Hawk312

I just got a reply from my LHS. They said their shipment of it is on the way and they should have it in a few days. :) I can`t wait. Has anyone gotten theirs yet?

Wow. All my old threads are coming back up! Yeah, I originally started this as an L-89. Prepping the body is the first thing I do since I put so much clear coat and drying times are usually in terms of weeks. It was an oversight. BTW, this one will be in the May/June issue of MCM, if it ever comes out. Can I say that?

I`m interested in this as well. I called the LHS, and they don`t have it yet.

Thanks Grandpa Where are you seeing the 1/8 scale kits? I`m not seeing any on their site. Do they have the Big Duece there as well?

Ok guys.... sorry again for the long wait on this. I am going to go back to the engine, instead of starting on the Mustang. I`ll be adding an intake, ignition, and wiring and then adding some little details like labels and bolts. I`ve been tossing around the idea of a Weber carb setup, but I think I am going to rob my `85 Corvette of it`s Tune Port setup for this. I `ll probably end up chroming the entire intake to make it look custom, like what you might see on a nice street rod, instead of dropping it back in the Corvette with a stock appearance. The details are so nice on this engine that I would hate to drop it into an engine bay where you can barely see it. That means that it wont be going in the Camaro either. I`ll probably try to hold out and get one of the `32 Ford kit`s or maybe a T-bucket. Thoughts? Oh well.... I gotta get back to building. I`ll have pics up soon.

Here are some pics of the kit engine in the Camaro. I bought this one assembled, which explains the goofy glue job. Notice that cylinder head detail is just about non-existent, there is no texture on the block, and the bolts on the oil pan are actually ovals that are molded into the side of the oil pan.

I think at this point, I am going to wait. I was thinking about putting this in the camaro and using it`s intake, but I`m not sure I want to put that crossfire injection setup (ewwwwww) on this engine. I was looking at some of the intakes on the TDR site, and was thinking about going with one of them, maybe even a blower. Then again, maybe the TDR guys have plans for me to review one of their intakes, so maybe I will ask them for direction. Once I have an idea of what I`m going to do, I`ll probably add alot more little details, like wires and labels, etc. I am open to any suggestions.

Ok, so the brackets and alternator are in place. I went with a generic bracket up top, and then went for something a little custom down below. Creating the brackets wasn`t nearly as difficult as I thought, but lining everything up was a pain! But it was worth it. So, except for the additional alternator brackets, fan belt, oil drain plug, and dipstick, this is a complete stock buildup of the TDR SBC engine. I can think of a million details I can add to this thing, but I wanted to give everyone an idea of how it builds up "out of the box." Everything fit really nice, and was fun to put together. This was a learning experience for me for sure. I am sure as I get the hang of working with this material and fabricating parts I`m not use to fabricating, the end results will be better. One thing I am going to be sure to do on the Mustang body and any future builds will be to use high-build primer on the smooth parts. As you can see from the pictures, it requires a little more than some light sanding and basic primer to get the texture leveled out. I am not sure where I am going to go with it now. It may go in my `82 Camaro kit I have lying around, but I hate to "waste" it on that. We`ll see. I was thinking about getting the `32 Ford kit to build around this engine. We will see.

Thanks for the tip. After seeing what they have there, it makes me want to tear apart everything I have done now and start over. Some nice stuff there!

Guys, sorry for the delay, again. I was building the alternator bracket, sanding and filing etc., when it snapped in two in my hands. I`ll post some pictures once I get it back together. I may just end up going with a real simple set-up. Thanks again for all the help.

Thanks guys for clearing that up. And those pics will be great reference AJ. Thanks everyone!!

Any thoughts anyone? I`m not liking the thought of cutting into either the alternator or the valve cover, and bringing out the balancer pulley just isn`t going to look right, IMO. I am tempted to just mount it far off to the side to clear the valve cover.

Thanks for the tip guys. Thanks for the offer, Grandpa. I would like to keep this a "stock" build up for the review for now, but I may changed my mind once this is completed. Here is a picture with the pulley on. Now that I look at it, the coil detail isn`t too bad. I think this is really going to look good on the motor. I ran into my first fitment problem that I am trying to work through. As you can see from the pic, the alternator pulley stick way out from the other pulleys, evem when butt up against the valve cover. I was trying to avoid mounting it way out in the open space to the right of the valve cover, but I would like to have it closer to the engine. Here you can see what I mean:

I spent some time with strands of copper from stranded circuit wire wrapping them around a center core I built up from scratch plastic. I twisted them in groups of three, and then twisted them together to try to simulate what the coils inside of an alternator look like. I was working from about 10 reference pics. As you can see, I`m not sure if it was worth all the time an effort, as it is really difficult to see the results through the front of the alternator. I also have the pulley on it now, which hides them just a little more. I think if I were to do it again, I would try to thin out the "spokes" in the alternator front from behind to try to bring the coils a little closer to the openings. Now with the pulley on and the bolts detailed a little, it is really convincing. Once the weather improves here, I`ll post more pics of it. I also still have to figure out the alternator bracket. It`s going to take some planning to get it perfectly aligned with the pulleys on the engine.

Here is the alternator, which I primed and sanded smooth as best I could. As you could imagine, it was a little tough getting in the tight spots. I used 400 grit sandpaper, knife and some files to clean everything up. Testors Aluminum Plate metalizer was applied.

Just another quick pic. Fixed the head fitment problem by sanding down the mounting "tabs" just a little. Everything seems to fit pretty well. Also painted and installed the oil filter. I sanded down the alternator and primed it. I am also trying to decide what type of bracket configuration I am going to fabricate. I will hopefully have more pictures soon.

I am using Insta-cure CA glue. And of course I had to pick the super thin kind which is runny and can get to be a mess pretty easily. Using a thicker CA glue would definitely easier to work with.

Ok, so here is the alternator cleaned up and drilled out. After looking at the pictures, I think the texture just a little on the heavy side for an alternator. I am debating trying to sand it down a little. What are everyone`s thoughts on that? The "slots' in the back were done with the back of a number 11 blade. I didn`t get it quite perfect, but the material seemed to respond well to this. Again, the material semms a little more "gritty" than styrene.

It is on the passenger side. Guys, I will be posting some pictures of the alternator shortly. I spent some time drilling it out and cleaning it up, which took a little while. But I will have pictures shortly.

Hi Harry, Yeah, that is my fault. I built up the paint on the block a little too much, and now the head fits really tight because the paint is so thick. It seems to be just on the passenger side though....the driver`s side seems fine. I pulled it apart and am sanding the mating surfaces. I`ll post more pics once I get everything fitting right. The last thing I have to do, besides the head bolts, is the alternator. It is molded open, so I am going to try building this from the inside out with visible coils and everything. I`ll be posting more pics soon.

Thanks for the tip! Ill give that a try.

A little more progress. Added the crank and water pump pulleys.

Thanks! I need ideas for the cylinder head bolts. As many of you know, they are typically a bolt with a large round beveled area at the bottom of the hex area, and it is a little difficult to fabricate 20 of them in 1/8 scale. Any ideas?

As I mentioned before, I am taking more time taking pictures and posting them then I am actually building this. Everything is going together perfectly without any fitment problems. The heads, water pump, and balancer are now installed. The heads had nice locating tabs which made them a snap to install. The balancer fit perfectly into the timing chain cover and was "secure" (fit tightly), which was nice as it took out the guesswork of whether or not the balance was mounted level. I fabricated a dipstick and bracket with some wire, tubing, and sheet styrene. The oil drain bolt on the oil pan is just aluminum tubing flattened on 6 sides with needle nose pliers, and then filled with putty and painted. If I had it to do over again, I would either paint the oil pan orange, or wait and install the oil pan last. s you can see, the sensitive chrome paint is getting marked up pretty easily. Let me know what you think.

Guys, I apologize for the lack of clarification on my part. I am using a pin vice and several different size drill bits for the drilling...no power tools. Also, lately, I am spending more time on taking and editing photos than I am on actually building. Everything is going together very smoothly. More pictures coming soon.