Shoebox Ford

Hey Ice: Love the avatar. I wrote an email to Revell listing the model numbers and UPS codes of both the Shoebox and the Streetburner '55. Funny, Revell has a lot of new and interesting builds (Like that '63 Vette) but the StreetBurner series has dropped off the site. Luckily I still have that NIB one in the closet. I just want them to make it right with a new sealed Showbox kit or a refund. That way I know if I try to build my 1st kit with the questionable engine, I won't be out the investment. Heck, I'd have put a blown engine in it if I had to build one from scratch! I'm gettin' a little tired of carb'd cars and blown pro mods are the bomb.

If I have to, I'll wait until taxes come back and get an RGE top of the line blown Ford pro mod motor, resin or not. They have those modern blower hats that sit as high as the roofline and include pulleys and a real belt!

I'll let you know what happens. Thanks for responding!!!

I've assembled an engine for the Shoebox Ford, partly (mostly) out of engine parts from the junkyard '55 top sportsman engine I got off Ebay and it looks decent. I was going to use 4 braided fuel lines from the carbs and run them forward into a Pro Tech fuel distribution block, then backwards using .060 to the fuel cell. Since there are two fitting places on the cell, I planned to run an .045 line back to the block for a full return systemn.

Halfway through the process, I realized I used .035 line on one side of the carbs and only had one .035 fitting left. I ended up using CM's suggestion of simply running an alum line to connect the two carbs on the right side. This required .045 fittings, which I had. It was miserable trying to make the pre-drilled holes slightly larger but I did and then bending the alum line wasn't any easier. Take a look and see what you think:



I found a source for these really nice Pegasus "funny car" wheels and tires and think they'll have a prominent roll in some future pro builds and any funny car that isn't supposed to be of a specific replica. They once made matching rear combos but started showing up as "back-ordered" by the time I discovered them and now they're nowhere to be found. Made in China supposedly.


Rock on brothers! \||/

Thanks bro! I appreciate the props!

Looks awesome Mitch VERY NICE !!!

Yeah Mitch! Nice!

I owe it all to my time here at Jerry's and all the builds I've been watching (especially that rascal CM). Everytime I think I figured out a comfort zone, I'm challenged to up the bar and it's great! Schwack and others on here have got me sold on picking up a paint booth and dehydrator at a minimum this year to make work and painting easier. This place rocks! Thanks everyone!

Thanks Poet. Welcome to the club!

Don't know what kind of builds you like, but follow the trail of mix & match parts I went through on this thread due to Revell's instructions mistakes. I tried to install the front engine support/frame rails today and found they would not fit around the headers as detailed, despite the instruction pics. I finally had to pry off the headers on both sides today and then pre-fit the support rails. They fit perfectly. Then I prefit one header set on the driver's side and it fit perfectly also. So, I've learned now I'm going to totally prefit all frame rail parts on the front end with Elmer's glue so if I need to try different assembly methods I can try them before risking CA or Testors model glue!

That's really starting to look like something now and its looking great.

Looking real nice Mitch like the detail great smileyCA9464IN_zpsd9ee499f

Thanks Paul, I appreciate the kind words. I'm learning Revell likes to reuse stuff a lot and it doesn't always fit too well

JB: I love this little thing on Ebay that runs around $70. It's a little larger than a toaster oven, maybe a small microwave with an open area and turntable and a house type filter fitted in the rear. The vacuum supposedly draws fumes and overspray through the filter and out a dryer type hose. You can also upgrade with an attachment that hangs over the painting area and also draws fumes upwards into a hose. I can just fit a flat end to the hose and slip it out the basement door. The hydrators have a small head source I believe to help cure body paint.

Man, we got our taxes in ASAP, hoping we'd get something back. My hobbies are at the bottom of the list, but anything is helpful!

Looking really good Mitch man your skills have improved 100% way to go bro !

Thanks guys. The truth is Skip, CM give me tips & tricks all the time to improve!

Wow - it just dawned on me how long it takes a build from start to finish. Custom Muscle can do kits like he's on an assembly line. Other folks are so dedicated to perfection their builds are amazing. I guess I just aim high and keep repairing the damage until I'm done! The top side body of the Shoebox was taped yesterday in the sunshine and the inside got its 3 mist coats and 2 wet coats of Model Masters Red Burgundy Metallic. Man, I don't know where they get red for that color - it dried beautiful like a dark cherry; almost plumb!

Well I flipped a dime and decided to paint all the extra spoiler tinwork on the Shoebox in the paint booth using all the little alligator clips and flexible rods. Only problem is unlike shooting the mist coats of a body (inside or out), you don't have as many options when ensuring the surface areas on both sides of a smaller part get equal misting. I clipped the spoiler fins in the clamps and shot the first mist coat (including the actual hood) and then forgot to reposition the parts in the clamps before the 2nd mist coat. Granted, the paint was still sticky, but there were options. I shot the 2nd and 3rd coats before realizing the areas under the clamps would still show primer.

This was especially for the hood. On my T-bird prostock, since the underhood was flat black and the top was red, I shot its hood resting on one box and leaning on another. I should have done the same thing here. Anyway, I pulled out the hood and stuck it in Purple Power; the other parts dried overnight and today I rearranged the clamps and shot 2 mist coats over the areas still showing primer. Unbelievably, the mist coats covered perfectly. I'm going to let everything dry another 48 hours while I prep the hood. It only took a couple of hours last night to cleanup all the way to white styrene again, so it dried overnight and I've been priming/prepping it for another base coat mist session.

While I'm not particularly please with my ability to get through an entire paint job start to finish without problems, it's nice to know it's getting easier to fix them!

Paul: Good news! The only thing left on the Showbox is to re-shoot the hood top (bottom will be an easy flat black as usual) and shoot the top of the body. With improving weather, I've moved out to the garage for painting. The Mustang funny car and the Budweiser T-bird prostock are finally done with all painting and are now curing. I tried after waiting a full 7 days to apply Testors clear coat to the T-bird and it sputtered and then went on sporadically all over the driver's side.

I don't know what could have gone wrong, other than the clear maybe getting old or stale in the can? I had used some of it on my 2nd actual build, a 66 Nova. You got most of a brand new kit I had to purchase on that build just to get the 4th and final body to use! I got that awesome pink Hays T-bird body and fascias which are in the build queue along with about 6 other kits.

Anyway, I followed some instructions to wet sand out paint problems with 3600 when the clear had dried and shot another mist coat and 2 wet coats. It looks perfect now, but I'm stuck on what to do next. Jeff at Firebird Design did some great decals for the Mustang and the T-bird, but his instructions expect the area where the decals go to be cleared. I don't want to spray it again and ruin the paint. Do you know of any good, safe clear in a shaker can I could try?

I want these three builds done so badly and they are so close. The Shoebox has its own set of decals that are hard enough as it is to apply, especially around the hood area. Did you get any of the pics I emailed you? I haven't gotten a photo album setup yet online. I want to let you see the progress on the McEwen funny car which is monstrous now!