Dennis Lacy

Thanks, David! The late 30s Ford transmission was cut off the Dodge Hemi in Amt's 29 Roadster.

Thanks, Bill! Fitting later center X's to early frames is a timeless practice. I also appreciate the vote of confidence. The proportions are pretty much what they're gonna be and I'm pleased.

Anything's possible. In this case, it's not what I want. Although this front end arrangement was done in the 40's it wasn't wasn't very common and not a look that most people liked. I wanted to challenge myself to build a good looking car despite it.

Roadster Progress: Combed through my bin of Flathead hop-up parts and figured out the engine setup. Again, block & front cover from Revell '40 Ford's. Edelbrock heads from Revell '40 Ford's. Intake manifold from AMT '34 5-Window (stock version, which includes some Flathead speed parts.) Pair of carburetors from Revell Ed Roth Tweedy Pie. Crankcase breather scoop from Revell '37 Pickup (which fits perfect into the little firewall recess!) Headers from Revell '48 Coupe. Stock '48 belt drive from Revell '48 Convertible. Hosted on Fotki Did the initial setup on the front axle which, along with the spring and tierod, comes from Revell '40 Ford's. Cut off the molded wishbone and replaced with a pair of split wishbones from the new Revell '29 Roadster. Made my own frame mounts. Still need to add shocks and steering. Also fit up Revell '48 Ford brake plates front and rear. Hosted on Fotki Started working on some interior upgrades. I cut the upper rail away from the '29 dashboard then grafted it to a narrowed '37 Pickup dashboard. Not shown (because it wouldn't stay in place) there will also be a '48 column shift with '37 Pickup wheel. The rest of the interior will be out of the '29 box. Hosted on Fotki Here's some new full mock ups. I decided to ditch the '34 Pickup grill (because, lets face it, it really didn't look good) and put on a Revell '32 with the sides notched to bring it down to the correct height. I also got the front wheels fit flush into the tires and widened the inner rear wheels to take up the space in the wide tires. 8-| Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

I ended up ditching the Tall T body and Chevy engine for a T Roadster body and Hemi. The model is now finished (as of a couple of days ago) and can be seen here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/116627-27-t-retro-dragstrip-roadster/

Thanks, Tim! Just to be clear, the angle of the '48 radius rods doesn't ordinarily match the angle of the rear "legs" of the '40 X. Only in this case because the angle of the rear "legs" of the X has been altered to fit this frame.

Absolutely. A necessary modification any time a later model grill is used on a 29.

I've been having ideas floating in my head for this roadster project for several months now and I felt like it was time to actually start building it. I've been doing a lot of 50's and 60's styled rods and drag racers so I want to get back to my 40's roots with this one. Starting with the new Revell body and frame. I filled in all of the various notches in the frame rails then fitted in the center X and rear cross member from a Revell '40 Ford frame. The engine block & transmission are also from a Revell '40 with home made front brackets. The rear axle and spring are from the Revell '48 Ford's. I would like to say I planned it this way but the fact that the rear legs of the center X and rear axle radius rods are on identical angles is purely coincidental. But, it's a very happy accident! For the front axle set up I'm going to go less conventional and use the dropped front axle and spring from the Revell '40 Ford hot rods. In this arrangement the spring is mounted in front of the axle (Ford started this in 1935 and continued it through 1948) which helps get the whole thing low. One of the drawbacks to doing this is that it shortens the wheelbase by several inches. However, with the somewhat stretched frame (and resulting extra length in front of the cowl) in this new Revell kit the proportions don't get as wonky as it would on a stock '32 frame. There were definitely a handful of documented West Coast cars built back in the 40's with this style of front end but it seems to be largely an East Coast thing. Wheels are from Revell's '37 Pickup and Panel trucks. Rear tires are from the '29 Roadster kit and front tires are from the Ed Roth Beatnik Bandit. Another less conventional move, I'm thinking about using the '34 Pickup grill. There were a few Model A roadster built back in the old days with these grills and they didn't look half bad (or maybe they only looked half good?) Kind of a "poor guys" '32 grill. One of the reasons I'm thinking of using this grill is that due to the fact it leans back it won't appear to be as far forward of the front axle center line as a vertical grill would. It will help shorten the overly long distance from the grill top to cowl top giving much more favorable "hood" proportions, even without a hood. The angle of the grill also compliments the angled body line where the cowl and doors meet, as well as the angle of the windshield. So, here's a handful of pictures of what I've done so far. Comments welcome! Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

'27 T Retro Dragstrip Roadster Altered States Models '27 T Roadster body. Door line and stock firewall detail removed. Home made firewall from .040" sheet. Chopped and open radiator shell from AMT '23 T competition body parts pack. Partial belly pan cut down from Revell Orange Crate. AMT '25 T hot rod frame with roll bar, seat, center steering box and butterfly wheel from AMT '23 T competition body parts pack. Frame Z'd higher at rear and front spring perch raised. AMT Double Dragster "Moon" gas pedal, tachometer and hand brake handle. Hand pressure pump from Revell Kurtis Midgets. Moon fuel tank from Revell '32 5-Window. Gauge face decals from Ed Roth Tweedy Pie T. Front axle, hairpin rods and tierod from Revell '32 5-Window with scratch-bashed hoop steering arm and home made drag link rod. Revell '29 Pickup lever shocks. AMT '25 T Halibrand quick change rear axle, spring and shocks. Home made spring/shock brackets on axle tubes. Revell '40 Ford ladder bars. Monogram Blue Bandito brake plates. Monogram Slingster dragster 12-spoke front wheels & tires. Monogram Blue Bandito 5-spoke rear wheels & slicks. Monogram Slingster Hemi engine block, heads, valve covers, timing cover and modified zoomie headers. Parts bin log intake, Ed Roth Tweedy Pie T carburetors and home made fuel blocks with hoses. Modified finned valley cover and breather tube from Revell '32 5-Window Hemi. Spalding Flamethrower distributor from Revell Pontiac engine parts pack, drilled & wired. AMT '32 Vicky "Dual Coil". Early Ford 3-speed trans and center cross member from AMT '29 Roadster optional Dodge Red Ram. Home made drive shaft. Tamiya TS55 Dark Blue on body. All decals from recent retro reissue of AMT '32 Vicky. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

Update! A few weeks ago I got everything painted and over this past weekend I managed to get about halfway through final assembly. Hoping to get it finished over the coming holiday weekend. Here's some sub-assembly pictures and a mock up. I ended up changing the decal scheme just before paint after I scored the sheet from AMT's recent retro reissue of the '32 Vicky off of eBay for $3.50. Color is actually very dark blue. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

The new mock up looks fantastic, Bill. Nice work on the frame!

Fantastic work, Chris! Now that I've seen your modified roof version I can't not see the inaccuracies when I scroll up to earlier pictures of the project. This is going to make for a situation where once finished if your model is sitting next to someone elses built from this kit yours is going to look a lot more "right" but leave people wondering why.

Very neat project idea, Bernard. It's interesting because with all of the traditional and neo-traditional hot rods being built these days to try and emulate or relive the past the high bolster look isn't done a whole lot. I think it may have to do with that it excludes the use of a top. Almost everybody I know with a roadster has a chopped and stylized up-top which, I think, is ironic because it defeats the purpose of having an open car. Before I sold my T roadster my ultimate plan was to paint the car shiny one day and have a built-in seat with a bolster that wrapped over the top and sides of the body where the wood tack strip would have normally been.

Great start and color choice!

Outstanding project idea and the mock up is a fantastic combination of pieces. I can't wait to see it once you get those headers built! Also, thanks for the neat tire holder-upper idea.

Right? This rear suspension set up practically falls right into place on the channeled A frame from these kits. I eyeballed fitting it to the '32 frame and it would be a bit more work but still doable. It's funny because when I selected the rear end setup and Orange Crate rolling stock I wasn't even thinking about your killer roadster. Then I went and had another look at it when you put it up on TRaK and realized what was going on, LOL! Sure, we can line 'em up but I think my Cammer has a horsepower advantage over your injected Nailhead.

Thanks, Tim. Having you comment on my projects always means a lot to me!

A good set of traditional 30's wires would be killer, for sure! In particular, Kelsey Hayes 16" 40-spoke accessory wheels from the mid-30's that were on virtually every hot rod before WWII. This is my favorite wheel for the Firestone track tires, they just look so natural together. I had a set on my Deuce Pickup with Firestone bias-plys for years. Hosted on Fotki

Nice work on the reversed firewall!

Thanks, Chris! I've always loved the look of the Orange Crate's Firestone ribbed track tires. I also love the fact that the Halibrand wheels have all the inside reinforcement detail. If I go full Altered with this project it won't have front brakes and the extra wheel detail will go a long way towards the overall appearance of the car. The ribbed track tires in the new A kits (and first seen in the Stacy David roadster) are also Firestone's (minus the name because of licensing, of course) and are actually very accurate to the real thing. The real ones have the hard edges to the sidewall blocks. In any case, I've always been a fan of the Firestone ribbed track tires on vintage styled hot rods and race cars. I'm really happy that Revell stepped up and gave us a killer set of tires, finally!

Yeah, stance and drivetrain angle are set so no worries there. Not sure what the final colors will be. I'm leaning heavily towards full competition car which would be a mid-60's Altered. I'm probably going to use the yellow Malco Products decals from AMT's '33 Willys and thinking of using yellow as an accent color to tie in so the main color would have to go with that. The interior is gonna be spartan with the kit "skeleton" panels. If I go full Altered I will probably use the single bucket seat from the Mazmanian Willys which has tuck & roll padding (Altered's only required a driver seat). I'll save those sweet bomber seats for something else.

Grabbed one of these new kits (finally) last weekend. Thanks to Tim Boyd's excellent review pictures I pretty much came up with a solid plan ahead of time. I'm undecided if this is going to be a full mid-60's competition car or competition-inspired hardcore street going hot rod. I haven't done anything that would swing it one way or the other - yet. I started the chassis modifications with the rear axle and suspension from Revell's Mazmanian '41 Willys which consists of an early Oldsmobile axle, quarter elliptic springs, tubular shocks and loooooooooooong ladder bars. This entire setup was surprisingly easy to fit into the A frame. All of the joints are pinned together with .040" Evergreen rod. The molded on axle stands will be removed in the end. I used them to locate the axle while fitting everything. The brake plates and finned brake drums from the '30 Coupe kit were then fit to the Olds axle with .060" Evergreen rod protruding to attach the wheels. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki The complete set of pin-drive knock-off Halibrand wheels, ribbed track tires and M&H slicks are from Revell's Orange Crate '32 Sedan. To fit the rears I simply shaved the backsides of the wheels flat and center-drilled them to fit onto the .060" pins on the axle. Super easy! Hosted on Fotki The kits tubular center frame member was modified by building up a new transmission mount with additional triangulated gussets on the sides. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki I forgot to take a good, clear picture of the engine assembly but this pic mostly shows it. It is the Ford 427 SOHC "Cammer" out of AMT's '33 Willys. I removed the molded on C6 auto trans and installed the bell housing from a Revell parts pack 427 Ford engine and the GM Hydro (B&M Hydro-Stick) auto trans from Revell's Cadillac parts pack engine. New engine mounts were added to the forward part of the frame to accommodate the molded brackets on the sides of the engine. Hosted on Fotki I had to trim out the front part of the floor to 1) clear the bell housing and trans and 2) allow the engine to sit up higher in the frame because the installed height allowed by the original shallow hump in the floor would have the entire oil pan below! the frame. Hosted on Fotki I installed some temporary pins to hold the wheels on the front axle and have a '32 shell with solid grill panel from Revell's 5-Window sitting in place. If I go for a streetable car I will put a normal grill and the A kit front brakes and finned drums. Instead of the blower setup from the '33 Willys I used the dual 4-barrel intake and carburetors also from Revell's 427 Ford parts pack engine. The engine was mounted so that the intake carburetor mounting pads are level. The Hilborn scoop is from the blower option in the new A kit. The headers are from the Mazmanian Willys. I also didn't notice until I was processing the pictures but I sure did manage to tack the drivers cam cover on crooked. Good lord! One of the issues with the channeled versions of these new A kits is that there seems to be a lot of "dead air" under the car. The heavy duty ladder bars hanging under there sure do solve that problem! There have been no modifications to alter the stance other than the rubber rake caused by the new wheels & tires. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Lots more to come. Any thoughts welcome!

I got started on mine yesterday. When I get a little farther I'll get a thread going on the Workbench.

After what you did with the sister roadster kit I can't wait to see what you do with these. The topless Sport Coupe idea sounds sweet!

It looks like the Happy Days version and later but similar version to its right have the Orange Crate wheels & tires transplanted. If they're not from the Orange Crate then they're nearly identical. Either way, I think it looks pretty neat like that!