ScaleDale

Thanks. That makes me a plausable engineer. I like that. Dale

I use on-line references like most here have mentioned, but I also work out of my head when I scratch build to solve problems. One of the most satisfying parts of building is when I make something up because it feels right and then find reference photos that prove me right. This happened when I added structural bracing to the chassis of my current drag build to handle the torque of the motor. I try to do my builds like real cars, and find Stacy David and his Gearz show helpful for planning. Dale

A Ross Gibson 815 goes head to head with a Boss 429 from the Revell '70 Mach I Mustang 1/24 The 815 is wearing a ram manifold and Holly Dominator carb setup from Competition Resins and the transmission blanket and shifter are scratch built. The blanket is Duct tape and the wiring is something from the craft store called Memory Thread. I still need to do the belts. If you use this motor, plan for the engine mounts ahead of time. You need to scratch build them and the fit in any chassis is very tight. The front plate gives some sort of flange to work with, but not much. The bell housing is a seperate piece, so the best thing to do is to build the rear mount before you put that on and install it between the motor and the bell housing. Which I neglected to do. If you do an image search on "Pro Mod Engine Bays" or Pro Mod Paint Jobs" you will find links to threads in the above mentioned Yellow Bullet forums. Have fun. Dale

I need to find a cable to upload those photos for you. Will get to it in the morning. It's not unusual for a lot of people to look and only a few of us to stop and chat. I'm building for a contest in another site and I have over 500 views and something like ten comments. When I finish the car I'm moving over here full time. Are you trying to build a sanctioned type car ala NHRA or the like? If so what class? In NHRA you would drop into Pro Mod with a naturally aspirated engine over 550 cid on gas. I'm not sure if you could run such a large motor in the Altered or Super Gas classes or not. Your body is new enough for Pro Stock but NHRA only has a few blocks that they recognize as legal for Ford in PS and the limit is 500 cubes. I have a rule book if you want me to look anything up. I may be a bit overboard, but I tend to try to build my models like real race cars. What chassis are you going to use? The stock one or a scratch built one? If you use the stock chassis, add styrene rod as a superstructure to reinforce the front end to handle the extra power and torque of the Gibson motor. Go to StacyDavid.com (the guy from Gearz) and find the video clips from his "v8 Interceptor" build. He put a John Kasse 550 Boss 9 in an old beat up Cougar and did a lot of extensive reworking to the chassis to handle the power of the new engine. Dale

I used to worry about how much cash I was blowing on resin and other aftermarket stuff for my models and then it dawned on me that I could either turn right to my shop and spend $100 on a Pro Mod Mustang or turn left to my garage and spend $100,000 on a Pro Mod Mustang. Now I just build stuff. Dale

These are usually the top two reasons for not doing anything in the right order. Guilty on multiply counts... Dale

Any reason why you didn't strip the paint to start with? I prefer to work with a clean slate but I also understand the meaning of the word impatience. What do you use for stripping? I like Purple Power from the auto supply store. It takes a few days to work but it won't attack plastic. Even strips chrome. I will be back home tomorrow and will post a comparison photo of that Gibson motor and a Revell Boss 429 so you can see what you are getting into size wise. Dale

The Gibson motor will give you everything you need including a tunnel ram intake and split four barrel carbs. It has a dry sump oil system with a three or five stage oil pump and an MSD style ignition. The bell housing and transmission are seperate parts. All in all, there are something like 41 parts to the engine. It includes photo etched pulley faces and a kit to make flexible belts for it. I accidentally cut the manifold down too low and used one from another kit. I had Holly Dominator carbs from another aftermarket outfit and I used them instead of the split carbs. My main gripe is that the casting is a bit rough. That's OK for an engine block but not for the parts that should be chrome shiny like the valve covers and oil tank. I was able to polish the valve covers up well enough to take a nice shine with the Alclad polished aluminum airbrush paint I used, but the oil tank on the front of the engine was too hard to smooth out because it's round. I wound up painting it black. The headers require a lot of sanding and I'm still looking for a replacement set or thinking of scratch building some. The whole thing is resin and requires CA glue (super glue) or epoxy. Lacquer is recommended for paint but I'm not sure why. It may be an old modelers tale. Here's a link to Sonny's Racing Engines. Home of the real Mountain Motors. http://www.sonnysracingengines.com/engines/extreme-pro-stock-892-cu-in-2035-hp-racing-engine Also of interest is John Kasse Racing Engines. Home of the Boss 9 http://www.jonkaaseracingengines.com

Don't know how to edit yet, but that's the one in my Tbird. Found the edit button... That motor comes with a competition clutch less transmission. It looks like this one from Liberty http://www.libertysgears.com Dale

Thanks for the blade hints. I need to cut wheel wells, too. Watch out for those Gibson motors, they are big dudes! I built one for my Tbird and it's a tight fit in the Willys chassis I used. When I get back home I'll post a photo comparing a Gibson 815 Mountain Motor to the Ford Boss 429 from the Revell '70 Mustang Mach engine. Gibson lists it's motors as 1:25/1:24

Nice to see that you didn't give up on that old build. I keep a few of mine around as part donors and they come in handy. I'm working on a '56 Thunderbird and I'm thinking about opening up the front end like you have done. Did you use a saw or the back tip of a razor knife? Keep posting photos, I'm interested in seeing where this goes to. Dale