MPC "Spirit of '57" Chevrolet Belair Gasser

[mustang1989]

Looks like the Panther build that I have been on for a while now is in the final stages of completion and I'm moving at a snail's pace on it trying to get everything done as good as possible after spending so much time on it. With that being said, I wanted to venture back into familiar territory with an automotive build that I can use a bit of artistic license on and still get this done in a 3–5-month time span.

I chose this kit because it's got a little history. I built this kit.....er actually....it was my cousins kit that he got for Christmas when I was 12 our so. Needless to say he wasn't very happy that I built it with no paint and pretty much assembled in around an hour or so.....and it looked it. lol. We've always gotten along well so it ended up being water under the bridge for him and we moved on. I plan on building this kit in the maroon color scheme that you'll see on the box top but adding a good set of wheels and tires to replace the anemic wheels in the kit. I think I have got the choice down and will post up pictures when I have the wheels. I will be spending some bucks on a good set of aluminum wheels for it to set everything on this car off in a better style. I'll also be replacing the VERY basic small block Chevrolet in the kit with a 3D printed blown big block Chevrolet and adding a few details along the way. My aim here is to have some good fun and make a decent turn out of this kit from memory lane.

 

[Demolition]

Always fun when there's a story behind it.

 

[RacerX]

Love that kit , now that its rereleased im in for one to, i would like to find the 66 Chevel with the flip front at a decent price, they would look great together. The engine in the kit is a 427 the valve covers have a finned ridge in the center that makes them look odd.

 

[Blackbeard]

Always fun when there's a story behind it.

 

[mustang1989]

Thanks for the comments fellas.

Gonna be going with these wheels from Dancing Bear:

Also.....the more I looked at the engine the more I said......"Meh"......"I can do better".

So.......I'll be turning to this kit for the engine:

 

[mustang1989]

I started with the frame this morning and this kit is definitely showing its age. LOTS of injector pin marks, mold lines, flash.....the gambit. Spent around 45 minutes cleaning the base frame up and still have some work left to do.

After some initial clean up. As you can see, there's still a little more left to do. What a mess. We're gettin there though.

 

[BarleyBop]

Basic hygiene, not always fun, but better than the alternative!

 

[WtShark]

Nothing like a marathon flash and mold lines removal session.
A good base makes for solid build.

 

[mustang1989]

Thanks fellas. Glad all of that is now overwith. lol

Got a little further on the frame painting it with the Mystical Maroon. Here's with the installation of the front and rear axles as well as touched up the missed areas of paint. Also straightened out the warpage on the frame which would've resulted in a FO SHO three-wheeler.

The shocks .....OMG the SHOCKS!! I spent a good amount of time cleaning up the white ones you see to the left. They looked identical to the chrome ones on the right with all of the distortions, injector pin mark and mold lines. Got some work to do on the chrome ones and then I'll re-chrome them. Yeesh!!

 

[BarleyBop]

Mystical Maroon

Ha! Who comes up with these names, anyways?!

 

[mustang1989]

Ha! Who comes up with these names, anyways?!

Right??!!

 

[RacerX]

Ha! Who comes up with these names, anyways?!

This guy.

 

[mustang1989]

I managed to get the shocks defined a bit more and re-chromed them after finishing.

And then I did a quick mockup before I forgot to and I'm glad I did. If I left this whole thing how it was as it came from the box, the rear wheel openings would have been resting on the rear tires. Not good. So.....I'm going to have to raise the body off of the frame a little bit to get the ride height that I'm after and then re-locate the bumper mounts to put the rear bumper where it's supposed to be in relation to the body.

This is the ride height/ look that I'm after. BTW.......the aluminum wheels from Dancing Bear are now on the way to me.

and now.......to start on that small block Chevy motor from the Moebius Nova kit:

 

[BarleyBop]

ride height that I'm after

Yup, the trouble spent on mock-ups pay dividends!
I understand what you mean by ride height, but as I have no experience or knowledge of custom suspension systems, how do you figure out what's appropriate, and how to achieve a realistic build?
Or is it just a matter of eyeballing it?

 

[mustang1989]

Yup, the trouble spent on mock-ups pay dividends!
I understand what you mean by ride height, but as I have no experience or knowledge of custom suspension systems, how do you figure out what's appropriate, and how to achieve a realistic build?
Or is it just a matter of eyeballing it?

I've built 5 real vehicles in my lifetime and I've got an eye for what I want out of stance and overall look BB. Alot of times I'll buy two of any automotive kit that I'm building (depending on how expensive they are) and do a whole mock up build with one of the kits so I'll know what to do on the build that I'll be completing. I make sure and mark up an instruction sheet so if I ever build another one or someone else wants to know how to pull the look that I give my builds off then I can readily tell them/ show them on the instruction sheet.

 

[BarleyBop]

I've built 5 real vehicles in my lifetime and I've got an eye for what I want out of stance and overall look BB.

Nice! Thanks for the lowdown.

 

[mustang1989]

Little bit more progress done today with getting the frame attached to the base underbody and picked out the rear brake line details.