CheZOOOM

[Misha]

Been busy past while with the airbrush, getting parts into primer and paint. Also been planning out a lot of the details to add to the engine compartment and interior. Scratch built the water pump, dual oil filters and a switch box for the battery jumper cables. The chassis construction is close to complete, then finally, primer and paint.  I’ll be starting on the body next, getting it ready for primer. 

 

 

Above photo shows the axle with the brackets to attach it to the engine cradle so the axle isn’t just floating.

Here we see the underside of the engine cover, dash with locating holes for switches, the injector scoop, rear engine plate with the in/out box, and the parachute pack that will be further detailed with the release cable fitting to be added.

 

Scratch built the switch box for the battery cables that will run to the booster plate at the rear of the chassis. Below is the dual oil filter assembly

Here we see the moon tank being mocked up in preparation for routing fuel lines and the water tank still to be painted in polished aluminum. 

Last shot shows the scratch built water pump that will be located on the firewall to circulate the coolant through the engine and tank.

Progress remains slow, mainly due to health issues which hopefully will clear up soon. As Betty Davies said “ Getting old ain’t for sissies”.

Cheers Misha 

whoops, forgot about the following…

Edited January 6, 2022 by Misha
Photo add ons

[Misha]

Been working on getting all the parts into primer and some initial painting, both airbrush and hand painting details. The body has its first coat showing further putty is required to eliminate the gas door flap on the front fender.

 

Started on getting some of the fuel lines installed on the blower assembly and planning how to route the various hydraulic, fuel, and brake lines installed on the chassis. Recently bought a P/E bending jig so now I’m making my own brackets out of soda can aluminium.  

 

Fitted new engine mounts on the front of the engine cradle for the BBC, and mocked up the exhausts to make sure it all fits; it’s all a tight fit yet so far so good (didn’t get a photo of it in the cradle).  

Worked on the sprung wheelie bar arrangement, adding hardware  for bracing the two springs, detailing the attachment brackets, and opening up the space between the tire and shackle with fine root canal files (ask your dentist). Moving onto getting the initial paint on the body to portray an updated scheme of the box art. The stripes will be pearl white on a candy red body with side panels done in red metalflake with the kit decals. 

Thanks for checkin’ in,

Cheers Misha

NOTE TO MODERATORS please move this thread to WIP Drags

Edited January 25, 2022 by Misha
Added note to Mods

[slusher]

impressive work Misha..

[Misha]

 

Have spent my workbench time split between it and the spray booth getting more assembly and paint on parts. Concentrated on the engine cradle getting it into shape by mocking up larger pieces. The rear axle is installed now awaiting brake lines, and the major engine components, except for the exhaust, have also been assembled. The next step will be wiring and fuel and water lines. 

 

The chassis received its coat of semi gloss black LP 5 which will be masked off on the frame while the rest gets a dull aluminium finish (should I spray gloss black over the LP 5 before the metal finish?). After that some detail painting and further assembly of the smaller components onto the chassis. I’m quite happy with how the Chevy transplant is fitting in, mainly thanks to many mock ups with PVA glue to check measurements and clearances. 

The body is now getting its interior sprayed, first with a sand colour to represent the fiberglass underside of the nose and the rear deck lid which is visible thru the aluminium frame that gives the piece its strength. Then remainder will be done in LP5 with aluminium door sides to complement the frame interior. Once all of that is accomplished I’ll move onto the exterior which will prove to be an interesting challenge!

As always, thanks for checking in, all comments and hints are appreciated,

Cheers Misha

[afx]

I like that you added supports inside the body so it actual rest on the chassis and not just held up by the top of the roll bar.

Edited February 3, 2022 by afx

[Steve H]

Misha, you’ve been busy! This progressing along nicely. I’m not familiar with the kit, but you have definitely made some impressive upgrades. Looks great.

Cheers, Steve

[Misha]

On 2/3/2022 at 5:11 AM, afx said:

I like that you added supports inside the body so it actual rest on the chassis and not just held up by the top of the roll bar.

On 2/4/2022 at 7:20 AM, Steve H said:

Misha, you’ve been busy! This progressing along nicely. I’m not familiar with the kit, but you have definitely made some impressive upgrades. Looks great.

Cheers, Steve

Thanks for checkin in JC & Steve ?
This kit was originally issued in the late sixties, shortly after AMT’s 66 Barracuda rear engined Hemi in their Funny Car series that included the altered wheelbase Comet and Olds. While the Hemi Under Glass kit has seen numerous releases, the CheZOOOM was only re-released recently for the first time. I had purchased a glue bomb with extra parts for $1.35 many years ago and it has sat in the stash ever since. The reissue got me started on what is a basic kit just begging for detail, in addition to a Chev 427!

Yet the fit of the unaltered Barracuda chassis under the Corvair body does require modifications for it to fit even for the casual builder. The chassis pan requires shortening to fit, in fact the front spoiler on my build is the cut off from the rear. The other modification not mentioned in the instructions requires the firewall to be trimmed on the upper sides to properly fit within the side glass. Overall this kit is a bare canvas and a welcome addition from the past with its original boxtop art though in a larger sized box.

 

Getting back to the bench,

Cheers Misha

[Ian McLaren]

Very cool, I like it 

[Misha]

Spent time masking the interior for the semi-gloss black LP 5 and the rear panel with the trunk surround. Next step will have the door panels painted with aluminium and upholstery panels installed. 

Also finished painting the tires with Rubber Black LP 65 and finished detail painting the wheels by hand painting and washes. Might add valve stems to complete the picture. I’m using the kit’s plastic tires which allowed me to gently sand the sidewalls with 3000 paper to faintly reveal the raised lettering.

Mocked up the engine cradle one more time to check for fit and adjustment, again so far, ? so good! 

Final task of the day was to begin masking the frame to apply the aluminium finish to the floor panels. It is quite tedious as there is increased detail added to the kit’s plain floor panel.  It’s neat to see this project come together. Please do add comments and hints, and as always, thanks for checkin in.

Cheers Misha

Edited February 8, 2022 by Misha
Grammer

[dragcarz]

Wow Misha, this looks great, I haven’t been on the forum lately and I’ve missed your build. I love the Chevy engine swap and your attention to detail is appreciated! Great build, can’t wait to see it completed.

[Misha]

On 2/7/2022 at 5:23 AM, Ian McLaren said:

Very cool, I like it 

 

On 2/8/2022 at 4:04 AM, dragcarz said:

Wow Misha, this looks great, I haven’t been on the forum lately and I’ve missed your build. I love the Chevy engine swap and your attention to detail is appreciated! Great build, can’t wait to see it completed.

Thanks Ian and Roger for your comments and for checkin’ in!

An update from yesterday’s bench time. Finished spraying the interior of the body shell with the dull aluminium finish on the door panels, the upholstery panels are not installed yet, just positioned.
 

The cockpit also received the same aluminium finish and is ready to be further detailed. The parts are also just mocked up awaiting installation and wiring.

The exterior in now ready for its colour to be applied. Planning on white stripes with a pearl finish on top of am overall LP 46 Pure Metallic Red. The first spoon has the red over top of white primer, going to shoot a second one over top of LP 48 Sparkling Silver to see the change. 

 Cheers Misha

[bisc63]

Very impressive build, I like the concept and the execution! Going to look great in that color, or some variation of it.

[Misha]

Spent a couple of evenings masking the frame rails in preparation for the aluminium treatment on the floor panels. Best part of masking is always removing all the bits to reveal the finish! All the time spent was well worth it as the chassis only requires a few touch ups with a brush, so I’m quite pleased with the result. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next job will be to complete the engine cradle with a wired and plumbed engine, then onto the cockpit assembly. Getting closer!

Cheers Misha 

[AmericanMuscleFan]

WOW!  Great job Misha, you've done a great job on this build so far, you're obviously a detail freak and it shows! ?

[cobraman]

Your model is looking very good.

[slusher]

Excellent work Misha..

[Misha]

On 2/13/2022 at 9:06 AM, AmericanMuscleFan said:

WOW!  Great job Misha, you've done a great job on this build so far, you're obviously a detail freak and it shows! ?

Thanks Francis, it always seems to work that way, one starts a project and it seems to take on a life of its own! I tend to go for the basic kits more often and add to them, while more involved models with greater detail seem to lack a challenge for me.

On 2/13/2022 at 9:34 AM, cobraman said:

Your model is looking very good.

Thanks for checkin’ in Ray. Hope to be joining all the AZ gearheads in the not to distant future. Missing driving around in our Beetle rag top.

On 2/13/2022 at 11:44 PM, slusher said:

Excellent work Misha..

Thanks Carl, it’s great to hear feed back and share the build progress, especially from modellers that share in the same passion!

Haven’t spent much time at the bench, yet couldn’t resist fitting the chassis into the body to see how it looks.

I did get a bit further with the interior now that most of the bits are painted and require mounting and having the appropriate wiring, switches, and belts installed. The assembly on the right side behind the firewall is the scratchbuilt water tank and pump, while the Moon tank is at the rear on the left and the small battery will be on the opposite side. Still a lot of work plumping and wiring to achieve back here.

 

 

 

In my search for the “preferred” colour for the updated box top scheme I settled upon Pure Metallic Red, LP 46 with white pearl stripes. To finalize the red a spoon test was run with various underpainting ranging from white primer to a couple of metallics. In the photo the lower line of spoons shows the base colour with the upper row having the LP 46 applied.   From left to right, Pink Primer, LP 48 Sparkling Silver, White Primer, and LP 38 Flat Aluminum. Over the white primer the colour didn’t have the bounce from the metalflake, this was helped by using the pink primer which gave the colour much more sparkle and liveliness, yet still short of what I had in mind. Mistakenly reaching for the flat aluminium, the red improved dramatically while remaining rather dark, perhaps a good Porsche colour to keep in mind. Realizing my error, I finally sprayed the red over the Sparkling Silver, bingo! 

 

Still have a lot to do on the engine and it’s cradle and accomplish the final exterior paint scheme ??! 

Thanks for checking in, cheers Misha

[papajohn97]

You’re doing a masterful job on this build Misha, really enjoying reading your progress reports. I have a set of Slixx Hayden Proffitt Corvair FC decals left over from a previous build (his ‘65 Comet A/FX) and I wonder if this Chezoom kit might be a reasonable base kit to attempt a build of Proffitt’s early front-engine FC (first iteration with the roof)?

[Misha]

Thanks John, glad to hear that you are enjoying the progress reports! 

3 hours ago, papajohn97 said:

 I wonder if this Chezoom kit might be a reasonable base kit to attempt a build of Proffitt’s early front-engine FC (first iteration with the roof)?

If you are interested in building Proffitt’s ride any stock Corvair kit would provide the basic body including the stock rear engine cover. The CheZooom kit only provides the Yenko engine lid with the molded in spoiler, as found as an optional part in the stock kits. The remainder of the build would require a Logghe chassis from another source as it appears that the driver is seated in the centre of the body. 
 

 

 Since the body has not been stretched in the front to accommodate a longer wheelbase it would be a straight forward kit bash. Another example of a stock appearing FC is the Seaton’s Shaker which may be similar to what you’re looking for…

Other examples of Corvair FCs illustrate the lenghtned nose, requiring an additional body to splice into the stock configuration. 

Another example shows the rear wheel opening has been moved forward… which would require further body work.

 

To my eye I find the Corvair FC to be the most interesting example of the early Funny Cars since they were originally six cylinder, rear engined Chevies, not what one would expect to see on the strip! In setting it up as a FC it takes on quite an aggressive stance with its rear haunches sitting up in the air. 
 

Hope to see your planned build on the Forum John, thanks again for checkin’ in!

Cheers Misha

 

 

[Jantrix]

Man I like it! Lookin' good Misha.

[papajohn97]

9 hours ago, Misha said:

If you are interested in building Proffitt’s ride any stock Corvair kit would provide the basic body including the stock rear engine cover.

Thank you Misha for the excellent summary/ reference photos on Corvair Funnies. I thought this Chezoom kit re-issue was the only affordable Corvair styrene body currently available but it looks like older AMT/Ertl stock kits are listed on eBay in the $30-$50 range. It will be a fun (and expensive) project sourcing the body and a suitable FC kit for the Logghe chassis to do one of these. Funny how $5 worth of extra decals can lead one into dropping $100 into more kits & parts to bash a project together in order to use the decals! 

Edited February 25, 2022 by papajohn97
Content correction