round 2 36 ford coupe building / color ideas

[AC Norton]

hello gents, just got in the round2 36 ford amt new re-issue....I have never built one of these, even after all these years...so I pose to all of you who know and love these cars....any suggestions on color combos, solid color or two tones, for an of - the - era 60s drag gasser.....maybe steel wheels and using white wall fronts and w/w slicks.....any ideas on the do's or don'ts of constructing this ol' girl....appreciate any input, as I would like to make it fairly box stock,,,even using some of the decals in the kit if possible.....many thanks boys........a.c. the ace...

[Ace-Garageguy]

Hard to beat a traditional chopped custom in black...and almost everything you need to build it is in the box, including a top chopped about this much, and similar skirts.

The tops on these are what ruin most builds. They're separate and don't fit the body terribly well. They take some jigging, patience, and finessing of the bodywork to look really good.

[Bernard Kron]

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Edited August 22, 2014 by Bernard Kron

[AC Norton]

yes, I am aware of this kits fit issues,,,,,however I actually would like some ideas of a nice color combo on this for a 60s era gasser, and ideas of wheel /tire combos that other builders may suggest. the louvered hoods and flintstone items and such are really not what I had in mind, interesting as all that may be..............thanks, a.c.

Edited August 22, 2014 by AC Norton

[Bernard Kron]

This is an early-era altered inspired by the car in my avatar. Rough and ready, almost jalopy-like, the highlight here for your purposes might be the wheels, which are the stock items, and have bags of attitude. They should not be overlooked when considering various design options!

Edited August 22, 2014 by Bernard Kron

[Bernard Kron]

60's era '36 Ford gassers historically speaking are extremely uncommon as the body was already in high demand for rod and custom work and not particularly light, either. I did an image search on them and even now they are almost non-existant. Your best bet will be contemporary versions in the retro genre of similar body styles such as the '37 Chevy. Colors are quite often simple metallics and tire wheel combos tend towards either contempoprary-retro wide white slicks and period 60's wheels such as Cragars or real gasser era setups with small front blackwalls and 10" slicks with Halibrands.

Edited August 22, 2014 by Bernard Kron

[AC Norton]

hi Bernard, you are certainly correct..........36 fords seem rare to find in photos at 60s drag events. all that you mention makes perfect sense ...........its a lot easier to find old info on many other 30s coupes for sure. thanks for your input....I will plod along and get this project going on the weekend. thanks for all your input.............the ace....

[espo]

For the kit its self the only fit issues that I experienced was between the grill-hood and firewall. Other than that it's a nice simple build. For ideas on color and style you might check out Street Rodder magazine's web sight. There are many different style to build this model and the color helps to set the "look" that your after. Please post pictures of your progress. Have fun.

[Skip]

You could go with the Gasser theme with either a street driven '36 being modified into a Gasser or Ex-Gasser being slightly detuned for the street. (Detuned race cars were not too common until the late sixties.) I don't remember seeing a '36 Ford Gasser at the Drags as a kid, not to say someone didn't.

As Bernard mentioned, colors should be simple metallics or solid colors reds ( any shade), light blue, white, gray, stock '36 colors. Light colors showed off the sponsor's decals and dark lettering better than dark shades. Simple interior, roll bar and bucket seats.

Wheels, stock wide fives if going with a flathead, plenty of speed equipment available. Chrome reverse with a modern V8. A later Mid-Sixties Gasser would probably wear mag type wheels, though steel wheels were not done yet. A mix of steel on rear and mags on front. (A lot of early mag wheels broke so they were not trusted yet on the street and strip by the "little guys". There are plenty of articles in older Hot Rodding magazines questioning the safety of the mag wheel for the street.) a "Sponsor" car might have mags on all four corners.

Flathead would be a natural, there would have been plenty of speed,equipment available to the average guy. The Pontiac 389 in the kit would have been pretty heavy for a Gasser, not to say it wouldn't be used as it had big cubic inches for the day. Small block Chevrolet would have begun showing up in the wrecking yards by then, speed equipment would be plentiful. Y-Block 312 would be another choice though the smaller 292 would be more available as the mainline Fords showed up in the wrecking yards.

A good investment for anyone who wants to build "correct" Gassers is the book " Gasser Wars" Drag Racing's Street Classes 1955 - 1968 - Larry Davis - Car Tech. Shows what real Gassers looked like, not today's anything goes Gasser themed cars.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Romeo Palamides introduced a solid-center "mag" wheel for drag racing in 1956, and was the forerunner of American Racing Wheels. It looked rather like this, and can be found on a lot of period cars in the old photos.

The November 1954 Hot Rod mag cover depicts a '35 and a '36 Ford going head to head in a drag race. Early gas-class cars, or "competition coupes", these were, I believe, the inspiration for Bernard's resin-bodied build. One chopped, one not.

Edited August 22, 2014 by Ace-Garageguy

[Ace-Garageguy]

If you decide to go with a later-period gasser, remember that the extreme nose-up attitudes of a lot of cars presented today as "gassers" is wrong. In general, frames were required to be level or slightly nose down, and there were specs at some point about height of the crank centerline off the ground. Ohio George's Willys is about the limit of up-ness for the class.

[AC Norton]

many great ideas and helpful input from all you guys...a big thanks to everyone, great to have this forum with such good info and sharing friends ...............thanks, boys.

[Skip]

Gas Coupe / Sedan

'55 - '58 Rules Breifly

Centerline of the crank to Pavement 24 inches Maximum.

Body - Production Automobile.

4 Complete Production Fenders.

Top Chop - Limited to 4 inches.

classes were determined by Dividing Car Weight by Engine Displacement.

A/G Ratio Between 0.00 - 10.59

B/G Ratio 10.60 - 12.59

C/G Ratio 12.60 - 14.59

D/G Ratio Exceeding 14.60

Supercharged Cars Automatically Bumped Up to Next Class.

Example - '40 Ford Coupe weighing in at 3,600 lbs with 303 ci Olds engine would have a Ratio of 11.22 lbs/ci, so it would run B/G.

A '36 Ford Coupe weighing in at 2,560 lbs stock, with 389 ci Pontiac would have a Ratio of 6.58 lbs/ci and run in A/G

Same '36 Coupe with Stock displacement 221 ci 85 hp Flathead would run in B/G 2,650 lbs / 221 ci = 11.59 lbs/ci

Source - Gasser Wars, Larry Davis, Car Tech books.

[VW93]

AC and others

I posted a link to NHRA Rule Books from 1958 to 1968 several months ago on the Drag Racing Models forum. For some reason I can't copy & paste the link in this message.

Go to the Drag Racing Models forum and use the search function in the upper right hand corner. Type in "Link to NHRA rule books" and it should be the first thread to pop up.

Perhaps one of the Mods could pin it to the top of the page?

[AC Norton]

skip, you are a walking library of early gasser info.......A or B gas will probably be the order of the day for my build, as I am either going with the Pontiac mill or maybe the buick nailhead from the amt 40 ford kit. I posted my 40 ford gasser back a few months ago in drag racing and under glass sections, and enjoyed building it so thought the 36 ford may make a nice shelf mate for it. my 40 is more of a later 60s into early 70s build, but for this 36 I may go with a car from the ealy 60s---60 to 64 era. either way, I know its going to be fun, and help and info that folks like you have provided makes this hobby the great hobby that we all so enjoy.....regards, the ace....

[AC Norton]

thanks for that frank..............the ace.....