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Front Engine Dragster: The Old Master


ApexSpeed

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Hi guys,

I wasn't going to post the progress of this project, because I am building this for a local contest this July, but I figure I need the motivation to keep with it as it progresses. I tend to not get 100% finished with things, so it will help to have an audience. I hope.

Anyway, this Ed Pink front engine dragster will be easily the most advanced and optimistic build I have attempted, only having really done OOB kit builds with wiring and good paint details. I'm tremendously excited about this car for a lot of reasons, but mainly because this car has been restored by Pete Eastwood for Cacklefest and there is a ton of documentation and photo detail of this car. It was even the focus of a 1964 Hot Rod Magazine 2-issue build article following Don Long building the actual car (which I actually found the original issues). It was built in 1964 and competed in the 1965 NHRA Top Fuel class winning in it's first time on the track at the Winternationals in 1965. It has a spectacular pedigree and a wonderful amount of reference material to use in the build.

So, here we go...

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Edited by ApexSpeed
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So the car I am building is a 150 inch wheelbase Don Long chassis, powered by a supercharged 392 Hemi. Most of the kits that I have found are 426 Hemi powered, so that will be a hurdle to overcome. I could use the Ross Gibson 392 Top Fuel motor the center of this build, but based on my research, the real differences are the placement of the magneto and some very minor dimension that would be invisible at 1/25th scale. I'm going to relocate the mag on the kit engine to the proper location, track down the correct injector, blower and valve covers and call it a day.

As for the chassis, my project begins with the AMT Ramchargers FE kit. Once out of the box and starting to work through some of the major pieces, I found that there were a lot of differences that would require much fabrication and creativity. The chassis length is very close to scale 150" wheelbase, so I was sure it was the right place to start.

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The details of the chassis design are very close to the original Don Long chassis, and I was adamant that it was the right direction.

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Well, I was wrong. As nice as the Ramchargers car is, and as close as the wheelbase might be, there were too many things that would need to be changed (front end, bodywork, rear end, etc.). Last weekend, I found the Young American kit at the only hobby shop in the area (whoo hoo!). It's a considerably longer chassis at about 180" scale wheelbase, but the details are very much similar to the Ed Pink/Don Long car.

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So the obvious choice is to shorten the 180" wheelbase car to 150" in scale which is exactly 6" long. After taking a bunch of deep breaths I started measuring and cutting, using my cutting mat as a guide and template. The need to be able to make sure it all fits in the chassis and looks good, too, I decided to make the chassis a touch longer than 6". It would work out to about a 155" wheelbase in 1:1.

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After getting things sliced up, I realized that the front sections from the frame were not going to go back to the back half very smoothly. The logical and easy solution was to build the front half from scratch and .060" styrene rod.

What have I gotten myself into?

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I devised a caveman method of as chassis jig, using 2" 3M painter's tape sticky side up with 1/2" tape positioning it on my cutting mat. It allowed me to hold the back have square while I was laying out the front half for the assembly. I cut off the original front end to use on the new styrene scratch pieces.

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So the last couple of nights have been trying to figure out how to scratch-build the one-off fuel tank. Basically I did everything by eye and proportion. I do know that the bottom of the real tank is round with a chin towards the rear of the car for high-pressure fuel pickup, but at this point, that type of shape is beyond my skillset, so I will simplify to a sloped rectangular shape for my own sanity.

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I found the filler style gas caps at Ted's Modeling Marketplace, and made the front fitting from hex styrene and .020" wire straightened and looped. It's a little oversized visually, but I'm happy with the look. I still need to make the front mounts today, then that should be ready for fuel fittings to be plumbed to the engine. I'm still a ways away from plumbing, so I'm hoping my skills improve enough as I get closer to those needs. :)

Anyone have a good rule of thumb for deciding the proper size fittings and hoses to use?

Edited by ApexSpeed
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The blower and scoop setup were very different than what I had in the kits here, so those were something I have been trying to line up for a few days. As it turns out, I had them under my nose the whole time. I yanked the blower and Hilborn 4-butterfly injector out of the Revel Parts Pack 429 Ford engine kit that I had sitting literally right next to me on the shelf. They will be perfect after making some adjustments to the base to get the same rake that the original induction system had. Still not sure exactly how I'm going to do this, but that's part of the fun. Original 392 Chrysler FirePower valve covers will be ordered later today, so that should take care of the big pieces of the engine. Blower pulleys and belt, and fuel punp are next on my hunt.

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Here's where she sits this morning in a very raw mock-up stage. It's exciting how far it has come in a week, considering how slow I traditionally build stuff.

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Edited by ApexSpeed
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Nice job. Its a lot of work cutting up a chassis and the getting it back together and look right.

Loking forward to more.

Thanks. Truth be told, it was the reason I made the chassis a touch longer. I wanted to give myself a little breathing room in case I needed to shorten certain rods to square things up. Turns out, I didn't. I need to trust in my skills a little more.

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Here's a tiny update for you... you guys need to see these if you have not seen them already. I stumbled onto the eBay seller annalitt who had some really nice resin wheels listed. I was searching for something for a potential fuel altered project, and found the perfect rear wheels for this car. Turns out, it's our fearless Moderator Casey selling these. I'm sure everyone else knew, but I didn't. He sent me a set of 5-slot TF rear wheels and they are absolutely beautiful. Seriously, I had to look at them under my mag lamp because they looked like they were machined out of Delrin.

Check out his eBay page and buy his stuff—it's seriously top notch resin.

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By the way, the kit tire is on the right. Both kits' tires are M&H Racemaster, even though the Young American kit has pad printed GOODYEAR logos on the inside of the M&H molded tire. It's the wrong era GOODYEAR logo, too, so I'm not sure what I will do for the Bluestreaks. The tire on the left is the new AMT Goodyear Bluestreak drag tire from the parts pack. Beautiful detail, quality and everything, and these wheels drop right into them, but they are way too small for this project. I wouldn't hesitate to use them in others with Casey's wheels, though.

Looking for good suggestions for proper 11.0 x 16 rear slicks if you know of any. I might take a chance on decaling these to look proper, as the size and shape is right, at least.

doug

Edited by ApexSpeed
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FYI they are big differences between the 426 and 392 Hemi's, may I suggest you check out Sprrd City Resin they sell a 392 and it's very good company to deal with.

Other than some minor dimensional differences and the magneto in the rear of the block on the 392, what else is visible? From what I could gather from HAMB, there were not any other visible differences from the outside.

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There are some serious differences between these engines. The only thing they share is the Hemispherical combustion chambers.

Same car, different setups

But, it is your build and you can do as you see fit.

392 Chrysler

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426 Hemi

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Edited by Daddyfink
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