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1990 Ford Mustang LX 5.0 Drag Racer


mrmike

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My new project and the return of McNally, Boston PI.  The Story is called Wrong Turn.  No one in this story is related to anyone living or deceased. 

The Build

I am using Revell's '90 Mustang LX 5.0 Drag Racer kit for this project.  My paint will be Testors Icy Blue with a grey interior.  A set of wide treaded tires from my parts box unless I can find a set of street slicks.  I originally wanted a ducktail spoiler, but I couldn't find one that I liked, so I'll be using the kit spoiler instead.  I also want to make an "on-off" switch for the rear of the car.

The Story

Having been born and raised in Boston and knowing it's many neighborhoods for years, McNally knows how to find his way around.  Tonight, he is driving back through Chelsea in his Challenger SRT8 and he stops at an intersection signal light.  While he is waiting for the light to change, a blue Mustang pulls up and the driver is revving his engine and yelling at McNally to race him.  McNally revs the 6.1 Ltr. Hemi a couple of times and the light changes and the Mustang takes off in a cloud of tire smoke and McNally turns on his right directional indicator, takes a right turn and drives away from the intersection, avoiding the race. 

What he saw that the other driver didn't see was the nose of a Chelsea Police Cruiser sticking out of an alley on the other side of the intersection and he wasn't about to race the Mustang anyway.

McNally will return...

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The Story

The following morning finds McNally driving over to the Chelsea Police station to talk with the officer in charge of patrol.  He talks to Sgt. Derrick Cassell and asks who may have encountered the Mustang the previous night.  Sgt. Cassell finds the computer report and the driver is a fellow by the name of Arthur "Artie" Jacobson who was given a summons and told to report to Traffic Court.  Artie has a long record of street racing, burglery, and excessive speeding.  Why he has had his license revoked is beyond the Patrol Sergeant.

Several days later, McNally is out cutting his lawn when a blue Mustang stops at the curb in front of his house.  He recognizes the driver from the other night who had challenged him to a drag race in Chelsea and the driver gets out of is car and yells, "You can't challenge me to a race and let me get caught by the cops!"  The driver raises his fist and strikes the Boston PI on the shoulder as he tried to avoid the blow and then he takes a stance and hits the driver several times in the face and once in the stomach.  McNally's next door neighbor, who is watching all this, comes over and asks if McNally if he needs any help, to which McNally says that he has the situation well in hand.  He grabs the driver by the shirt and drags him over to his car and throws him across the hood and tells him to leave before he has reall trouble.

The Build

I started the build with tire and wheel assembly.  These are the front and the rear wheels.  A little trimming of the ribs on the wheels and the cheater slicks fit perfectly.  The basic 5.0 engine has been assembled.

More to come...

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Thanks Keith!   Not really sure why I bought this kit, maybe out of curiosity as I wondered what was in the kit.  One night I started writing a story and I drew this kit into the storyline and Wrong Turn started to take shape.  I finished the story in a few weeks.     

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The Story

Later that morning, McNally is sitting on his front porch in an Adirondack chair that his father had built many years ago.  He is drinking from a bottle of water and cooling off when a Boston Police Ford Explorer stops at the curb in front of his house.  A tall cop gets out and walks over to the front porch and identifies himself as Officer Robert Gennile.  A complaint was lodged against McNally for assault by Arthur Jacobson of Chelsea, Ma.  McNally explains the story of how Artie had challenged him to a drag race and how he had avoided the race, Artie showing up at his house and assaulted him first and McNally defending himself and how his neighbor, Calvin O'Donnell saw the entire thing.  Officer Gennile goes over and talks to Calvin about what he saw and writes everything down in his notebook.

Officer Gennile will transfer everything into a report and it appears that Artie maybe arrested for filing a false Police report.  For now, McNally is in the clear and Officer Gennile will send his report over to the Detectives for further investigation.

The Build

The engine has been assembled and wired minus a few toucups and a couple of decals.  I found this shifter in the parts box and it looks better than the stock shifter that the instructions say to use.

McNally will return...

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Edited by mrmike
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The Story

A couple of nights later and it's very late and a man dressed all in black is trying to break into McNally's house through the back slider.  The lock gives way and the man enters the house and he shines his flashlight around the kitchen and he finds McNally's Louisville Slugger baseball bat leaning against the wall in the corner.  He takes the bat, searches the first floor and then he goes upstairs and he finds McNally's bedroom, raises the bat and swings at the bed with a whoopf!  He then feels something cold against his neck and a voice saying to drop the bat and to put his hands on top of his head.  He is handcuffed and told to sit on the floor as the lights in the bedroom are turned on and he sees McNally standing there with a Walther PPKs .380 in his hand and he is reaching for his telephone to call the cops.  McNally calls 9-1-1 and he identifies himself and reports an intruder he has captured in his house and is being held at gunpoint and the dispatcher tells him that a patrol unit is on it's way to his address. 

The patrol unit arrives and they take the man into custody who is identified as Authur Jacobson, the man who had challenged McNally to a drag race the other night.  A couple other patrol units and a couple of detectives arrive a short time later.   Artie is arrested and taken to jail as McNally finds a piece of 2X4 in the garage and he cuts the board to length to fit in the slider door track for the night.  He'll get a new lock for the slider in the morning. 

The Build

Well, I screwed up!  I installed the wrong intake and exhaust manifolds on the engine.  It's a good thing they came off easily.  The second picture shows the correct pieces for the engine.  I'll detail them and install them on the 5.0 engine.  I wanted a full exhaust system, but with some mods, so I removed the head pipes and cats and replaced them with the head pipes and crossover box from the shorter exhaust system.

McNally will return...

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Thanks Steve!  I'm still on the fence about the rear spoiler.  Yes, it gives the Mustang that racing vibe, but I really don't like it.  I've always liked a ducktail spoiler better, but I don't seem to have one.  I've used all the ducktail spoilers in my stash, so if I really want one, I have to make one from scratch.

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2 hours ago, mrmike said:

Thanks Steve!  I'm still on the fence about the rear spoiler.  Yes, it gives the Mustang that racing vibe, but I really don't like it.  I've always liked a ducktail spoiler better, but I don't seem to have one.  I've used all the ducktail spoilers in my stash, so if I really want one, I have to make one from scratch.

IMO,the rear wing and outlaw hood is what makes this model pop.If you really aren't going to use the wing,I'll buy it from you:PSeriously,because I have used the rear wing on other drag race cars that I've built.The wing fits on a lot of different cars.PM me if you really aren't going to use the wing,I can use it:D.

Thanks

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Ron, as I said earlier, I am on the fence in regards to the rear spoiler for the Mustang.  That decision will come later as I move forward with this build.  I will let you know my decision at that time.  Thanks!    

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11 hours ago, mrmike said:

Ron, as I said earlier, I am on the fence in regards to the rear spoiler for the Mustang.  That decision will come later as I move forward with this build.  I will let you know my decision at that time.  Thanks!    

No,that's cool.I would use it,get a nice parachute under it.Some wing stabilizers.If you weren't going to use the kits wing,maybe a oool spoiler.

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The Story

The following morning finds Calvin O'Donnell opening the backdoor of his house to let his Scottish Terrier Max out into the back yard when he hears McNally's Challenger SRT8 pull into the driveway.  McNally has returned from the hardware store with a new lock for his rear sliding door.  Cal lets his dog back into the house and goes over to McNally's to see what he is up to.  They greet each other and Cal inquires to what he is doing and he tells Cal about Artie breaking into the house and McNally capturing him.  He also tells Cal that it was a one-off incident and not to worry about a rash of break-ins happening.

Artie is arraigned and bailed out of jail by his live-in girlfriend, Jessie Freller.  He gets his Mustang out of the Police Impound lot and he spends the rest of the day tuning the car for a race tonight that could give him a big pay day if he wins.  But, in his mind he just can't let go of the incident on Sunday that McNally had allowed him to be caught by the cops for racing in Chelsea and he wants to get him back for what Artie considers a bad deal.

The Build

Been working on the interior.  I need to add the tach to the dash and paint the roll bar.  Chassis is geting there.  Still some assembly and touch ups and the exhaust system needs to be modified more to get a better fit.

McNally will return...

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Edited by mrmike
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The interior looks good.You can add felt stuck on carpet.And like you said,a nice big tach up in the dash.I really like the racing seats for this kit.They look real.Im gonna keep an eye on this build,if you don't mind.It looks good so far.

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The Story

Several nights later, McNally couldn't sleep and he got up around 12:30 AM, grabbed a bottle of water and went outside and sat in the Adrondack chairthat's on the front porch that his father built many years ago.  With all the lights off in the house, no one knows that he awake and he sits there drinking his water and enjoying the quiet.  He hears a  car coming down the street and he sees a blue Mustang idling past the house and rolling down the street.  He hears the car turn the corner and takes another right on the next street up from his and the Mustang runs up the hill.  The Mustang takes another two rights and then it stops near the top of Dardenvale St.

He quickly goes into the house and gets his SIG Sauer P227 from the gun safe, loads it and runs outside.  He looks up the street and doesn't see anyone and he runs to the back of the houses and he doesn't see anyone there either.  He walks back to the front of the houses and he hears his neighbor Calvin yelling, "Get out of here" and then a clang!  He races into Calvin's house yelling Calvin's name and Calvin calls from the kitchen.  In the kitchen is Calvin holding a large cast iron frying pan and a person lying unconcious on the floor.  McNally rolls the person over and it is Artie Johansen.

The Build

The chassis is nearly finished and I did a mockup to check my work.  I painted the roll cage and the engine compartment with Testors Icy Blue.

McNally will return...

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Edited by mrmike
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I couldn't come up with a spoiler that I liked and I guess I'll have to use the wing spoiler.

The Story

The Police and an Ambulance arrive after McNally had called 9-1-1.  Det. Massett and Rowe had separated McNally and Calvin to get their statements and then they compared notes to see if the stories from each man was matching.  While they were talking, paramedics from Boston EMS took Artie on a stretcher to Mass. General Hospital for treatment.  "You guys will have to come down to the Station in the morning to sign your statements after we type them up."  McNally and Calvin said yes and then the detectives left for the Station.  

The following morning, McNally and Calvin arrived at Boston Police Headquaters to see Det. Masett and Rowe so they could sign their statements.  They wait in the Detective's Squad Room for the detectives to bring them the statements and McNally decided to see if his old passwords would still work on the computer and they didn't work.  The detectives return to the Squad Room just as Lt. Det. Adam Troy walks by and he stops in when he saw McNally in there.  He is introduced to Calvin as McNally signed his statement and then Calvin signed his.

The Build

I got some Testors Icy Blue Lacquer paint on the Mustang.  The first thing I painted was the hood and then I placed it on top of the paint booth so I could paint the body.  After I painted to body, I reached up without looking and I knocked the hood off the top of the booth and onto the floor.  Now the hood is in a container with some Easy-Off Oven Cleaner.

More to come...

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Thank you Don!  I appreciate the kind words!  I am amazed at the number of people who enjoy my stories over the years, even if they are rather short.  My goal for writing the stories has always been to keep them clean especially if they are read by younger eyes and to keep them short enough so they don't over power the build. 

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