Larry's Just Completed '51 Ford Club Coupe

[traditional]

 

 

 

Danbury Mint has made some outstanding diecast models over the last 15 years, but not every one 'reached for the top'. Their pair of limited edition 1951 Fords (both hardtop and convertible) had notable proportion issues {sagging rear quarters, overly wide front bumpers and windshields, too tall roof, simplicity of engine compartment details, overly deep gas tank and spare tire well, etc.) Compounding the problem, the early production issue of the 'Victoria' hardtop often suffered from extreme metal fatigue, a condition caused by impurities in the casting metal. In this case the result was a progressive expanding and/or cracking and crumbling of many key diecast components...trunk lid and hinge, hood and hinge, doors, and main chassis. The normally rare and costly model soon becomes junk.
My brother, Larry, bought one of those very inexpensively a few years ago and, using the pristine '51 trim components, has combined a Unique Replicas '49 Ford convertible (copied closely from a similar Danbury '49 Ford), a very basic MotorMax '49 Ford Coupe, and salvageable components from the otherwise 'fatigued' Danbury '51 Ford.
Carefully cutting, grinding, bending, and mechanically fastening (screws, pins, etc) the diecast components, and applying Bondo to achieve reasonable panel shut lines and fit, he has produced a durable model of a '51 Ford Coupe...a vehicle not currently produced in 1/24 or 1/25 kit or diecast form, and seldom seen in resin. Though certainly not one of his usual scratch built projects, the model, none-the-less, took a full month of fairly steady work to complete and becomes an additional shelf model that isn't likely to be seen often in other collections.

DM's somewhat disproportionate original '51 Victoria....Larry's was decaying (hood, trunk-lid, doors, chassis) due to metal fatigue

 

Body sag eliminated and Motormax roof fastened on

 

Coupe upper door mated to Unique Replicas lower door (to take advantage of the DM hinges)

 

Unique replicas '49 Ford trunk-lid and engine hood modified to replace decayed DM '51 Ford version

 

Unique Replicas chassis (with floor detail ground away) to replace fatigued DM chassis

 

Body and doors being blended and finished

Edited March 10, 2016 by traditional

[traditional]

Window trim fabricated using plated jewelry wire

 

 

 

Edited March 10, 2016 by traditional

[traditional]

[wayne swayze]

As usual....WOW!! The photography is superb as well! My hat is off again to your brother.

[GMCMAN52]

Can I have the key, I just want to take it around the block a few times..................Wow , That's some great work  there

[cobraman]

Beautiful work !

[Plastheniker]

Knowing your truck models I didn't expect here anything else but perfection - and I was right.

[Ramfins59]

Absolutely excellent work.

[Harry P.]

Cliff... you and Larry make the rest of us look like hacks...

[bbowser]

And all of the work in metal instead of styrene.  .  Really, really nice!

[Lovefordgalaxie]

AWESOME!!

[junkyardjeff]

That looks great.I recently learned about the metal falling apart and hope none of mine do that now that they do not make them and doubt the lifetime warranty still applies.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Beautiful work, very nice save and rebuild. Quite inspiring. 

Just one little point...metal "fatigue" is a specific kind of failure caused by repeated flexing of a part, like bending a piece of aluminum can back and forth until it breaks. The disintegration of the die-cast model cars due to impurities in the base metal isn't at all related to "metal fatigue". 

[Hubert Rollins]

Now thats determination... beautiful car.

[Helix]

Nicely done Cliff 

[花火]

never thought that one can make window trim with wire.. nice work Cliff!

[peekay]

Stunning replica, the best shoebox I've seen (and there have been some beauties). The window trim is exquisite.

[Tom99]

That is awesome, wow!

[mangodart]

Very impressive, I'm always impressed when seeing work on Die Cast, the paint is perfect !!!! The only thing which upset me are the hood hinges, typical of Die Cast model, that are very thick

[V8 Trucker]

wow, what a great work

[oldnslow]

I've always liked the 51 grill with the twin bullets, beautiful job.

[Belugawrx]

Beautiful save Larry !!

You two make a great team,... you don't work at the same bench do you ?

Cheers

[oldcarfan]

You guys really raise the grading curve for the rest of us! B-E-A-Utiful!

[Curt]

Beautiful work, very nice save and rebuild. Quite inspiring. 

Just one little point...metal "fatigue" is a specific kind of failure caused by repeated flexing of a part, like bending a piece of aluminum can back and forth until it breaks. The disintegration of the die-cast model cars due to impurities in the base metal isn't at all related to "metal fatigue". 

Good point, Bill, but "metal fatigue" just rolls off the tongue more readily than "intergranular corrosion" or whatever the the true cause is called.  ?

[Flathead Fred]

Great work! I drove a real one (same color) as a teenager back in the late 50's; it was practically indestructible.