painted the top with Brass Metalizer. I wrapped some black wire around it and mounted the wire through a hole drilled above the horn on the inner fender. Then I attached a short piece of clear fishing line to the hole in the top and through a hole drilled in the firewall. It looks like a Mason Jar to me..!! An aluminum Beehive oil filter was attached to the passenger side of the firewall with a wire "clamp" through the firewall and flexible braided lines were attached to the filter. The other ends of the braided lines will be attached to the driver's side of the engine under the exhaust manifolds. (Thanks to AceGarageGuy for the info on where to hook up those lines to the engine.)

Still lots more to do but it's getting there. Thanks for following along.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Ramfins59

[Belugawrx]

I really like where your heading here Rich!!

And again those custom pinstripes that spell RM on the front are way cool!!

Cheers

[Ramfins59]

Thanks Bruce. I can see how you might think that the bottom section of the hood's pinstripes might make an "M" but I don't see an "R" in them...... and in any case, in was not my intention to spell anything with the pinstriping. I just picked White ones that looked cool.

[Duntov]

OH MAN Rich!!!!

This one is going over the top!!!

It looks really good --- The body is really sexy --- the engine is great and that firewall shot is really superb!!! The pure simplicity of it really makes it believable ---

Just goes to prove with a bit of attention and simple details the old stove bolt really shines!!!

This is one of your best ever ---

Regards

Bill (Duntov)

[Ramfins59]

Thank you so very much for your very kind comments Bill, I really appreciate it. At first I thought that adding the washer fluid jar might be too much but I liked the looks of it in the picture I Googled. I didn't want to get too carried away with extra, useless details. As you said, what is in there is believable in a real car.

Once everything is completely assembled the engine compartment is going to be pretty filled up. It still will get the wired 12 Volt battery on the passenger side and heater hoses will run to the 2 holes above the Beehive filter.

[Modlbldr]

Rich,

I'm loving everything about this build. The paint color and pinstriping is gorgeous!

I really appreciate the photos of your engine. I had the same basic idea for the engine in my 41 Chevy pickup but was unsure about the look of the intake setup. Your build confirmed for me that it will look great. Thanks.

Later-

[rocklandrambler]

Outstanding, as usual !! I do believe the early GM windshield washer systems worked by vacuum. The one in my '56 Olds, I believe, was Tee'd off of the dual action fuel pump on the line that went to the wiper motor.

[Jeremy Jon]

This lil' rod is really coming together nicely Richard, bravo!!

[Ramfins59]

Thanks a lot guys.

Tom, I'm glad that my pictures could help you with your build. I always download many different Google pictures of engines, etc. for reference details to try to get the details as right as I can in 1/25 scale.

Michael, thanks for that info. As you can see, I'm pretty much running out of room on that firewall so I won't be adding a wiper motor. I'll have to use my imagination and say that it's behind the firewall under the dashboard somewhere...LOL.

Today I'll be working on the wheels, tires and brakes, and hopefully getting as much of the interior put together as I can. I still have some work to do on the front seat.

And the beat goes on. I REALLY want to be able to bring this finished car to NNL East. Just about a week to go..!!

[mrm]

Really cool. Love the deep blue color and especially the pinstriped flames on the side. Are they decals? Looks like one hell of a build so far.

[jbwelda]

Rich, very kool lookin kustom! beautiful paint and those stripes look killer.

I was wondering if you could post a pic of your taillights; earlier you mentioned some Bob Dudek teardrops and I would love to see them to see if they would work on something I am doing. and please a link to buy them...somehow I got the idea maybe Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland may carry them but not sure about that.

thanks again

jb

[slusher]

The front of model in the great color is just so beautiful Rich...