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Bantam Front Engine Dragster


W-409

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Starting a new project, but it's coming slowly... Bought The Jawbreaker Dragster, which has somekind of Sedan Body. It's cool looking, I think. It has Hemi engine with blower. The kit quality is Ok, but some parts have pretty much flash, and they need some cleaning. Also there are some need for putty in some places... Today I got engine halves together, but they need some filling and sanding before paint. Also must get building the frame. It's going to be very interesting build, but don't know, when it gets finished....

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Some pictures about what's in the box can be found here: Photobucket album

Edited by W-409
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Niko, keep an eye out that your frame stays square,I've built a couple of these and know of quite a few more where as the build progress's the frame twists and you end up having a wheel in the air. I think its the steering

(front assembly) that does it.

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Yes, must get it on four wheels, not tree (one in the air)... Hope this turns out good, and there's no that kind of mistakes, they are looking bad in Ok build... And yes, it might be based on the Ramchargers kit, I have that one too, and these have lots of same parts, and chrome tree seems to be just like Ramchargers'... That body will look cool on it's place, and that's why this is something different. :lol: Thanks for the comments, guys!

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Some putty to inside the body. There were ugly ejector marks, so after sanding those might look good and more realistic. And Question!: I didn't get this point from the intructions, or any other. If I glue the body and its foor now to one piece, can I fit it on its place anymore, when the frame is completed? (Or being close completed) Hope that it's possible, otherwise it don't look good with that seam on the center of the body...

Floor wasn't looking good either, so some putty there also...

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And the body ejector marks.

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Some progress has been made, not too great, but I'm still making the progress. Sanded the putties smooth from inside the body parts, and floor. Now ready for primering them from this side, and then gluing those parts together should make some more sanding and filling, etc... Also engine block needed some putty, next step is sanding it smooth, and then some paint on it. Also the frame needs to be glued together.

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i think this kit's got the reputation for being the "ballbreaker" for a reason :blink:

That's true :lol: :lol: !

Brett, thanks for the information, now I can glue them together without being worried about the final assembly. Your Dragster looks very good too, love the flames on it. :D

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Oh, that looks cool! The Two Much kit has a great chassis, but it's maybe bit too long for one engine, so I'll use them both. Otherwise only one engine would look good, but I don't want to shorten the frame. Your build is very nice, as always!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Frame glued together... It was really hard to get it fit, and it's bit warped. I'm going to give some heat to it, carefully and then it maybe starts to look better. This is something, I was bit afraid about.

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i think this kit's got the reputation for being the "ballbreaker" for a reason laugh.gif i'm curious too on the body and floor assembly as i'd rather build them as a unit and finish and paint them. i have some ideas for mine, just not the fire to do it yet.

I almost forgot how much trouble this kit was to build! Seeing your photos just reminded me! The chassis was just horrible and took a lot of work and fudging to get it straight. Here is mine. Check out the name on the cowl! B)

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WF

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  • 2 months later...

Hey guys.......this Jawbreaker kit is actually a re-release of the old MPC American Graffiti 2 John Milner dragster, from the mid-70's. Same exact kit. However, for this release they focused on the Fuel Coupe body rather than the FED. I would prefer the FED, as Ive built a few of the Milner kits. That kit even included parts for two engines, using the same basic block. Hemi heads and covers with the correct headers..... and as Milners 1:1 car was......a blown small block Chevy with correct SBC headers.

The Jawbreaker kit is the exact same kit, minus the dragster shorty tailpiece body and SBC parts. Why the Milner kit included parts that we never saw in the movie, who knows......but they are all there. Full body, rear wing, fuel coupe body, interior tin, Hemi parts, etc. I would only imagine that they planned on some sort of alternate release by plugging the molds for the Milner parts. I dont believe there was ever an alternate release, however.

The Milner kits, if you can find one, are rather rare and thus valuable today. Im sure licensing prohibits re-releasing the Milner kit. Paul LeMat has a hand in quite a bit that has to do with American Graffiti items.

Still a neat kit, despite it's obvious shortcomings. Will build into a decent Fuel Coupe that represents the era, nicely.

In my humble opinion, one can NEVER have enuff Front Engine Dragster kits to create some historic, and some fantasy race cars !!!!!! :)

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Wow, interesting post by Joe! Great information.

This project is waiting for busy builder. I'm having that '64 Corvette to finish today and then I'm trying to get Firebird FC ready. Maybe after them, I can continue this one (and some others too).

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