Post by mustang1989 on Nov 16, 2016 10:43:13 GMT -7
Here's another one from my parents house. This thing started out looked terrible after 3 decades of no case or cover and I contemplated just throwing it away. Instead I saw some potential in the ol' girl and decided to undergo about a month and a half long project to bring 'er back from the dead.
I gave it a lot of TLC during the resto while trying to keep it in line with the "back in the day" skills. Lot's of touch up and some parts replacements from a newer release of the kit along the way helped out some like the rear wheels from the Barris T Buggy kit and the front tires from Revell's Pro Stock Thunderbird. The paint is all original with only clean up and a polishing with Novus to bring out the shine. On the original build I never installed any glass or headlamps so right off the bat there was an improvement there. Wheels and tires are all replacements with some tricks that I've learned here and there to enhance those items. All exterior chrome was replaced and the hood was added as well. I'm not just real happy with the hood but I'll work around that for now. Interior is all original with no upgrades other than cleaning up. The engine is terrible and if it weren't for the fact that the headers were visible all the way up to it I would have left it out.
All in all this was some good fun with little frustration and I've even got to try out a few tricks and ideas in what was unchartered waters before this build. Is this my best model or will this win in any shows?? No. It does, however, have it's place inside a good display case to pay tribute to some of my earlier teenage years. With any luck it will last another 30+ years............
To recap. Beginning shots. The dust collection on this thing was crazy!!
and yes....that's a clear hood.
The temperature was so hot back there in that closed off room in the North Texas heat that the tires "deflated" throughout the years.
Finishing shots: The original paint took the polishing up quite well. The paint shines better than it did when I first applied it 3 decades ago.
I left a lot of "boo-boo's" the way they were on the original build. The point was to have a freshened up version of the original build. All replaced parts were cleaned up and given enhancements with todays skills but the original parts/ joints were left the same so the beginners skills from back then would be visible.
