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Slotto's Model Car Garage
Topic Started: Jun 5 2015, 01:55 PM (2,401 Views)
slotto
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Spotlight on the 1967 Impala

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Stay Tuned...
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slotto
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Currently on the bench is a 1956 Bel Air.

I bought this kit when my daughter was 2. It was something that we were gonna build together box stock. Well, things happen as they do, this kit got boxed up until recently when I got the model building bug again. She's 16 now.

I've been watching a lot of those car customizing shows on Velocity lately and they spawned me to want to make a full custom, something I've never done before, at least at this scale.

Here goes,
It all started with an idea...
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The wheels came from an old Shezoom kit. Back in the day, I bought a bunch of them. I forget where I got the tires.
To get started, I sprayed the body primer gray. I removed all the seam lines and filled some factory flaws. This led to me removing the emblems on the trunk, the hood and the rear quarters. Lastly I shaved off the door handles. I started thinking about the hood. In my head I wanted it to tilt forward and down. Like nothing I've ever seen before. After days of an idea swirling around in ,y head, I went ahead with it. I slid some square tubing over bent a paper clip and mocked it into place with some puddy. Then I drilled 2 holes in the engine bay to serve as a pivot point.

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I had a spare HEMI from the 68 Charger kit. I thought this would be perfect. It needed a transmission as the Charger kit only came with one. So I shaved the one off of the Bel Air engine and fastened it to the HEMI. As you will see in later pictures, the HEMI looks right at home. Next came the suspension. To get that stance, I wouldn't be able to use any kind on stock suspension without some alterations. I looked around in an old parts box and found a set of rear leaf springs and rear end that were already to go and they fit nicely on the Bel Air chassis, so I taped them in to position. For the front suspension, I hogged out the front part of the frame so nothing would be in the way and I cut apart the stock suspension and separated the lower A-arms from the lower assembly and inverted them to sit atop of the frame to get that down in the weeds look.

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With all the front end mods, I needed to carve out some of the engine bay. Tank GOD for the Dremel!

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Next I'll be creating some sort of motor mount. Currently the HEMI is resting on the upper A's. There doesn't appear to be any clearance issues for the oil pan. That's good news.

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Stay Tuned...


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Hilltop Racing
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I'm sticking right here....!!! RM
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model murdering
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Beautiful work Steve.

Droolworthy!
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alpink
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nice wiring and plumbing job on a bunch of those.
great stable overall.

who remembers "flocking" for interiors?
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slotto
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Thanks for the positive feedback gents.
Here's a few more pics of the hood and how it sits...

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but enough about the past. A few things have changed since my last post. Can you spot the differences?

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This is something I've always wanted to do but was afraid to do because I wasn't confident that I could successfully accomplish.

But ultimately, it's only plastic, so I dove in and started cutting. What you've been reading about using the back side of the blade is true. you have way more control over the knife when you cut this way.

There was one problem with cutting the doors off of this body...tight tolerances. I sliced right thru the a-pillar and the plastic was so thin at the rocker panel, it snapped. Both breaks on the driver side.

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Them's the breaks!

Now the body was flapping in the wind. I was crushed! I tried to mend the situation with super glue but it snapped again. Then I remembered a youtube video I saw about mending guitar nuts. It involved super glue and baking soda. At this point, what did I have to loose?

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Let me tell you, this WILL save your model! It hardens like concrete. And it's sandable.

Stay Tuned...
Edited by slotto, Dec 17 2016, 08:48 AM.
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highwingpilot
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Beautiful car models! I love the wiring you did on the motors. Nice work!!
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slotto
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Thanks Highwing!

Here's what's been going on...

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Set the valve covers on just for giggles.

Stay Tuned...
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Chappy
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Oh man, Slotto, this is such a fun project to follow along with! I appreciate you sharing your tricks, tips and steps in model building👍🏼.

Chappy
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slotto
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Thanks for checking me out Chappy. It's a learning process.
I've been fighting these doors since I cut them off. I finally got a hinge that I ok with.
I tried like 10 times to get it right. Hinges are tough!

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I picked this up at Ollies yesterday...

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I was thinking I'd go in this direction...

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Stay Tuned...
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