Steve_L Posted August 4, 2014 Posted August 4, 2014 These are pictures of the 14th project in my build theme of "Models of Cars I Have Owned or Driven." In February of 1974, my wife and I went to look at a 1972 Kingswood Station Wagon. It had all of the space we could ever need and was air conditioned. Despite my misgivings about low performance and low gas mileage, we bought it. After a few weeks of driving, the gas mileage and performance were ridiculous. During a tune-up by a country mechanic, I was blown away by two things he said. 1. GM used a Transmission Spark Control emissions device in the vacuum line between the carburetor and distributor to limit ignition advance to only when the car had been in high gear for more than 20 seconds. He recommended a simple bypass of that device to allow the car to run cooler and provide better performance and gas mileage. I reluctantly agreed and said I would test it for a while. 2. He also said that my car had probably been affected by the GM dual layer exhaust system (one pipe inside of the other). After a few thousand miles the inner pipe often rusted and exhaust gasses would get between the two layers and the inner pipe would implode. Sure enough, that is exactly what happened to our 1972 Chevy. He replaced the whole GM exhaust system with a heavy duty single layer Napa system. On the way home, I thought I was driving a different car. Both the gas mileage and performance were noticeably better. I ended up "testing" the Transmission Spark Control bypass for the next five years we had the car. The model project got started when I saw the Modelhaus complete resin kit for a 1973 Caprice Station Wagon. I thought, "Maybe I could make that over into a 1972 Kingswood." While I was waiting to receive that kit, I noticed a 1971 Impala resin kit on EBay. I said to myself, "Maybe I could graft the front clip of the '71 onto the Modelhaus '73 and save a ton of work." That is just how the project progressed. I removed all the '73 Caprice trip and slightly modified the '71 front clip to fit a Modelhaus '72 Chevy front bumper. I added side trim with .040 half round styrene and also used it for the roof rack runners. I used parts box items for the rest of the roof rack. I shot the custom-mixed Aegean Brown Metallic paint through my air brush and covered that with Duplicolor clear. I used Krylon Satin Brown Boots paint and matte clear for the interior and added some detail to the steering column plus detail painting. After marathon polishing and BMF sessions, I was good to go. The build was one of my more ambitious (and expensive) projects, but it was high on the fun meter! Enjoy!
62rebel Posted August 4, 2014 Posted August 4, 2014 beautiful job; well done! it's a shame that we lost station wagons to the SUV machine.
wayne swayze Posted August 4, 2014 Posted August 4, 2014 Love long roof cars! The colours you have really go well together. Nice job!
1 bad55 stan Posted August 4, 2014 Posted August 4, 2014 That is sweet,I just love wagons and yours looks great,i have owned a 65 impala wagon for a few years now,i'm building a replica of it,any ways great work on a very cool model...
disabled modeler Posted August 4, 2014 Posted August 4, 2014 VERY NICE....! I am a huge wagon fan myself....very cool...!
Maxicoop Posted August 4, 2014 Posted August 4, 2014 what an awesome lookin' station wagon !!!! very nice build !!!
unclescott58 Posted August 4, 2014 Posted August 4, 2014 Wow! Very nice job. I love those old clam shell tailgate GM wagons. Will never forget the first one I saw. The futuristic car features they promised us in the 50's and 60's were coming true! I know there were problems with them. But, I still think they're cool. Scott
jefropas Posted August 4, 2014 Posted August 4, 2014 (edited) Nice build, as a kid, I never minded sitting in the back with that view....glass everywhere! Jeff Edited August 4, 2014 by jefropas
peekay Posted August 4, 2014 Posted August 4, 2014 I love wagons too and this is an exceptional build. Wonderful!
Dominik Posted August 4, 2014 Posted August 4, 2014 I love wagons too and this is an exceptional build. Wonderful! x2 - beautiful
khier Posted August 4, 2014 Posted August 4, 2014 Very nice. You could reduce the project costs by ordering a '72 grill and bumper from the Modelhaus directly.
TheCat Posted August 4, 2014 Posted August 4, 2014 very nice build. my uncle had one of these and the same color.
Robberbaron Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 Gorgeous! Brings back memories from when I was a kid. These full sized Chevy wagons used to be EVERYWHERE!
TooOld Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 Beautiful station wagon and a great job on the conversion !
w451973 Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 Thats very nice. Reminds me of when I was a kid. Now if someone would just make an Olds Custom Cruiser that would be great.
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