spike morelli

...By the teardrop dimple in the firewall where the original sediment bowl goes, and the recess in the top of the radiator shell,...I'd say it's a '31 alright....so good of the manufacturer to include those touches.

Yeah......I saw this truck a while back in, I believe Hot Rod. All of the photos in Hot Rod were like this one...motionless. It may be, in reality, better suited as a show truck. Interesting, but to me, trying WAY too hard for the concept.

Some pics of Smirnoff digger..

YES, the Smirnoff dragster! I have been a long time fan of engine builder, the late, Dave Zeuschel, and the Smirnoff rail was powered by one of "Z"s early Chrysler fuelers. This is a beautiful car, I'll follow your progress, should be fun.

Is that a 426 Chrysler engine with 392 valve covers?

I have a cherry built-up kit in my collection, I enjoy a fair amount of the Tom Daniels designed kits. Even though you can't see much of the engine, I decided the valve covers needed to be replaced with some more realistic pieces, and added a bit more of detailing/ wiring, to the engine ( I had to enlarge the side openings in the hood just a bit for the new valve covers ) , and used thin strips of chrome tape to detail the beer barrel straps. This is one of those cars that, even amongst a handful of other cars in a display, people always stop to look at.

Overall bitchin' . ( Mag goes up front , though , on 426), but I like it.

I think I'd go with the Tom McMullen roadster, that was a for real car, that not only showed well, but was raced at the dry lakes, on the drag strip, and, on the street if you were ballsy enough to chose him off. A blown engine, quick change out back, five spokes and flames, tuck 'n roll, just flat bitchin'! The Graffitti coupe that John Milner drove, was in real life, only a movie car, not that cherry up close, and in real life didn't have enough power to spin the tires. A low to the ground shot was used in the drag racing scene when the tires spun, so that you wouldn't realize the production crew had mounted small rear tires on the coupe to get them to break loose. Some hot rodder should actually build "the fastest car in the valley" Milner coupe with serious race car parts, just stay true to the look. In real life, McMullen could have smoked John Milner.

I used to have an old flatbottom boat, that had a Keith Black 392 in it when I bought it, and it had a kinda homebrew tunnel-ram which was made from using a rather high Roto-Faze blower manifold base and a cast top for a tunnel ram bolted onto it of unknown original application. I don't think any company ever made a dedicated tunnel ram for that early hemi, but guys have made 'em. That's hot rodding!

Great job on Tony's diggers! Those are certainly iconic players in the history of the sport! I talked to Mr.Nancy a couple of times, and met him once, when I bought a fiberglass air scoop from him...I assume it's made from the same mold as used for the blue Plymouth Wedge engine dragster. For the life of me, I can't understand why Revell couldn't get the shape correct when they made the kit. here are some photos of a Tony Nancy air scoop as used on a drag boat...the shape and mouth opening are a bit different in real life!

Very nice work! I have a "Little Red Wagon" kit, maybe I should get into it. Weren't there two different makers of the kit, something like Lindberg and MPC?

Gas was indeed a legend. I am saddened to hear of his passing. Like most cars of the era, Ronda's were pretty cool. I feel a small connection to him, as the Mach 1 I drive today was originally purchased from Russ Davis Ford in Covina.

Thanks for the info R3....I gotta get me one or two of those "Hemisphere" kits!

Tony Nancy was an all- around talented guy, whose race cars were not only competitive, but beautiful as well. I got to meet him years back, he offered, amongst other things, fiberglass air scoops, one of which I bought for a drag boat.....still have the scoop ( and the boat). It is the style as Tony used on his Plymouth Wedge dragster.

I believe that kit is the old Don Garlits' Wynn's Jammer, re-boxed and with a different body and decal set. I bought the kit too. I don't think the old Don Garlits kit is still being made, although I'd buy it if it is. I remember the original kit having a display base and data plate proclaiming it the first dragster to achieve 200mph. The rubber band blower belt, separate blower pulleys, and see-through oil pan are cool details as well.

Great model! Excellent work! I live close to Galpin Ford, here in the San Fernando Valley. They have been doing custom and restorative work for years at their GAS, ( Galpin Auto Sports ) business across the street from the dealership proper. As an engine builder, personally, were I them, and had access to what they have, I'd have built a 427 wedge or SOHC for that showcar, just for the extra pizazz and "oh-wow" factor!

...Just for additional reference, and, to throw a slightly different slant into the conversation, I currently own two legitimate sixties drag boats....both originally built in '65...magnetos were standard faire by then on modified and racing engines. The double inline Chevy powered boat uses Joe Hunt converted Scintilla-Vertex mags, while the blown Hemi uses a Scheifer/Cirello style magneto. The Vertex mag caps were kind of a Rustoleum brown color back in the sixties, today, most Vertex caps are black, some are blue, but the brown caps are treasured by restorers for correctness of era on a sixties engine. The Scheifer/Cirello caps are black. My Chevy Vertex mags pictured have black vinyl waterproof covers over the caps in this instance.

Hey John671, I'm diggin' the "Hemi Honker". Not only am I a fan of building models, but I make my living building engines, and I can tell you the Chrysler Hemi, ( both early and late ) are engines that impress me. Here at work, we received a greasy old 426 Hemi pulled out of a running Challenger a customer had. The customer sold the car, and the new owner wanted to know what kind of power it had. We put the engine on our dyno, and it put out more than the factory rated it at , the factory rating was 425 hp, unmolested it bested that figure. Of course, the looks of the thing doesn't hurt either. Your build so far looks great. Looking forward to seeing the complete car.

...WHAT????? .....A dual-quad 429/460 ? Starsky and Hutch should be so lucky....

I am diggin' this project. I do have a question. Is it just me, or is the timing cover placed way up too high in this photo? It looks like the position would put the camshaft/fuel pump right into the intake manifold.

Hey Vamach1, It looks like you have a yellow Mach 1, I have one too, a Medium Yellow gold '71 Mach 1 !

Ah,...the neighborhood service station...such a great part of a simpler time. I remember when I was just a little kid, Dad would pull into the neighborhood service station, ( a Standard Oil, I believe ), and there was a guy everybody knew by his first name working there, who would greet you with a cheerfull "hello, fill 'her up?..". Back then, the attendants wore white uniforms and a cap, many times a bow tie, and they checked everything...battery, coolant level, oil, tire pressure, washed the windshield, offered to empty the ashtray for you, looked at the wiper blades, and did all of that in minutes. You could get free maps of the city or state in the lobby. Restrooms were maintained, should you require their useage. When the car was done being re-fueled, as the attendant gave you your receipt or change, you usually got S&H green stamps, or blue chip stamps back, and, there was always some kind of promotion that, if you filled it up, you could get a free tumbler, steak knife, whatever, and you could collect an entire set after time. these stations generally were on all major corners, and many were open 24 hours. Air and water, at the pump island, was free. I even had a bicycle tire flat patched for free by the local gas station guy, and that was not uncommon. Weren't people wonderfull back then? In High School, being that I was into cars, it should come as no surprise that my first job was in a gas station, a 76 Union..........loved that job too......

I had a '66....really great car to drive.

Last of the blurry photos, I promise. This is Monogram's "Sling Shot" dragster. For you old race car fans, I'm fairly sure the prototype for this kit was the old "Isky U-Fab Special dragster. Interesting that Monogram's tooling department decided to make the header/valve cover/intake log, on each side , one piece. I do like the addition of the driver that comes with the kit. Fun little "nugget-o-plastic" . Like all of my models, I bought those plastic display cases from the hobby store to display the cars in, they stack too.

O.K., I shot two more old car kits back with my other batch of photos that were not so focused, but bare with me. This is the old "Long John" dragster kit. Definitely on the very basic side but back when it was first released, it was what was happening. Apparently, the model must be replicating a Potvin, front mount blower system. I'm not sure anything else could fit under the bodywork like that. "Weedburners" are tell-tale era components. The kit, like many other early Monogram offerings, comes with the Hero driver. While I've built more modern kits, there's something really cool about building these early kits, or maybe I'm just reminiscing about when I was a kid. I was becoming a hot-rodder before I even had my own bicycle.