'66 Barracuda "Hemi Under Glass"-Kit Re-engineering please?

[mustang1989]

Still lookin' at this thing. One of these weeks I'll get through with the F-100 and I'll be all over this.

[Paul]

I do like a strong set of aluminum slot. They look kick ass and beefy. I would be willing to bet that you will get that ole girl back and burning up the rubber in no time. As for the model I think it will be another awesome build.

[mustang1989]

Well I've reached that point with the '56 Ford to where I'm now sitting at the bench with little left to do but stare at the rest of the parts. Everything on it has an order it goes in and I can't skip a step and move on until I get the next small task in front of me done. Unfortunately it isn't a shake and bake time at the bench with it right now.
I had to move to something that I could actually get my hands into in regards to building again so I laid everything out from the Ross Gibson 426 Hemi and my AM Hillborn Fuel Injection set to display what I've actually got to deal with. I must say that so far I'm impressed. I'll be heading to the sink to wash all these parts up tomorrow morning.



One of the neat things that the Gibson engine comes with is a little strip for the drive belt/ belts. Check it out:



I'm really looking forward to building again. Hopefully this one doesn't take 9+ months to build.

[Stuart]

That's a really lovely looking bit of resin Joe - can't wait to see what you do with it!

The belts will look great!

[Duke Maddog]

Those are some sweet parts! I love the fan belt material too. This one will be fun to watch!

[mustang1989]

Thanks fellas!!

Got this far after trimming and sanding the crap out of this thing. Got 'er primed to see any bad areas and will be throwing a coat of flat black on it tomorrow for the pre-shading.

[LyleW]

Looks good! This should be a stunner.

[mustang1989]

Thanks for the encouragement Lyle.

After allowing the gray primer to dry and straightening out a couple of holes and cracks , I shot a coat of flat black on the whole engine for the pre shade effect and allowed to dry overnight. This morning I shot several light coats of red on and so far am happy with the results.

I'll be masking the oil pan off and shooting that with a coat or two of aluminum after the red cures out.



I've also started working on the valve covers. I'll be going with Alclad for those.

[mustang1989]

Still working with this one here. The more I look at this kit the more I become frustrated with its inaccuracy. I'm going to have to do a lot of work to get this thing up to par. First off the front suspension on the real car is of A-frame type :



The one in the kit is.................leaf spring design???



I can get past this as there aint just a whole lot I can do with this unless I start graphing in a suspension from another car. However I can't get past the fact that the wheels are set back in the wheel opening as shown here in a completed model I found on another forum. The rear wheels are positioned wrong in the wheel opening as well. Man......I've got my work cut out for me here....



I've already begun taking steps to correct that issue. Then there's the motor that's like WAY too far forward and set in too low!! Again...completed pictures from another builder..



Motor's gotta come back to the rear AND up!!!!

Then there's the interior.....good LORD! A person would have to be a contortionist to get in this thing in real life if it were set up like this. Fire wall has to be located more to the rear and seats tossed out. I have good seat from another kit (this car kit comes with...............two???? ).

Check it out:





This is going to be a slow process with this build folks.

[LyleW]

At least it will keep you from roaming the streets! That is just trouble. Looks like a handful!