Straightliner59

Well, I thought this was a Z-16 car. Alas, it was purchased new, by Tom Sturm, with a 283 installed. But, since I went looking for it...

Thanks, Ray. I'll trust you with the math! I never gave the L to R, or R to L a thought, but, it makes sense. That's a good thing to remember!

Here are a few photos of the latest: Clutch actuator shaft, from pedal/arm, to linkage on the can, Wooden fuel shutoff knob and cable, installed--I originally made an aluminum knob, then realized that would create three different materials for controls: wooden steering wheel/butterfly, "pool ball" brake handle, and aluminum shutoff knob. I didn't really care for that idea, so, I made one from a piece of dowel, and attempted to stain it to somewhat match the black walnut of the butterfly. There's also a photo of the pieces for the throttle cable and attachment for the pedal. I'll have to fit the cable into the model in two pieces, due to the fact that the hole I drilled in the motor plate got covered up by the bellhousing. No biggie; that detail won't be visible, once the body is on--it will appear as a continuous cable from the pedal, to the injector body linkage. Qs and Cs always welcome! Thanks for looking! Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like a terrible builder, when you take and view these closeup images? Man, do they show the warts!

Thank you, Scott! Your method works well, it looks, to me. I think if I just reduce the number of rotations on the knob from 1-1/2, down to a single rotation, I will be good. One thing's certain--it ain't gonna' happen, randomly. It has to be laid out. :-)

You got that thing right down where it needs to be! Looks good!

Thank you, kind sir!

Been working on a lot of non-sexy stuff, like making cable assemblies for the throttle and the fuel shut-off. I got the clutch linkage installed, as well as a couple of tabs in the cockpit that I forgot to install, earlier (I'm finding a lot of that stuff! ). I also did some work on the steering box mount, and am hoping to get that all put together, later today/this evening. If I can, I should be able to install the cables, the steering shaft and butterfly, and perhaps get the body mounted. That would be a huge step, and a huge inspiration! I designed a possible graphic for the cowl--see below. I need to install a helmet bar, too, as that was another oversight on my part! DUH!

It looks great! I noticed the pin assembly. Excellent work, sir!

Thank you, Trevor. My biggest complaint with the flashing is its plastic coating. It doesn't take too long to clean off with steel wool, or a Scotch-Brite pad, but, it takes some elbow grease! I've never tried printers' plate, simply because I never had a source for it. The flashing is easy to anneal. Once the plastic overcoat is removed, rub a bar of Ivory soap over the surface to cover it, heat it with a torch, and quench it, as soon as the soap film turns black. Then, you can work it to whatever shape you want!

.005". Technically, that's a little thick for dragster bodies, but, it looks great. WAY better than kit provided plastic bodies. I use it for dashes, interior panels, and the hood scoop on my '34 coupe.

I can barely be responsible for my own actions, Snake! Don't blame me for yours! Before the Wright's it required enough pressure to kill a toothpick in a hurry. The mild abrasives in the Silver Cream allow the toothpick to simply be, more or less, a carrier for the "cutting" agent. I bought a cheap (around $40) XY table for the drill press to help with uniformity, but, I used a half a turn too much advance, on the test piece. I have used the Dremel rubber abrasive cones, in the past, but, they wear down too quickly.

Ah. Great idea! It's got the screws turning, in my head!

Been using that stuff, for years, now! It's what I built the dragster body with.

Very cool. Thank you, Charles!

Where did you get the chains and sprockets? Those look excellent!

Enjoying this thread! Great models, all around! Nice job, Jim. This has all got me wanting to build mine--I've been considering it, since late last year. Thanks, everyone for the photos and the inspiration. Just need to get my dragster finished, first.

I know I'm late to the party, with this, but, if I wanted to replicate a greasy look, I'd give oil paints a try. They can be textured, which could add a nice touch of realism. Yes, they dry slowly, but, it could be applied after everything else is done.

Thank you all for the kind words! I want to get my dragster off the bench, before I work on whatever's next. This is a possibility. I also have an AMT 1/25th 352 Pete that I cut down to a day cab that might end up on the bench. I have a lot of possibilities, but, I need a truck in my display case. I haven't built one in over 40 years!

Thanks, JC! It was something I just had to try! :-)

I've seen Aileen's in the craft section at Walmart, as well.

Ray, that's similar to what I'm doing, as far as controlling head size. I am limited by the size of the already cast heads, on one end. That's what led me to consider the sprue. However, now that you mention it, I do have some small diameter black nylon monofilament that I picked up in the train store. Railroad modelers use it to create power and phone lines. I've used it to make zip ties for models. The cauterizing pen sounds like an interesting idea worth looking into. I am interested in your thoughts regarding how you'd use the nylon to make ball joints. That sounds like an exciting possibility!

I made a windscreen from aluminum, but, I am still considering a plastic as well. Either way, I'll need some way to attach it to the cowl. Since they were generally riveted, I thought I'd see how I could do something passable, since I don't think making brass rivets of the size I need is a realistic expectation! In one of my drawers, I have some tiny Grandt Line plastic rivets. They are a bit out of scale, but I think they'll work. Here's what I did (experimentally--I haven't applied it to the model, yet). I laid two sheets together, and drilled a single hole through both layers (research said that it's best to drill and rivet one at a time to make life easier!). I then removed one the rivets from its sprue, leaving a long section of the rivet's shaft and inserted it through the hole. Then, it was merely a matter of swaging the end, to mushroom it against the sheet. I used a lighter, and just kind of waved it at the rivet. A soldering iron would work, as well. Rivets could very easily be made using stretched sprue. If the Grandt Line rivets look too large to me, I may switch to sprue rivets. I am interested in comments regarding whether you think plastic, or the aluminum windscreen would look better. Also, what you think of the rivet idea. There is also a photo I call "Frankenstein Vs. The Giant Arachnid." And, just for the fun of it, I'm going to throw in a pic from March 13, 2009. A decade of thrills! I was laying out the motor plate for the body you see here,as I was putting together an article on building dragster bodies from aluminum, for the old SLM website. I have since built another, the current cowl (the project's third). Lastly is a photo of an experiment using Wright's Silver Cream (Shout out to Snake for the heads-up) and a cut-off toothpick to create an engine-turned effect. I arbitrarily chose a number of turns on the cross slide knob (clearly, too many, once I washed it, and could see the result) and used the Dremel drill press. I'm looking for a reliable method of engine-turning, using the things I have at hand. I think this will work, as the silver cream (which, I assume, is some sort of jeweler's rouge) allows the toothpick to gently abraid the surface of the metal, without fraying the toothpick too severely, due to pressure.

Now, you just need this, to go with it! :-) https://www.ebay.com/itm/TOM-DANIEL-MONOGRAM-MATTEL-REVELL-SUPER-DIGGER-DRAGSTER-1970-MODEL-BOX-ART/223437479999?hash=item3405e9603f:g:sIcAAOSwFqJWpUVz

Love the vintage NASCAR stuff! Looks great! Very nice job with the Zolatone.

And, here it is, all done. I used super glue to bond everything together. There's no finish on the wood or brass, it's simply polished.