curt raitz Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Was watching "Chasing Classic Cars" on Velocity a few weeks back featuring the Bill Rutan Special. Not a very attractive car and a definitly a different type of car which show host ol' Wayne Carini regularly diplays . Bill started with a 1945 VW and a 1958 Porsche Porsche 4-cam engine. He designed the frame rollcage, rear suspension, turned the engine around with the transaxle trailing for better weight distribution and relaced the the twin distributors with an 8 cylinder distributor. All together the Special only weighed in at 850 lbs. Bill's most famous race was the 1961 Mt. Washington Hill Climb, he had the fastest overall time on the dirt and gravel road. Second overall in this race was Carroll Shelby in a race-prepared Ferrari! I decided this would be a good modeling project, but what version do I build? The original...not a lot of pictures and a really ugly car. Decided to build the car in it's current restoration, lots of photos available. Here's a few current photos of the car: Gonna use the following kits as donors, mostly cuz I had both in my cupboard. I know, I know...how can you part out this kit, well...where ya gonna find a Porsche 4-cam engine? I can still build as a curb side, they provide extra wheels and brakes to build a 356 B or 356 C. I'll be using the 356 B parts and engine/transaxle from the kit. Here's a photo of parts from both kits I may or may not use... Wheels are from the 356 B and tires from the VW kit Got out the drawing pad, calculator and went to work on getting this thing scaled out to 1/24th scale...resulting in this: Time to get working on this thing, should be fun... thanx for lookin' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RancheroSteve Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Great - this will be a very cool and different project! What are those wheels on the real car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan 191 Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Can you get the same engine out of this kit? http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=36193#entry1010908 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted September 15, 2013 Author Share Posted September 15, 2013 Great - this will be a very cool and different project! What are those wheels on the real car? look to be custom made, should not be hard to duplicate... kinda look like "VW Centerlines", if such a wheel exists Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted September 15, 2013 Author Share Posted September 15, 2013 Can you get the same engine out of this kit?http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=36193#entry1010908 yeah, I've built that engine before...it's Ok, but not as nice as the Fujimi engine with the engine as visible as it is on this car, I want a good looking engine. and I don't have an issue with building the Fujimi 356 C as a curbside Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan 191 Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Very good point, you definitely want a nice engine. Cool project! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RancheroSteve Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Always interesting to learn something new - a good article on Bill Rutan and his car here: http://www.hemmings.com/hsx/stories/2011/06/01/hmn_feature5.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 (edited) Cool car, cool project, nice work on those scale drawings. Super-light hill-climb cars are really something to watch. The Porsche 909 Bergspyder hillclimb cars were also reputed to weigh about 850lb... impressively light for a 275HP, flat-eight powered car.. Edited September 15, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Very cool project. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Edman Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 awesome project will be watching for sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDO Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 Heck yeah, man. Part out that kit. Looks like an awesome project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lower99 Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 cool build, keep it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 Great Project Curt! I'll be watching the updates... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted September 17, 2013 Author Share Posted September 17, 2013 Now I get to play with the plastic... removed extra stuff from VW chassis floor: chassis so far... There are two cross braces on the rear of the chassis I will have to add after the engine is installed thanx for lookin... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randx0 Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 I really like the projects you come up with and the swift execution of largely scratchbuilt unique subject matter. when did you start on this? Is this actually two days worth of work ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted September 17, 2013 Author Share Posted September 17, 2013 I really like the projects you come up with and the swift execution of largely scratchbuilt unique subject matter. when did you start on this? Is this actually two days worth of work ? actually it only took about three hours to fabricate what you see... spent about 8 -10 hours on the scale drawings which really help with the construction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Laski Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Great project, Curt! You're killing it already. Nice work! -Art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScaleDale Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Love the graph paper chassis work, it's much more efficient and convenient than using a computer. How did you do your frame arches and bends? They are nice and even. Keep it up. Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastardo Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 After seeing the show this was the first thing that crossed my mind - make a model of that car! Now I'm glad I didn't - I would never do it as fast and as good as you are doing it Really great work so far and I can't wait for the next update! Good luck with the rest of the project! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GerN Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 What an outstanding project choice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatW Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 As an aircooled VW nut this looks to be a great project, I look forward to the rest of the build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted September 18, 2013 Author Share Posted September 18, 2013 Love the graph paper chassis work, it's much more efficient and convenient than using a computer. How did you do your frame arches and bends? They are nice and even. Keep it up. Dale I just worked with plastic rod by bending and stretching it over a round tube, comparing it to the drawings until I got the correct arc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Car Man Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 more please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 wow that's excellent. I am a big fan of that quad cam (grenade) motor. having built a few myself one thing I would suggest is you seek out and buy the photoetch set that replaces the cylinder fins. that horizontal crack through them is gonna kill ya. looks great so far, I love the chassis work youre doing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Edman Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 this has to be one of the coolest projects going right now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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