'68 Firebird - First Car, First Contest, First Disappointment...Oh Well!

Thanks, I'll let you know what I think of it! So far, I've assembled the engine and chassis and its going together well. I have encountered some flash, Bgrigg, but like you said, not too much. I'll post some pics as I start to detail.

Any one have a good method for weathering chrome? This is the first time I've encountered it so I'm not sure of its characteristics...Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks again, Jon

Welcome to the world of car building! I have built one of these kits and it was a total dream build. I did change the wheels and tires because the kit supplied ones looked somewhat wrong to me, too small. For the weathering question on chrome you asked, I cannot answer. Real looking weathering toatally escapes me, I just can not seem to do it. Have fun with your new adventure! Heres mine...

Thats a nice finish, Likitty! Well done indeed! Did you complete the engine as well? I'm going to attempt to wire it (we'll see how that goes...) Should be fun! I don't have a complete understanding of the inner workings of a V-6 so I'll have to crack open some references. All my cars have been 4 cylinders or four-legged and coaxed with a carrot...   

Thanks - Jon                               

Tiki, thanks for the correction, my fault. I will definitely be perusing the internet today for some useful references. I've also thought of leaving off a few parts here and there to make the build a little more interesting. I've already removed the air cleaner and carburator, and if worse comes to worse with the wiring, I may remove the distributor as well.

Thanks again for the help. I'm basically building this with zero knowledge base no any help is appreciated. I drive a car every day and have no clue of the inner workings!  - Jon

Welcome to the dark side! Nicely done!

 And Tiki Cat? There were V6s in 1968... just not in the Firebird. A pretty nice OHC inliner, though, was. A bit too far ahead of it's time, probably. Check it out in the MPC/AMT '69 F-Bird kit.

Thanks for the complement Jon! The engine is in there with minimal wiring... 

There are many sources for pre-wired distributors on the net, but I prefer to drill my own, if the kit supplied one will allow that.

Chuck Most wrote:

Welcome to the dark side! Nicely done!  And Tiki Cat? There were V6s in 1968... just not in the Firebird. A pretty nice OHC inliner, though, was. A bit too far ahead of it's time, probably. Check it out in the MPC/AMT '69 F-Bird kit.

I briefly owned a 69 Firebird with the 250ci 230hp inline six. It was a great engine and was only a bit slower than the 326ci V8 which came with 250hp. However, it never was satisfying in the way a V8 is, so I sold it for a 69 GTO 400ci, which satisfied the power craving.Then gas went up in price, so the Goat had to go!

Likitty, thanks for posting the pic of the engine which looks great I might add. I was planning on drilling and wiring my own distributor as it doesn't appear like it will be a problem. I found a nice source on the web that provided a diagram of how a '68 Firebird V-8 is wired, should come in handy.

Thanks 

Chuck Most wrote:

Welcome to the dark side! Nicely done!  And Tiki Cat? There were V6s in 1968... just not in the Firebird. A pretty nice OHC inliner, though, was. A bit too far ahead of it's time, probably. Check it out in the MPC/AMT '69 F-Bird kit.

Isn't that exactly what I said?  No V-6 in a '68 Firebird, that was the subject.  As I said before, oddmanrush, you'll do this one justice, I've seen your hockey player with THE CUP.

Tiki, thanks for the vote of confidence!! I wired the engine as best I could last night. I'll post pics as it progresses.

Hello,

So here is the work I've done so far. I'm about 2/3s the way through and should hopefully be done by the end of next week. Hopefully.

Comments and suggestions are welcome!

Jon

This is the interior so far:

Thanks for the comments! This has been a fun build so far, I really underestimated the intrest I could get from doing an automobile.

Wingform, I was able to rough up the driver's seat using an article from a previous Fsm issue. I'll have to look up the date and get back to you. Basically, I gouged the plastic through the rear of the seat until I was satisfied with the nasty looking tear. Then I filled the whole in with wood putty, stippled it to give it texture and then painted it after it hardened. Seemed to work well.

Tiki, I removed the carburator and the air cleaner and I think I'll leave them off. Maybe to the side, as if some one is some what working on it.

You know, I'm having trouble fitting the chassis/interior into the body. I test fitted it last night and could barely get it in. Then, much to my horror, could barely get it back out! Is this common for auto models? I'm not sure if I should finish the body before or after putting the chassis in place as I'm afraid that I'll ruin the finish as I try to crow bar it in place. Any suggestions?

Thanks again! - Jon

Welcome to auto modeling, not like the other disciplines where you can cheat and call it battle damage, EXCEPT in a case like yours where you're going for nappy.  Try using a #11 blade to pry the frame/interior assembly apart from the body while inserting or removing them from each other, not as scary as it sounds.  Be brave, it takes guts to build a car!

The lack of a carb will require some intake manifold mods, as the "hole" in the manifold is not the correct shape.  This is a nice enough build for me to point that out, easy to fix now, but not so much later.  Check out places like Summit Racing or Jegs for good pix of intake manifolds and auto parts in general.  Looking good, need to know the Ancient Secret for the crappy looking seat method, please?

Thanks Tiki,

There is something I'd like to try but I'd appreciate your opinion on the matter. I like the interior detail so far and I didn't want to hide it in a closed body. The doors are basically two pieces, one half fixed to the interior while the outter half is modeled to the body. (you probably know car models better than me so I'm sure you are familiar with this) So I can't really open the doors unless I do a lot of cutting and scratch building.

The alternative I am thinking of is to cut away the roof and create a convertible with the top down.  To avoid much complication, I would hide top under a cover. Have you ever attempted this or seen it done? It doesn't, at first glance, seem all that difficult. But I don't want to chop the roof off and be like, "ah darn, I shouldn't have done that". (though in the heat of the moment, 'darn' may not be my choice of words)

If any one has opinions or suggestions, I'd appreciate it!

Thanks, Jon

oddmanrush wrote:

Tiki, thanks again. If you look at the November Issue of Fsm you see an article called "Build and beat up Revell's 1/25 scale 1956 Chevy Nomad" by Karl Logan It can also be found as a free online extra which contains more pics. Any way, I got the idea for the ripped seat from Mr. Logan and this article. I detailed a little bit how I did it a post or two ago. But it may bear repeating. I just tore a jagged hole in the seat using my xacto blade. Then I filled it with putty, letting some of it stick out, and other spots sink lower. I textured it by stippling the putty with a small brush, then painted. The rest is just dry brushed to give it a faded look.   And thanks for the tip on the manifold, I'll definitely have to look into it. I hate obvious inaccuracies so it looks like I'll be doing some research!  Thanks again, Jon

Karl Logan AKA The Doog, check out the thread on these very forums

/forums/1008792/ShowPost.aspx

Sorry, Tiki I might have posed my query incorrectly. I was planning on chopping the top off and leaving the top down under a cover, as you say you've done before. I will not be doing a top up convert! Yikes! Doesn't matter either way though because I've changed my mind in doing this conversion. I decided I like the way it looks and if it aint broke, well, don't break it.....Its my first car, so I'ld like to get this one out of the way with as few snafu's as I can manage! Instead, I've placed a roof liner on the inside of the car which sags in a ragged sort of manner (again, much like Karl Logan did - or I guess I should say The Doog)

I did take your advice on the intake manifold and have since plugged the single hole with putty and will drill out the correct set up later, possibly tonight. The body is primed and waiting for paint. I'll be trying the salt weathering technique for chips. I will have one or two 'off' color doors or panels as well. Of course, pics will follow!

Thanks again, Jon

PS: Bgrigg, that is the exact article I've been using for inspiration. Its sitting on my work bench as I speak! I am fairly new here so I've not matched up the screen names to the article names yet! Thanks for the info!

Hello again,

Well, its almost complete! Just wheels, bumpers, fixtures, and a little more painting left. This has been one of the most fun builds I've ever experienced.

I used the salt method of weathering and it produced a result that I am quite happy with. It was the first time I tried it, and I was quite anxious at first, unsure of what to expect. Its painted in a Tamiya yellow, after pre shading, also a technique I used here for the first time. I crafted a pair of seat belts for the front seats but couldn't produce a quality photo (I only thought to snap a pic after I placed the interior in the body ). The thing I'm most unsure about is the rear windshield. Does it look ok? To be honest, I'm not sure how a real windshield would 'behave' under such circumstances. I just beat it up as much as I could.

Well, as always, comments and suggestions are certainly welcome! Oh, and sorry if I've offended any one by taking a perfectly good representation of a '68 Firebird and completely ruining it!!

Thanks for taking the time to look, again!