66 Skylark a different way

[Lefturns75]

Everyone knows the old AMT Skylark Mod Stocker--pretty boring and pretty ugly.   I thought I might try and spice it up some by using the chassis from the AMT 66 Olds 442 kit to give it some chassis detail.  It fits the body like it was made for it and I can also use the floor pan and firewall.  This will be a car that would have been on the ovals during the 70-73 racing seasons doing double duty on dirt and pavement.  It will still be ugly but maybe I can make it look more like a race car than what is offered in the kit.


The rear frame rails are modified by moving them in board and up.  This was pretty common with the Speedway Engineering GM chassis from the time.  It helps keep most of the tire inside the body and with lowering the ride height.  Once the chassis gaps are filled with putty and sanded smooth, I can add all the suspension pieces and establish the ride height.  Last, the cage will be fitted.  I will have more when I get it up on all fours and start bending up the roll cage. 

[sentsat71]

This is going to be an interesting WIP....!!

[Greg Birky]

You've got my attention!!!

[Brian Conn]

....I really like it when a build is more than just another painted body with some decals....putting forth the extra effort to build a period correct replica model as you have posted here.     

  B.T.W I picked up some Evergreen #227 7/32 Tube like you suggested for the spring buckets...really like the way it looks on a frame.

[Lefturns75]

This "Period correct replica" is more from my memory and a combination of things I used to see and not a replica of any one car.  I could build a whole seasons worth of cars by using the pile of AMT Nascar kits I have stacked up but they just dont represent the period for me.  A 1971 late model on a 1991 nascar chassis just never looks right to me.  I know the way I do these things gives most a headache but I try and capture the look and equipment the cars had during that time.  I don't mind building my own roll cage and suspension linkages but that is just me, it is not for everyone.  If I do no more than inspire someone to try something different or give them an idea for a build I have accomplished something.  This Skylark is a little large with its 115 inch wheel base and might be a touch heavy but back then you used what you had.  With a little luck I might make this look like a race car that could give the Chevelle's and Camaro's a run for the money.  Yes, it is Fugly but I think it will be fun.   I will have more when I get some of the roll cage fitted. 

[MarkJ]

This is going to be awesome, George. And I like your thinking about not using a nascar kit to do this build.

[Brian Conn]

...yea, that's what I meant by a period correct replica...not necessarily a replica of an actual car, but rather a car, any car real or not, that replicates what was actually being raced at any given time in racing history.

  What always gets me is a kit modeler, not to be confused with an actual builder, who would take a '70 Chevelle kit and any non descript NASCAR kit, car manufactures brand name not with standing,as an example.....

On the forums he'll claim that he is building a Street Stock,exactly just like his 3rd cousin twice removed raced at some long forgotten bull ring in the deep South....doesn't really matter as no pictures exist since Hurricane David in '79 blew all of them up the Eastern Seaboard into New England as he claims.
  To peak everyone's interest he says he's going to be kit bashing so to build this Chevelle into a dirt track stock car using "some" parts from the NASCAR kit...never mind that it is the Monogram Dale Earnhardt / Bud Moore #15 Wrangler Ford Thunderbird from 1983....heck , just shoot that small block Ford Chevy Orange and waala instant small block Chevy racing motor!  No need to worry about trivial things like distributor location or what it says on the valve covers, no one will be able to get past the precise detail work of that cage and chassis.  What he wont dare tell a soul is that the NASCAR stock car has already been built, but to give it the appearance that he can turn out a build in a just few days with the best of them, he'll just remove the ol' NASCAR T-Bird body and take the Chevelle body and plunk it on the already built NASCAR chassis and BINGO instant dirt track street stock race car...it's pretty easy to brush paint Chevy Orange on that already built Ford engine...hopefully not too much of that Ford Blue will show thru.
  For what ever reason, there where 2 sets of decals in that Monogram Dale Earnhardt #15 Ford Thunderbird from 1983 .....so what its 30 plus years later, they will look perfect on that Street Stock.
  The favorite color of choice is Red,  so Red it is for this build....doesn't matter how the decals will clash with the body color.
  Pictures of this build are posted and the modeler is so full of himself explaining to his jack wagon buddies, who eww and ahh, how diligently he worked on this build to make it a model of exactly what his 3rd cousin twice removed raced at some long forgotten bull ring in the deep South in 1974.
I have actually fallowed post/threads like this scenario elsewhere for my own personal entertainment.....I don't want to hear how this guy did the best he could, he didn't even attempt to try....and you cant tell him anything , he's the neighborhood master mechanic who helped Jr. Johnson build "Chivvys" in Richard Petty's shop.
 
  I applaud and will continue to applaud those builders who put forth the extra effort to keep it real. 

[Lefturns75]

I got out my 1/25 scale tubing bender (My Fingers) and roughed in the basic roll cage.  I checked the fit and everything still goes together ok.  I still have some random braces and door bars then it is on to suspension and some interior tin.  I have not made a choice on an engine yet but I kinda think this old dog could use a Fat Block.  Maybe something like a home-grown L-88 or maybe even a 454 that got yanked from a totaled Monte Carlo at the local salvage yard but I will deal with that later. 

[MarkJ]

That cage looks perfect, George. How do you get those tight 90 degree bends without snapping the rods while bending?

[Lefturns75]

Mark, making the bends is kinda hard to explain, it would make more sense if you watched me do it.  I think one thing that helps me is having bent up the real stuff many times.  Doing it in plastic is a snap after doing 1:1 tubing which is a job and time consuming.   For this, I use a small amount of heat.  Either by pulling the rod through my fingers, rolling it in my fingers or using a lighter.  You have to be careful with the lighter or you will add too much heat and destroy the rod.  I use just enough that the rod will just start to droop and lay it on my cutting board grid.  I can use the squares to make sure everything is square.  Sometimes you will have to bend the rod past the angle to get it to spring back where you want it.  You can then finesse the bend how you want it and if you are doing a rear hoop you can twist it back to straight if you are a little off.  This takes practice and you will mess up some rod as you develop your technique. 

When you need two ends to match up with two points, as when you bend a top hoop or door bars, I usually make my first bend and lay the part up to where it will go.  On the opposite end, a good starting point is marking the point where you want the stub end to land, then move back toward the first bend 1 1/2 to 2 times the rod diameter and make a second mark.  This will be the center of the radius of the bend.  Carefully heat and bend the rod and when the stub ends are cut to length, it should fit the area you want.  I know, confusing and clear as mud.  Dont be afraid to try and play with this, in time and practice it will come to you.  If photos will help, I can try and work up something as a guide if you want. 

Now I know this is nothing but a migraine headache for some.  If a person has never measured, cut, notched and bent tubing and built a 1:1 roll cage, this is just a nightmare.  Trust me, it is 100 times easier than the real thing.  Plus, it wont cost as much if you mess up.  Nothing makes you want to say bad words and throw tools like when you barf up a stick of $2.00 a foot tubing.  With evergreen rod, $2.00 gets you about 180 scale feet of tubing to mess up on.   

[Lefturns75]

Since I am sure I confused Mark and some others, I thought I would add this visual of making one of the door bars.  This is also pretty much the same way I would make the top hoop, rear hoop or engine bay hoop if I use bends. 
I start with a stick of rod that will give me enough material and make a 90 with enough stub end that I will have some to trim.  With a little heat, I lay the part on my grid and make sure everything is square.  Notice the mark on the rod points to the corner of my grid square, that is the center of the radius of my bend. 


Now that I have my first bend, I can lay the part up to the section of the roll cage where it will go.  I make a mark on the end where I want the stub to land.  I then move back in the direction of the first bend and make another mark, roughly 1 1/2 times the diameter of the rod.  This is the center of the radius of the second bend. 



I then use some more heat and make the second bend the same way I did the first one.  The stub ends of the rod are trimmed to the length I need and bends are tweaked if needed to butt to the roll cage uprights.   I try and make sure everything is level and use some liquid cement to attach to check the fit inside the body.  If everything fits and does not interfere with any of the body, I hit the joints with some super gloo and a little accelerator.   I can then move on to the next bar and do the process again for the length I need.  This first bar, including layout, bending and glooing it to the cage took about 10 minutes with stoping to take photos.  With some practice at this, you can knock out a cage as quick as it would take to assemble a kit cage .

[slim]

It's not so ugly, OOB except roll cage and tires & rims. Good looking build you have there!

Hosted on Fotki

[MarkJ]

Since I am sure I confused Mark and some others, I thought I would add this visual of making one of the door bars.  This is also pretty much the same way I would make the top hoop, rear hoop or engine bay hoop if I use bends. 
I start with a stick of rod that will give me enough material and make a 90 with enough stub end that I will have some to trim.  With a little heat, I lay the part on my grid and make sure everything is square.  Notice the mark on the rod points to the corner of my grid square, that is the center of the radius of my bend. 


Now that I have my first bend, I can lay the part up to the section of the roll cage where it will go.  I make a mark on the end where I want the stub to land.  I then move back in the direction of the first bend and make another mark, roughly 1 1/2 times the diameter of the rod.  This is the center of the radius of the second bend. 



I then use some more heat and make the second bend the same way I did the first one.  The stub ends of the rod are trimmed to the length I need and bends are tweaked if needed to butt to the roll cage uprights.   I try and make sure everything is level and use some liquid cement to attach to check the fit inside the body.  If everything fits and does not interfere with any of the body, I hit the joints with some super gloo and a little accelerator.   I can then move on to the next bar and do the process again for the length I need.  This first bar, including layout, bending and glooing it to the cage took about 10 minutes with stoping to take photos.  With some practice at this, you can knock out a cage as quick as it would take to assemble a kit cage .

Man, George. That's some beautiful work you have done there on the cage. Its all so precise and fits perfectly. What size rod is that?

[Lefturns75]

Mark the rod is Evergreen #212 .080 rod.  I have used and sometimes still use Evergreen #223 .093 tube.  The tube is a little harder to bend  but both scale pretty close to 1 3/4 inch tubing that most of the cars were built from.  They are not scale matches but they look right to the eye.  The last three builds have been with the rod since that is what I have on hand.  I usually keep some tube around for building shocks.  The 67 and 62 Nova I have posted were built with the .093 tube, The 68 Camaro, 63 Fairlane and this build are .080 rod.  I forgot to mention that I sometimes use the handle of an exacto or wooden dowel to bend the rod around depending on the radius I need.  The bends on this build were done with just my fingers and some eyeballing. 

[BobD]

Lefturns75 - Thanks for the great tutorial & photos....I wish my cages would turn out this neat & clean!