m408 Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 I just purchased a 53 corvette kit. Comes with white molded parts and body. I don't want to just polish the plastic. Did the 53 come in any standard color other than white? If not, I would like to do a kind of pearl white body. Any suggestions as to primer, under coat, and paint?
Seattle Mike Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 The Vette was only available in white in 1953. There were only 300 cars built that year, and they all looked alike. I would look to Tamiya for your paint. They have a good white primer as well as the Pearl you're thinking about.
62rebel Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 replica stock would be white with red interior. kinda boring for an icon.... of all the '53 vette's i'v built i've NEVER been able to do one as STOCK!
robertw Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 As stated all 53's were white but if you have the Monogram-Revell kit you could always build the car as a '54 then you could do it in Black, Sportsman Red or Pennant Blue. The Blue even came with a Beige interior the other colors still had the red interior. If you're wanting to do a Pearl effect the Tamiya Pearl White is easy to use and has a nice mild pearl effect. The new Testor's White Lightning appears to have a slightly heavier pearl effect but also looks very nice. robw
mademan Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 try testors one coat laquer white. its a very nice pearl. checkout the thread in this topic... spoon test.
m408 Posted January 18, 2008 Author Posted January 18, 2008 As stated all 53's were white but if you have the Monogram-Revell kit you could always build the car as a '54 then you could do it in Black, Sportsman Red or Pennant Blue. The Blue even came with a Beige interior the other colors still had the red interior. If you're wanting to do a Pearl effect the Tamiya Pearl White is easy to use and has a nice mild pearl effect. The new Testor's White Lightning appears to have a slightly heavier pearl effect but also looks very nice. robw It's the Revell kit. How was the 54 different from the 53?
MrObsessive Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 It's the Revell kit. How was the 54 different from the 53? Milt, they were identical as far as the styling. Likewise the interiors were the same except for new interior colors to go with the new colors for '54. There were some engine details that differed from '53 to '54..............Namely the valve cover was painted blue early in the model year as the '53. It would say "Blue Flame Six" on it. Sometime during the '54 run, the valve cover was chromed with the Chevrolet name script stamped on it. Also besides the new interior colors, there was a new folding top color------the previous black top was replaced with a tan one, although black would be correct for a very early '54 car.
ismaelg Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 Hello, Adding to what others have said, the tail pipes on the '54 were longer, as opposed to be flush with the body in '53. This was actually Zora's first contribution to the car, to prevent staining of the bodywork close to the pipe. If you have the Revell '53, which is a reissue of the Monogram one, you may also have the later '54 air cleaners. These are 2 round air cleaners as opposed to the 3 bullet style units of '53. That's how I did mine: as a rare black '54 Thanks,
Harry P. Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 GM had never built a fiberglass-bodied production car before, the were breaking new ground (for them, at least). The first year Corvette bodies were all hand-assembled, and in order to keep the assembly line workers' minds focused on the new task at hand, it was decided that there would be no color or trim options available on the new 'vette...they would all be painted "Polo white" with red interiors and tan tops.
lordairgtar Posted January 19, 2008 Posted January 19, 2008 Don't forget the 55, same body but with a V8. I don't know specifics of color options there but I think Bronze was a color offered that year.
m408 Posted January 19, 2008 Author Posted January 19, 2008 Hello, Adding to what others have said, the tail pipes on the '54 were longer, as opposed to be flush with the body in '53. This was actually Zora's first contribution to the car, to prevent staining of the bodywork close to the pipe. If you have the Revell '53, which is a reissue of the Monogram one, you may also have the later '54 air cleaners. These are 2 round air cleaners as opposed to the 3 bullet style units of '53. That's how I did mine: as a rare black '54 Thanks, Amazing kit. Comes with both engine options and exhaust tip extensions. First kit that I have seen that seems to cover all bases. Thanks all for the help.
SoCalCarCulture Posted January 20, 2008 Posted January 20, 2008 You can find pics of all three years in my '53-'57 Corvettes Album '53 engine... '54 engine...
m408 Posted January 26, 2008 Author Posted January 26, 2008 This may seem really stupid but....Where the heck are the plugs, distributer, coil, and wires? In all of these photos, I can't find them.
dub Posted January 26, 2008 Posted January 26, 2008 The "box" painted engine color that the chrome header tank is sitting on encloses the plugs, wires, coil(?) and dizzy.
MrObsessive Posted January 26, 2008 Posted January 26, 2008 This may seem really stupid but....Where the heck are the plugs, distributer, coil, and wires? In all of these photos, I can't find them. Yeah, like Jonathan mentioned above...........that's where they're located. This would be for a car that has a radio to shield against electrical buzzing due to the fiberglass body. If you ordered a car with no radio, there was no shield.
Howard Cohen Posted January 26, 2008 Posted January 26, 2008 I believe that a removeable hardtop was also added as an option for '54.
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