Straightliner59

Thanks. I don't know how I missed this. I always thought it must have been one and the same, but his profile here said "Richard".😅 Nice eulogy. Thanks, again.

Well. This didn't take anywhere near as long as it took me to figure out my SBC Enderle setup! I'll see if I can put this together as a photo narrative. As can be seen, here, my first attempts were all over the place: Here are the beginnings of the manifold, itself: Now, how I went about making these tiny 45-degree elbows...I began by cutting four pieces of 1/8" aluminum armature wire roughly 1" long, and taped them together: I then clamped them into my vise, along with a bending buck I made for rolling the sides of dragster body panels. I used a machinist's square, to make them vertical: I then used this block of steel to uniformly roll it over the top of the buck. A few taps with the ball-peen hammer, and I had this. The flattened ends are not a concern, because they'll be cut off. Now, using a razor saw, I was able to cut these pieces through, creating the 90-degree base surface for the elbows: While they're still taped together, I drilled them to accept the guide pins on the throttle bodies. At this point, I unbound them. Using this little miter box, I was able to lay the elbows flat in the bottom, and using my fingers to hold the parts in place, I could saw the 45-degree top surface. Both during this procedure, and making the 90-degree cut in the vise, I found beeswax to be very helpful in cutting. It's also important to let the tool do the work, and not to force things. This assures straighter cuts. Easier ones, too! I now have eight virtually identical 45-degree elbows! I have a pair drilled, all the way through, so far. Six more to go! My fingers are pretty sore, so not sure how much more of this I'll get done, tonight, but, I may work more on the manifold, itself. Anyway--I think this will work out, just fine! Now, if I could ever decide to build a fuel/induction system that wasn't so esoteric, my life just might be easier!😅 This setup isn't ideal. Bruce Larson knew it, but didn't want to deal with cutting into his windshield, but had to get the stacks out from under the cowl, so...I always thought it looked cool, and it doesn't have to work, so, here I am! Don't ever let it be said that I won't suffer for my craft!😁My fingers will vehemently disagree! Thanks for looking!

Bravo, my friend! It looks just like its 1:1 counterpart! Better than the kit was even designed to look. Beauty!

Thanks for the suggestion, DW. I appreciate the input! That was one of the first things I tried. Even with the plastic lubricated, it creates enough friction that it tears the aluminum tube. Heating it, even slowly, allows the tube to collapse, during bending. That's what prompted me to try the armature wire, which works great, if I can just figure out how to make uniform cuts. The pieces are so small that they're very difficult to handle. Thanks, again! I may look into the elbows, if I can find some that are smooth, and small enough.

I saw this, when you began, and just found some time to surf around the boards, here...Wow, Pierre! Great work with this! I was impressed with what you did with the Airfix body. Once you moved on to the Otaki body--even more so. I love the fender vents, and the brake ducting, your fabrication with the roll cage. Excellent work with the headlights. She's a thing of beauty, my friend!

Nice sit! Looks great!

I've been perusing my old copies of Car Modeler Magazine. I've run across a couple of pieces written by Steve Mesner. One of them is about an early ('63?) Buick Skylark. I seem to recall that Snake really like that car. Does anyone know if he ever wrote under the name "Steve"? Both articles I have looked at are subjects that Snake mentioned. That made me curious.

I have found that, when building replicas, sometimes, you just have to make your best educated guess. I've only built two, but, I had to guess on a couple of things on both.

It's true...the fingers aren't as supple as they once were! I'm not sure if I will stick with these little aluminum elbows, or not. I'm exploring options to make them better, and more uniform. Thanks, as always, for your kind words.

I've got the runners farther along, and started piddling around with whether the configuration I'm considering, will work, satisfactorily. Getting a 45-degree bend in a 1/8" injector stack, I'm finding, ain't all that simple! Then, there's the whole "making it look acceptable" thing. That ring clamp has made it a bit easier to hold on to those little elbows. I use it more frequently than I ever imagined I might, when I bought it. Anyway... Just for fun, too! Thanks for looking!

I've begun working on the upper engine components. The mag will be a Cirello Frankenstein-type magneto. Also seen are the beginnings of the Hilborn manifold. The runners will be cut to length, and cleaned up, then angled, like those in the photo. Lots of shaping left to do with the mag, as well. Comment freely. Thanks for looking!

It's nice to know I might have picked up a worthwhile thing or two, over the last five decades!😃 You're most welcome, and, thank you for saying that. I appreciate it! You mentioned masking off the interior for paint, to apply the embossing powder. I just brush it in--it creates a bit thicker coat that stays wet long enough to get the powder dumped in, and distributed. That's how I did this Monza. I noticed the photos you posted are of a Division V racer out of Colorado. I build most of mine as "High And Mighty" cars!

I had forgotten that Garlits' tach was a Dixco. When I went to research for the tach, The stars and stripes one I found was a Sun tach, sold by Moon, so I copied that one. I wish I had seen this one, first!

If they're there, they need to be there!😄 Or, something like that! Nice work, David!

Great idea! I really enjoy doing projects inspired by actual cars, but, not replicas. It's always fun to search out proper-vintage speed equipment, and pull touches together from different sources of inspiration. I'll be keeping an eye on this!

I think this worked out, fairly well! I wish the black ink was working. I think the face would have looked better. Just a couple of details to add, now! Thanks for looking!

I am happy to see you back, Francis! Thank you for your kind words. I am pretty happy with the interior! Once I get that tach mounted, I think it'll be done. I think I am going to machine an aluminum base, to mount it. It's so tiny, I haven't had much luck, soldering it, because there's no good way to hold it or mount it. Off to the mill, it'll go! Thanks for stopping by!

Francis, my friend, it is wonderful to know you're finally able to get back to the workbench! Stellar work on the bumper, sir. Looking forward...?

I build mostly vintage race cars, most of which are drag racers. I've only built two replicas. One, a scratchbuilt replica of Dick Kraft's "The Bug", which is acknowledged to be the very first "rail dragster". That model has been in Garlits' museum for over 30 years, now. Through modeling, I have met many of the people who were most influential in the sport of drag racing. C.J. Hart even invited me into his motor home, once, so I could show him "The Bug". He bounced it, in tech, the first time Kraft showed up with it, at Santa Ana drag strip, which, interestingly enough, is now John Wayne Airport, in Burbank! The other was the Cook and Bedwell dragster, from Monogram's "Slingshot" kit. I build what I am most interested in, in a moment. I build mostly stuff that's been inspired by something I've seen, somewhere, and I'll incorporate what I think are cool, little touches from other cars. I've built cars, trucks, planes and armor, over the years, and weathered couple of N-Scale rail cars, and painted a handful of figures. I think building a variety of subjects makes us better modelers, as there are techniques that are used more heavily, on some subjects, than others--weathering on armor, for instance. I always greatly admired Russ Schwenkler's paint work, especially on the interiors of his cars, because he incorporated the highlighting and shading techniques that figure painters use, on his seats, etc. As many have said, previously; When I have completed a project, I always know more about something, than I did going in! Research is a big part of the fun!

I'm with you, Bill! I use anything black. I like Krylon, especially. They make semi-gloss and semi-flat, flat black, and ultra-flat black. I just like to have a large variety of paints, because there are so many variances in sheens, and depth of "color" on real vehicles. For gloss black, I've had excellent results using the old Walmart "Color Place" spray. I started using that, because of Snake's recommendation. I painted the black on the body of my Nostalgia Top Fueler, using it. They've since switched their cheap line to another name. I haven't tried it, yet, so can't comment on its performance.

Thanks, David! I'm hoping to get it mounted, in the next day, or so.

No worries here, then, either!?

Thanks, Topher. We're now friends on FB. Just a warning-- I might cuss a bit, or a lot, on my own page!?

It's looking great, Jim! Looking forward to the paint! That, right there is what caused me to start scratchbuilding so much stuff--I figured that, even if it wasn't always easier, or faster, it was always a lot more interesting!?

Well, here you go, David! And, thank you! I've been working on it a couple of days, now. Not 100% with the face, but, I guess I'll live with it, since it won't be highly visible, anyway. I used a thin strip of orange sign vinyl, to make the redline needle. The adjustment knob goes through the lens and metal face and into the body of the tach. I made the stars and stripes, and the face on my cheap Canon printer. I wanted to do the face in black, but that wasn't printing, so I opted for dark blue. Next, I'll make the stand, and drill the dash top for that and the wiring. I may try to use a punch, or a bit of tubing to see if I can get the aluminum cap on the rear to conform a bit better. Otherwise, I'm pretty dang happy with it. Sorry the photos are blurry--this ain't very big! Comments are always welcomed. Thanks for looking!