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Ian McLaren

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  1. Ian McLaren
    Francis thank you so much for the kind words, when they come from you they really mean a lot. As per usual with my projects this one took on a life of its own. When I first started it three years ago it was a test piece with a view to building one of these with a brass chassis. Then it sat for two year, eventually ending up in a box when we moved. When I rediscovered it last year it occured to me that the generic chassis could with a few changes pass for Hills 4:99 car. And we're off! LOL This has now been added to Finished drag race models.
  2. Ian McLaren
    My tribute to Eddie Hills "First in the Fours" 1988 dragster. For as famous as this car is, there is not a lot of detailed information. I talked to many people about specific information on the car, including some of the crew members from that year, gathered as many photos as I could find and came up with what I believe is a reasonable overall representation of the car. Areas which I could not document, I used era appropriate systems or parts from similar cars from that year. The engine with its dual barrel valve fuel system is quite close to the original. The model is almost totally scratch built, chassis, body, differential, rear wing assy,drivers seat (aluminum), exhaust headers (brass), fuel tank and many of the accessories. Parts 3D printed by me include, slicks, rear wheels, bellhousing,reverser, 14-71 blower, ignition coils and mags,and so on. The decals were drawn on GIMP and printed by myself., After market parts were from RB Motion, Future Attractions, Perfect Parts and Ron Olsen.
  3. Ian McLaren
    There are a couple of small items that I will address in the next few days but they won't affect the photos, so for all intents and purposes here is the finished project. Posting to finished models as well.
  4. Ian McLaren
    Thank you Randy for the kind words, wrapping this one up very shortly.
  5. Ian McLaren
    Thanks Daniel, this is going to wrap up pretty quickly from here.
  6. Ian McLaren
    Drive train is installed in the chassis, wires and hoses plus some subassemblies to install and it's photo time.
  7. Ian McLaren
    Daniel it has been a pleasure and absolute honor to watch you resurect and then complete this model, the amount of time effort and detail you have managed to incorperate into this project is truly staggering. This has certianly become a bench mark model that has set a standard that will difficult to achieve by any modeler, but will also serve as a goal to strive for. Your dedication and willingness to not settle for good enough, going back and redoing so many different parts of the model shows through in the photos (and yes the camera is the toughest critic of all. I would be remiss in not mentioning that your entire project with your excellent "how I did this tips" has also made better modelers out of anyone who followed along on your journey. You have enrichened the modeling community here and for that I thank you. With nothing in the photos to suggest this is anything but a fuel size functiong vehicle I would say, mission accomplished! Very very well done my friend!
  8. Ian McLaren
    Plumbing basically done on the engine, a few sensor wires and the coil wires will be added during installation. Pretty much ready to mount in the chassis
  9. Ian McLaren
    Moving on from the chassis, starting on the hardware for the two barrel valves and injector hat
  10. Ian McLaren
    Replaced the fuel control lever and cables to both the reverser handle and fuel control lever. Also added switch panel to the dash (Made with .125 evergreen channel, .050 detail nuts from Perfect Parts and .015 plated jewerly aluminum wire for the handles) as well as detailing the steering wheel and its switch , the cable from the wheel switch will be among the last detail items to be added
  11. Ian McLaren
    Dash wiring (front), steering gear, shaft and wheel installed,note button assm on the steering wheel. Next project has been delivered to the shop. Dash is also completed with switch panel added.
  12. Ian McLaren
    Front half of the fuel system, tank, supply pipes and return line installed
  13. Ian McLaren
    Chassis tins, seat and belts are in, as well as the front bulkhead. Assembly is now officially started.
  14. Ian McLaren
    Back in the day when Appliance was a force in the custom wheel industry I sold a bunch of "Appliance Slots" when I worked at JB's Automotive. In fact they were the first set of wheels on my 76 Mustang II until Centerline released their first wheels. You have the look of the wheels dead on and they fit the era of your car perfectly. While Cragar SS's were still very popular the serious racers were running the Appliance wheels as they were slightly lighter than the Cragars and the Chrome didn't fall off the all aluminum Appliances.
  15. Ian McLaren
    Thank you Francis, I have edited my previous post.
  16. Ian McLaren
    Thank you very much John for the kind remarks, and yes I am feeling better but still a ways from being completely back to normal. I realize it could have been much worse and I'm greatful for that but it still kicked our butts pretty hard as it was.
  17. Ian McLaren
    Seat and belts ready to install, this is the last module needed before actual assembly can start. The seat, floor pans and front bulk head all have to be installed in a specific order and in exactly the correct location otherwise none of it fits, as eact part overlaps the others and it all virtually snaps into place if it's correct. The belt set is from Futureattractions and is probably the most accurate hardware out there, but it is a challange to get it to go together. I would probably used the ProTech set on this model as it produces every good results with much less effort. I used the Futureattractions set as a test for my next project which needs to be finished to a much higher standard (this is just a fun build for me). I am convinced it will be worth the effort of using another one, and I did learn some proeedures with this attempt and the next one will be a much better set of belts.
  18. Ian McLaren
    Actually I have, this is the result of a few very short periods at the bench, much couch time in between!
  19. Ian McLaren
    Pump assy plumbed for dual barrel valve system, pump saver returns with dual idle bypass returns added. Main fuel lines out to the barrel valves in the center, some of the injector plumbing shown and some drivetrain additions s well as the ceramic coated headers with thermocouple fittings installed
  20. Ian McLaren
    Well I got some color on the chassis late this afternoon, and in hindsight it was not my brightest move. Last Thursday I tested positive for Covid and my wife fell ill as well even though she tested negative twice. It's been a tough few days but both of us I think, can count ourselves as lucky it was not worse than it was. We both seem to be slowly on the mend ( me a little quicker). This morning I woke up feeling not too bad and rested all day and later this afternoon I figured I was OK to spray the chassis (I have a resperator) and a good outside venting spray booth. Its an airbrush, how hard can it be? Too hard, this stuff takes a lot more out of you that I gave it credit for. So everything is put away and I'm going to behave myself for the rest of the week. Here is the result and I'm quite pleased but I am firmly back on the couch for a while!
  21. Ian McLaren
    This model just keeps getting better and better and has long since passed the landmark stage!
  22. Ian McLaren
    Deceptivly simple part, untill you take into account all the different surfaces and compound curves all in a very small area. This is scratch building at it's finest. Very well done Francis!!
  23. Ian McLaren
    Progress on the engine , blower bag and injector lines, also working to the fuel pumps to finalize the connection points on the chassis
  24. Ian McLaren
    Here is a mount you may like, I saw it on a T/F car years ago may use it on the Hill car. Sorry for the quality it's a picture of a picture
  25. Ian McLaren
    Thank you Daniel, but the only secret is have enough different sizes of metal tubing, notch two for the cross and everything else is simply cut to length, a few size 0 O-rings and a couple of small RB Motion rod ends
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