OldNYJim

Outstanding work Steve!!! Looks GREAT!

Thanks for your continued support Steve! I’m thinking of a nice pastel blue for this one - haven’t quite found the shade that I’m looking for yet though. Might have to just mix something to get what I’m imagining in my head... Thanks buddy! I’m kinda with you, yes! I had the blower stuff sitting on the bench so I tried it and kinda liked it (and liked it more the longer I looked at it), but my original idea was something more subtle but mechanically interesting still - like a Hilborn mechanical fuel injection setup maybe? That’s more what I originally had in mind...the block still looks HUGE in there, which I like, but it’s not as ‘bad’ (or good, depending on your viewpoint) as with the big blower. Need to keep thinking on that... Meanwhile, I was putting off making headers, but I needed to so that I can do the steering parts so that was today’s project. Did some research on tube sizes, and 1 7/8” seemed to be the consensus of what would be a sensible diameter for a traditional size pipe coming out of a Hemi...nowadays 2 1/2 to 3” pipes seem to be more common from what I was reading but they’d run a little smaller back in the day: These are the individual headers from the AMT Showboat kit, which I like because you get 32 of them in the box ?. That’s where I got the intake system from - but I still need to do some research and make sure it’s appropriate for this engine. I stripped the chrome, cleaned up each pipe and then did some careful measuring and positioning to get them to match on both sides...they measure out to just under 2 inches diameter, so I think they’d work ok without choking that Hemi too much, but still looking traditional and not as big and chunky as people might run now. Something I wanted to do was to get the angle of the pipes to match the angle of the cowl, when viewed from the top - or close as I can on a cowl that has a bow in it, anyway. I think I like ‘em! More soon - need to figure out steering next!

Nice job! Looks like a complex decal job, but you got them nailed - looks great in that flouro yellow too! Killer! I’ll be watching!

Not that you were asking me, but it seems like the FIA left a hole in the rules that didn’t account for the “can’t forget something you’ve learned” aspect of parts sharing between manufacturers and they’ve compromised between somewhat placating the other teams and trying to let Racing Point off the hook a little and ended up pleasing nobody. I’m glad that racing is happening again to though Back on topic - great looking build! I love it! Makes me want to build one of my own! The paint looks great on it, in particular, very clean and well done ??

Why / how did you have Guido, who lives half a planet away from you, cast that engine?

LOVE that color! What is it? Looks AMAZING!

This is going to be a great build Also, I like your detailed threads with lots of photos and progress pictures! I’ll be following!

A little tiny bit more today - made that third linkage we were talking about: Tried to make it visually similar to the hairpins on the front end...this would work ok, right? I figure the two trailing arms on the bottom of the axle stop the axle rocking back and forth relative to the frame (but allowing it to swing up and down) and then this one stops it being able to move side to side if I mount it like this (at least, when coupled with the airbags): All the geometry throws me a little on this stuff, but I think my theory’s right? Meanwhile, at the other end of the car, dug out a collection of Hemi parts from my stash: I had a block and trans left over from an AMT 53 Stude kit, and a blower left from a Mod Rod kit...I wasn’t necessarily going for anything as wild as that, but now it’s in there I kinda like it! I need to do some research and figure out what trans AMT has moulded into that Hemi to see if it’s something that COULD be used on the street in principle, but it’s a fun look! Quick bench mock-up to see how it would look on it’s wheels: I’d drive* it! More soon! *probably crash

10-4 on that! I was thinking of a three link on the rear rather than a 4 link, just to keep it nice and clean looking, but still mechanically feasible. I could hide a third linkage above the axle and it wouldn’t be too easy to see but if you knew to look for it it would be in there. Still not totally decided on that, but now the bottom linkages and bags are on there I can add some of those bits. Do I need shocks on the rear still with the airbags on there? I’ve seen it done both ways - need to learn more about these, I guess! Not traditional in the slightest I guess - but it gave the the stance I wanted! ? I think it looks cool, on it’s wheels! Thanks buddy! I like the idea of a Hemi too! I need to look in my stash here... I know I’ve got an AMT Hemi here from the 53 Studebaker kit, I think it might be more race oriented than street though from memory? I know it’s a twin blower setup, which is more than I was looking for for this one, but I might have something a little less crazy that could work. Need to visit the junkyard and do some diggin’ around! Not much progress today, but as I’m replying anyway I found a spot for the gas tank. I spent the morning making a couple of tanks that could run under the floor, one either side of the driveshaft...but when I’d made them I hated them. Went with a simple round one - measured it and worked out the volume, it would hold about 11 gallons in real life, if I did my math right. Should be good for 50 miles or so at least ? A rectangular one would hold more gas, obviously, but this one would fit and give clearance for the axle even in it’s lowest sitting position and I don’t have to cop out and say “the gas tank’s under the seat so you can’t see it!” or whatever. That said, the battery is almost certainly going to be under the seat, along with the compressor for the air-ride ?? More soon!

Good deal!

Absolutely! Yes, I should’ve mentioned that - thanks Steve!

Not picture related, but maybe upgrade related - often when I post a reply (with or without pics attached) I get stuck on “Saving...” and the post never posts...like this: Ditto, adding an image to a post - helpfully the software just did it again when I was posting the image above...it looks like it’s trying to upload it but nothing ever happens... I have a work-around that I’ve been using, but just a heads up Dave. Thanks for all you do for the site!

I know this is an old post, but what an incredible build! Very very cool indeed. I’d love to know how much time is in that...PLENTY, I would think...

Pity, because there’s some AMAZING work in those Fotki albums linked there

Really enjoying this one Dennis! Always an inspiration!

I’m not sure - I didn’t try spending it anywhere yet ?‍♂️?

Ohh, I’ve been wanting one of those! What were they charging for them?

That looks GREAT! Nice job!

There’s, like, a thousand answers to this question...but I like Testors Enamel Clear - especially if I have some stuff to ‘bury’, because it’s high build and super glossy:

Makes perfect sense, yes! These T’s are really small! I checked the dimensions of this body versus a real one and it’s not really undersized like I suspected it would be - Model Ts are just cosy! ? Spent some time today making the rear suspension - went with my take on an airbag system, much as I wanted to use a leaf on there... Left myself a scale inch of wiggle room for when I assemble it - the axle mounts to the frame on some pins, which I can chop down a little to shorten them to get the stance just right after everything’s painted: Test of the body on the frame - I wanted it to line up so the bottom corner of the front of the body will line up with where the Z in the front of the frame is - should work out ok: Next up, I resin cast a Deuce grill and sliced about 6 scale inches out of the middle of it so it’ll line up with the top of the cowl: And then with that done I dug out the biggest pair of headlamps I could find in my parts stash and mounted them as close together and tight to the grill as I could get them...came out just how I imagined them in my head! Got plenty of space in there for whatever engine I pick (depending mostly on what I can find in my stash here) and there’s a nice centerline to the car that extends from that grill shell through to the rear decklid - and then that massive high roof! ? And a quick mock-up on the bench to see how it’ll look with the wheels on there - I like it! More soon!

Spent some time in Manhattan today and saw a few that caught my eye. Harley trike: What I thought was a van with a rocket on top (turned out it was more mundane than that) Liked the paint on this - looked cool in satin! Super clean old Merc: Whatever this is - looked fun! Something practical for NYC gridlock ? And another old Cadillac to add to the collection of old Cadillacs in my mostly-old-school-Italian neigborhood: Oh, and an electric unicycle contraption, for when you’re sick of transporting yourself around in a safe manner!

I wonder if the stripes on that box art model were painted rather than decalled? Would be easier to paint that scoop than decal it for sure. Then, a black wash would give you the dark spots in that vent. Of course, some decal setting solution would probably get you pretty close and make those decals snuggle in to the vents and then you can do a black wash over those after you’ve done the clear in the same way ??

I like using scissors too! Also, if the end will be hidden after you’ve assembled them anyway (say, folded under a buckle and hidden underneath the rest of the belt) I cut them at an angle so they’re pointy - makes them easier to get through the little slots that most PE seatbelt sets have somewhere on the metal parts

Exactly right buddy, yes! I won’t be running fenders on this so that’s one less issue to overcome. It’s mainly a packaging issue of getting everything inside that little trunk (not that there will be a trunk by the time I’ve filled it with an axle and suspension) in such a way that it would be able to work in real life. I really want to not cut away any of the bodywork back there so that the trunk sides look nice and clean so whatever suspension I go with has got to be pretty narrow. I also want it to have as low of a ride height as possible at the back, and a leaf spring loses some of that ride height because, by design, it would have to sit over the top of the axle somehow - so I think that option’s out if I want this thing to have the stance that I want. I did make a rough mock-up of a rear end that would work with the leaf spring, but the stance really sucked compared to what I had in mind: This one will get filed away in the “might be useful another time” box whilst I try some other ideas. I think the compromise is an air ride type system on the rear end only - so I can display it with the system ‘deflated’ and the axle sitting almost on the frame, but so that if this were a 1:1 it would be feasible that you could pump it up a little and actually drive the thing. Mount some bags behind the axle like this and get the best of both worlds... The front end wouldn’t need any such system in this case because I zee’d the frame so heavily in the first place, so it could still have a traditional hot rod kind of look on the outside but with that “looks like it’s almost too low to work” look that you might see on a rat rod or something like that. That’s my engineering challenge here - crazy low stance even with decent height rear tires but done in such a way that it could still function AND it looks traditional and cleanly done from about every angle except laying on your back looking up underneath the trunk. God knows where the fuel tank is gonna go - in the glove box maybe ?‍♂️?. More improbable packaging fun tomorrow! ?

Welp, I solved my dilemma on which clearcoat to use on this thing...went with the Testors enamel clear that I usually like. The Testors Boyd acrylic clear that I’d tested on a spoon still seemed too soft to polish even after a couple of weeks of drying (and it’s HOT here lately too!), so back to ol’ faithful enamel...just slowly building up the coats here but it’s laying down pretty glossy and slick!