noname

Okay, I'm going to keep on this one as planned. I tore off the front suspension and will do it over. I'm also going to try and fix the rear tires so they are out closer to the fenders. When in doubt, take your trusty blade out. In other words, go at it till your happy!

I don't know man, but this thing is getting funky. I did a mock up and the passenger side front wheel stuck out to far. So, .. I cut the axle and shortened it a little. Now I'm wondering if both front wheels stick out too far. The rear wheels don't seem to be out far enough. These tires are not as wide as the ones that came with this kit. Guess I didn't think that through enough.

The valve stems? Just drilled a tiny hole and used this crazy thin sized styrene rod I got from Plastistruct ( painted black ). You could use wire or anything. Doesn't get any simpler. Here is the body in primer stage. Yep, a mix of grey primer, iron oxide primer and a touch of orange Duplicolour for good measure. A bit of an experiment actually. Tear er out Grumpy and go at er'.

I think the wheels are done. Tried to take the sheen off the tires and dull the aluminum Alclad on the rims. Added valve stems. Let me know what you think.

I never thought of using those front slotted mags as rear rims. You'd have to use a hollow tire. I never liked the 4x4 stance of any of the kits or 1:1 cars. That kind of stance makes a Gasser look like a truck to go in the woods with in my opinion. Adjusting the stance in the Willys or Anglia kits is an automatic thing for me. I prefer to have not so much space between the wheel opening and the tire. I don't care for the front end being up there too high either. Alot of 1:1 cars actually ran them like that though. I guess thats one of the reasons I don't build actual famous cars. Here is a Thames I did a while ago with a corrected stance. The ladder bars wanted to hit the floor so I had to alter those. This Willys i'm working on now is actually backwards for me. I had to make it sit a little higher.

Jody,the slicks that come in those kits could go on a car back to 1965. Anything before that would likely have wrinkle walls. If you want some nice skinny old school wrinkles walls try Modelhaus. Brad, I use those skinny Firestone tires for just about every build. In this case I may have to use those smaller diameter tires to keep the height down a little and to be able to use those rims. Those tires are a little bit odd looking to me as well but they did actually use tires just like them through the second half of the sixties. I was aiming for a circa 1969 car but if the front end is still up a bit after completion I'll have to call it a 68. 1969 was the year NHRA wanted the car to sit level. Of course who knows how picky they were.

Thanks guys. Weasel, thats just about the size of it. Not going to weather it too bad though. Hopefully get some primer on today. Smart Resins, I have a Big John and Stone,Woods and Cook kit as well. They will be an even quicker build as I'll be doing earlier period Gassers and they have just about the right parts out of the box. I'll change the engines and wheels and thats about it.

Finally got the front suspension together. I'll add some shocks once it's painted. Ran into a couple snags with the engine bumping into the bar that the spring attaches to. Had to add a piece onto the engine mounts to raise it up for clearance. Also am still up in the air about front tires. May end up using the smaller diameter tires from the Mazmanian kit to keep the front end from being too high.

Looks good. How did you dull the tires down?

You can call it a nostalgic drag car. You know, a car built today to run in nostalgic drag classes. If you ever want to ask any questions about old scool period drag racing, just ask away. I don't know everything but I've been studying it for a couple years now.

If it weren't for the newer style of rims and HUGE FAT slicks I think a car like this could have actually existed if someone were crazy enough to build it. Kinda mean lookin ain't she??

Thanks guys. Weasel, I'm too cheap to go buy paint. I'll use what I already have. I'm thinking beige. That will show weathering nicely. Deciding wether to paint it all beige or do the front end flat black. Hmmm,... maybe if I keep it all beige it will look more older. Dave, Lets pretend those aren't Mustang II spindles okay. This build is suppose to be circa 1969. The axle could be Revell 32 because I made one for my sedan. I had to cut the ends off and put some other little pieces on there. Drop axles would be hard to scratchbuild. Getting the bends just right...

Well I decided to use the same rims as the rear. I've got my straight axle made. I found a drop axle that I needed to keep the front end down. In the later 60's the NHRA didn't allow nose high stances in Gasser class. And I mated the spindles from the Street Rod version to the axle. Next I'm going to make a transverse spring which is rarely if ever seen on a Willys. The other little parts are going to be used to make the rims join on to the spindles. Have different sized syrene and aluminum is a great thing! Tranny tunnel made as well. Roll bar next.

Certainly in Lions tradition. Might as well finish it. Neat project for sure.

After looking at some pics of the Ramchargers "High and Mighty", I see my freind was right. They did use what was probably the first 4 link. So in order save me some time scratchbuilding, I decided to leave the kit 4 link with a few made up brackets to keep it looking not so new. The guys you raced this Gasser were smart and ahead of their time. Also turned the kit inner door panels to "stripped" mode.

The hobby shop I was dealing with said they will be getting some Italeri Opel Blitz and Revell Bussing 8000 in. Both are quite expensive. The Revell is about $10 cheaper and seems to be quite detailed from what I can see.

I got the impression that 4 links weren't really used ubtil the 70's. I'm making new shocks while I'm at it. This is the Street Rod version and although I want the tires up in the wheel wells a tad to make use of the tubbs, I don't want it to be quite so low. I'll have to make some springs for it too. As well as interior,.. yada yada yada. More scratchbuilding.

I need to have at least a couple builds on the go this time of year as it is just to cold to go out in the shed and paint some days. I was inspired for this build by a Willys in the last Rod and Kulture. I thought a 426 Max Wedge was a great engine ( unusual that is ) for a Willys. So here is the plan. A guy buys a weathered Willys in the late sixties that was raced in the earlier sixties and sat around for a few years. You know, passed around maybe like cars do. Hence the weathering (mild ) that will take place. Car probably had a Hemi or an Olds motor in it's early years. So this guy gets a hold of an old Super Stock motor that was left by the way side for a Hemi. Imagine how many times that probably happened in the real world. Here is the Willys. Ever seen one before? Here is the motor that comes in the AMT Merc. Had to redo the manifold, thin the fan belt and add a little detail to the front of the heads. And the wheels. Those rear rims won't be staying chrome. And I'll be turning the four link into ladder bars. Thanks for looking.

Thanks Mr.Moto. I'm glad to hear it's coming across well.

Thanks guys. These engines always look better in person than in a blown up photo. But it will be fine once in the car. Thanks for the offer Dave. I'm actually doing something different for a change. I'm not even putting slicks on the car. I would put them in the trunk but there will be no room. Some guys never even run slicks because of cost or whatever. This is going to be fairly weathered. Not a wreck or anything. Just real worn in. It will look more like the car being driven on the street. Barely even a Gasser. The car wouldn't even be that fast in real life. Thats what I get a kick out of. If you were running anything under 17 seconds in a car like this back in 59-60 you'd be doindg okay. I have a Willys project I'm starting too. 426 Wedge and some weathering as well. Was inspired by a car in the last Rod and Kulture.

Think I got the engine done. Trying to figure out how to do the hood hinges. I'd like to make some that work but I'm afraid I'd go nuts. These cars actually have like two sets on each side.

Thanks guys. Wow, their not cheap eh! I'll call the hobby shop back and give them the number to see if that helps. I like the idea of the old Chev cab on the Blitz for sure.

Thanks,.. what you said Lonbox is about what I was thinking. The problem is the hobby shop I was trying to get one from doesn't seem to be able to get any. And of course I was wondering if anybody else made something similar. Revell and Amt make big trucks but there doesn't seem to be so many medium duty trucks.

Does anybody make a 1/25 ( or 1/24 ) dual wheel truck that would be pre 1960? Like a 3 ton or whatever is close to that? I'm just looking for an old dual wheel truck with decent detail basically. I called a local hobby shop ( sort of local ) asking about a 1/24 Opel Blitz but they didn't think they made one. After looking on the internet it is obvious they did (Italeri). I've also found a 1/24 Bussing 8000 S13 that looks pretty good. Maybe these kits just aren't available. Looking mostly for 1/25 but a 1/24 would be okay. Having a real hard time finding ANYBODY that is presently making one. Know of anything??? Any help appreciated. Thanks

Those headers are working nicely.