kermn8r

I am hoping to join, but I am still working out a project. I have a couple thoughts but would really like to use something from the existing stash rather than adding to the stash. Does anyone know if the AMT 1955 Vette, I think kit 6210 issued about 1998, has a hard top included? Even though shown in the Gumball Rally, I can't see running across country at those speeds with the top down.

Congratulations Kurt! The car is awesome & I thoroughly enjoyed the build.

I'm thinking this is a perfect project to learn a new skill like tubbing. If it doesn't work out to your liking, you can always put a tonneau cover over the bed. A white tonneau cover with that mint you mixed up would look awesome.

#22-Willys As can intuitively be seen by the most casual observer, I did not quite make the start line. It is not because I didn’t make progress, but as usual, life and health got in the way. To show that I did get started and how I was dealing with the suspension, I have included a few photos. I was originally going to swap the straight axle with the K-frame and torsion bars from the ’71 Duster, but longer torsion bars would have helped with engine placement. Knowing in 1:1 B-bodies have longer torsion bars than A-bodies, I played with the front clip from the ’70 Coronet Pro Street kit. Lo and behold the torsion bars were longer, but a real surprising bonus is the Coronet K-frame was narrower. In the 1:1 world, a B-body K-frame should be wider than an A-body. It looks like the leaf springs and 8-3/4” rear end from the ’71 Duster will fit the frame. Once that was sorted, I tried to find tires. I realized that out of all my kits, I have very few radial tires. I do have a couple kits, but I did not think the rubber band tires would in real life work well on the road. I finally found a set of generic radials in the ’70 Hemi ‘Cuda which I was going to replace anyway with Polyglas GTs. The wheels will come from the Duster kit. They are a little loose for the wheels but fit the spindles and rear axle. I was going to keep the engine and transmission, replacing the blower and drive with some other type of induction and alternator and AC compressor. With the little bit that got done, I learned because I was trying out various things I learned on this forum. For example, I never wired a distributor before so I practiced a couple techniques for that, as well as making molds and parts. I plan to continue the build and if I get on a roll, I will start a WIP. I also want to do the next Cannonball, but want to find something I already have to match my birth year or close. I echo the thanks to Anthony to run this.

Looks like you are off to a great start. I like this body style so I'll be watching. I was wondering how you got the half rod to conform to the curve at the front of the rear seat bottom and at the top of the seat back. I eventually want to model the Red Express truck I used to own with the standard bench seat that is remarkably similar to your rear seat. The kits have the optional bucket seat & the other Dodge trucks have a different style bench seat.

I am loving this project, especially the way the air dam looks like it should be there. I really like the solution for the rear seat, but when I saw the nifty console my first thought was, "No cupholders?"

Just as I hit submit, I thought of another option for markings. How about an ex police car sold at auction with the original markings over sprayed with primer? It would have the police car look, but not be tied to a particular area.

Just catching up on this thread. If it helps, the Arizona Highway Patrol runs some cars with low-vis markings. The car is silver with flat black markings. On another front life, parts, & making things realistic from the mundane point of view ( windshield wipers, mirrors, alternator, AC compressor) has slowed down the #22-'41 Willy's project, but it has given me the opportunity to brainstorm & try a few things. I am not ready to post anything yet. I have a new front end in place to replace the straight axle and am working out some clearance issues.

Very interesting build. I especially like the way the splitter is integrated in the front bumper. Is that a Mopar big block wedge I see?

There is a thread under the Community Builds. I don't have a thread yet as I am still working things out in my head and parts kits. I am hoping to start building and a thread soon.

Different years may have had different block colors, but it appears they may have had different engines as well. The above photo shows an elephant Hemi. I am doing the same kit for the Cannonball ruse 2021 and it contains a 392 whale Hemi. Somewhere along the line I have seen a photo of this car with a red block 392.

Dave, can you refresh my memory, was the #22 Bruce Jenner again or someone else?

Ash, I think I have a good photo of this car from the 24 Hours of Daytona. I will keep looking for it, but in the meantime I came up with some photos that you can possibly extrapolate information, although most of it is related to the window nets. Sorry about the quality, but I was just starting to learn my camera, telephoto lens, and then a multiplier. First up is the Tim Richmond #25 Folgers car from the 1986 Riverside NASCAR race. I'm thinking with the sponsor promoting the same branding, the color should be similar to the Mustang. Also notice the window net that NASCAR was using at the time. The next photo is from the LA Times 6 hour at Riverside in 1983. It is a Roush IMSA GTO Mustang driven by Bruce Jenner. Among other classes, IMSA sanctioned the GTP, GTO, and Renault Cup classes. The following photos show a Zakspeed/Roush Mustang GTP, I think driven by Bobby Rahal and a Renault Cup car. Even with the differences in speed between he classes, the have the same window nets. As a side note, this Renault Cup car was purchased by Andy Pilgrim about a year or two later as his first dedicated race car when he cane to the States. The next photo shows a Roush Mustang GTO at the 1987 Riverside race. The same car model, the same team, but 4 years later with the same type of window net. And finally, IMSA sanctioned the Firehawk series which were stock automobiles with minimum modifications run on Firestone Firehawk street tires. This is from the 1987 Riverside race, driven by Andy Pilgrim. Again it has the sam window net seen in the previous IMSA examples. I also checked out some of my old Paul Oxman World racing calendars for window nets in IMSA GTO cars. It would make sense that the photos are from the year before the date of the calendar. On the 1989 calendar, the Roush XR4T had the window nets as shown. The 1990 calendar did not have a clear shot of any window nets, but Roush debuted the Cougar. On the 1991 calendar, at the 24 hours of Daytona, Robby Gordon's Roush Cougar had the wide straps on the window net, similar to the Tim Richmond car above. I hope this helps or gives you food for thought. If my memory is correct and I find the other photo, I will post it. I also have some photos from the IMSA Road America in 1986 as soon as I figure out what I did with them. I will see if they have anything useful.

Great photos Kurt. Glad to see the truck was OK with the trip. Nice wheels. I went to the Mogollon rim near Heber the weekend before your trip and was surprised to still see the Twin Arrows still standing. I am not surprised by the snow, I never went through a spring finals week at NAU without at least 1 snowfall.

I just found this thread, but if you need detail photos of any specific areas, I can go out and take them of my '71 Demon.

Is the chassis the same old original torsion bar/leaf spring suspension or same old revised a-arm/truck arm suspension? Also, does anyone know when Petty switched from Hemi to big block wedge in Chargers?

As Bruce explained this is for a dry sump oil system common to NASCAR. However, if you don't want to mess with the plumbing or finding space for the oil tank you can just eliminate it and call it a wet sump oiling system. From the instructions, the oil pan looks like it might be deep enough to pass as a wet sump or you can swap out an oil pan from a street based small block Chevy.

On his website, Peter Brock said that all of the Daytona Coupes were slightly different from one another. I just noticed in the photo above that the windshield wipers of the #16 car go in the opposite direction of those on the #13. I don't know if this is due to a difference in stop positions or the blades themselves. The pivot points look about in the same place, though. BTW, I am really enjoying this thread. Keep the good work coming. The Daytona Coupe has been my favorite care ever since I bought a K&B 1/24 slot car (on sale no less) somewhere between 1966 and 1968. Yes, I still have it.

While I was looking for parts for my Cannonball ruse build, I noticed the box art of the model shows a Vee drive in the Hemi Hydro.

Yes, that. After I thought on it the photo I saw with two shafts was in a Top Fuel drag boat with counter rotating props.

One option might be a Casle inboard boat V-drive like the '38 Chevy pickup with the Jacobs aircraft radial engine or Hurst Hemi Under Glass. I forgot where I saw it, but I remember seeing a V-drive with a second driveshaft going forward for 4 wheel drive. Oops, maybe it is '38 Plymouth P/U.

Sorry if this is getting off topic, but following the exhaust pipes on the GT40 "bundle of snakes" shows pipes from both cylinder banks routed to the same collector. Are these also 180 degree headers?

Rather than a chop to get the roofs to line up have you thought about going the other way for an Olds Vista Cruiser sort of look? I thought that when I saw your initial roof photos.

I would like to join in with this ’41 Willys. As luck would have it, I got my new Hot Rod today and there was a short article about a ’41 Willys with Art Morrison coil over chassis and 2015 Corvette LS3. That isn’t exactly the way I was going, but the limited photos in the article may provide some inspiration. I have a couple other ideas for a more Interstate friendly suspension. I plan on keeping the 392 hemi and automatic, but converting the intake over to either a stack or barrel EFI. If time and skill permit, I may try to make some type of coil on or near plug conversion with either a FAST or Mega Squirt controller. I am also toying with the idea of trying to put a Porsche whale tail on the trunk so that from the rear it looks like some kind of weird Porsche. A word of advice, don’t google search Mega Squirt, but try diyautotune.com

Another suggestion, if you don't mind is when you install the gauge faces rotate them as needed so that at normal operating conditions the needles would point straight up. The theory being a quick glance would tell a driver or co-driver during a special stage that something was Abby normal if a needle was not pointing up.