SuperStockAndy Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 (edited) I've been thinking about building an old school front engine dragster from the ground up. If ANYBODY has any good chassis pictures, I'd REALLY appreciate it. Also, which do you think would go best, the Ross Gibson Hilborn injected 392 Hemi, the 426 Hilborn injected Hemi or the 392 Hemi top fuel engine? Thanks, Andy Edited May 26, 2011 by Android Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Ross Gibson Hillborn Injected 392 Hemi is simply the best choice. It's old school, and Top Fuel engine is with blower, I think? 426 Hemi is too modern for Slingshot dragster... I had one website, where are lots of pictures, but I can't find it anymore. But project is very interesting, when you get building it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Kron Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 (edited) ...If ANYBODY has any good chassis pictures, I'd REALLY appreciate it.... Start by going to Straightline Modelers' reference section ( http://www.straightl...ler.org/res.htm ), particularly the Dragsters area. Then go to sites like Nitrogeezers ( http://nitrogeezers.smugmug.com/ ), for modern nostalgia drag recreations try FrontEngineDragsters.org ( http://frontenginedragsters.org/ ), and for a wealth of period pictrures and lore We Dit It For Love ( http://wediditforlov...temap-free.html ). This should get you started. But really you should just use your favorite search engine (Google, Bing, Yahoo Search, etc.) and go exploring. Hope this helps. Regarding an engine choice, it's entirely up to you. Perhaps the sites referenced above might help you decide what rings your bell... Edited May 26, 2011 by gbk1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperStockAndy Posted May 26, 2011 Author Share Posted May 26, 2011 Thanks guys!!!! And Niko, I was starting to lean toward the Hilborn injected 392. I'll have to get some styrene rod for it, or maybe I should try tubing with metal rod in the middle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6bblbird Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 Ross Gibson Hillborn Injected 392 Hemi is simply the best choice. It's old school, and Top Fuel engine is with blower, I think? 426 Hemi is too modern for Slingshot dragster... I had one website, where are lots of pictures, but I can't find it anymore. But project is very interesting, when you get building it. Ross Gibson engines are great! As far as the 426 being too "modern" for a front engined dragster. Not so. The 426 made it's debut in 1964. By the the time that the slingshots had been obsoleted (1972) there were plenty of 426 Hemi powered f.e.d.s. Ramchargers and Garlits pioneered the use of the "Elephant Motor" WF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperStockAndy Posted May 27, 2011 Author Share Posted May 27, 2011 Honestly I've never even worked with resin but I REALLY want to try it. Now if I could get some of my other projects done so I could start it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Sumner Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 (edited) Another thing that will greatly influence your build will be what year dragster you plan to model. In less than a decade...say for example the 8 years from 1961 to 1969...front engined dragster's chassis underwent MAJOR design changes. A 1961 dragster was most likely of the Dragmaster type as in the Mooneyes dragster. A short wheelbase boxy chassis. In 1969 they were considerably different! Much longer wheelbase, much changed designs. So you first must decide what year you want to model and then base your research on that. Here is a photo of a Dragmaster type front engine dragster from around 1961 or so.... Note how short the wheelbase is and how boxy the overall design is. Hosted on Fotki Now here is a slingshot from only 8 years later..in 1969 (WITH the 426 Hemi type engine). Hosted on Fotki And here is a photo of a 392 hemi in a slingshot dragster... Hosted on Fotki So pick your year and then pick your car first, then decide how you want to go about building it. You can look up Dragmaster chassis, Logghe chassis, Don Long chassis, and Woody Gilmore chassis among others and you'll be able to find photos of what the bare chassis looked like. Edited May 27, 2011 by Terry Sumner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperStockAndy Posted May 27, 2011 Author Share Posted May 27, 2011 I like that Mooneyes one!!! I'm going to put more thought in this, as I don't know exactly which kind I want... Thanks Terry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperStockAndy Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 Well guys I'll probably be building a chassis jig tomorrow. Now, what are your opinions on this? Should I use this chassis: Or this one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6bblbird Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Well guys I'll probably be building a chassis jig tomorrow. Now, what are your opinions on this? Should I use this chassis: Or this one? Those top photo looks to be of modern construction and would be o.k. if you want to build a "Nostalgia" car that could run today but it would not be o.k. for a replica of a '60s era car ( Too many bars in the cage). The bottom pic just looks weird! Looks like it was built for a XXL size driver! WF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Sumner Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Andy...take a look here before you decide.... http://www.straightlinemodeler.org/rice.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Kron Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 (edited) Another thing that will greatly influence your build will be what year dragster you plan to model. In less than a decade...say for example the 8 years from 1961 to 1969...front engined dragster's chassis underwent MAJOR design changes. A 1961 dragster was most likely of the Dragmaster type as in the Mooneyes dragster. A short wheelbase boxy chassis. In 1969 they were considerably different! Much longer wheelbase, much changed designs. So you first must decide what year you want to model and then base your research on that. ... (P)ick your year and then pick your car first, then decide how you want to go about building it. You can look up Dragmaster chassis, Logghe chassis, Don Long chassis, and Woody Gilmore chassis among others and you'll be able to find photos of what the bare chassis looked like. Andy...take a look here before you decide.... http://www.straightl...r.org/rice.html Terry's pointers are right on the money in helping you get oriented. The link he gave you is to the same site I mentioned earler; Straightline Modelers is the ideal source for getting your bearings, IMHO. As regards the frame, the second frame is kinda funky to my eyes; stick with those nice, sexy tapered rails as in picture #1! ;) Terry's comment about how quickly thing were evolving back in the day reminds me of my first models, many, many moons ago... I can recall when the AMT Double Dragster kit came out it was already out of date, it's old-fashioned 4-point roll cage having been replaced by the slicker looking 3 point style in the time it took AMT to master and produce the kit. And when I bought my first Revell Tony Nancy Double Dragster kit I used both frames to stretch the wheelbase because chassis were getting longer literally by the month! Edited June 7, 2011 by Bernard Kron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperStockAndy Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 Thanks for the replies guys. I'm leaning towards building one that looks very similar to this: Oh, and how would one go about building a jig for that kind of chassis? Thanks, Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobcrozier Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 There's probably quite a few ways of doing this, but I made myself a magnetic jig consisting of a 10" x 8" magnetic sheet (sort of a vinyl-like) glued down to a similar sized piece of 5/8" plyboard plus several small blocks of metal which were offcuts from a 1" x 1" bar of mild steel.I think Micromark make a similar unit (or used to!) Then I draw the chassis out on graph paper full size,and tape it down on to the board. Then taking plastic rod cut it to length on the plan and hold it in place on the drawing with pins (the vinyl sheet was rubbery enough to take a pin) and or adhesive tape. Then every so often tack the rods together with liquid poly like mekpak or similar. Don't forget to "fishmouth" the rods together for a good fit. Make two sides this way. Then a liile superglue applied to each joint with a wooden toothpick re-inforces each joint and provides a realistic "welded" look. at this point manufacture those little gussets, brackets and engine mounts etc. When both sides were complete I attached using double-sided tape each frame to the side of a 3/4" square short length of wood batten so they can be stood up. Then I drew two lines representing the converging frame rails and positioned the two side frames in position relative to each other. Then cut the cross-wide rods to join the two sides together. Glue and reinforce as before. The trickiest part is joining up the rear of the frames. Gentle heat and a gentle touch and bend your rod to represent the curved rails and hoops at the rear. Draw it all out as much as you can to avoid surprises and get a feel for it. Good luck Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragracer Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 here's my recommendation for this project too, which i think you can use and will be massively helpful. use Evergreen rod to build the chassis and use Tenax 7R or the Ambroid equivalent. the other thing you will need if you don't have it is a round needle file to fishmouth all of the joints. Drew Heirwarter(sp) wrote an excellent article for SA that changed everything for me as far as chassis and rollbar/cage construction. I saw that article by Drew also, & I will be "fishmouthing?" my P/X-P/M chassis's, great article! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobcrozier Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Anyone know which issue that was? I'd sure like to track that article down. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperStockAndy Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 Anyone know which issue that was? I'd sure like to track that article down. Bob Thanks for the replies everyone!!! I just need to start planning everything out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.