My success with doing up a “spare”’41 Willys as an old-skool gasser with an Aurora Tuff Ones chassis inspired me to try to repeat that performance, but in a much bigger way! After finally finding the red tires for my AJ’s threaded aluminum wheels that I had been after for months, wouldn’t you know that I found another car for sale just a few days later with an identical set of wheels on it just waiting to be cannibalized! The lights went on in my head when I parted that one out, getting a very nice body as another addition to the Road Crew in the process, but what I really wanted out of it was that set of wheels!
Everyone knows the “Tri-5” Chevys are the epitome of gasser coolness, especially the ’55, and it just so happened I had a couple of Model Motoring ’55 “kits” in cold storage that I was saving for a rainy day! Or a snowy one, as the case has been here lately, so after work on a weeknight right after my b-day I decided to see how far I could go with my Dremel! It was risky, and from the outset I didn’t have a lot of hope for success; I knew that trying to execute the idea I had, I might wind up throwing the body in the trash, but I decided to take the risk, and let’s see if you agree with my assessment that it paid off!
The first plan was to radius the rear wheel arches. This isn’t my first rodeo here, as some of you may remember my “Two Lane Blacktop” tribute car from Thanksgiving of 2022 that came out very well! Its still a risky proposition, but I figured I could do it again, and I was right. But I then tried for something a lot bigger. I still had some really cool parts left over from one of Road Race Replicas’ Ford Maverick kits, and one piece in particular-a set of ram tubes of the style used for the old Hilborn fuel injection systems-was glimmering in my parts bin saying “use me, use me!” What would happen, I thought, if I tried to cut a hole in the hood of this li’l ’55 and injected it?! Dare I try?!
Yup! I dare!
It took a while, but with proper care I got it done. It wasn’t like I didn’t have any mishaps, including my infamous act of getting a smear of super-glue on the body right in the middle of the roof which required a lot of buffing to correct, but doing everything little by little, I was able to get this car to go together just like I wanted it! After all the body mods were done I spent some time with the chrome pen doing a little detailing around the edges, punching up the headlights and tail lights, the side spears, and the stainless edging around the windows. And naturally I left the front bumper off for that mean front-end look that defines this awesome type of car!
This body got mounted on one of only 2 of the early “closed rivet” Tuff Ones chassis I’ve obtained. This one hasn’t been a great performer, so I rebuilt it again, installing it’s 3rd set of brushes-I elected to use brand new ones this time-and an original set of Aurora brown/white Tuff Ones field magnets. Following this, I delved into my substantial decal stash and came up with some cool vintage dragster graphics, and she got topped off with a set of white racing slicks, which contrast nicely with the fire engine red body!
So what do you think, race fans? Did I go over the top with this one, or is just what the doctor ordered for a day of vintage quarter mile action? Of course this car can’t be street legal…but on my tabletop, it’s gonna race on the HO Highway!
This is truly amazing! You did a fantastic job on this and it came out perfectly if you ask me, a real gasser for sure! That must have been nerve wracking to cut the hole in the hood. I was wondering if that older plastic would have been too brittle but you did it Bud!