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SHORT TRACK MODELS by Tom Faletti Terry Bivins' 1970's Monte Carlo Sportsman

decals by BULLRING GRAPHIX!

Terry eventually started running NASCAR Winston Cup races, and in 1976 finished 8th in the Daytona 500 and finished as runner-up to rookie of the year Skip Manning in what was considered a very controversial decision. Being unable to secure sufficient funding to continue in Cup racing, Terry retired as a driver for the next 30 years. Terry and his wife now live in Lebo, KS, and In 2006 he realized he was still "hooked" on racing. He resumed his racing career on the dirt at Lakeside Speedway. During the 30 year lay-off Terry became a renowned angler, and is considered one of the best fisherman in Kansas and beyond.

This Bivins Monte Carlo has an interesting history as told by Terry himself. When the paved high banked I-70 Speedway opened in the fall of 1969 the local drivers had virtually no asphalt experience. The cars they ran on dirt were painfully slow on the pavement. So Terry and his sponsor purchased a '66 Chevelle from pavement ace Joe Ruttman.

The car was so fast at I-70 that the other competitors immediately protested it as illegal. Their numerous complaints included the amount of engine setback as well as the boat headers they were running. The track did agree with the engine setback issue, and declared the car ineligible to race there. Here they were with a new race car that wasn't allowed to run at their local track!

Terry went to the local Chevy dealerships and started opening hoods to find a car that had the engine setback that matched their race car. The Chevy Monte Carlo of that era had a very long hood and therefore had the proper engine location they needed. The crew re-skinned the Chevelle with Monte Carle sheet metal (not an easy task with factory sheet metal) and the track declared the car to be legal (with the boat headers).

The trouble with the Monte Carlo was that the long hood added nose weight and therefore wouldn't handle as it had. They decided to shorten the nose by 9" to reduce the nose weight!!! They cut the fenders at the wheel wells and shortened the back of the hood to accomplish the feat. The car was fast again and Terry won many races with it. And competitors and track officials never noticed the shortened nose of the car.

For this build I used the AMT/Model King Monte Carlo Super Stocker kit. I modified the chassis in several areas to correct various inaccuracies. I changed the rear frame to accept a period correct fuel cell (from Fred's Resin Workshop), modified the suspension, cage/engine hoop, and lowered and modified the firewall for the boat headers, and to allow the the car to be lowered The interior configuration was changed to more closely match the 1:1 car and because of the elimination of the kit's 180 degree header system, and a correct seat and seat belts were added. The wheels are from the Malibu Short Tracker kit with photo-etch lug nuts and valve stems added. The headers are scratchbuilt using solder and plastic tubing.

The engine was moved back to properly reflect it's position in the 1:1 car. The engine block and heads are from a stock Monte Carlo, the intake manifold from a NASCAR kit, and the valve covers, distributor, and carburator are from Fred's Resin Workshop.

The body mods were fairly involved for this project. I reworked the wheel openings to match the real car and added slight fender flares. Holes were cut for the exit of the new exhaust, and I closed the opening in the right rear quarter panel that had been provided for the kit's original exhaust pipes. I trimmed the roof with styrene strip for the addition of the vinyl roof and added drip rails as well, and then used Rustoleum Textured paint for the vinyl top itself. Bright chrome Bare Metal Foil was added for the trim. The bumpers are from a stock Monte Carlo, with the openings for the parking lights and tail lights cut out. And I cut out the kit grille and added a photo-etch grille and emblems from Model Car Garage. Also added photo-etch hood pins to complete the body work.

The paint is Duplicolor Chrysler Hemi Orange engine paint over gray duplicolor primer. Turns out the engine paint has ceramic particles in it for heat resistance. This was a pleasant surprise because it gives the paint a very subtle 'in scale' metallic appearance.

I'd like to thank Les and Rod from BULLRING GRAPHIX for these excellent decals that have allowed me to build this classic short track stock car.