magicmustang

I was asked how difficult it is to alter the wheelbase on a model car. Well, here are step by step instructions from a model car mag in Nov of 1965. AWB instructiions.pdf

I'm a fan of Sox & Martin, too. Looks great. Keep going.

Yep, all red engine, low Charger III body, I think he almost had to lay down to fit in it. Al Vanderwoude must have walked to a drummer most funny car owners couldn't hear.

Well, the Edsel is a little modified. I added some stock parts to the body and the AWB lifting chassis and tin are from the reissued Cyclone AWB kit. I thought they made it look much better. Then the leftover Cyclone body I modified back to stock wheelbase, used a grill from a Fireball 500 Barracuda, added a Polar Lights funny car chassis and tin. Installed Slixx decals and made it into a true Nicholson Eliminator II '67 Cyclone funny car. See pics.

Here's a few I have built over the years.

In 1969 she hadn't teamed up with Jungle Jim. I don't think she was 18 years old yet.

Have you tried Future acrylic polish? You just brush it on. Dries crystal clear, and ultra smooth, (no brush marks) and never yellows. I applied it to decaled models 50 years ago and they still look great. No yellowing, no chipping. no fading. Gerald

Yep, I found several pics and articles about the real car on the internet. The SMBC decals were a great improvement. I really like how the full taillight tuned out, I used a red Sharpie. Gerald

Thanks Vince. I have been inspired by all of you posts of your drag related builds. We share a lot of the same interests. Gerald

Well, here's another one I salvaged from the Ebay graveyard. It was a built attempt at the 1970 Flying Dutchman's Charger III funny car. I disassembled it and stripped the paint. Using photos from the internet I started to rebuild, added the green lacquer but what really saved it was the after market decals. Let me know what you think.

The MPC Mantaray slot car wasn't very accurate and the Nichimo one was better but both were impossible to find much less afford. There was the hot wheels diecast which is very good but in 1/64th scale.

Number one on my list has always been the Mantaray by Dean Jeffries in 1/25th.

Maybe I'm done. Increased the length of the ram tubes and added braces. Let me know what you think.

Have added some new parts. Wide white wall slicks donated by Vince Nelson, thanks Vince. Found some old Jo-Han Funny car headers that are a good match for the side pipes on the Ramrod. Let me know what you think of the improvements.

The real car was used in the movie Two Lane Blacktop and was also driven in the American Graffitti movie by Harrison Ford alias Bob Falfa.

A smooth side dish rag seems to work best.

You can remove Future clearcoat or thin out runs with a mix of Ammonia and water.

Oh, WOW! I am humbled. Many thanks for the website. Now that's a conversion.

Have added a set of wide whitewall tires to the front. If anyone has a set of AMT wide whitewall slicks they can spare let me know.

Picked up a built AMT '41 Plymouth off Epay. It was an attempt at a Ramchargers High & Mighty Ramrod C/A. The real High & Mighty was a 1949 Plymouth Business Coupe but there is no model available for that so the AMT '41 Plymouth is the closest I could find. I disassembled it and stripped the paint and started over. Rebuilt the engine as a tunnel ram dual quad but I just could not match the exhaust pipes. So I used a set of Jo-Han (scale 48 inch long pipes) headers. Rebuilt the frame and moved the rear axle forward. Rebuilt the interior to match pics of the real RamRod. Rebuilt the rear fender area. Made it into a 3 window coupe verses a 5 window.Tried to match the primer paint that they had on it in '59, but it's close. Their hand lettering I tried to match with a Sharpie. Let me know what you think.

MPC Ohio George Mustang Malco Gasser headers look close.

Yep, I agree John. I have the Sept. 1965 issue of Hot Rod that contains the article that details in pics both cars. The Tony Nancy Revell kit of a A/C roadster would work well. As you can see in your pic of Frank's A/C and the pic of Charlie's A/A, they both used '65 El Caminos for push cars. Now that would be a interesting diorama!! Thanks for your comments.

Many thanks Brad. I have been working on this model off and on for years. Good to have it on the display shelf.

Thanks to Brad Norgaard (gasser59) and his printing expertise to make decals, I was able to complete my Charlie Smith Altered 25 T. Thanks again Brad.

Hot Rod Did an article "The Dodge Chargers Story: 1964-2009" on the restoration of the #2 Jimmy Nix car. Shows good color pics of the body colors.