1962 CHEVY II A/FX

[will69]

PRE FUNNY CAR STYLE

[cobraman]

Nice ! I love the AWB cars.

[slusher]

Great looking model..

[W-409]

Good looking Chevy II. These were really good looking cars built like this and your build proves it. Nice decal work and sharp engine details. I like that color as well.

But this is not a Factory Experimental car at all. It's an early Funny Car / Match Race car as you said, but not Factory Experimental as the title says.

[iBorg]

I picked up the Rat Packer today. I think it will be a fun build but have always hated the chassis. What chassis did you use?

Thanks,

Mike

[will69]

I used the kit chassis, though they are crude.

[vintagercr]

Looks good with that engine.

[DumpyDan]

Look really good, nice engine

[will69]

THANKS,

[Rotorbolt73]

Excellent work on this kit. I have one of these kits myself and yes the chassis is quite crude. I made all sorts of mods to it to make it better. Ended up giving it to a friend who needed it more than I did. Still have the body though, gonna convert the body back to stock and make it a pro streeter one day.

By the way, this kit is a 1965 Nova. Not a 62.

[Skip]

I used the kit chassis, though they are crude.

Just popped open a Rat Packer, that isn't the came chassis in the kit, which is the same as the Funny Farmer Tempest, the Mustang and I think the Syclone. All of those chassis are the same round tube "perimeter" type chassis that they have came with since they were first released in the mid to late sixties. About the only thing that's ever been changed on these kits are the decals.

This series was supposed to depict the A/FX cars that were running at the time. I don't remember which one came out first, I remember getting the Rear Engined, Plymouth 'Cuda first then the Chevy II so I suspect it was the second of the series; I think that only the 'Cuda had the term "Funny Car" associated with it so AMT most likely aimed these models as being A/FX Class. One has to remember that the rules regarding A/FX or Factory Experimental were pretty loosely based and were subject to interperatation in many cases, when the bodies began to start lifting to access engine or driver's compartment is about the time the term "Funny Car" began being applied. This AMT Series was more of a "Match Racer" configuration than Funny Car. With some work, the chassis and interior buckets can be detailed to replicate a typical AWB A/FX car just by doing things like fitting the chassis sheet metal to the body, all of them are way too short all the way around to "seal" the chassis to the body. With a little Evergreen sheet and a little tubing you can make this chassis work. The other glaring error pointed out by Speed City Resin is that the "Big Block" Chevy engine is way undersized only slightly larger than a Small Block, so a true sized Big Block Chevy is in order for the Chevy II and maybe a 421 Pontiac for the Tempest.

Doing some research it almost looks like AMT based much of the front clip which was sold by Bill Thomas out of Anaheim, Cal. Dick Harrell ran this setup in early '66. The major difference between the Bill Thomas' front clip and the front of the AMT chassis is the lack of a parallel upper trestle rail, the Thomas clip used the same firewall supports as the AMT chassis does. Both use nearly identical front axle and parallel spring mounting. The "Perimeter" chassis probably came about because AMT figured they were going to use the Chassis on the other bodies which were all for the most part of a Uni-Body design. I haven't tried it but am told that the Rat Packer chassis fits under the 'Cuda, so you could use it to make the 'Cuda front engined. Looking at a lot of the A/FX cars of the day they were beginning to add some type of chassis under them or at least a stout set of subframe connectors. Of this series only the Murcury Syclone and the Pontiac '63 Pontiac Tempest would have come from the factory with a full frame under them.

I really wish that AMT would release,the 'Cuda if the molds still exist, even if the Hemi wasn't that amazing in it, but you could use it to "Loosely" Replicate Richard Petty's foray into Drag Racing, if he had done so in an A/FX that is!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot pretty nice A/FX Match Racer. I like it a lot, you've already taken care of a lot of the improvements to make it a plausable Street / Drag and or Race Car.

Edited March 30, 2015 by Skip

[Speedfreak]

Nice Willard, love the color, and that blown engine looks awesome in there!

[W-409]

With some work, the chassis and interior buckets can be detailed to replicate a typical AWB A/FX car

I'm curios on this:

Has anyone checked how much AMT has relocated the axles on this Chevy II kit?

Because if I'm not mistaken, 1965 was the only year in FX when axle relocation was allowed. As seen on the rulebook:

"AXLE RELOCATION: Axles may be relocated on FX cars a maximum of two (2) percent of the total wheelbase, per original stock location. This applies to either front or rear axle, or a combination of the two. Bodies must remain in their original production location. Wheelwells and fenders may be altered to permit installation and removal of wheels and tires but no portion of the tire may extend outside of the fender and/or body lines."

So I'm interested to know if this kit could actually be built as a '65 Factory Experimental car without moving axles backwards. I know that I don't know how to count this, as I've never been good at it.

Of course there would be still other modifications required, so maybe it would be easier anyway to start with the Trumpeter kit. (Yes, I've been planning to build a Factory Experimental Chevy II some day).

[am73grand]

That looks wicked. Nice build

[Skip]

The pictures that I have seen of the "Doug's Headers Chevy 2 Much" Chevy II appear in some configurations to be nearly identical in wheelbase to that of the Rat Packer. The main difference body wise is that the rear wheel wells are stretched. Frame is rectangular tube construction, front axle uses a transverse spring and (rather spindly looking) hairpins Vs. The Rat Packer's parallel leaf springs. The Rat Packer's front axle is nearly identical in shape to the Bill Thomas supplied axle, Doug's Headers axle is a chrome dropped tube axle. I do remember seeing the Doug's Headers Chevy 2 Much car run up here in Seattle, Kent Raceway then along with some other named AWB cars, but I remember the Doug's car because it was beautiful, that burnt orange color, all the Gold Leafing and amazing painted Lettering, people were so impressed , this was a "California Car" after all! I don't remember many of the Dragsters that ran that day, but I sure remember the Doug's car. So for me this is all about creating a memory of a day spent at the Drags with my favorite uncle.

I've seen a couple Rat Packers (in pictures) converted to the Chevy 2 Much, it makes a visually plausable AWB Car. In all the pictures I've seen of this car the Class is not either painted on or shoe polished on the windows, so it is hard to tell whether it was a Match Racer, A/FX car or ? it doesn't appear to be a Funny Car, unless the later configuration was as both the rear and front axles are moved forward in the wheel wells. When it comes to these cars, I'm more so into whether the "Look" is right Versus whether it actually fit into any "Gray Area" rules"; now if I were building a period correct Gas or Fuel Dragster, SS, Gasser or Altered I would be more likely to look closely at a Rule Book and "Rivet Count". AWB and A/FX Cars were about as wild as they get, there were so many variations of the same cars within a very short period of time, so build what looks good! Even if it's not 100% Correct they sure look a whole lot better than all the "New Faux Gassers" showing up, most of which would never ever have been allowed to run on any sanctioned track!

I remember reading an article on Dick Landy's Dodge in Hot Rod Deluxe and also in an old HRM both of which talked about the A/FX cars being twisted and tweaked to the point the Doors wouldn't even close they literally destroyed themselves with all the hard launches in a short period of time. It you take this into account it doesn't take much to read between the lines and figure out this is probably why there were so many configurations of the same cars. Not to mention that this was a period where the Rules probably weren't followed to the letter 100% of the time. NHRA and the other sanctioning Bodies of the time probably figured that they had a good thing! There was a huge amount of pressure from the Factories still actively sponsoring Racing (of any kind) to get and keep their Logo out there, which is likely why things get a bit on the blurry side at times until the actual Funny Car Class took off in '66 - '67 time frame. This is almost a case of not what the rules said, but what was printed in the pages of Popular Hot Rodding and Hot Rod from month to month.

[iBorg]

Being a bit of a rivet counter, did Chevy use the same chassis of the Chevy II under anything else? The idea of removing the stock front end for the Rat Packer, seems like a great idea. The only Chevy II chassis I can think of is the Trumpeteer. I haven't seen one at a LHS in several years. Any thoughts?

[Skip]

Pretty sure that Chevy didn't use the Uni-Body from the Chevy II under anything else, Corvair was their only other Uni-Body during the first series of the Chevy II and it's not even close.

What about using the '66 Nova stock frame under the Rat Packer? Speed City Resin makes a rectangular tube frame slightly longer than the Rat Packer. In my oppinion this is a better frame just on looks alone, though it pretty much mirrors the AMT AWB Frames. You might ask Scott (Kapellusch) at Speed City about your Chevy II chassis question, he is probably one of the most knowledgable scale A/FX guys around.

[W-409]

The pictures that I have seen of the "Doug's Headers Chevy 2 Much" Chevy II appear in some configurations to be nearly identical in wheelbase to that of the Rat Packer. The main difference body wise is that the rear wheel wells are stretched. Frame is rectangular tube construction, front axle uses a transverse spring and (rather spindly looking) hairpins Vs. The Rat Packer's parallel leaf springs. The Rat Packer's front axle is nearly identical in shape to the Bill Thomas supplied axle, Doug's Headers axle is a chrome dropped tube axle. I do remember seeing the Doug's Headers Chevy 2 Much car run up here in Seattle, Kent Raceway then along with some other named AWB cars, but I remember the Doug's car because it was beautiful, that burnt orange color, all the Gold Leafing and amazing painted Lettering, people were so impressed , this was a "California Car" after all! I don't remember many of the Dragsters that ran that day, but I sure remember the Doug's car. So for me this is all about creating a memory of a day spent at the Drags with my favorite uncle.

I've seen a couple Rat Packers (in pictures) converted to the Chevy 2 Much, it makes a visually plausable AWB Car. In all the pictures I've seen of this car the Class is not either painted on or shoe polished on the windows, so it is hard to tell whether it was a Match Racer, A/FX car or ? it doesn't appear to be a Funny Car, unless the later configuration was as both the rear and front axles are moved forward in the wheel wells. When it comes to these cars, I'm more so into whether the "Look" is right Versus whether it actually fit into any "Gray Area" rules"; now if I were building a period correct Gas or Fuel Dragster, SS, Gasser or Altered I would be more likely to look closely at a Rule Book and "Rivet Count". AWB and A/FX Cars were about as wild as they get, there were so many variations of the same cars within a very short period of time, so build what looks good! Even if it's not 100% Correct they sure look a whole lot better than all the "New Faux Gassers" showing up, most of which would never ever have been allowed to run on any sanctioned track!

I remember reading an article on Dick Landy's Dodge in Hot Rod Deluxe and also in an old HRM both of which talked about the A/FX cars being twisted and tweaked to the point the Doors wouldn't even close they literally destroyed themselves with all the hard launches in a short period of time. It you take this into account it doesn't take much to read between the lines and figure out this is probably why there were so many configurations of the same cars. Not to mention that this was a period where the Rules probably weren't followed to the letter 100% of the time. NHRA and the other sanctioning Bodies of the time probably figured that they had a good thing! There was a huge amount of pressure from the Factories still actively sponsoring Racing (of any kind) to get and keep their Logo out there, which is likely why things get a bit on the blurry side at times until the actual Funny Car Class took off in '66 - '67 time frame. This is almost a case of not what the rules said, but what was printed in the pages of Popular Hot Rodding and Hot Rod from month to month.

Excellent post Skip!

It's true that when these Factory Experimental classes came close to their end and Funny Cars were born, FX cars got wilder, and I've also read that many times they were not allowed to run in NHRA's FX classes.

As a real Drag Racer myself, running in Stock Eliminator with very limited rules, I like to build models that would be NHRA Legal because I find it interesting to look closely on the old Rulebooks and try to build my models according to them... I think I will start my FX Chevy II from that Trumpeter kit when I get to it.

Edited March 31, 2015 by W-409

[ChrisR]

Very nice!

[paul alflen]

SKIP, THE PROTOTYPE MULES OF THE 67 CAMARO USED THE CHEVY II BACK CLIP. I SAW IT IN HOT ROD? OR IN A CAMARO BOOK? I THINK THE CHEVY CAMARO CHASSIS WAS DEVELOPED OFF THE CHEVY II CHASSIS.?

[walterbog]

in 1965 a fx car could legally relocate axles (front or rear) 2 per cent of the total wheelbase.factory experimental classes (nhra) in 1965 were for 1965 model year stock automobiles only using manufacturers optional equiptment.1965 was the only year this axle relocation was allowed.a lot of race teams built match race cars that had radical wheelbase relocation and engine setback.if these cars fit the rules of the altered classes in 1965 they could race in the national events otherwise they match raced at any strip that paid them or at special meets that allowed them to race.ahra rules in 1965 were more liberal.