Dennis Lacy

The body actually sits where it does because if it were any further forward the magneto (not shown in any of the mock ups because I keep forgetting to drill the mounting hole in the engine) wouldn't fit. So the finished car won't have that void between the engine and firewall. I do have a new plan for that Kurtis track nose and it will eventually be a 40's vintage '25 Roadster dry lakes car, not powered by a V-6 but a flathead V8-60. That's a ways off, yet.

A car like this would have no cooling system to speak of. It would be pushed to the line, fired, do its burnout, make its run then shut down after the finish line and towed back to the pits. That being the case, engine temperature wouldn't be a concern. In a lot of cases the oil galleys in the block would be tapped into and tubes set up to spray the interior of the engine. Oil spray cooling is incredibly effective. A good friend has a current '29 Roadster Bonneville car that is 300 MPH capable. The engine is repurposed from a top-fuel dragster and has oil spray cooling only. Running the 5 mile course wide-open the engine barely breaks 160 degrees. In fact, they had to dial back the oil cooling at some point because the engine wasn't getting hot enough.

It's the same problem the current roadster kit has. It's a mile high in the front.

Here are some mock ups with all of the latest additions. I decided to forego the track nose and make a filler panel for the T shell that I'll put a shop decal on. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki I installed mounting pins in the log intake and drilled corresponding holes in the bases of the carburetors. I also modified the headers from Revell's Slingster dragster by shortening the engine side of the tubes 1/4" to suck the headers up closer to the engine and clear of the frame and suspension. Hosted on Fotki The Moon fuel tank is visible in the empty cavity behind the seat. Hosted on Fotki At this point most of the fabrication work is done other than the drive shaft and body mounts I mentioned in the chassis pictures above. Once I complete those the model can be prepped for paint which means lots of clean up work. I'll get everything ready but I'm not so sure when I'll get to actually painting it because I do all of my painting at work and right now all of my spare time at work is dedicated to a real 1932 Pickup that I'm building for myself.

UPDATE Spent some quality time at my workbench today and now have the chassis fabrication nearly finished. Just a few odds & ends left like making a drive shaft and creating some rear body mounts. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki The steering system is complete. I used the pitman arm from a Revell '32 Ford kit, cut the linkage away and drilled both ends for pins. A drag link end was created to attach to the bottom of the pitman arm, between it and the steering mount upright. The drag link is left as a slip fit into the end of it. I also made a steering wheel shaft and attached the butterfly wheel from the AMT '23 Roadster parts pack. Hosted on Fotki I built a drag link that passes through the dip in the headers and attaches to the hoop steering arm that I previously added to the front axle spindle area. Hosted on Fotki The steering pitman arm and drag link end just barely fit inside the small T cowl. Hosted on Fotki The reason I left the drag link as a slip fit into the inner tie rod end is because it has to pass through the edge of the firewall. I was originally going to mount the pitman arm on the side of the cowl but the shape of the headers dictated this arrangement. I think it's pretty neat and a little more interesting than the typical cowl mounted steering. Hosted on Fotki I mounted a pair of lever shocks to the front which are cut down versions of those found in Revell's '29/'31 Model A kits. Hosted on Fotki I also installed a simple .060" rod cross bar and mounted the nicely rendered Moon fuel tank from Revell's '32 5-Window. Hosted on Fotki

I swiped these pictures from another forum that I visit. Evidently, these came from the mans Facebook page that builds box art models for Revell. Looks like we're getting closer to having the '31 Coupe variation! Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki I see some very interesting things based on these pictures. One is that it appears as though there will be two different sets of wheels included. The "steelies" from the '29 Roadster and new Halibrand style wheels. Another is a "bare bones" style interior that represents the steel inner body structure without upholstery and good looking aviation style seats for the channeled option. The extra dash board that showed up in the '29 Roadster is obviously put to use in the coupe with a good looking gauge panel. The "hiboy" version looks to have a very nice traditional pleated interior. Both late Model A and '32 radiator shells! Lastly, other than the Chevy engine it appears as though the entire chassis is a direct carry-over from the '29 Roadster.

In fact, I'm pretty sure the NHRA rules from the 50's and 60's regarding gasser class state that the front of the car can not be higher than the rear. I think there was also a limit on how high the car could be, overall. Neat project idea, Bill! There's something about making a race car out of a big old family wagon that I've always just loved.

Very cool! And very nicely done. This has always been my favorite version of the car. I always thought the Mr. Fusion thing on the back looked hokey.

You guys aren't alone, I still use Testors tube glue to some extent on every model I build. At the very least I use it to bond engine halves together and other non-structural purposes. I don't know why so many people turn their nose up at it because when used correctly it's a very good glue. I also use Zap-A-Gap, especially for custom chassis work on old hot rods where you need the parts to attach immediately.

Thanks, guys. Glad you're both diggin' it! Hand operated master cylinder is very common on 50's and 60's drag cars like this and rails with rear brakes only.

Thanks! It's not easy sneaking a hemi into anything...

Work continues on my T Retro Drag... Today I made tabs on the frame and fitted the roll hoop, forward down bars, steering gear and seat from AMT's recently reissued parts pack Competition Roadster body kit. I changed the rectangle clutch pedal pad to a round bullseye pad. I mounted a Moon gas pedal and hand operated master cylinder from AMT's Double Dragster. The floor pan was cut down from the one in Revell's Orange Crate '32 Sedan. It still needs just a slight tweaking to fit perfect at the rear edge but it nearly matches the shape of the frame as-is. The "interior" is going to be very spartan, just the bare necessities with none of the components dependent on the body being in place. I also made a firewall from .040" styrene sheet and cut notches into the wheel wells to clear the axle tubes and spring. The new mock up pictures show the car up on all four wheels for the first time, too. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

Thanks for all of the interest, guys! I've had this T body for a little bit now and have been itching to make it into something. It's been a wicked busy week but I'm really hoping to get some quality seat time at my work bench this Sunday. The frame is a modified AMT '25 T hot rod frame which has a suicide perch up front and is Zee'd out back. I doubled the height of the front perch and Zee'd it some more the thickness of the back frame rails. Hosted on Fotki

About a month ago I started a thread showing a '25 T tall coupe that I had randomly started: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/105906-25-tall-t-show-go/ I got to playing around with it some more and decided to re purpose the basic chassis from it. I changed the Chevy engine to the 1st generation Chrysler Hemi from Revell's Slingster dragster but will be using a 6-carb log manifold instead of that kits fuel injection or super charger options. Since the Chevy was also from the Slingster the front engine mounts still worked and so did the early Ford 3-speed trans. The front axle and hairpins are modified Revell '32 Ford. The front wheels and tires are from the Slingster, rear wheels and slicks are from the recent Monogram Blue Bandito '29 truck retro reissue. '27 Roadster body is from Altered States and is a much improved version of the T roadster body that has been offered by several other resin casters over the years. Track nose is from Revell's Kurtis Midget's. The idea behind this is a mid-50's dragstrip roadster that has just evolved into a track-only car in an effort to be competative, having its hopped up flathead replaced by an early Chrysler and it's steelie wheels with caps & rings replaced with America mags & race tires. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

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Neat project! I redid the body character lines and added a bunch more using .040" half-round strips around the "C" openings, to the back of the cab and around the back window. Getting it to conform around that back window took some major patience! Something has to be done like this or that body looks like a slab. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

Nice build up of the new kit. I like how you reworked the headers to get rid of the under car exhaust.

I absolutely agree that Revell has really been bringing out some fantastic stuff over the last few years and overall they feature only minor accuracy issues, except in a couple of specific cases (like the '90 Mustang.) Because the '29 body is sitting on top of a '32 frame (a hot rod tradition going all the way back to the late 30's) or channeled over the '29-style frame. Neither scenario caters to having fenders without heavy modification. Practically no one would build a full scale hot rod like this (partly because of the work involved, partly because it doesn't look very good) so finding such a subject for Revell to use for engineering would be next to impossible. Even if a person has no interest in building a '29 Roadster in any form, that box of parts is an absolute kit-bashers delight! Luckily, AMT's '29 Roadster kit is easy to come by and has a stock body and fenders for those who prefer that.

Naturally, non-computer controlled engines in competent hands can make very impressive numbers. But, put those engines in a vehicle and lets see how far someone would want to drive it? Not to mention the fuel mileage would be in the gutter. Computer controlled performance engines, on the other hand... For example, one of my best friends has a 2001 Corvette ZO6 with a 520 rear wheel horsepower naturally aspirated LS3 in it that he built himself. Venture to guess that's a legitimate 575(ish) HP at the flywheel. Having personally spent time in the car I can vouch for the fact that it starts, idles and drives like a stock Corvette. It's still completely civilized. The only hint that it has a built engine is a very mild cam lope out of the stock titanium exhaust. But, put the pedal on the floor and all hell breaks loose. The car has absolutely violent acceleration and at 7K RPM sounds like a blue printed race engine. Now, I know you already know this, Bill. Just making conversation.

Absolutely correct about the Hot Rod version of the '29 Pickup containing a plain chrome cylinder head. Also, the Street Demons version of the kit is the same way and both of those feature closed cabs with the large back window. I'm pretty sure the Happy Days version also has the large window but I can't remember if it has the plain or Winfield chrome head. Those 3 versions were also missing the windshield visor. The Winfield script head, small back window and visor returned with the Rat Rods version of the kit. The Hot Rod version is a bit of an anomaly. It's the only one of the reissues of the '29 truck kit to feature smooth hood sides, smooth tailgate, 80's style Cragar billet Champ wheels and perhaps the coolest piece in the kit, a dropped headlight bar.

Looking back at this thread today it occurred to me that after all of the effort to put a Halibrand quick change axle under this thing I didn't take any pictures that show it off. Here's a couple more! Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

It's an optical illusion. Part of it is because of the frame rails tapering down thinner towards the rear.

Considering you have been my biggest influence in scale hot rod building and after all the help I've been given from your magazine articles over the years, we'll call it even.

Here's my first take on Revell's new kit. Back in one of the review threads it was brought up that the kit could easily be built a 3rd way by using the optional Model A frame (intended for the channeled version) as a hiboy so i decided to take that approach. Setting it up that was is relatively easy with some trimming of the wheel wells and spacers on the engine mounts to raise it up a bit. Everything else more or less falls into place. I wanted to use a lot of the kit but did make the following mods: - Revell '49 Custom Mercury chrome reverse wheels. - Revell M&H Racemaster slicks. - Revell '32 Ford frame front cross member and frame horns. - Revell '32 5-Window Moon auxiliary fuel tank. - Revell '32 Fords radiator shell & grill, chopped 1/8" and lowered over frame 1/8" - Bashed together Halibrand quick change rear axle. - '50 Pontiac taillights. - Pinstripe decals from assorted Revell hot rod kits. - Testors one-coat Pure Gold. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

It's the Model A grill. One, it should be a '32 grill. Two, it sits way too far forward on the channeled version. Also, the stance for both versions isn't good. At least the channeled version as a hint of rake. The '32 frame version sits flat as a board. As far as the channeled version goes, your efforts to lower the front go a long way towards making the car look a lot better. I also really like the color scheme you chose. It suits the car well. PS: All of the brake plates on your black '32 chassis are upside down...