G-Bucket Updated 3May11

[seeker589]

OK kids -

I'm starting an ambitious project. Especially after a rather long hiatus.

This is heavily influenced by the Car Craft Dream Rod and the mind of Tex Smith - Former Editor of many Petersen pubs and former owner/publisher of (the now dead) Hot Rod Mechanix.

While at Petersen - he worked briefly for Car Craft and, realizing that good old steel was becoming rare (even back in the early 60s) he conceived the Dream Rod. A Hand built hot rod special using various currently available late model body panels on a Jowett Jupiter Chassis using a VW Beetle front suspension. Or was that the XR-6. now I'm confused!

While writing for his own Magazine - he built what he called a "Buck a Pound Roadster". The hope was to build a traditional style Roadster for one dollar for each pound it weighs - about 2200lbs. It wasn't gorgeous - but it had an acceptable stance and looks quite traditional.

For more info on this - follow this link:

Buck-a-Pound article

My plan is to use semi-late model steel (in plastic/scale form) to build a traditional-esque roadster that can be built (in 1:1 scale) for about $2200. Yes this will use old parts - won't include an engine/tranny rebuild and the paint might be a bit wonky - but I want flavor!

I haven't decided on the chassis. In the photos it is sitting on a AMT S10 frame. Years ago I fabbed a chassis out of silver solder(in various silver densities)at work. I may finish soldering that or just create a chassis from plastic stock. I'm looking for loooooong and loooooow.

For the body - I'm starting with an AMT ProShop '64 Galaxie kit (see it here next to a t-bucket used for sizing and comparison purposes):

I made this jig to hold the doors (reversed side to side and front to back) evenly with an attractive taper:

Here is what I had after a few hours of hacking:

The cowl is a section of the Galaxie roof. The firewall and rear bulkhead are plastic stock. I am planning on shaving the door handles and filling in the body seam. I will keep the outstanding trim, however.

I then cut a section out of the tail-light panel/rear fender/trunk portion of the Galaxie's body to create a front body section:

Let me know what you think. I can't guarantee it won't come out looking like a pile of feces - but I'll learn from it!

This is gonna be a slow project as I am having to re-teach myself some things (like how Zip-Kicker ROCKS!!!), buy supplies as they are needed, and juggle real life duties. Just stick with me!

Edited May 4, 2011 by seeker589

[Bill Edman]

Wow this build is cool will be watching this one closely

[Chuck Most]

Liking what I see!

I'm voting for scrapping the S-10 frame and blowing the dust of that soldered one!

[seeker589]

Liking what I see!

I'm voting for scrapping the S-10 frame and blowing the dust of that soldered one!

I'm thinking that would be cool too. The learning curve would be REALLY steep on that, however. I've not soldered for quite some time. That and when the diameter of the round tube is scaled out - it comes to something like 2 and 1/2 inches diameter tubing. Maybe if I use HEAVY build primer? If I don't use it on this build - I'll use it on a drag car build I have in mind later. You WILL see it again. It has a wonderfully spindly quality.

The S10 frame looks too bulky.

Edited April 19, 2011 by seeker589

[Custom Hearse]

So far so AWESOME!!! I like the idea of building it like they did in the same fashion. Looking forward to seeing more of this one.

[Jantrix]

Very cool. I'm looking forward to seeing this come together.

[Bernard Kron]

Maximum creativity, for sure. Can't wait to see how the body forms evolve. Just a brilliant concept all around! Ain't modeling fun since it allows us to explore our ideas in scaled down time and $$$$'s as well as size. 2 cool! :D Can't wait to see more, more, more...

[Guest]

This looks to be a cool project Tim! I definitely want to watch this one. So,does the rear of the Galaxie now become the front? Honestly, I don't think the frame looks too bulky,but you could shave it down a little to suit the look you're after.

[retrobuilder]

absolutely cool! keep it goin!

[GTMust]

I'm blown away by the creativity. Sure beats my simple engine swaps!!

Tony

[seeker589]

Update:

Since I felt the silver soldered frame looked a bit flimsy and the S10 frame looked a bit bulky - I decided to fab my own frame. I used evergreen stock. Frame rails are .100x.188 rectangle. The front cross member is from the tree of a kit in my stash. Gussets are from some plastic stock I pilfered form a trash can at work. The rear Kick-up is one scale foot.

I'm still trying to figure out what kind of front suspension to use - quarter elliptical, torsion bar, or VW Beam axle. The beam axle will be the simplest - unless I decide to fabricate one! Any suggestions would be welcome!

The rear suspension will most likely be coils and radius rod.

I've chosen to use a Datsun 280ZX turbo motor/trans. In 1:1 scale they are rather plentiful in the northeast and they tend to rot out around a perfectly good motor.

Upon examination the body was not very square - I glued it together out of alignment. A slight sanding accident presented an opportunity to glue it back together a bit more square or in much better symmetry. I also started cleaning up the body - shaving the door handles and smoothing the transitions. More later this week if we are both lucky.

Edited April 23, 2011 by seeker589

[Foxer]

A great idea and will be fun watching. The whole premise makes it wide open ... just as the thread has gone so far in this short period.

[Scott Colmer]

Hey Buddy,

I really like the original direction of the build. Your design and work are very clean and tight. EXCELLENT concept and execution. Keep going. I'll be watching.

Take care my friend.

Scott

[crazyjim]

This looks interesting and so I'll keep watching.

[SoCalCarCulture]

Kind of like this...

[Chuck Most]

That orange thing looks like it used to be a '73-'79 Ford F-series cab. I like it.

[seeker589]

Kind of like this...

Yup! Like that - only long and low.

There are some bare-bones roadsters scattered around the web. I crossed their idea with Tex Smith's and wanted to create my own.

Thanks for the additional inspiration.

Everyone: Thanks for your encouragement! More to come. I just have to get building!

[mikelo]

Looks like a cool project. The orange one was designed by Thom Taylor and is called a truckster. Here is an article explaining them and how "easy" they are to make.

http://www.rodandcustommagazine.com/featuredvehicles/0803rc_trucksters_explained/index.html

Keep us posted on your progress. This looks like it will end up very cool.

Mike

[seeker589]

Updates:

I didn't want to use the only VW beam I had from the only VW kit I had and it needed to be wider - so I decided to fab my own:

Built out of Plastruct round tube w/wire core and some Evergreen sheet stock. The trailing arms are Evergreen rod.

To make the trailing arms and drill them at all the same angle I made this simple jig with evergreen rectangle bar drilled at a similar angle to the Tamiya piece. I needed to get the right angle. I then used the same jig - with a straight pin glued into the hole I used to drill the arms. I used a hemostat clamp to hold the arm while I wedged a knife under the arm and bent it up at a somewhat similar angle.

Here is what the front suspension looks like so far:

Here it is set in relation to the frame:

Here are some suspension brackets I made out of some aluminum .010 roof flashing. It makes it out to about 1/4 inch thick in scale:

Here are some of the brackets glued in place:

I am planning on a three-link with a pan-hard bar.

Here are the suspension pieces with some of the brackets glued in their places. The springs are from an old Monogram stock car - rear. The shocks will be also.

Hopefully by the end of the weekend I'll have all the rear suspension brackets in place and all the connections firmed up. Finishing the front suspension will be next. I have to solve steering, trailing arm connections to the spindle/brake drum, and beam mounting issues.

Thanks to everyone for your encouragement. I welcome any comments, questions, or observations.

Edited April 30, 2011 by seeker589

[Chuck Most]

Cool. Gotta love the Vee Dub front axle.

[crazyjim]

Most excellent, Tim. The VW axle is very good and the idea for suspension brackets is a superb idea. Keep it coming.

[seeker589]

Progress continues:

Everything was made with various Evergreen and Plastruct stock. The springs are from a monogram NASCAR glue bomb and the rear is from some mid 70s Nova glue bomb I recieved from a former co-worker in a giant bag with other older builds of his.

Here is the rear end and suspension - completed but without shocks:

I made the pins out of weld wire to hold the assembly together - I will be using something else in the final assembly - see question below.

This is what I have so far(minus motor and headlight area):

you also see the VW beam axle for the front. I found some decent VW sized drums in the old '49 Merc kit from AMT. Attaching to those pins at the front will be the clamp for the VW beam - seen just forward of the frame.

I do have some questions. When building the rear suspension - I first used straight pins to mock it up. They became too cumbersome and I them made some smaller pins out of .030 solid weld wire. What does everone else use for connecting independent suspension bits in the final assembly? I kind of remember seeing some plastic detail bolts in MCM. They seemed to have a shaft on them and would work. What do you use?

Thanks to everyone for your encouragement!

Edited May 28, 2011 by seeker589

[crazyjim]

I was trying to make a 4 link rear suspension using Evergreen rod. I heated an end and smashed it flat with a hammer, sanded round, drilled a hole and added a #2 or 3 bead crimp. For bolts I drilled out some Plastrut hex rod and cutoff thin slices for a nut and some others for a bolt. It wasn't looking too bad until DanielG posted a pic of necklace end caps. I got samples in 2 sizes and they'll work real well.

[shucky]

Tim nice job so far! Looking great. If you dont mind some expense ... scalehardware.com has simulated nut/stud pins in many sizes that would suit your needs. Also rbmotion.com has similar machined bits.

[JohnnnyKaye]

I can't wait to see the final product... cool idea too!