papajohn97 Posted October 18, 2022 Share Posted October 18, 2022 I started a "batch build" of five 1/25 car kits over the summer in an attempt to reduce my ever growing stash, four 60's super stock drag cars and one stock Ford. Two of the drag subjects I picked were Hayden Proffitt race cars, his championship 409 powered '62 Bel Air and a 426 Wedge powered '64 Plymouth. Little did I know that Mr. Proffitt would pass away on August 19th at the age of 94 at his home in Texas while I was at about the mid-way point of my builds...weird timing. He was a legend in So. Cal drag racing in the 60's, driving Pontiacs, Chevies, Plymouths, Mercurys, a wild early "topless" funny car with a Corvair body and an AMC funny car. Both of these kits are AMT/ Round 2 and I used Slixx decals for the Chevy and Yesteryear decals for the Plymouth. The Plymouth decals were intended for Hayden's automatic Hemi-powered sedan (SS/A) but I decided to use them on this hardtop stick shift Wedge Belvedere. I added Fireball resin carbs and Detail Master distributors along with scratch-built fuel lines to both carbs. The Detail Master aluminum velocity stacks I used on the Plymouth are not period correct but I suffered build fatigue after five simultaneous car builds and decided not to attempt to scratch- build more correct lower/ flatter factory Mopar velocity stacks. Both are quite imperfect but were fun to build and look good enough to me to park next to my other 60's SS builds. I never saw Hayden Proffitt race but have read that he was fierce competitor as well as a very nice gentleman to all that knew him. RIP Hayden. John 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TransAmMike Posted October 18, 2022 Share Posted October 18, 2022 Wow, two more great lookers. Your engine work is impressive👌 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 Nice work, @papajohn97; gotta ask about the exhaust on the Chevy. Did the real car run both headers and factory exhaust at the same time? How did you resolve the kit's stock pipes with the headers? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afx Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 Very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippi Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 Nice looking pair of Drag cars. Great engine detail work. Love that BB 409. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 Amazing amount of detail on both these two and the other Drag cars you have posted. Remember attending the Winter Nationals in Pomona from 1962 thru 1965 and the Super Stock and FX wars were the most interesting to watch for myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papajohn97 Posted October 19, 2022 Author Share Posted October 19, 2022 13 hours ago, Stef said: Nice work, @papajohn97; gotta ask about the exhaust on the Chevy. Did the real car run both headers and factory exhaust at the same time? How did you resolve the kit's stock pipes with the headers? Thanks! Thanks guys! Good question Stef! The ‘62 NHRA rules for all stock classes including SS and FX for exhausts requirements were: AMT’s instructions show using either the stock exhausts OR the racing headers + extensions but I decided to install both to comply with the period rules. I probably should have shown a bypass junction between the header extensions and the stock exhausts between the mufflers and the engine but just got lazy (building five at a time can do that to you!). I just installed the front end of each stock exhaust up between the engine and engine bay with no connection to the headers. I have yet to see an undercarriage photo of this or any of the ‘62 409 SS drag cars showing the exact exhaust configuration, maybe someone here has a pic they can post to help clarify what they actually did. May have just been two short bypasses off the exhaust pipes near the trans? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef Posted October 20, 2022 Share Posted October 20, 2022 12 hours ago, papajohn97 said: Thanks guys! Good question Stef! The ‘62 NHRA rules for all stock classes including SS and FX for exhausts requirements were: AMT’s instructions show using either the stock exhausts OR the racing headers + extensions but I decided to install both to comply with the period rules. I probably should have shown a bypass junction between the header extensions and the stock exhausts between the mufflers and the engine but just got lazy (building five at a time can do that to you!). I just installed the front end of each stock exhaust up between the engine and engine bay with no connection to the headers. I have yet to see an undercarriage photo of this or any of the ‘62 409 SS drag cars showing the exact exhaust configuration, maybe someone here has a pic they can post to help clarify what they actually did. May have just been two short bypasses off the exhaust pipes near the trans? Thanks for the clarification, @papajohn97! In the 90s, I built both the stock and Strickler cars, and yes, pretty sure the exhaust options for each version were an either/or, IIRC. Your attention to detail is authentic and well thought out. A bit off-topic, but still related to the NHRA rules, I vaguely remember now a similar exhaust situation back in 91 with the release of Revellogram's then-new 64 Thunderbolt. It was a drag-only kit, and I thought it was weird and dumb to tack a spindly single exhaust onto the headers, so I left it off. If/when I ever build these kits again, I'll be sure to follow the NHRA rules, heh. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catpack68 Posted October 22, 2022 Share Posted October 22, 2022 Very nice work and detailing on both models👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted October 22, 2022 Share Posted October 22, 2022 Looking great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hmann68 Posted October 22, 2022 Share Posted October 22, 2022 Great looking cars, nice work! 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PappyD340 Posted October 23, 2022 Share Posted October 23, 2022 Great looking pair! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altered Ego Posted October 23, 2022 Share Posted October 23, 2022 These are incredible and well done. I can't wait to see the rest of your "binge build". I will also be looking on here to see what else you have built. This was a great time in drag racing history and you have nailed two very fast and famous race cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papajohn97 Posted October 23, 2022 Author Share Posted October 23, 2022 11 minutes ago, Altered Ego said: These are incredible and well done. I can't wait to see the rest of your "binge build". I will also be looking on here to see what else you have built. This was a great time in drag racing history and you have nailed two very fast and famous race cars. Thanks Jeff. Four of the five are posted here. The fifth build I did in my “binge build” was a sloppy version of Dick Brannan’s “Lively One” ‘63 Ford 427 using the recent AMT Round 2 re-issue with the one-piece chassis and pin-in-sockets replacing the four old self-tapping screws. Among other issues, the front end slight jacked-up stance came out all wrong so I parked this one on my shelf-of-shame…. John Witzke did an A+++ build of this same historic stocker which he posted here and which I’ll just say I was hoping to do at best a B grade version with the kit chassis but ended up with a D minus. If anyone wants to model this car, I recommend copying John’s build using a ‘60 Starliner doner chassis along with the correct resin interior and the excellent Slixx decal set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altered Ego Posted October 23, 2022 Share Posted October 23, 2022 I think it's great. I did this one as the Osburn Trucking Galaxie. What makes your shelf of shame makes my prize possession shelf. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevy II Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 Great looking super stockers. Are the front wheels on the 62 model kit poseable or is that some of your detail work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew McD Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 Love this period of drag racing when the SS and FX "wars" were going full tilt. You've done a marvelous job of recreating the cars from this period. The engine work is extraordinary! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrobarry Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 First off, GREAT builds of both cars! You totally captured the look of those early S/S cars! My only other comment is (and in no way a criticism) the lettering on the "engine by", "Cone", "tuned by", and "S&S" lettering should be yellow. Again, no fault of yours at all. Slixx are you listening? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brutalform Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 Two more quality builds of Super Stocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragline Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 These are two very nicely detailed builds with excellent craftsmanship. HP would be proud without doubt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papajohn97 Posted October 26, 2022 Author Share Posted October 26, 2022 (edited) On 10/23/2022 at 9:22 PM, Chevy II said: Great looking super stockers. Are the front wheels on the 62 model kit poseable or is that some of your detail work? Thanks guys, John - the AMT ‘62 Bel Air kit comes with poseable front wheels. I wish AMT included extended arms with pins on the spindles and a tie rod like Revell does, one of these days I need to add one to this and a dozen other AMT builds I have with pigeon-toed front wheels…. Edited October 26, 2022 by papajohn97 Content correction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Rivard Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 Beautiful builds John. My knowledge on the topic of drag racing on a scale of 1 to 10 is ...aahh ZERO but these are a delight to see. Your paint, trim and detailing are all so beautiful. I am most impressed by the scratch build fuel lines, they add so much realism. Thank you for sharing these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemifever Posted October 28, 2022 Share Posted October 28, 2022 Two really sharp looking builds, great job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocking Rodney Rat Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 Wow, clean builds! Factory racing at it's best. Bravo on your BMF work, you have more patience than I !!! -RRR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6bblbird Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 Superb! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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