I'll let Steve's own words describe why he details and what he has done to this particular car:
I got started in this hobby about two years ago. My younger brother is Shiney on the Stage I board. He has about 150 diecast. A couple of years ago for Christmas he bought me the 67 Chevelle and the Silver 442. 1 really liked them, but didn't know if people took them out of the box, put them away for the future, or what9 I wanted to take them apart to see what I could to them! This last winter my other brother convinced me to hook up to the Net. Shiney then told me to check out some sites, namely Stage 1, MTR and Detailing by Scooter! I was surprised to find others who wanted to do the same. Since then I've jumped in and have about 30 diecast, 3/4 to be detailed and nowhere to display them.
The MOD
The car is based on the TRU Burgundy SS396. It had some paint
problems and seemed a good candidate for my first mod and repaint.
BODY
After about three or four tries at a repaint, (difficulty with
primer staying, etc) the body cracked
at the windshield and at the rocker panel area. Shiney said he
had a Z/28 body I could have.
I've removed the Z/28 emblems and used the SS ,rill. The headlight
are foiled on the back and
then painted silver to try and tone down the black slot you see
a lot in Ertl's lights. I've painted
the bumper black the try and appear as an Endura bumper. The
front plate was cut out of a
Summit catalog. The body was then given the foil treatment, ALA
SCOOTER!
INTERIOR
The headliner is masking tape cut to fit and painted flat black.
The shifter was cut and shortened.
I don't remember shifters being as long as some as Ertl has been
giving us. Anyway the Hurst shifters we used when we were younger
were about this long. Pedal trim was painted. The tach
is from the 701/2 BM Camaro. I painted the face and then added
the numbers, needle and wire.
MOTOR
The motor is the original 396 ( with a 030 overbore, how ya gonna
prove me wrong? LOL!)
The valve covers are from the BM Camaro, the headers are from
the Orange kit Z/28. Took a lot of cutting to get them in. The
wire for the plugs came from Radio Shack. The fuel line to the
Holley is a paper clip.
FRAME
The Cragars came from the BM Camaro, as did the Lakewood bars.
Exhaust tips were drilled
and painted black.
PACKAGE
The whole thing started when I saw the bright Green thing that
Ertl was selling as a Street Machine. I thought, No, I don't
think so! So I decided my mod would be what I thought they should
have given us. Hope you guys like it! Couldn't have done it
without you fellas and your ideas! Special thanks to Shiney,
Frank's Diecast Salvage and a wife who would let me disappear
to the basement for hours in the evenings!
Great job Steve!