jbwelda Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 me and jerry amaral have taken on the task of building City Styles club "raffle car" for this years NNL West, coming up next weekend in Santa Clara, and it is meant to compliment both themes this year: "modern muscle cars" and "gassers". well "modern muscle cars" might be pushing it a bit because what we are doing is taking a PT Cruiser (yuck), converting it to a sedan delivery, and adapting a gasser chassis and motor to fit. so its quickly closing in on the show and we are a bit behind the 8 ball on this one but we are working hard to get it done. for my part i am constructing the chassis and motor, while jerry is doing the body and interior. we have had numerous fitting sessions so far and heres what i have...i will post more pics as i complete more and we have a further fitting session set for sunday so i will get some pics of the body jerry is doing and will post them here as i get them. after fooling around with having the body sit high on the chassis we decided it looks best low in the front with the blower and scoop poking out the hood and windshield and it certainly looks wicked like that so i think youll be impressed with the photos to come of the body mocked up on the chassis! darn show is next saturday so we are going to have a long week! anyway heres some shots. the chassis is from the stone woods cook willys, but i lengthened the wheelbase about 4 scale inches to fit the PT Cruiser body, reinforced it, made up some motor mounts and some other details. motor is the Hemi from the AMT double dragster reissue in the blueprinter series of some years ago, but i chopped off the short stubby tranny and substituted one that looked better to my untrained eyes, and wired and plumbed the fuel lines as well as some other detailing. currently i am fabricatind an aluminum driveshaft and u joints and metalizing some front wheels (you can see them in their raw pink (double yuck!!) in one of the photos) and doing some other prep for the fitting session sunday. this is a model our club (City Styles of Sacramento) gives away as a raffle prize at the NNL every year so buy your raffle tickets and take home what promises to be a unique mom-bomb of a gasser. this isnt one of my favorite genres but i have to admit its a fun build and working with jerry is a real learning experience, and i think he would agree on his side too. i keep insisting we include some smarmy reference to soccer moms so theres liable to be a "baby on board" decal in one window or another! anyway heres some shots... hope it turns out good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest roadkill2525 Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 Are you going to have this at the meeting Tuesday? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul_Perez Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 Looking good, Bill!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted February 23, 2008 Author Share Posted February 23, 2008 thanks raul! > Are you going to have this at the meeting Tuesday? should be, it will be the first time any of us aside from jerry and i see it! come out if you can! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted February 23, 2008 Author Share Posted February 23, 2008 jeez i hate photos! i just noticed i have the front springs on backward, but it sits better that way...but what i really notice is the left one isnt really seating on the frame too well. its always something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul_Perez Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 thanks raul! > Are you going to have this at the meeting Tuesday? should be, it will be the first time any of us aside from jerry and i see it! come out if you can! No, that's too far for me to drive on a weekday...especially after driving 100 miles to work and back... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted February 24, 2008 Author Share Posted February 24, 2008 yeah i get you on that raul, but i was responding to roadkills question. see ya at NNL then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted February 24, 2008 Author Share Posted February 24, 2008 raul, i was just checking out your most excellent willys pickup and i think youre using the same frame and front springs as i am? (my front axle we dug out of the parts box so it doesnt match). could you please take a photo of your front springs and shackles and post it here? a good profile shot is what i need. i looked at the instructions (later...but i did look) and couldnt tell if the shackle side was supposed to face forward or rearward. like i mentioned it sits good with the body on it as is, but if i have to take it apart to fix the shackle/frame fit i might as well put it back together properly. many thanks and by the way thats a killer willys there, really love the pin hinges on the door and that parachute pack! you ought to do a how-to for the tips section on the chute! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted February 29, 2008 Author Share Posted February 29, 2008 (edited) since the time is rapidly approaching to wrap this mess up, heres some updated photos taken today. ive completed the chassis except to stick an injector scoop on the motor and jerry has modded the body, painted the color and applied decals (not shown as i took the body photos before he did them) but it still needs the chrome foil trimmed and clear shot over it. its looking very cool, check it for yourself: first some shots of the completed chassis, including aluminum tube driveshaft, brass rod tie rod, headers in place, moon tank in and plumbed, panhard rod installed and some other details. remember the top surface of the chassis will be against the floor pan of the body so will not be seen, hence its fairly unfinished. also note i broke down and broke apart the front end, put some raising blocks over the springs and reversed the springs so the frame and thus the car sits high in the front now, like a traditional gasser. in fact the PT Cruiser body on this frame is kind of reminescent of an old Austin gasser if you ask me and thats the point really. a couple closeups of the motor finished and installed with headers in place: finally, a couple shots of the body still in progress: man its gonna be painful but the plan is to have it done by friday night for presentation saturday at the NNL West in Santa Clara. Hope to see you all there! Edited February 29, 2008 by jbwelda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul_Perez Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 Looking good, Bill!! I may have to buy a few raffle tickets!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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