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CHARLIE ALLEN Dart F/C - Hobby Room Construction - Update 7/14/15


Nitrozilla

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Those are big slicks! I don't know which look better, I'd have to see the them mounted. I do like the wheel colors. What did you do for the gold look for the spokes?

Uhh, I'm kind of an older type guy. WTF are canards?

Michael

PS: I have a fairly good knowledge about a few things, please don't tell me to do an interent search.

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i say if ya like em put em on also like your jj charger i'll bet if he drove a mopar that might be it.

vince

That was my original thought :D

Those are big slicks! I don't know which look better, I'd have to see the them mounted. I do like the wheel colors. What did you do for the gold look for the spokes?

Uhh, I'm kind of an older type guy. WTF are canards?

Michael

PS: I have a fairly good knowledge about a few things, please don't tell me to do an interent search.

The centers on all 4 were painted by hand with Tamiya X-12 Gold and a 5/0 brush. They still need valve stems.

Canards my friend are the downforce producing wings in front of the rear fender well. They were banned due to the NHRA's fear that it wouldn't be a happy car if they tagged the railing.

Also, I'm the kind of guy that would do an internet search for you if you asked me to.

Edited by Nitrozilla
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Woah!!! Two updates in one day? Madness, I tell you. Madness!!!

Okay, from my last post until now, I got another bright idea. Actually, the idea came from Daryll, Mister Twister. I decided to do an open parachute. So I opened up a basic parachute pack and attached some flaps made with a 3x5 card, attached with CA and slapped it with some paint.

I'll use Daryll's method of painting facial tissue for the parachute and I guess I'm going to have to hit Michael's or Hobby Lobby for some cord material.

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All kinds of goodies await in this installment. Before we get started, I want to take a poll. I'm seriously considering installing canards, like I did on my Jungle Jim Charger. I'll post a pic for memory jogging purposes and for those who haven't seen it. Tell me what you think. Canard Si, or canard No?

Personally I've never been a fan of them. So maybe I'd go without.

But I'm sure whatever you choose, it's gonna look amazing. So if you want to go with them... Go for it. Very nice work with the detail painting. I like the parachute, too.

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Niko!!!!!! Thanx for the input my friend. Let me see if I can swing you and others to "The Canard Side."

While Charlie never used them, this was the age of experimentation and whatever they could do to keep the tires on the ground and from smoking was fair game. He was obviously in favor of aerodynamics to cut the air with the front and rear spoilers. I have a feeling the front spoiler hurt more than helped. Also, NHRA allowed them until they didn't any more.

Are they ugly? Well, I guess that's in the eye of the beholder. Thankfully, something better came along and eliminated the need for them in the first place. I guess what I'm saying is that they were a symbol of American Ingenuity that is period correct for this subject.

Does that make sense?

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I like the looks and idea of the open chute pack.

Canards wings not so much.

IMO, the canard wings add to much width to the body. I think they look good on a Vega FC, ( it's a longer and narrower body ) on a Dart shell ,,not so much.

BUT,, I say do it if YOU like them

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Bill and Jeff, thank you so much for your thoughts.

I'm getting the impression that most people don't care for them. At the same time I'm being encouraged to do what I think is best. I'll wait a little longer before I make up my mind. It can be a last minute add on.

Got some engine assembly done. The belt I'll be using is from a dollar bill acceptor called a "transport." I used to work at a casino and got some from a slot technician. This is my last belt and I had to narrow it with scissors the entire length. The ribs that contact pulleys will be removed to keep a low profile.

If you want to find belts like this for your blown projects, I recommend contacting any vending companies that do maintenance on machines that accept bills. Beats trying to make them. YUCK !!!

Thanks for looking.

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Joe,

Coming along great, If you need more belts, let me know I still have a bunch.

Mike

Mopar To Ya

Thanx Mike. That address in Las Vegas is......... Ya' know what? I'll pm you.

Since this car has a starter, I guess it's going to need a battery. Since batteries don't defy gravity, guess that means we'll need a battery tray too. Still need to make the battery hold downs. For simplicity's sake I'll build an upside down "J" hook setup. The battery posts and terminals are made of solder, drilled and squished to suit my evil purposes.

Blower Belt. Ooooooooo. Ahhhhhhhhh. Pretty.

Thanks for looking All.

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They say the Devil is in the Details.

I've been working on lots of goodies over the last couple of days.

I needed a better gauge cluster and that required a piece of aluminum tubing for the steering column because of the larger mounting hole. I also, (in an act of whimsy), laced the steering wheel. It just seemed too cool not to do. It looks huge in the pics so close up.

The tires and wheels are done, complete with valve stems made from solder and aluminum tubing. Glue a slice of tubing to a piece of .032 solder with CA, then a drop of aluminum paint on top of the cap. Again, the caps look huge in close up, but they are close enough for the girls that John Teresi goes with.

Then there's the battery. Still needs the posts and a couple of label decals on top.

Speaking of the battery, I added the battery tray and also installed a parachute loop. Needs a little paint, huh?

Thanks for looking.

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Been messing with the front spoiler and truly messed it up. Sanded off some rib and rivet detail. Then I tried to fix it. Yuck!!!

So I pulled the front and rear spoilers from a Hawaiian kit. Figured if I'm replacing the front with something incorrect, might as well do the rear too.

Here's a great shot of the battery and box. Very happy with it.

Also getting closer to starting assembly. All individual parts are done with the exception of an MSD box and possible fuel pump I need to scratch build. I get less happy with the kit pump daily. Wonder if I have a decent one in my stash.....?

Thanks for looking.

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Woot !!! Got the parachute pack done. I sure hope they had spring assisted parachute deployment doo hickies back in the day, 'cuz it's got one now. Ignore the shiny on the Simpson decal. I just put dullcoat on it.

Might be hard to tell the difference, but I've made battery terminals out of both solder and aluminum tubing. Hard to tell in the pic, but the aluminum ones are much better looking.

Lastness, since the valve covers had to have the spark plug nipples removed, ( :o ), to drill out for the boots, I had to lose some chrome. I'm trying to keep as much chrome as possible on here, so instead of dechroming them, I repaired the damaged area, painted silver, then transparent red.

Enjoy the pics.

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Here I go sweating the details again.Finished the distributor; that's when I realized by force of habit I made what I thought was going to be a magneto. I'll get the elves to start checking parts boxes for a good looking coil.

I'm really jazzed about the detail on the battery. I placed a couple of labels on top. Wasn't until after I took the picture that I could read the top one. Old eyes. As you may be able to tell, I managed to salvage the kit fuel pump. Added a piece of shrink tubing at the bottom.

The relay box is scratch built. I ran a piece of wire in front of the butterflies on the scoop. It looks more realistic in person, although I may scribe out a trench under the wire so it lays flatter. The ends will hook up to linkage and a return spring. I'll figure out the throttle cable during assembly. The oil filters are ready to mount and I just noticed I'll have to move or replace the one on the right. DAGNABIT and TARNATION !!!!

Lastmost, the plug wire boots are installed and ready to trim. I always put a drop of CA on each one first. Not to make sure it doesn't come out, but to make sure it won't move during trimming.

Thanks for looking.

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Moving right along, got the boots trimmed and the distributor installed. I mentioned earlier that I needed a coil, so I made one from stretched sprue. I also made a bracket so I could mount it to the front engine plate. Simply bent a piece of solder around the sprue and drilled a couple of holes, then hit it with CA. You can see it in the second picture under the distributor.

Wiring was pretty straight forward. Forgot to look up the firing order.

More to come......

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Ooooooo. Ahhhhhhhh. Oooooooo. Ahhhhhhh. Installed the suspension, then stuck some goodies on to get a vision of where I'm going.

So far so good. Two correctable errors I can see from the pics on the roll cage. Need to blend in the added support at the back of the cage. Easy peasy. Next item is directly attributed to old age. Anybody notice the missing cross bar on the right side? I still have the piece I made. It somehow got into the "rejected parts" pile.

If you notice anything else, shout out, but use your indoor voice.

Thanks for looking.

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Mike, I took all of the necessary measurements and I have bad news. It won't fit on your shelf. Sorry.

More shots of the chassis. The missing cross brace is in place as is the parachute release gusset.

Programming note: This build just got stupid. I'm in the process of setting up the tin work and have discovered the firewall / engine cover / blower hat dog house is about 1/4" too short. I'm sure that previous builders had their own way of dealing with this, but I'm going to do something bizarre. The plan is to scribe out the front of the lower windshield, then take 1/4" out of the roof length to move it back. If it works right in my brain, not only will it give the cockpit a unique look, it will essentially turn this into a long nose.

Cross your fingers.

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I owe everybody following this build an apology. There was no parachute release gusset shown in the last update picture. We'll start this update with that first. It gets repainted after I finish posting this.

On to the good stuff. Got the battery and starter wired and did the plumbing on the calipers and oil system. The caliper lines will be painted black to represent hoses.

The headers should do an excellent job of hiding the starter and oil lines. :rolleyes:

Once I get the engine / floor pan assembly in, I can take final measurements for moving the windshield back.

Enjoy.

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