[KensRedZed]

I bought an old Monogram car kit years ago for $10. The intent was to make it as a static model.

I'm sure almost everyone has had the wonderful experience of wasting time in waiting rooms for medical reasons. I had to go every week for a looong time. I decided to take the kit with me while waiting. Something to tinker with. I scraped the chrome so the glue would adhere. Removed the flash, etc.

   

The car came molded in black. Not good. I painted it Tamiya Mica blue so as not to fight the colour palette. It was somewhat dull just like most of the Tamiya metallic colours. Then it sat in a closet for a long while. I really don't need a static kit to take up space and collect dust.

Then the guys in my club started building 1/25 Boulevard Cruisers. It looked like there was hope for the old Vette. The problem is that a Corvette isn't a boulevard cruiser. However, a new class just started up called GT (Grand Touring). Any sportscar from 1950 to 1975. Rules: Any hardtop sportscar body  motor, gears, chassis, wheels. Urethane tires are a must. I saw this as an opportunity to build something new.

I brought the dull blue Vette to the cottage in October, and gave it a coat of gloss clear.

   

I measured the body and made a chassis to fit.

   

The tires were glued and trued. Followed by a quick test assembly. Axle spacers were added equally on all four corners until the tires locked into the body and held it in place. The body is just floating/stuck on the tires in the pic below. It becomes easy to figure out the length of the body posts at this point. Stick a toothpick through the body screw hole in the chassis, and measure it.

   

After the chassis is measured for body post length. The body is removed from being stuck on the tires. Body posts are cut to proper length. Then the posts are screwed to the chassis. Then 5-minute epoxy is applied to the inside of the body, and body posts. The chassis is quickly jammed back into the body. The body and chassis become self-aligning because of being under a slight pressure from the 4-tires. Once the epoxy hardens. Unscrew the posts and remove the chassis. Then remove 1mm, or 1.5mm from the axle spacers on all four corners. You end up with a perfect body/tire clearance every time. No dog-tracking cars either.

The pic below looks almost the same as above with the exception that it as been assembled and disassembled 3-times. Now it runs.

   

This is the chassis. It has a Fox-10 motor with 11x36 gears on a 26mm rear tire. It also has independent front wheels.

   
   

I tested the car with an unfinished body last Thursday. The completed car officially raced yesterday for the first time. It exceeds expectations by a mile. The driver is the only thing missing. He's still drying from wet paint.

   
   
   
   

It feels great to start building complete cars again.

Oh, I almost forgot mention. The Monogram '65 Vette static kit sucks. The left and right wheel arches don't line up with each other. The windshield doesn't line up unless you cut the front window from the back. The no-draft windows on the side don't line up no matter what you do. You only realize that the wheel arches are missaligned upon final assemby. Too late by then.

Glueing the bumpers on would be an effort in futility. They are held on by a thread. I left them off just like the 1:1 racing Vettes.

The tailpipes are cut from aluminum tubing from the hobby store. The original tailpipes that came with the kit were crap.

What started out as a box of junk is now my fastest 1/24 car. Who knew?

Thank you very kindly for looking,
Ken