1:12 Scale 1937 Cord 812 SC - Custom

[ScaleMotorcars]

Looking forward to the build Steve...

And good luck with the surgery. Im trying to get the same thing done myself but they just keep sticking me with needles saying I'm not old enough for the knee replacement. Didn't know I had to be in my 60's to be able to walk again.

[Airbender]

I have the kit and planned it as an 'in-betweener' as well but never got to it. I did have similar plans of customizing and came to the opinion of stripping the bumpers and separating the fenders. The more I looked at other ideas, the more I respected the flare of the original design.

illustrator Gary Campesi drew a design that I liked the most : search. >Gary Capesi Cord will bring up a cool pinterest image.

Good luck and I hope your surgery and recovery go well.

I cant wait to see what you do ...

[Don Garrett]

Hoping all goes well with your surgery Steve and looking forward to watching you tweak the Cord.

[EstebanLoco]

First of all, my surgery was delayed until May 17. No problems - just postponed.

So I wanted to send from pictures of the body modifications on the Cord so here they are.

Shaved door and trunk handles, filled cowl vents, removed hidden front headlights and relocated, modified stock windshield (chopped 4mm, removed center post, blended posts into body), de-chromed rear fender extensions, filled slots where rear bumper brackets extended, filled single-exhaust cutout in body, filled area in hood and body where exhaust exits (kit used chrome pieces), chopped roof, filled oval rear window and cut out new mail-slot style window, removed detail from interior door panels and made new removable panels, filled void in doors for roll-up windows (not used), opened trunk (used hinges from Big Deuce), scratch-built 2-tiered trunk with removable panels (and carpet pieces), made new bulkhead separating trunk from passenger compartment (also with removable panel).

Please ask questions - if any - or just let me know what you think.

thanks, Steve

[Don Garrett]

You certainly haven't lost your touch or eye for well designed & thought out super clean builds Steve.......gotta love those removable interior panels .

[Airbender]

Looks great Steve!

That top really lengthens the look ... or did you add some length to the body?

[Don Garrett]

Steve, you mentioned customizing the Cord a little and asked for some thoughts. While looking at your images, one thought that came to mind was to reshape & chop the top slightly, mold it into the body for a streamlined coupe appearance.

Anyway, while surfing the web I came across this pic ( interesting use of the 2-tone paint ).

[VintageModMan]

wow now that is a beauty! Steve great work it has curves in all the right places. I like Don's Idea too. Didn't Boyd Cottington build something like this? Wow Don I love that yellow and Black colour!

Gary

[EstebanLoco]

Thanks Don...You really don't have to do much to customize the Cord as it is both beautiful and unique as is. At a minimum replacing the wheels & chopping the top & windshield (also laying it back a bit). Shaving all the handles and smoothing the body out are more subtle ways to customize. It looks like this guy also deleted the windshield wipers.

This photo has given me many ideas. I really like the split front bumper. I may now try a custom windshield instead of using the modified kit version. Two layers of Evergreen sheet - one slightly larger where the glass opening is so you have somewhere to glue your clear plastic windshield.

I'm also going to explore your idea about the roof.

Thanks again!

[EstebanLoco]

Hi Gary. I think you might be referring to Boyd's "Whatthehaye" customized Delahaye. I hadn't thought of the similarities until you mentioned it. The pontoon fenders and extended nose (not sure if it would be considered a 'coffin nose') in a two-seater are most obvious. It also had a two-tone paint job.

Thanks for your comments. I have much to ponder now.

[EstebanLoco]

I spent part of Sunday embellishing the interior and trunk panels. The fabric on the panels is an adhesive backed velour - not Contact paper which doesn't stick very well and requires you to fold it under the panel and secure with masking tape. The trunk carpet is adhesive backed felt. The wood is stir sticks, stained with Old English and then Decopauged. The trim surrounding the wood is Evergreen quarter round.

[EstebanLoco]

I found this old thing when I was unpacking boxes today. Some of you may have seen them before. This is the "Reverse Woodie" where all the wood (and a lot of it) is in the interior. Each side was cut from a single piece of veneer so that the grain is the same from front to back. This build was meant to be ironic. Not so sure now.

[Don Garrett]

Just can't get enough of your attention to detail & creativity Steve. Don't remember seeing the reverse woody Steve........now you've got me thinking about an inside & out woodie (as if I need another project). Your interior design is perfectly suited to the Cord.....classy and not overdone, I like it.

[EstebanLoco]

Hey Don. I hope you had a nice weekend. Thanks for the comments. I've attached here some photos of the kit roof compared to the modified version and also the door panel. As you can see the detail on the kit door panel was pretty bad. I just filed all that stuff down and made my own blank canvas. Not installed on my panel yet is the inside door pull.

I also didn't care much for the kit gas tank so I made one out of laminating Evergreen sheet with captured 0-80 studs to mount to the frame later.

Inside and out woodie...Hmmm.