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| The D.M.Z. |
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Well, it’s been a little while since I’ve had anything
to write about. It’s been a pretty mellow time. Not much to go off on.
HOWEVER…That has all changed now. As some of you are aware, I have recently entered into a project to help a poor soul expand his mind and use his imagination. Now this misguided individual has spent his entire modeling career building nothing but factory stock automobiles. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Factory or replica stock definitely has its place in the hobby. (The kiddie table?) In fact it takes a lot of work to research the correct colors and finishes to do a piece properly. Certain items must be scratch built to produce some rare option, or you have to go the resin route to build that ‘34 Hupmobile the plastic manufacturers won’t touch because they would only sell 3 of them. Yup, that is a lot of tedious, mind numbing, research to build a car…or truck exactly the way it rolled off of the assembly line. Or as my good buddy Dave Coppalino says, “as GOD intended.” Well if as you say God intended only factory stock automobiles, then let me introduce you to "The DARK SIDE!!" That’s right children follow me down the path of damnation to the unadulterated, sleazy nether regions of automotive mayhem. It’s time to…DANCE WITH THE DEVIL!!!! This is a world where nothing is sacred. Where any piece of plastic, or sheet metal for that matter, is fair game and nothing is safe from the Dremel. (modeling’s version of the smoke wrench). I will show you that while the factory piece is a good starting point to let your imagination run wild and create a unique automobile. It’s too late to turn back now! I already have your soul!!! (...insert maniacal laughter here) First I’d like to start out by clarifying my definition of what a custom car is. Using the broadest definition, a custom car or truck (Look, from here on out I am only going to use the word car. You know that trucks are included.) is any vehicle that has been altered from the way it left the dealership. Using this definition, that would include changing wheels and tires, tinting windows, upgrading stereos…etc. Granted some of this is a mild change, but you are still modifying the car from its original state. I will define original state as to how the car left the dealership, not the factory. As you all know, some dealers are famous for creating some bad ass rides. (ie…Yenko, Baldwin, etc). Now, there are all kinds of custom cars, and people seam to try to group them into cliques. You have Hot Rods, Rat Rods, Street Rods, Pro-Street, Pro-touring, Retro-mods, Street Machines, Tuners, Lowriders, Kustoms and probably a few others that I can’t think of. You probably noticed the word Kustom above. No, this is not a mistake. This is where the controversy as to what a custom car is comes from. The word KUSTOM is generally accepted to have been coined around 1950-51 by a pair of brothers in California that would go on to become, arguably, the most famous car builders in the world. George and Sam Barris. This term was used to describe the process of altering a car so as to not only disguise its origin, but to improve and glamorize it as well. To this end a lot of pieces from current upscale cars were modified and added to lower cost models. Such as putting Caddy grilles into just about everything at the time, or the addition of Buick side trim to Bob Hirohata’s Merc. A lot of major sheet metal surgery was also performed on some of these rides. Some of these procedures included chopping, sectioning, frenching, tunneling, nosing, decking…etc. The Kustom car term has come to define any vehicle from ‘49 to the dawn of the muscle car era that has major body modifications. Hopefully this clears up any confusion regarding what I think a custom cars is or is not. NUFF SAID! With that nasty mess out of the way, I am going to impart some inspiration from the “Open Book of Knowledge” and educate some of you as to what some of the customizing term mean. For those of you who think you can still be saved, stop reading now. By continuing and partaking of this forbidden knowledge you will have condemned you soul to eternal damnation. THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!! Chopping the top: Reducing the height of the roof by removing a section of the “A”, “B”, and “C” pillars where applicable. The glass also has to modified. Channeling: Dropping the body over the frame to reduce the height of the body with respect to the ground. This is usually accomplished by removing the floor, moving upward, and reattaching it to the body. Decked: Removing all of the chrome and emblems from a cars trunk, aka. Deck lid, filling in the remaining mounting holes and refinishing the panel. Nosed: The same technique as above, only it done to the hood of the car. Frenching: This the filling of factory seams of the removal of bezels in order to achieve a seamless one piece look. Pancaking: This involves narrowing or shortening the shape of the hood. This usually done when the fenders are reshaped. The resulting hood shape is usually flat. Sectioning: The removal of a horizontal strip of metal from the central point of the car to reduce the overall height of the car. Shaving: The removal of all trim from the sides of a car to achieve a more streamlined look. This could also include the removal of external door handles and rain gutters. Tunneling: The act of recessing head and tail lights into the body. This can also be done with license plate and antennas. Z’ing: When a frame is cut and rewelded to allow the center of the frame(at the floor pans) to be lowered to the ground. This effectively lowers the car while leaving the suspension geometry and interior headroom untouched. This can not be done to a unibody vehicle. That’s enough for now. Just a little taste. We can’t go and give you all of the goodies now can we? Just enough to get you hooked. (...insert more maniacal laughter here.) So until next time kiddies, remember, any one can restore a car, but it take a real man to cut one up. (...insert still more maniacal laughter here.) This is El’ Tanque signing off….or maybe it should be…. EL’DIABLO!! See Ya ………….(insert yet even more maniacal laughter here.) |