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Ian McLaren

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  1. Ian McLaren
    As much as I remember the spacer itself was 1.25" tall and used two .025 reinforced valve cover gaskets, one below and one above. The ones in my model photo are oversized at .092 tall but they tend to warp. To repair that I sand them down to close to where you are I think (080") as per this photo or a scale 1.28". Hard to tell when everything is the same color but to my eye it might have to be a bit shorter. But the .080 I think may be workable.
  2. Ian McLaren
    The reason for the thicker spacers on the BBC was with the solid roller camshafts and required spring pressures the rocker arm studs would flex and eventually snap off and the pressured s also played havock with valve lash. Jomar solved both problems with their girdle the studs would support each other through the u-bolts that also locked down the valve adjustment. They made valve adjustment a little more tedious but the reliabilty gains were well worth the extra effort
  3. Ian McLaren
    Absolutely a great model, all areas very well done, excellent attention to detail and scale. You should be very proud of this project!
  4. Ian McLaren
    Some how it figures it would be you who is the only other guy to put Jomar stud girdle spacers under his BBC valve covers. I have a set for my next build as per the photos below. The car we raced in the early70s, I just love the authenticity you put into your models! I appologise for the huge photo but it was sent to me as one image but does show of the spacers quite well
  5. Ian McLaren
    All of the major pieces now fit together including the windshield, after a couple of channel adjustments were made. One more coat of primer and a sanding with 1500 grit will see the body ready for the white base coat.
  6. Ian McLaren
    Unsolicited tip for 1/16th modelers. After tearing my hair out trying to get 1/16th scale funnycar fire windows to look right, I found a cheap and exceptionally easy solution at a model railroad shop and they even come with precut glazing and scale out to 4 inches square.
  7. Ian McLaren
    Working on cleaning up the body for the final primer coat so that the base white can be applied, permanent front motor mounts completed,working on decals for the front grills and headlamps these are just test shots on regular paper so that sizing for the final decals can be determined.
  8. Ian McLaren
    I spent most of yesterday cleaning up and reshaping the windshield retaining flange as well as transfering the new shape to a piece of clear polyester sheet. I also created a transition from the flange to the top of the body tin work right at the front. The windshield fit is pretty good but I will do some additional clean up during the final finishing phase.
  9. Ian McLaren
    Thanks Daniel, yes everything wants to run into everything else, what is a 1/4 inch clearance in real life is virtaully touching in 1/16th. Yes I'm pretty happy with the tin, it was my intention to use the plastic as just a mockup and pattern for brass or aluminum, But in as much as the real car had semi gloss black anodized aluminum there isn't a realy good argument for using either metal to replace the current piece.
  10. Ian McLaren
    Not a lot has happened lately but some progress, windshield has been templated (tape, then paper and now styrene) and ready to cut the clear part, interiour tin in final template stage and new fuel pump built (Hilborn for now but may switch Enderlie as it is the more likely choice back then, still checking photos)
  11. Ian McLaren
    Thank you John it's all good now and I have made some progress, the next little while should show some substancial changes now that several of the small assemblies have been completed.
  12. Ian McLaren
    Thanks Daniel, yes it was and I'm am happy with the enine now. Since then life has kind of out ranked modeling but I have made some small advances.
  13. Ian McLaren
    Now with the rear motor plate location set, the power train can start to be positioned and angles set for the coupler shaft.
  14. Ian McLaren
    Great progress, wheelie bars (if you can call them that) perfectly period correct, love the wheel color overall and the purple should be a winner. How the hell did you letter the front Firestones?
  15. Ian McLaren
    A little more progress, mag finish now on the blower, fuel distribution block for both the hat and port injectors are built and installed as are all of the fuel hard lines. Waiting for fittings before fully plumbing the engine and also working on a larger fuel pump as per the original car. system
  16. Ian McLaren
    After an involuntary two week modeling layoff I'm back on the Bonin car and I'm focusing on going back and upgrading a lot of what I had already done starting with the engine. New and improved 14-71 Ed Pink style blower still needs the magnesium finish applied but the basic part is much improved, I scrapped the previous injector and redid the plumbing, and the hat is now much closer to scale. Some how I managed to model the entirely wrong magneto for this car, I knew it had a Mallory Super Mag in it and I already had the remote coil in the parts tray. How I put all of the time and effort into building a creditable Vertex mag and then looking at the motor for weeks is beyond me. Thankfully a very knowledgable friend pointed out the error, so the motor now has an all metal Super Mag in place which I put together yesterday, and instantly what has been nagging me about the motor disappeared. Next is the port nozzels and lines and the unique upper plumbing that was on the Bonin car in 78. I'm already much happier with the current result.
  17. Ian McLaren
    IT"S DONE! Who would have thought this would be my most eventful model built to date. Firstly it was commisioned by my grandson to give to his grandma (other side) as a memorial to her departed husband who actually had just started to build this model (not much more than unboxing it). Secondly this is essentually my first truck model (and I had very little knowledge in this area). This is about as close to an out of the box build as I will every get with the only changes and additions being, all of the clear parts (missing from the box), front drive shaft changed for aluminum tube (original was very badly deformed), additions included trailer uncoupleing lever, air brake hoses, photo etched seat belts (a safety feature), rear license plate bracket and upgrading the exhaust stacks with aluminum tubing ( I just had too) LOL. Paint is out of the can Tamiya Mica Blue overcoated with Tamiya Pearl clear and two coats of Tamiya clear. Lastly I had to take five days off in the middle due to getting a pacemaker. So while I was honoured and pleased to build this for my grandson! ----------- No More Trucks!
  18. Ian McLaren
    A guy is away for a week and you have advance this project greatly, the front suspension and axle a great and I see you've rediscovered the engine turning secret. Your well on your way to another great model. Well done!
  19. Ian McLaren
    So this project is on hold for a while. I had a routine checkup with my cardiogist last week and during on of the test they found an 11 second gap in my heart beat. I got a phone call and 4 hours later I was in the cardiac wards advanced monitoring room. After a wait of 3 days I got a pacemaker Sunday morning and was home late Sunday afternoon. Everything went exactly according to plan during the surgery and I have been home for two days now.. I am limited in what I can do for the next 10 days of so the incision heals and secures the pacemaker and its leads to the heart. As all of the restrictions are shoulder height and up most modeling is on hold. I can walk, climb stairs, go outside and even have a mild set of exercises to do, however I cannot drive for two weeks after the surgery. All in all I'm in pretty good shape and feeling good, except for the left shoulder and incision site which will pass fairly quickly I am told.
  20. Ian McLaren
    Still futzing with the body, chassis, engine alignment. Not haveing measurements of how far out the engine was has made this endevour exponentialy more difficult. first I had to get the chassis ride height correct. Then space the body up the correct amount above the chassis to get both the ground to body height correct and well as how far through the body the blower sits and how far forward in relation to the windshield. Almost all of this stems from the rear motor plate ( the main numbers I don't have). Add to this a generic body whose measurements may or may not be the same as the BubbleUp car (not the manufacturers fault just a fact). All of this added up to serveral motor plates, body mounts (front and rear), 2 different blower manifolds, two sets of front motor mounts and a third set (more scale appearing) in the works, but I now have measurements. Two different blowers and several adjustments to the front blower extension. Also needed were two different approaches to the actual firewall tin and mounting proceedure. Another reprofiling the rear edge of the hood and lower windshield frame was needed to eliminate the kick up that was cast in as part of the body. The following photos show the end results of all this nonsence and I now have the look I was aiming for. Now back to just straight adding details and building
  21. Ian McLaren
    It's great to have you foiiowing along, lots more to come. In regards to fast company, I was at Sheppard Raceway and Edmonton International Raceways driving the RaceCar Distributors A/ED the days they were filming for the movie. I think Norm may still have the fake Montana plates they stuck over the Alberta plates while filming.I also have a copy of the movie. I have a lot of photos from that era so documentation is not really too bad and I can find most of what I need. The Swindahl car was quite different from most so it has been a bit of a challange to document.
  22. Ian McLaren
    Thanks Daniel, not on this one. I did try on the 1/12 Camaro Top Sportsman's rack, using the parts from a Tamiya 1/12 F1 kit. The problem was the shaft angles from the steering wheel to the rack. I have no idea how that would been done in this scale, but there would be some awesome machining involved.
  23. Ian McLaren
    This is my most ambitious scratch built part so far. The steering box for the Bonin car is mostly brass except where aluminum looks more correct. If anyone is interested I do have the in progress photo showing the process I used to assemble this part
  24. Ian McLaren
    I have been considering getting a resistance soldering system for a while now and it very well may be the next major addition to the shop. I am assuming it is used primarily for small details as opposed to primary fabrication or am I wrong in that assumption
  25. Ian McLaren
    Thank you Francis, yes the front suspension was one of the things that made me want to model this car. No plans or drawings and the original car is long gone, but there was enough information to piece it together. I knew the front track width and the wheelbase which set where the front tires needed to be. Some great photos of one of the sister chassis were on an old Bring a Trailer add from a few years back. They really showed good details of the front suspension and chassis. From knowing the chassis tube dimensions ( the rules govern that) I could calculate the rest of the tube sizes that I needed. Kind of the long way round but it got the job done.
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