The change of pace '29

[mrm]

Hello everyone. 

I have been swamped with work, kids, wife, life events and the kitchen sink as they say.....😄

But some recent events are getting me back to the bench. Two of those events are the Good Guys Nashville Nationals and the upcoming model show in Memphis the coming weekend. 

Long story short, at the Good Guys event I realized that the extreme nostalgia fad was just that- a fad. I could not keep track of the LS and Coyote motors in pretty much 90% of the cars in attendance and there was definitely no lack of independent suspensions and billet wheels in "The Winner's circle". This motivated me to do something I've been thinking about for some time, which I have to admit I've seen only once in real life - a fully indeendent suspension on a model A highboy. Some may say BLASPHEMY!, but I'm going with it and from what I have seen at recent car shows and events, it is 100% in line with today's trends. 

So I started the project this last Saturday. The idea is to attempt to finish it for the Memphis show next Saturday. That will be tough, but not impossible. 

 

The center piece of this model around which the whole idea took shape is an independent rear end, which I purchased from Shapeways (I don't remember the vendor, but it shouldn't be hard to find it). It is very nicely done, but I had three major issues with it. First, it is all one fine brittle piece, which will make finishing it a small nightmare. Second, the really nice and super detailed brakes have the calipers at 12 o'clock, which makes no sense to me, but I'm leaving them alone. Last, but definitely not least, is the fact that it is way too wide for a '20s/'30s Street Rod. 

I started by narrowing the rear end by cutting the the A arms and the half shafts. this was way easier said than done and created a major structural strength issue. So I had to very very carefully drill the hubs and drill even smaller holes in the inner y-joints. This fine clear plastic is super brittle and not very friendly to say the least. So I managed to guide an aluminum tubing through the hubs, which had a piece of pin in it, which in turn fits in the hole in the Ys. Everything is held by superglue and so far is taking handling and mocking up like a champ. It took the whole Sunday afternoon, but well worth it. This on the picture is the narrowed setup after I was done with it. 

 

The frame to which this setup is being adapted is most of the AMT Phantom Vicky frame with its IFS. The rear section of the frame was cut off and replaced with the narrow rear section from the '32 frame in the Revell's '29 roadster. The "29's section in turn had its cross bar removed and a new one was made from styrene square stock. 

 

I still have to make the mounting bosses for the shocks, but you get the idea

 

I think it will make for one fine looking behind when done. Yes, it will be all "chrome" and no, it will not ride on steelies and white walls 😜

The body is going to be unmodified, save for the filled in holes and shaved hinges. It will have a full three piece hood too and keep the '29 grille. 

 

That's it for now. 

In case you are wondering, it will have the motor from the Dan Fink Speed Wagon. First, I wanted to keep it all Ford. Second, I wanted a modern motor that would fit within the hoods and last, but not least, I need something simple, which can help me with my time goals. 

Thanks for looking and stay tuned.....

Edited June 14, 2022 by mrm

[mrm]

Last night, after I started the topic, I managed to lay the first coats of primer. Also I dechromed and glued the windshield frame (which will get chopped) and I drilled the rear shocks and the cross member, so now they get attached by pins. Ride height is dead on too since even if I don't use these wheels, the tires are the correct ones. Now off to sand everything with much finer grit and reprime and hopefully by tonight I will have some color on it. But first I have a court date to go to. 😬

Hope you like it so far. Engine is still in the air.....

[Plowboy]

It's looking good! One suggestion; if you're taking it to a show, I would fill in the sink marks on the inside of the frame rails.  

[ea0863]

Looking great. Looking forward to seeing the finished product!

[mrm]

3 hours ago, Plowboy said:

It's looking good! One suggestion; if you're taking it to a show, I would fill in the sink marks on the inside of the frame rails.  

Thank you. Everything is being addressed, but some of it will be left alone. I simply don't have the time and the model is somewhat of a challenge to see how much can be achieved within a week. I think that between the colors used, the parts in the way and everything else, little if any of the issues not addressed would be noticeable. I love the frame in the Phantom Vicky, but I have never seen one that did not require half a tube of putty. 😛

Edited June 15, 2022 by mrm

[mrm]

So, yesterday was quite eventful. I started on an engine...well, two simultaniously as I still have not made up my mind between them.

I sprayed the rear end Tamiya black and followed by Alclad. I could not achieve the desired chrome effect simply because in order to get paint everywhere the is no way not to spray too much on some of the parts. And everyone knows that ones you oversaturate Alclad it looses its reflectiveness. The rear end still has some really cool metal look to it tho. (pictures later)

This brings us to the interior. Here I decided to try something new. I mean a whole new method of paint separation and assembly.

I first cut out the inserts from the interior panels

 

and made templates of the open spaces with Tamiya masking tape

 

Then I cut out new inserts from sheet styrene

 

The floor got all its holes closed up, as they don't correspond to anything anymore 

 

Next the panel frame that divides the trunk from the coupe from the '30 model A was modified by gluing sheet styrene as a backing and square rod on top which was sanded to match the curve of the body behind the seats. 

 

Now, one may wonder why would I do all this and how is it new in any way. 

Well, it allows me to glue pretty much the entire interior and the floor to the body before I paint them. This way I can fill and sand any seams, assemble everything without worry about finger prints or glue smudges and paint it all together eliminating the need for masking a two tone interior. 

 

Stay tuned....

[mrm]

The big news? We've got color!!!

Soldiering on with the interior.....

Not hundred percent sure yet, but there is a very good chance the Model A coupe's seats may be receiving some cushions and finding their place in the interior. It's between them and the ones found in the Rat Roaster. These received the Alclad treatment.

 

The rear end also got Alclad, but not quite to the desired results. Still, it looks a lot better in person than on the pictures. It still needs some detail painting to make things pop a little.

 

The interior panels received a strip of of styrene on top and some of the mesh that is usually included in Tamiya kits. The idea is to create different textures. 

 

Then they were sprayed with SEM automotive interior paint, straight from the can. I likes it....

 

And the most important part! The body. It received some Tamiya grey primer and then Rustoleum color. Honestly, I loved the color and I will make it work, but I absolutely hate working with Rustoleum paint. 

Tomorrow after work I am clearing the parts and concentrating on the engine bay. 

 

The car is going to have a full three-piece hood, but it would be a miracle if I manage to make it in the remaining two days. 

Thanks for looking....

[rrb124@sbcglobal.net]

Have never seen these type of creative modifications of interior and suspension components. Really good. I used to read about  the top hot rod show called the Oakland Roadster Show. I think that your model is going to look like one of the 1:1 winning entries. 

Thanks for this and good luck!

Edited June 16, 2022 by rrb124@sbcglobal.net

[bobthehobbyguy]

Coming together nicely.

[mrm]

On 6/16/2022 at 5:14 AM, rrb124@sbcglobal.net said:

Have never seen these type of creative modifications of interior and suspension components. Really good. I used to read about  the top hot rod show called the Oakland Roadster Show. I think that your model is going to look like one of the 1:1 winning entries. 

Thanks for this and good luck!

 

On 6/17/2022 at 8:42 AM, bobthehobbyguy said:

Coming together nicely.

Thank you guys.

[mrm]

Oh boy......

this marathon is over. Well sort of...

I did complete the model for the Memphis show, which by the way as really good. I did take pictures of the progress only to a point because I was running out of time. I end up running an all nighter on Friday and managed to finish the model at about 6:30am on Saturday. At that point my family just woke up and we hust loaded my models and drove straight to Memphis. Altho the model was complete, it is still missing some details I would like to add to it and it was not polished, which would be a challenge now, since it is already assembled. 

Anyway, here is what was done on Thursday and Friday:

Thursday was "engine day". The motor I end up going with started as the SBF from the Revell '32 5-Window with a Webber carbureted intake from RMCoM, which I had for ages, waiting to be used. The engine/transmission was painted light gunmetal sprayed from the Tamiya can to save time. It was sealed with 2K clear together with the body. What I like about 2K clear is that 3 hour later it can be handled. So if you clear coat before going to bed, you can work on whatever you cleared when you wake up in the morning or when you come home from work in my case. 

 

Intake and carbs received a coat of bare metal silver. A linkage mounting was made in the middle of the valley and some Model Master photo etch and wire were used for the linkage. 

 

Norm did amazing job casting the trumpets for the carbs, but I found in my aftermarket bins some short aluminum stacks, which I have no idea who makes or how long I've had them. After painting their insides with titanium metalizer I dropped some tubing pieces in their centers. Detail Master machined aluminum pressure fittings and ProTech braided wire make up the plumbing of the carbs.

 

The Parts by Parks prewired distributor received Model Car Garage wire looms and after cutting some spark plug wire boots, everything was put in place. The belt assembly that comes with the Revell engine includes air conditioning compressor, which on a roadster like this is useless, so I modified the part to just have an alternator and detailed it with some MCG pieces. The alternator received a mounting bracket from Detail Master. The 5-window kit's headers were stripped of chrome, sanded and painted with Alclad. The idea was to paint n them the heat discoloration, but I simply didn't have the time. So, looking back, stripping them and painting them with Alclad was just a waste of time and material. Either way, On Thursday I had a ready engine. 

Edited June 19, 2022 by mrm

[espo]

The engine is a stand-alone model by itself. Great looking detailing. 

[mrm]

On Thursday, together with the engine, I also had the body and the frame already cleared and dried from the night before. So on Friday, the front suspension was added and the whole chassis got into mock up stage. At this stage I had decided on using the Phantom Vicky's wheels and tires. 

 

This showed me that the front end was not sitting as low as I would have liked and there was not quite enough rake as I wanted. I needed just a touch more of both, but I had the rear end already glued in place and the front spindles were already dropped quite a bit. So the only way to cheat the height was to change the wheel/tire package. So I got a set of Pegasus wheels from my bottomless wheel/tire pit. I narrowed the front and mounted on them the tires from a Honda Civic tuner kit. The chromed disc brakes from the Aluma Coupe fit on them like they were made for the application. The rears were narrowed even more, to the point there was no barrel behind the center of the wheel and were fitted inside some Pegasus aluminum sleeves (which are becoming impossible to find). The mounting hubs from AMT's Wagon Rod were glued to the centers and their openings narrowed with aluminum rod to perfectly accept the aluminum rod axle of the rear end. The lower profile front tires and the slightly stretched rear tires over the aluminum sleeves gave me just the stance I was after. 

 

The body colored radiator shroud was painted body color and cleared on Thursday night, together with the top hood I managed to make. It was mounted and drilled to accept ProTech braided wire and detail Master pressure fittings. 

 

Next the engine was fitted in the chassis and everything was glued in place. Now I had a roller. This was right around 9pm on Friday.

 

Next I started tackling the exhaust, which I had zero preexisting plans for. I went with my usual choice of solder, which I drilled on each end to fit brass mounting pins. 

 

And this is where I started panicking that I am not going to finish the model and stopped taking pictures. 

This was a challenge of how much of a model I can build in about 5 days and I was pushing that limit pretty hard at that point. Let's not forget I also worked full 9hr ays during the week. 

I will take some more photos and keep this thread alive for few more things I would like to add to the model, which is now affectionately called "The Memphis car" by my family. 

Stay tuned and thanks for looking.

[mrm]

12 minutes ago, espo said:

The engine is a stand-alone model by itself. Great looking detailing. 

Thank you David. 

I have to admit I feel like I got a little lucky with this model. I just happened to have things that just end up working together perfectly. Where some models in the past have fought me tooth and nail all the way through the build, here everything just seemed to be falling into place. 

[Spex84]

This is looking gorgeous so far! The engine is a work of art, and wheel/tire package and stance look good. The IRS is a must-have for this style of build, so the 3D printed parts are cool to see.

And you're building it over 5 days???? What!  It would take me 2 years to get this sort of work done, haha.

[Jantrix]

That looks terrific. I dig it.

[oldrevellfan]

awesome !

[mrm]

On 6/19/2022 at 3:28 PM, Spex84 said:

This is looking gorgeous so far! The engine is a work of art, and wheel/tire package and stance look good. The IRS is a must-have for this style of build, so the 3D printed parts are cool to see.

And you're building it over 5 days???? What!  It would take me 2 years to get this sort of work done, haha.

 

On 6/19/2022 at 6:29 PM, Jantrix said:

That looks terrific. I dig it.

 

4 hours ago, oldrevellfan said:

awesome !

Thank y'all. 

This is a picture from the Memphis show, courtesy of Dave Branson. This is how the model looked after almost a week from the start. 

It still needs some more details, like rear view mirrors, a decal or two, seatbelts etc.. 

I will take some more photos explaining what was done and adding some things, before I polish it up and shoot it up for the "Under Glass" section. 

[Maindrian Pace]

One week? Oofta. It looks like a six month build, easy. Great colors, stance, wheels, styling, just everything. This isn't just a quick build, it's a quick build with firm plans and a solid vision of what the car should look like finished. And I'm sure it did well.

[Raoul Ross]

Those intake stacks are amazing, and the wire looms. A lot of patience going on here, many kudos to you!

[mrm]

8 hours ago, Raoul Ross said:

Those intake stacks are amazing, and the wire looms. A lot of patience going on here, many kudos to you!

Thank you Raoul

 

10 hours ago, Maindrian Pace said:

One week? Oofta. It looks like a six month build, easy. Great colors, stance, wheels, styling, just everything. This isn't just a quick build, it's a quick build with firm plans and a solid vision of what the car should look like finished. And I'm sure it did well.

Thank you.

See, here’s the funny thing. You are incorrect about all but one thing. I did have a vision of what the car should look like. The rest of it, well….. it just sorta happened. 
  There was no plan, no preselected parts and the model did not place at all at the contest in Memphis, which is a completely different story. 
   So here is a glimpse of how things went:

I was at Walmart and decided to check out the paint section to kill some time. And I saw this Rustoleum color “Dark Turquoise” (I think) that was marked “New”. And I thought that it would look great on a hot rod and bought it without any idea what would I use it on. 
  Then I was sitting “on the throne”, going through an old issue of “Contest Model Cars” annual and saw a picture of a 29 in baby blue, sitting on the Phantom Vicky chassis with Wagonrod wheels, taken from the rear three quarter view. And I thought “darn, this looks cool, but it’s missing an independent quickchange rear.” 
   Way back in the day, Street Rodder magazine had a very nice and modern greanish looking 29 on their cover, which became a well known and popular roadster, which I have said repeatedly that I would like to model one day. 
  Now combine all that with the realization that I had all the parts necessary to build a model like that, including the recently purchased 3d printed rear and add the perfect timing of all of it happening on the Friday a week prior to the Memphis show and a challenge was born. Could I do it in the one week ‘till the show?!

So on Saturday I started mocking parts together like the Vicky frame, the Revell body and the Wagonrod wheels. While I was looking for these pieces I ran across the yellow three piece hood molded as one from the AMT ‘29. And it fit perfectly to the body. 
    The idea was to put a Corvette LT4 motor in it from 94 Vette kit I had. The reason why this did not happen was that the transmission that came on it did not fit the Vicky’s frame and due to the time frame challenge, I did not have time to dig for manual that I could cut and deal with. I needed an engine/trans that would fit the frame and fit within the closed three piece hoods. The immediate choice was the Mustang fuel injected setup from the Revell  5window/Speedwagon kits. It was perfect as it could be colormatched to the body and it required a lot less detailing.  So I actually assembled one and painted the block after predrilling spark plug holes. But it looked really dated to me. So I looked for an alternative and I saw I had the same block/trans with the RMCoM intake already glued. So that’s what I ran with. 
    For the interior I wanted the bomber seats from the ‘30 model A. But decided the polished metal look would not go with the rest of the car. So I painted the seats from the Tat Roaster and I was going to use them. However, I needed to find all the front suspension parts from the Vicky. And a lot of my kit boxes do not correspond to the parts inside them. Which is a pain, since every time I am looking for something I just start opening boxes. So I opened a Monogram Corvette Grand Sport box (actual Accurate Miniatures kit) and the first thing I saw were the plain square seats. And I was like “these would match my model better than the Rat Roaster ones”. So while cutting them out on my garage floor, I also the tail lights from the same kit. 
   The original idea was to use Wagonrod wheels. But both my kids and my wife said they look too much “truck like”, so the Vicky ones were the choice to the end, when desired stance just necessitated the wheel/tire combo on the model now. 
   So, no! This model had no solid plans or clear vision. In a way I just got lucky with everything just miraculously coming perfectly together.
 

[mrm]

Here are the three elements that I ran into almost at the same time, which inspired the build.

I thought it would be right to give credit to the builder of the model that gave me the idea. It was in the 2007 Contest Annual

When I first saw a 29 like that was back in 1999 August issue of Street Rodder. That car, which I just recently found out Foose was involved with, stuck in my mind through the years.

And here is the "catalyst" that actually triggered the build up. Funny how that works.....

Edited June 22, 2022 by mrm

[Dennis Lacy]

As I was reading your story just above and before scrolling down I knew you were talking about the California Spyder. I remember following along every installment of that build (whole series start to finish) and used to see it around at Southern California hot rod shows.

Your roadster turned out killer, can’t wait to see the finished picture thread after you add those last details.

Good call on NOT using the Wagon Rod wheels. I worked at a Pepboys back in the late 90’s as a senior in high school and that very design was on the wheel wall near the tire section. They were one of many cheapo American Racing (Prime, Elite, etc…) wheels that people would settle for because they couldn’t afford good stuff like Budnik, Centerline or Weld. 🤣

[Spex84]

Ditto on the Wagon Rod wheels. Can't fault builders for using them when they were the best option around, but their styling is somewhat fat and heavy looking for a '29.

Your alternative solution with the Pegasus wheels nails that spry and glamorous Ridler/AMBR look.