2004 Favorite Five Contest

Nick Sandone's Ertl 1962 Chevy Belair Street Machine


The idea for this build came from an article I read in a Hot Rod Magazine about the 2003 Pro Tour. The Pro Tour is a group of Hot Rods, Customs, & Street Machines traveling cross country in caravan style, with stops in various cities across the US which ends with one big car show sponsored by Hot Rod. There was one car in the article that stood out from all of the others. It was a Sweet 62 Bel Air Street Machine with a 502 big block, 20” rims and an Air Ride suspension. This was all of the inspiration I needed to build my own version of that car.

I started gathering all of the necessary parts that would turn the ERTL 62 Chevy kit into something special. I swiped the TPI inducted 427 engine from the ERTL 67 Impala street machine kit. Most Pro Tour cars use modern drivetrain components to make the cars dependable for long hauls.

Here is a list all of the aftermarket items that were added for detail:
Replicas & Miniatures MSD box, ACCEL coil.
Parts by Parks pre-wired distributor.
Model Car Garage detail wire for battery cables, A&N fittings for fuel lines & radiator hose.
Detail Master Photo Etched: Seat belt hardware, 15” cross drilled brake rotors, license plate frames, aluminum exhaust tips, white metal calipers.
Machined Aluminum Specialties electric fan (photo etched).
Scale Motor Sports Giraffe seat pattern decals, Black Faux Fabric paint.
MV lenses for Frenched taillights.
Pegasus Chrome “T”s 20” front & 22” rears.
Scratch built items: Cold air intake, radiator hose, solder exhaust pipes, seat belts, shifter from straight pin, photo reduced NJ license plates.
Wow, now that I have all of these parts, it’s time to get this beast started. I always start by visualizing a paint scheme that will make best use of the bodylines of the subject. In this case the 62 Bel Air has a very distinct bodyline that runs full length from front fender to rear quarter panel that would make a great separation line for a two color paint scheme. After I decided on the paint scheme, I looked through my large collection of House of Kolor lacquer paints from Black Gold Distributors. and decided on Lake Violet for the main color with Hot Pink Pearl accents. The two colors compliment each other well and with a black primer base coat, I went to work on the body. I use an Iwata Eclipse air brush to spray the House of Kolor paint thinned with Dupont Medium temp lacquer thinner with great results. After the main color was dry, I masked off the area to paint the Hot Pink Pearl accent panels. I use Tamiya masking tape because of the crisp separation lines I get when tape is removed. This stuff is great, if you haven’t used it yet, I suggest you give it a try, especially if you are doing a multi – color paint job. While the body was curing, I painted the rest of the components that would get color. The engine block, dashboard, and package shelf got the Violet, and the front & rear suspension, seats, door panels and engine accessories were done in Pink.

There was a lot of trimming and sanding done to the undercarriage to get those massive wheels tucked in the fenders and also to get the Down in the Weeds stance. The large brake rotors looked fantastic behind those wheels and weren’t too difficult to get fastened into place. Since the front & rear suspension was lowered so much, the stock exhaust did not fit, so I had to make a new one out of solder. This was my first attempt at this and although it is not perfect, I think the result was OK, and I got the look that I wanted.

The engine from the 67 Impala kit fit like a glove. The only thing I had to adjust was the height of the intake plenum. I just kept sanding little bits until it fit under the hood. I flirted with the idea of a small cowl hood, but I wanted to keep the body as stock as possible for this project.

By now the body was ready for clear, so I mixed some Dupont Chromaclear urethane ( Ariel’s Clear ) and shot one light coat followed by 2 wet coats and the Lake Violet came to life. This clear was not rubbed out or polished. I just put some Novus cleaner on it and waxed it with Mothers. Before the wax, I put all of the Bare Metal Foil trim on it.

Final assembly went off without a hitch, but there was one slight problem.. The air filter that came with the TPI intake would not work with the pulley set up I had, plus the lack of hood clearance. I decided to fabricate a cold air intake pipe from solder, placing the air filter in the fender and solving all of my clearance problems. With some blue 3M masking tape and chrome foil, the connectors looked pretty authentic.

The finished model looked just as I had planned.

Not too wild, but a true American Muscle Machine that would turn heads if it were 1/1 and cruising the local Blvd. It placed 2nd in Street Machine class at the LIARS show in Long Island, and was photographed by Model Cars Magazine too. I’ll be taking it to the NNL East and the MAMA’s NNL before I make a place for it with the rest of my collection at home. If anyone has any other questions about this or any of my other models, feel free to ask me at the meetings or email at: nick7713@comcast.net.











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