NEW REVELL '29/ OLD AMT '29 mashup, Nov.8, buggy spring mods

[sjordan2]

I really like the Brooklands windscreens in the illustration. Not as common as a DuVall.

Edited September 8, 2015 by sjordan2

[Ace-Garageguy]

So...I spent last evening swapping nailhead parts around. Interestingly, the OLD Revell parts-pack heads are exactly the same length as the NEW Revell heads in the '29. The old heads will swap on to the new block quite nicely. The oil pans and front covers can go back and forth easily too, and the NEW nailhead water pump / timing cover / water crossover actually will fit on the new block with the old heads. Fits perfectly, actually.

I STILL prefer the correct exhaust-port spacing of the OLD Revell engine, but the NEW headers look really good. All it takes to get the new headers corrected is to take a small section out just behind the second primary pipe, and drill /pin the ends together. Let it setup completely, and then dress the header flanges off flat (very gently) gently on a flat file or sandpaper glued to the bench. After stripping the chrome, just a very small amount of bodywork on the pipes will have them looking right.

The NEW Revell '32 chassis that comes in the '29 kit puts the nailhead exactly in the right position, height and relative to the firewall, for the look I'm after.

 

 

 

[wallyk 50]

Watching this one, the mockup was awesome!

[tim boyd]

Guys....do we have some traditional hot rod design/build talent on this forum OR WHAT!   

Bill....lovin' it so far.  Your approach to fixing the headers is pretty much what I had in mind, but I like the location of your cut better than what I was thinking.  

I've been doing some Nailhead parts swapping of my own as well over the weekend...found that the AMT/Ertl '66 Riv valve covers and heads are too LONG vs. the Revell '29A engine block so swapping those heads is a dead duck.  Looks like the Revell Parts Pack heads (which I also presume are identical to the Tony Nancy Dragsters double kit Nailhead cylinder heads) are the way to go, as you suggest...

Looking forward to your next post.  TIM 

 

[dragzz]

looking good so far

[Sledsel]

Thanks for your comments, Dennis.

You're right about the new Revell frame saving a lot of work. I've started mocking her up, and all I really need to do is pinch the rails just a tad more to fit better under the old AMT '29 shell.

This is a shot of Eric Black's original illustration that inspired the build. I'll probably iron the pages and get a better shot of this later too.

 

 

According to this, the ports look fine to me.

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

According to this, the ports look fine to me.

 

Please...lets not start this again.

I posted the interpreted and scaled CORRECT measurements taken from a REAL engine on the kit review thread. They do NOT agree with the NEW Revell kit port-spacing measurements, but they DO agree with the OLD Revell parts-pack port-spacing measurements. I ALSO noted in THIS thread that the drawing above appears to be incorrect to me..

On the drawing above, NOT A SCALE DRAWING, the center ports / pipes appear to me a little too far apart. I have NOT scaled the port-centers on this drawing, as there is no need to use a non-scaled drawing as a reference when the real 1:1 dimensions are available.

This horse has been beaten enough. Let's let it lie. The numbers and multiple references attesting to the port-spacing on ALL BUICK NAILHEADS are there for anyone who cares to review.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[Sledsel]

Bill, I was just saying.

I am not real familiar with the nailhead. I know the port spacing is unique and would notice if they were incorrect like even spaced or like a SBC..... as for them being off... I never noticed.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Bill I see you used the chrome heads from the parts pack. Is there a reason why you didn't use the ivo buick heada?

[horsepower]

In reference to the hood change your thinking of, the only thing I would change would be to change the lower moulding section by taking a small pie cut into it, raising the front end slightly and leaving the cowling end as is. 

I think this would change the silhouette to what you're looking for.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Bill I see you used the chrome heads from the parts pack. Is there a reason why you didn't use the ivo buick heada?

The Revell Ivo Buick heads appear to be identical to the old chrome parts-pack Revell heads, and I've bought several of the Ivo kits over the years just to get the engines, slicks, etc.

Only reason I used the chrome heads is 'cause I had a built-up somewhat glooey-mess engine on the bench for salvage.

The chrome block was past saving, but the heads are going to be fine.

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Got some work done over the past couple days. Some steps forward, some back, cumulatively a little progress.

Cleaned up the old AMT body shell, sanded out a lot of the glooey spots, began priming in SEM self-etching green. Took the details off of an AMT firewall, split a gluebomb Revell '32 hood at the rear, narrowed it to fit the '29 cowl, and extended the sides downward a tick. Also reinforced the center where I'd cut and spliced it. The middle of the rear was filled with styrene to give me a straight line across the cowl joint, and the front edge was dressed straight too. I liberated the rear inner fenders from the Revell '29 side panels to use on the AMT shell here, and began scribing the joint on the cowl sides between the fuel tank and the body panels.

I decided I didn't really like how the Revell chassis fitted the AMT body (it's a little to wide to look right-on with the AMT '29 body) so I narrowed the rear a tick, and pinched the front frame rails rather a lot, by removing the crossmembers and bringing the rails in until they just graze the sides of a '32 radiator shell. The narrower front frame rails give the car a lighter, more graceful look. Then I chopped an AMT rad shell a couple of scale inches, and cut down the insert to fit it. The crossmember that carries the front suspension will be narrowed to fit back in, and raised between the rails to lower the nose more too.

I did some more shaping and fitting of the new hood, and I'm beginning to see the proportions I was after from the start.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 7, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[exesivefire]

I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and exicution through out your builds. I learn so much every time. 

[Roadrunner]

I'm curious what you stripped it with. I have two that need stripping right now.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I'm curious what you stripped it with. I have two that need stripping right now.

Sprayed a heavy coat of this, put it in a Ziploc storage bag, and two days later washed most of the old goop off with hot water, toothbrush and Comet. Be SURE to wear rubber gloves when using the oven cleaner, and safety glasses too.

NOTE: The Easy Off works very well on enamels, not so good on lacquers, and won't touch many real automotive 2-part urethane clears.

[wayne swayze]

Love how you achieve such pleasing lines to your roadster builds Bill. Sure would like to see a couple "under glass" !

[Roadrunner]

Thanks for the tip, Ace. Too bad I'm talking lacquers I need to get rid of though. I'll have to try some of that purple stuff everyone is sold on I guess.

[slusher]

Real nice work Bill.  Keep it going..

[Mr. Metallic]

 

 

I've been in love with the stance on this ever since I first saw it on TRaK. I know it's a little more raked than your inspiration picture, but I hope you keep it this way

 

[TimKustom]

Nice work on getting the hood to fit nice. Still shaping one for the one I'm working on.

[horsepower]

Thanks for the tip, Ace. Too bad I'm talking lacquers I need to get rid of though. I'll have to try some of that purple stuff everyone is sold on I guess.

I haven't had very good luck using the purple stuff stripping lacquer paints, but denatured alcohol, or brake fluid have worked to an extent, I've picked up some 91% isopropyl alcohol because I've been told it works well, but haven't tried it myself yet.

 

[Roadrunner]

Thank goodness the bodies I trashed weren't from expensive kits. I suspect it's just cheaper (and certainly easier in the long run) to just get new kits.

[Ace-Garageguy]

... I suspect it's just cheaper (and certainly easier in the long run) to just get new kits.

Yeah, but I really enjoy turning somebody's thrown-out, bodged or given-up-on disaster into a nice model.

So far I haven't had to strip one of my own...but I'm sure it's just a matter of time. 

Edited October 8, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[Ace-Garageguy]

I spend a fair amount of time obsessing over stance, and this build will be no exception. The front axle I'll be using is the old dropped unit from the "fiddly" 1/25 Revell model-A kits of 50 years back. It comes with pose-able steering, but the brakes are mechanical A. A car like this with a big OHV V8 would certainly have been converted to the newer Ford hydraulics, and drilling the axle ends to .030" allows the '40 Ford juice-brake backing plates from the 1/24 Revellogram model-A woody, which have molded-in spindles, to be installed on wire kingpins.

It's important to get the stance and wheelbase established exactly before committing to gluing the front crossmember I removed earlier, back in. The height and fore-aft placement have to be dead-on to keep the 'look' I want. The crossmember gets narrowed considerably to fit the pinched rails too. The underside of the crossmember has to be in line with the tops of the frame rails, to allow the front spring to go high enough in the chassis to get the nose down where I want it. One thing I like a lot about this new chassis is the rear-axle locating tabs. Though I'll cut them off in the end, they allow fairly easy adjustment during mockup of the rear ride-height, and also allow the rear crossmember and suspension to be built in-place so everything stays the same. Measure a lot of times, fit carefully, glue once.

I moved the rad shell and hood forward about a scale 1", so the rear of the hood will have to be extended to fill the gap. The wheelbase is now also about 111", or 5 scale inches longer than the '32 106" measurement. This creates some crowding of the bottom of the grille shell (which has to get notched) by the front axle and spring, but it's worth the hassle to me...for the longer look. You can see from this shot, again, how the narrowed Revell chassis (this is the '32 chassis from the new Revell '29 kit) sits under the 'AMT '29 body nicer, with not so much of the rails sticking out from the sides.

I'm quite happy with the stance at this point, though the nose MAY come down another scale 1/2 inch. She's not quite as aggressively nose-down as the first mockup, but this is about as far as I can go with the axle I have without putting a kink in the frame rails. A sharp eye will note that the brake backing plates are not centered vertically in the wheels, but I'm aware of this, and compensating measurements to locate the crossmember exactly from what's here have already been made. This shot also shows the effect of lengthening the wheelbase...longer, leaner, more graceful.

A front-3/4 shot from a scale-human perspective to check the lines again...

Yup...I like it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 13, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[exesivefire]

Nailed it