SPA Modeler

With the USS Arizona sidelined, I decided to jump on this oldie kit, Bill Shrewberry's Wild Wheel-Standing Exhibition Drag Car, the L.A. Dart.

The kit box cover...

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The engine...






Since this is missing a distributor, one will be installed.




The interior...




The main body ready for paint. I spent 3 days taping this one correctly. The instruction guide tells me to measure every 1/2 inch for the stripes. WRONG! I had to do it all over and start again.

Yes, from the first stripe up front but not the rest of the car going towards the back. They are close to 29/64th of an inch each.

Sunday! SunDAY! SUNDAY!!!!

I imagine that this car raced at Pomona or Gardena back in the day...

Very cool project Tom.

I started buying hotrod magazines in 1966. I saw the L.A. Dart many times throughout the '60s on those pages; this does bring some memories. You're off to a good start, Tom.

Thank you Carlos & Gary. I've seen video builds on YouTube - particularly one by hipiguy or something of that name. He painted the engine block hemi orange and kept the valve covers chrome.

Guess what? It's all wrong. I studied the model box cover closely and discovered the valve covers were not chrome but blue. Luckily, I had a bottle of Chrysler Engine Blue as a close match for a Mopar product. Most likely the engine block was also painted blue.

I also noticed the kit didn't come with a starter or oil filter for this kit. That will be added from my parts bin stash.

With Syrcon coming up in a few weeks, I'm hoping to find AM distributor with wires for this kit.¹

That's a wild one! At first glance I thought you put to scoop on backwards. Look forward to paint!