What's in Your Closet?

[S.D. Grady]

Today was a window shopping day.  We stopped in the crafts store and I remembered one of those projects I meant to do...make a display for my 1/64ths die-cast.  Of course, I have wanted to do this for years.  Sometime after I started filing the cars in a bookcase with the intent to get as many in a confined space, rather than looking good.  There were just too many!  Well, I found the desired frame and brought it home.  Now I had to dig out all those 1/64th's!  We had bought into the 50th Anniversary set by Racing Champions in 1998.  Turns out we have about 50 of those.  But, man!  They're so cool!  Yes, they were cheap when we picked them up.  But the coolness factor just overrides that.  Fred Lorenzen, Smoky Yunick, Benny Parsons...the pile of historical drivers and cars is neat!  I'd forgotten we had just cleaned out the 1/2 price bin at K-Bee Toys at the end of the year and never really looked at what we bought.  Eliot Sadler in the No. 66 Busch Series car in '98.  Mark Martin's No. 60 Winn Dixie.  Underneath that pile was the older Action Performance cars...some Dale Sr., Terry Labonte, Bobby Hamilton, a random Todd Bodine in the No. 35 Tobasco ride.  Even a No. 2 Rusty Wallace.  It's a seemingly random collection.  Fact is, we tend to pick up cars from people that interested us at the moment.  A No. 27 Casey Atwood Castrol GTX from '99, for instance.

So, what's in your NASCAR closet that you've probably forgotten about?  (I'm heading back to the store tomorrow for another frame...at 20 cars per frame, this'll take...a very long time to sort out!  )

[Bruce Simmons]

You could just put a glass frame type door on the front of your bookcase, and mount a light inside..  that works out ok..

Diecasts:  I have stuff for 1949 and up.. (I have a diecast for each champion of Cup)
I have 540 1/64's
151 1/24's...
and a bunch of other scales.. 

I already sold off over 1/2 my collection...

I have an ALLTEL and BUDWEISER coat..  (You did say closet)
About 15 hats from different drivers.. alltel, bud, m&m's, etc,
about 1,000 "pulls" from cards...  used tire, used glove, used fenders,
I've got an A post and a B post from an ALLTEL car..  and a quarter panel...
No full size tires yet.. the wife would murder me on the spot.

It's exhausting and since I've had to move a few times in the last few years, I got tired of puttin' them out because every time I put them out, we move..  (Yes, I've become superstitious).

Of the diecasts, I have 145 Earnhardt Sr's,
75 Newman,
67 E Jr.,
57 Bobby Labonte..
31 R Petty...

like i said, exhausting.

And yea, Kay bee toy stores tend to have all the old rcca type diecasts,, they are cool.

[S.D. Grady]

The full size tire...we picked that up back when Goodyear was still selling them for $10 @ 7:00AM on Sunday mornings.  I elbowed people out of the way, picked out the one with the 24 written on it and rolled it over to my husband.  He sighed and started rolling it up the hill towards the parking lot.  We're walking along and another fan stopped in front of us.

"You know," he said to my husband, "When you get home, your wife'll tell you to throw it out."

Hubby nodded in my direction.  "But she made me buy it!"

That's another project---to turn it into a table.

(I've worn out two NASCAR jackets...Juan Pablo Montoya is the third )

[Busch Babe 899]

I never forget what's in my closet for long, with packing up and moving every 3 months-a year. Better to ask me what's in my storage!!!

[Chris]

closet... huh closet has overflowed into the spare garage... ROFLOL>
I got about 75   1/24 scale diecast in my closet(s) just waiting for me to make them into "other" nascar race cars.
Here are some of the ones I have done so far
http://pickup-guy.tripod.com/builds/

I got about 30 (full size) CUP tires for various drivers.  Plan was to make them all into coffee tables and sell them.  Thats still in the plans...

Oh and for Brusimm what said this:  No full size tires yet.. the wife would murder me on the spot.
I made a coffee table for myself.  It looks pretty cool, here is a pic.  Might consider working a tire into the house that way, and maybe the wife could live with it... LOL

You'll see the wheel from the top.  I got it from Bill Elliott after a Michigan 400 race.  It's got about 10 laps on it.  They made a pit stop under yellow,.. ran a few laps,.. yellow flew again, and they changed tires again.  This one is just like brand new.  Still has all the markings on it.  #9 / RR / set 1   They are fading as it gets older... 
Also show a side view.  I have it sitting on a round piece of plywood, and that has four legs and rollers attached to it.  Makes it easy to roll around the carpet, vaccume around it, move, etc.
I REALLY need to get started making those other tires into tables... I probably got $2,500 to $3,000 worth of "tables".
hhuummm   

[Racergiant]

In my closet?

My Earnhardt black and white racing jacket...   :::sigh:::   



Looks kind of like this one...

In the pocket is a couple of The Intimidators lugnuts I scored at Fontana during a practice session.

[S.D. Grady]

Chris--cool die-casts!  Nice!  Yeah, that's what I want to do with my tire.  If I can ever get all the cat fur off it.  It's like a magnet!  The lugnuts I picked up at Bernie Lamar's t-shirt trailer last year.  I like your way of collecting them better.

RacerGiant--sweet.  I've got a signed t-shirt of his in a box.  I think this year it gets to be mounted in a shadowbox with various die-cast. 

[Chris]

thanks for the compliment...
I gotta get back to building those diecast... just got started when I started working on my truck.
The ones i concentrat on doing are ones you can't buy in a store or have never been produced.
I'm gonna do a Ned Jarrett, David Pearson, Junior Johnson, Janet Guthrie, .... you get the idea.

I try to only have ONE of each driver, and one of each paint scheme.  Like if Someone drove the Texaco car,... and then someone else drove the same paint job,.. I'll wait ubntil that OTHER driver gets a new sponsor.,
I've gotten quite a unique collection.... It'll really be the cats @$$ when I get all the other ones built.

OH... How did you like my Earnhardt Sr Tribute car..

[Roswell]

 Good job Chris.  Are these die casts are kits you can buy?
Did you do a car for the first frontstretch "Last One Standing" game?

[S.D. Grady]

OH... How did you like my Earnhardt Sr Tribute car..

Very nice.  From the heart.  And that's everything a tribute should be.

That's what blew me away the year he died.  His T-shirt hauler that got covered in wishes from his fans.  Spontaneous and honest. 

[Chris]

Thanks Roz...
The cars I have done come a couple different ways...
I'll start the explaination like this... none of them come as a "kit" you just build and put together (like a plastic model car)
I'll give you a couple different examples.
The #25 Paul Goldsmith car was just a regular 'street' car.  I had to strip the old paint off of it.  Build a set of roll bars for it, make a race seat, etc etc.  You get the idea, make a interior just like they would have done to strip out and street car and make it into a race car.  Then I had to search around and find some decals for it.  (usually on eBay or someplace)
Had to find paint that actually matched the paint on his car (close as possible), research how the car looked, what decals he used, and places them in the proper places.

Now the Superbirds (for example) were cars produced to be race cars... but they had paint jobs of rock stars like Ozzy Osborne, etc.
Again I had to strip the paint off and all the steps above.  OH forgot to mention.  These cars come all screwed together, so I have to take them abart so I can get to the interior, have to remove the glass before I can strip or paint anything (thats usually put in with rivets (have to cut or drill them out).  SO yeah... it's a lot of work just taking one APART and you have to be careful not to break anyting because you don't have replacement parts.

Some of the cars were old Action Diecast (or the like) cars that I took apart, stripped repainted interior and exterior, then put back together.
The Lennie Pond, and AJ Foyt cars USED to be a die cast that was originally a #11 Cale Yarborough Holly Farms  Chevy Monte Carlo.
I bouht a bunch of these, and got plans to make other drivers that run this make and body style like Janet Guthrie's Kelly Girl car, Benny Parsons #72 Kinds Row car, etc.
The Jimmy Means car used to be a Jeff Gordon Baby Ruth BGN car. (a bank)

I've got about 75 cars bought and in the closet,... decals bought for most of them too.  Got plans to make:
David Pearson, Junior Johnson, Lee Roy Yarbrough, Ron Bouchard, Darrell Waltrip, Tim Richmond, Terry Labonte, Dick Trickle, Buddy Baker, Coo Coo Marlin, Buck Baker, Ken Schrader, JD McDuffie, Dick Brooks, Donnie Allison, Charlie Glotzbach, Dick Brooks (superbird), Ramo Stott (superbird), Marshall Teague, Ned Jarrett, Rex White, Herb Thomas, Davey Allison, Alan Kulwicki, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, Harry Gant, Neil Bonnett, Bill Elliott, Dave Marcis, Tiny Lund, Fred Lorenzon, Buddy Baker (first 200mph car) Buddy Baker (superbird)... and several more I have decals for already.
I think I have my work cut out for me... ROFLOL>
I'm looking for some CONVERTIBLES... Want to add some of them to my collection.. YOu knwo they run the convertible division in NASCAR for a few years.  I'd like to have some of them to make the collection well rounded.
 

[KurtBuschFan]

We've got all sorts of diecasts everywhere.  Many of them are Jeff Gordon cars I've collected throughout the years, and my husband has a decent assortment of Rusty Wallace cars and the majority of the Last Call cars.  In our attic, we've got a Jeff Gordon and Rusty Wallace race used tire...one of these days we'll make a table out of them.  I'd have to say my favorite collectible right now sits in front of our tv...an autographed Kurt Busch car my husband bought for me.

[PlanoHarvickFan]

Hey, Chris, that was pretty cool...the Lenny Pond car.  I know he is a cousin of mine, but don't remember him racing (wasn't much into it back then).  That's the first time I've ever seen a picture of his car.   Pretty cool

[Chris]

Yeah Plano... Thats the car he drove when he won the 500 at Talladega.  I think it was back in the late 70's..??
AT that time it had a record number of lead changes for the race... something like 76??
Think about that... Race is only 188 laps.... Lead changed 76 times.  Thats almost every other lap.
It was a GREAT race... no telling HOW MANY 'actual' lead changes there were.  Pond may of been leading at the S/F line, in turn #1 Petty may have taken the lead, Allison may have the lead on the back straight, and Waltrip have have the lead in turns 3&4.... By the time they get back to the S/F line Pond may be leading.
OFFICIAL lead changes... ZERO
It was that kinda race... totally awesome.  If you every see it broadcast on ESPN Classic... it great to watch.

[DotheDew88]

I have a pink and white Dale jr leather coat that I'm gonna really miss wearing...I also have a 4 pack of Dale jr bud beer bottles. I keep them downstair's in the bar and 2 of them have come up missing. I wonder where they went? My 17 yr. old son has no idea! I really liked the new napa commercial...the guy who has Mikey's cars... the burned up one and the one in pieces!