Alyn

Thanks, guys. Glad you like the details. They're why I like building engines so much; lots of details. Mike, if anything, I may be a master at hiding my mistakes. You, on the other hand are a master of ideas. I always enjoy watching how you settle for nothing less than the best possible way to solve a modeling problem. love it I tried to get the miscellaneous engine detail parts painted tonight for some show and tell, but there's still a few colors to go. Tomorrow is "date night" and there's an IPMS show in Leavenworth Kansas on Saturday. Hopefully, I'll have another engine update over the weekend.

and some more ... Got paint on the major parts. The Pontiac engine blue is simply Testors 1162 flat blue enamel (the little square bottles). The manual transmission is a stainless steel metalizer and the bell housing is cheap hardware store silver. Here's my scratch build fuel distribution block. The hole on the top will support a throttle linkage bell crank. The black hoses will curve around and plug into the outer side of each injector, terminated with a small aluminum sleeve. The braided hose will connect up to the fuel line filter (part of the kit supplied fuel pump assembly. Normally, this type of fuel injection would not use the factory mechanical pump, but i like the look of it. One final picture to show where I'm at so far. thanks for taking a look. I hope to have an update soon on either the bodywork, or suspension.

I'm still working on the engine, but at least it's starting to look like one. mock up of the right bank injector casting with stacks mocked up: Here's a mock up of all the major scratch built parts on the engine. the parts are just setting in place, so final assemble should take care of the gaps. the new, smaller water cross-over pipe looks much better. Here's most of the remaining parts for the engine assembly. Each part will get it's own paint treatment. The oil pan will be painted black followed by a coat of Alclad chrome. The generator will be semi-gloss black with an aluminum end plate. Most factory cast headers would be a dark cast iron color with some rust weathering. Pontiac cast these headers in aluminum, so these will be painted bright silver with some heat stain weathering (talent willing). The starter motor will be black with the solenoid painted silver and gold. The oil filter will be silver and white, and the fuel pump assembly will be silver, gold and black. I need to drill out the distributor and add an aluminum tube shaft on the bottom. the cap will be black. Finally, the fan pulley/belt assembly will be the most complex with shiny black on two pulleys, Pontiac engine blue on the crank pulley, silver on the generator fan blades, and matte black on the belt.

... and if we do it less, perhaps that could become the new normal.

great detail work on the powerplant. Nicely done all around for that matter.

Ed Roth's Outlaw (1:1 fullsize) was built using a hand laid fiberglass tub, so when I built the Revell model, I covered the inside of the body with 3/4 oz. fiberglass cloth(finest available at the LHS). Not right on scalewise, but it gets the point across.

another cool one, John. great color choice. The gold paint and black stripes are the perfect compliment.

This statement (not the first time you mentioned "unfair") stands out. Disappointed, I can understand, but other than someone being 10 minutes late, I haven't heard you state that the other contestants were judged any differently than you, so where did the "unfair" part come in? Unfair because they didn't run there show the way you want? My experience at several IPMS shows over the last couple of years is that they encourage automotive entrants and invite positive input on how to make this happen. Not knowing how many car guys will show up, it is difficult to determine what classes to support. I think it's great that the IPMS judging puts such an emphasis on basic building skills. My understanding is that this is the first thing they look for. Models that that don't achieve this baseline of basic standard build practices don't make the final cut. What better way to encourage basic building skills. I entered my 29 Ford pickup and gokart in the light commercial class at a recent IPMS show. After looking over the competition, I felt my chances were pretty good. Unfortunately, at some time during the show (and before the judging), I took the kart off the back of the truck to show off the wood pickup bed floor and set it next to the truck on my display. This made the kart a part of the display platform rather than part of the light commercial truck entry. Consequently, I think the trunk was judged on it's own without taking into consideration the highly detailed and scratch built kart. In IPMS judging, only the model is judged, not the display unless it is a diorama. This is not unfair, it is the way any entrant would have been judged. Don't walk away in defeat. I would encourage you to go to the IPMS USA website and read up on the judging criteria and categories. Rob's comments really hit the nail on the head. Give it another shot next year and show 'em what you got.

Thanks for stepping outside the box, Rob. It's a treat for the rest of us. The top is looking great; as is the woodwork.

Thanks, guys. Jason, I doubt if Radio Shack carries these. Most of the ones I've been to lately carry fewer and fewer electronic parts. Radio Shacks have pretty much become cell phone and gadget stores. I found the ferrules at a local electronics distributor called Electronics Supply Co. here in Kansas City. I was was able to walk right in and shop around, but I think you can buy from them on-line at http://shop.eskc.com. Try that and search for "ferrule". I have 2 sizes made by Wago with the smaller one having a part number on the bag of 216-104 (1.5mm). The one on my engine isn't marked, but I think it's the 216-106, 2.5mm size. The nice thing is these babies are only 2 cents. While you're looking, search for the wrap wire too. Use the search term "kynar" and you'll find 6 different colors of scale spark plug wire at abut $10.00 for 100ft. I don't know what their minimum order quantities are for on-line buying, but if it's low enough, this could be a great source for these items. Antonio, I can't take credit for this idea. A couple of years ago when I built the first injection setup, Don Mueller (Wisdonm on-line) recommended them. At least, I think it was him. I've since seen others use them as well. They make great exhaust tips too.

That's a nice looking body, Antonio. Jimmy Flintstone usually brings a ton of product to our Heartland Nationals contest in June. I'll have to look for that one. I love the early sixties bubble tops Thanks for the tip on the bumper, Ken. I'm not sure what the front end will end up like, but I'll be watching out for the bumper fitment. Last time (and the only time) I tried to scratch build fuel injection, I hand-flared some 3/32" aluminum tube for the stacks. This time I'm taking the easy way out and using wire ferrules. Here's version 1 Here's the ferrules mocked up. Much more uniform. I'm not going for the gasser look, so the ferrules were cut down to size. Here's where they're at so far. The rear injector base was damaged ( I knocked a big chunk out of the plastic) and had to be repaired.

Thanks for catching that! I googled Good Guys schedule. Didn't notice the year was wrong. None the less, there should be a lot of opportunities to check out some full size car shows while in the locations mentioned.

For some good subject matter pictures, don't forget to check out the scheduling for full size car shows. Add this to your Google list. As an example, The Good Guys schedule has a show in Joliet Illinois: September 17, 18 & 19 - Joliet, IL ★ 4th PEAK CHICAGOLAND NATIONALS Chicagoland Speedway. Rods, Customs, Classics, Muscle Cars & Trucks thru ‘72. Friday Nite Drags, AutoCross, Vendors, Swap Meet & Car Corral. If this is anything like the show in Kansas City, it will be huge. The one here easily has 1,000 hot rods and customs. I understand that you plan on driving across Route 66, but for a fantastic alternative, consider the scenic trip from Denver to Las Vegas. Drive across the Rocky Mountains via I-70 into central Utah. This section of I-70 through the Colorado Rockies is spectacular. The highway follows the Colorado river most of the way, winding through beautiful mountain canyons. Then drop down through the Canyon Lands area of south central Utah including Arches, Capital Reef, Bryce and Zion national parks. Moab Utah is also in this area and is the meca of off-road rock crawling. Rent a Jeep or run the Colorado river rapids and have a day of fun and thrills. From St George, Utah to Las Vegas, you will drive through one of the most expensive sections of interstate highway in the country. This is a very, very highly recommended route to Vegas. Between the Good Guys show and the scenic trip from Denver to Vegas, you'll have enough picture taking oportunities to wear out your camera.

We'll have to remember not to use the phrase: "keep it real" when you're around. Love that combination of red engine with the silky smooth red exterior. Another eye catcher for sure. Nice work on the details as always.

Still working on detail shaping and sanding on the chopped top. To break up the routine, I've also started on the motor. The supplied oil pan has a deepened sump to suit the racing version. I'll try to keep this one low, so I had to restore the oil pan back to somewehre near stock.So, not only is the top chopped, but the oil pan is as well. The motor also comes with two fours for the induction system. For no particular reason, this will be changed to some kind of Hilborn style injection. Here's the beginning of the new system which requires a valley cover (piece in the center). Here's a couple of mock ups of where she's at so far: The piece across the front is a cooling system cross-over. There will be a flange in the middle to connect the upper radiator hose. It's a bit big, so I'm going to build another one in a smaller diameter. Hopefully, all that wide open space in the middle will be filled with enough fuel lines and lingage to look pretty.

Thanks for posting your '40 Ford, Virgil. That's one of my all time favorites out of you grungy creations. It's got a little of everything.

Top notch work, John. Always worth the click

Those are some really nice builds, Dave. Cool work, Dominik. Nice to have you in the neighborhood. Here's my version of balancing gunk with attention to detail. 40 Ford - Rocky's Rat: and my 29 Roadster:

One of the nicest 29 Roadsters I've seen in a while. There's beauty in the simplicity, although I would have considered plug wires as one of the bare necessities too. You're building at a level where wiring would be expected and is noticed otherwise.

Harry, I'm sorry; guilty as charged. On the plus side, being well behaved is a disease that can be cured. Maybe an intervention is in order. Here's a picture of the "before" or pre-detailed version. Other than the seat which came out of the AMT Competition parts pack, the kart is entirely scratch built from raw styrene, brass and aluminum. The tires are slices of fuel hose. So John, with your scratch building skills, no wishing is necessary; just build one. Because of your photo skills and the use of natural settings, I've been trying to up my game in the camera department. Jose, this will give you an idea of the size of the kart as it sets on the back of a Revell 29 Ford pickup truck. Yellow was picked on purpose to match the truck.

Here's the newly improved version of my scratch built go-kart. I put it under glass a few weeks ago, but some good eyes caught the lack of a fuel tank. I added that as well as numerous other details. Very worth while, as the added detail has really brought this thing alive. So here's the completed model: and finally, one more parked next to my new fence...

Gonna call this one done (again). I completed 6 of the 7 items at the start of this post about a week ago and was just waiting for some time to take some finished pictures. Item #7 would probably just obscure some of the detail, so I decided not to do it. Here's a shot of the completed kart. I'll post a few more in the Under Glass section. Thank you all for going through this update with me.

Just the opposite, actually. Suspension movement renders ground effects unpredictable. Ground effects see limited use on cars running in the 300 to 400+ range. Land speed racing is one of the few if not the only motorsport where weight is a good thing.Weight is used to maximize traction rather than down force. Aero effects create drag. Drag is the greater evil when maximum speed is the goal. I've heard accounts of drivers saying the once you get above 300, things seem to smooth out. Aero once again becomes critical at the ultra high speeds of the jet and rocket cars. Once you enter the arena of Andy Green, aero is about the only realistic way to control the car which is literally flying on the ground.

Suspension vs no suspension is still debated in the LSR community. There are plenty of cars that have axles rigidly mounted to the chassis. Typically, if a car is built in a stock or modified category and already has a suspension, it will be retained. Cars without suspension are more likely to be in the special construction clases which includes the streamliners and lakesters and run at the higher speeds; 200+. As Harry mentioned, you would not see a tire that wide on the salt. The only exception I've ever heard of are a group of guys that run NASCAR spec cars including their original rubber. There isn't a specific class for NASCAR, so they are "time only" entries. Another thing that jumps out about your layout is the rear axle width. The tires would be tucked in within the width of the car body to minimize drag. Finally, you car would not fall into any known class, so like the NASCAR entries mentioned above, would only be allowed to run for time slips. What-ifs are always fun, though it might be a better project for the drag strip.

I appreciate your interest and comments, my friends. Thanks for the info, Romell. Consider it a filter, although I'm gonna leave it red. I may look for a flow direction arrow decal in my stash to give it a little more detail. My experience with karts is limited to the home-made variety with lawnmower engine power (gravity feed for the gas).