Pizzwizz24 Posted December 31, 2014 Posted December 31, 2014 Fantastic work here Tom! Your creativity is astounding. I believe in an earlier post you had mentioned "I'm really not all that talented". REALLY??!!! I beg to differ!
taaron76 Posted December 31, 2014 Posted December 31, 2014 Great work, Tom! Amazing detail work!!! They all don't have to be clean and shiny to be appreciated, and I've learned that watching guys like you build some great builds. Tim
Tom Geiger Posted December 31, 2014 Author Posted December 31, 2014 Thank you for all the kind words and encouragement. Per the suggestion, I've taken the mold line off the radiator top. I dunno it was done so well it looked like it belonged there. And I swear I had one on one of my cars with a plastic radiator. You all are correct that the engine needs more weathering. I had mentioned in my post that I wasn't done with that yet, I usually do the final weathering after I'm done with all the heavy handling. Since my last entry, I have been working on the underside (no it hasn't been weathered yet!), most specifically the exhaust system. When you change out the engine and trans, especially going for a six cylinder, you may just have to fab one up. On the Volare, the exhaust was on the right side with the kit V8, but the six exhaust leaves on the left side. I used up a complete dual exhaust set from the 1971 Duster kit in making this one. You'd think the Duster exhaust would fit right under the Volare, but nope there was a bit of work. The first part was adding a cat converter from the Volare exhaust, and mating the front pipe up with the manifold. And every piece you see here was cut apart, drilled out and reattached with a small length of straight pin. That's pretty much the equivalent of installing a 1:1 exhaust system. String all the pieces loose, twist them as needed to fit, then tighten... or glue it all up. Past that, the Volare chassis wasn't the greatest detail wise. I wasn't changing it out for a Duster one since the Volare had a unique torsion bar setup. So past doing the exhaust, I'm just assembling it as MPC envisioned, funky rear with the wire axle and all. I won't put the wire axle on in the front so not to be seen under the engine I worked hard on, I'll just peg into the mount on either side. That's it for this year, past this post I will be making food for tonight's celebration! Have a great New Years and see you back in this project thread next year!
mustang1989 Posted December 31, 2014 Posted December 31, 2014 Lookin' forward to more Tom! Good goin' so far dude!
slusher Posted January 1, 2015 Posted January 1, 2015 Tom, is the chassis the same as the 75 Dart...?
Tom Geiger Posted January 2, 2015 Author Posted January 2, 2015 Tom, is the chassis the same as the 75 Dart...?same era of poor detail. A bit different since Volare had a completely different torsion bar setup.
Tom Geiger Posted January 18, 2015 Author Posted January 18, 2015 Progress! The chassis is pretty much done and up on wheels. Those familiar with this kit know the chassis isn't all that detailed and I left it much that way. Since I changed the engine and trans, I did cut out the molded in drive shaft and added one. The rear is the one that came with the kit, with a wire axle below it. I had to make the exhaust and I'm happy with how that came out. I didn't bother adding front suspension, this is the way the kit was made. I will do some more touch up and add oil etc to the bottom of the engine and trans once it's all together. It's a running, rolling chassis right now. Interior is in place, as well as the entire engine bay. I am still working on the screen on the top of the firewall. And the up on wheels profile. It's just mocked up here. I am having some fit issues, getting everything lined up for final assembly. I should have this one done this weekend. Again, these are progress photos I take to spot issues, so if you see something let me know...
Mackvision Posted January 18, 2015 Posted January 18, 2015 That's some nice work Tom! very realistic weathering,i've seen some in NYC very much like that!...................................Mark
tbill Posted January 18, 2015 Posted January 18, 2015 that looks really good Tom, poor thing has really had a rough life! fantastic work.
cobraman Posted January 18, 2015 Posted January 18, 2015 Nice work ! Looks like your in the home stretch. Stay with it !
Tom Geiger Posted January 18, 2015 Author Posted January 18, 2015 Thanks guys! Running into little fitment issues due to work I did on this 20 years ago. When I replaced the interior floor to get rid of the console I didn't leave it exactly flat and true. Now that's showing in the left corner of the firewall. Argh! Right now the body and chassis are one, clamped and drying.
mustang1989 Posted January 18, 2015 Posted January 18, 2015 Weathering is first class and the mock up looks great so far. If there's an issue I can't see it.
slusher Posted January 19, 2015 Posted January 19, 2015 Slant six now has mileage. Looking good Tom...
Tom Geiger Posted January 20, 2015 Author Posted January 20, 2015 Thank you everyone! This Volare has been an interesting saga for me. It started out with a junk body that I practiced weathering some 25 years ago. So this is where my specific style started. The body was given to me by a friend who passed away this past year. It wound up on the bench every five years or so, getting a bit closer to done each time. This time I decided it was time to finish it and right now it's sitting in the place of honor next to the TV in the den. It's finished, but one night this week it will be back up on the bench for some minor touch up, but it's essentially finished. The end of an era! The next time I'm home during daylight, I'll take the glamour shots for Under Glass! Thanks to everyone who has followed this build, some of you for 20 years!
Tom Geiger Posted January 27, 2015 Author Posted January 27, 2015 We are now Under Glass: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=98259&hl=
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