Karl LaFong

Sweet!!

Drop. Dead. Gorgeous! I like the 289 mill, a welcome change from the usual 427's.

Nice job of bringing Raymond Lowey's design into the 21st century!

Great fabrication work!

Thank you Richard and everyone else. I'm laying off the glue bombs for a while - there's a good reason it's named "Bad Trip".

In progress details can be found here: Long story short - picked up a glue bomb at the Philly NNL and here's the final result:

I'm calling it done - more of the final pics in the Drag Racing Models section.

Great score! I would have thought they were long gone.

Something from Slixx gasser decals.

I think the reason they were so popular was because they were so unique. It's a shame the '69 ended up as a meh dirt tracker. In spite of the various odd parts (stock dash & steering wheel, blower manifold, etc) , I doubt it will ever be returned to the original configuration.

It's been a while... I foiled and Molotowed the trim and installed the front grill/bumper. The taillight buckets are AMT 33 Willys headlights, with lenses from the AMT 1950 Ford (maybe.). I'm hoping a parachute will cover some of the issues of the rear grill. The engine plumbing is done, with a gas tank/ radiator from the AMT 33 Willys (a great source for gasser parts, BTW). I ended up fabricating headers from the stock exhaust headers, I gave up trying to get the racing headers to fit. I just need to install some final details & decals and I'm calling it done.

I have the same problem. Stored inside, no temperature variations. It does appear to be more prevalent with the lacquers - I have some that were bought last year that are leaking, but some 15+ year old enamel is fine.

I painted the body - Tamiya Red Clear over Tamiya Red Metallic over Testor's True Gold Metalflake. The front grill/bumper looks odd because it hasn't been glued.

It's still gnarly. I was able to salvage the rear panel that the original builder had used; I'll cover the bad area with a parachute.

Good question - I haven't found any pictures online with a Weber carb/blower intake. AMT's Silhouette also has an optional 3 Webers and a supercharger.

So that's what happens when AMT Styline and Palmer kits mate...

I finally completed the engine - basically straight out of the box (though it's the 1968 engine, not a '66). The pump/distributer is from the AMT 1953 Studebaker, with a Replicas and Miniatures distributer cap. Fuel line fittings were simulated with gold crimp tubes. I hope to get it up on all 4 wheels tonight.

Got some body work done. The radiator support was more glue than plastic, so I fabricated one out of Evergreen sheet and channel stock. I'll be using the radiator/gas tank from the Ohio George 33 Willys, hence the gap in the support. I removed the windshield wipers, windshield washer bag, and all scripts (hey, it is a dragster) and filled the various holes with glazing putty. The engine arrived. So far it's been painted Tamiya Brilliant Blue, with Testor's Metalizer aluminum for the tranny. I'll be using the weber carb setup with the blower; the carb manifold was painted aluminum, the blower is Testor's magnesium. I don't know what was in the Michigan water in the 60's, but AMT had some pretty wild induction systems!

Great job so far! And the Moebius motor makes the various AMT versions look like something out of a Palmer kit.

Great fabrication work! Looks good.

The engine was too far gone, so I grabbed one off of Ebay. It hasn't been shipped yet, so this may take some time. Meanwhile, I completed the interior. Because of glue and glue rash, I had considered buying a new one, but with plenty of sanding and putty, I got it to a presentable state (i.e. looks good from 3 feet away). The buckets are from the Revell Bantam parts pack, the steering wheel is from the AMT '37 Chevy, the instrument cluster is from the AMT '57 T-bird, and the shifter and gas pedal are from the AMT '33 Willys. I found a roll bar in the parts box that fit and added some Evergreen rod for the rear support. Gauge decals are Slixx and AMT '34 Ford truck. Colors are Tamiya Titanium Gold over Gold and semi-gloss black. It still needs a parachute release handle. Next step, body work.

Yeah, it's high, but the kit front ride height is even higher. My impression of the original ride height was "What were they thinking?!?" The paint is going to be Testor's Pure Gold, without any white two-toning (like the box art). Thanks for the kudos!

Richard, that is a VERY generous offer, but I have some other ideas, decal-wise. Thanks!!

Find a '66 -69 glue bomb and supplement it with the '69 stocker parts. The modified is pretty dire, but there are some surprises in the box, like a stock dashboard and steering wheel, and the blower manifold, belt, and front spring perch for the gasser.

I'm trying to emulate the look of the box art on the original kit (and props to whoever loaded this online). I won't be able to duplicate it, but I always thought it was a cool look. Tires are the plastic ones from an AMT AWB funny car. They were painted Tamiya NATO Black; the paint was scrapped off the "Goodyear" lettering to reveal the white plastic (an old '60's modeling trick). Rear wheels are from the '66 Falcon, stripped of chrome, painted Testor's Magnesium, with chrome accents via a Molotow pen (which doesn't show up well in the pictures). Because I was going for the look of the original box art, the rear wheel openings were radiused. The front wheels are from the AMT Falcon AWB kit (I think). I'm using the front grill/bumper from the '69 Falcon Modified, 'cause I have one and I don't want to shell out more buck$ for a '66 grill...