Jairus

You need a shorter driver then. And raise the seat! The floor in the real one is pretty high! I found a perfect driver figure at Scale Equipment. His name is Earl: http://www.seltd.net/ez-catalog/X344897/17/20023 As for a conductor, I ordered and got this one: http://www.seltd.net/ez-catalog/X344897/17/20016 I also ordered a drunk sitting on a park bench, but Ric sent me the park bench. I guess I gave him the wrong item number.

Yeah, but they are not great pics. Had to shoot through the windows. Cranky, I got one of these a month ago and got the chassis and motor built and prepared for paint. But with my current workload, can't seem to get back to the bench. Hoping to write an article about this one, because I'm taking lots of pictures.

I have that 8-track in my wagon.... jes sayn'g! Found it holding up the seat in a crapper.... LOL.

I agree to some extent. But I still pick up a rag now and then off the rack when I find something cool inside. Todays economy really doesn't allow the fast changes to the hobby of the past. Back then magazines had lots to pick from to fill an issue. Each issue had plenty of new rods in it. But today, fewer are building and many are talking their time. Rods are being kept longer by the owners which means the "new stuff" that we brought the rags for, are fewer and farther between. In my opinion.

Nope, he denied that assertion when I talked to him on the phone shortly before he passed away. He said it came from a member of the "Shifters" car club during an interview for an article during the early 90's. I was asked by Revell back then to do research on where the name first came from prior to Revell releasing the diecast Rat Rods in '98.

I took drivers Ed in '75 and the '75 Nova we used only had the brake pedal. No gas pedal!

Okay... here is an idea. How about a Mini-truck/Pro-street/Rat Rod with a camper on the back? That pretty much covers it all wouldn't you say?

He only recently got a digital camera and has yet to figure out the photo storing thing. Plus... he drives truck and has two kids, a beautiful wife and a mortgage. And he has me bugging him to get his '55 two door post back on the street.... (I gotta' stop doing that)

We can categorize everything and name each rod if you want to. I guess that is the folly of man, I.E.: to have the inbred desire to cubbyhole each part of his environment. I was not singling any one person out... just warning those who dislike the trend to hold their tongue on a thread I would be very disappointed to see get locked. I simply see all cars as part of a greater Automotive Hobby whether we like them or not. I am just happy to see that it is a thriving hobby and so far not killed even a little bit by the radical environmental lobby, who would have each owners club shut down and all the gas guzzlers crushed to make public transportation vehicles if they had their way! Not to mention force us into boring bubble top electric cars that go no faster than walking speed for safety sake. Anyway... on to more pleasant subjects... The Rat Rod build V, was part of a challenge between James Warkinten and myself more than 5 years ago. Maybe longer. Here is an early photo of the two mocked up. My rods usually go through a fluid process of design. Changing as progress is made. The earliest version was powered by a Duesenberg straight 8 sans supercharger. But the engine was way too tall... however notice that the cut down Deusy radiator grill remains, while the engine of choice is now a standard Flathead Ford V8. James pretty much stayed true to his original design all the way through and the car is remarkable low don't you think? James is one of the unsung heros of this hobby. Quiet and unassuming, but possessing a wonderful sense of style and building quality. I remain amazed he has not won more awards for his work, and proud to call him my friend.

All this hating on a trend? I don't understand it. A trend is just a trend be it clothing styles or building hand made cars. If you don't like it, you don't have to take part. But to spout hate about someone else's interest is just plain mean. Be the same thing if I started spouting against Baseball as stupid waste of time, or took a verbal stand against Democrats! We all have different viewpoints. No need to hate on someone else's viewpoint. In any trend there are those who either don't understand the parameters or simply want to stretch the envelope. The Rat Rod trend started as a statement against the big-buck and out-of-reach chrome/billet/candyapple trailer queens that were in the winners circle at every car show. A Rat Rod doesn't have to look totally like it was just pulled out of a farmers field with weeds in the suspension. Nor does it have to look like the well built Jeep above. But that is the look the owners were going for. Not my cup of tea but I can see some beauty in them and appreciate them for what they are: Someone's pride and joy and the efforts of their labors however misguided. To me a Rat Rod thats well built should look like an unfinished Hot Rod! Like perpetually a grand away from a nice paint job state of mind! Or it can look like a survivor of another era pulled out of a barn after 50 years of storage. Tastefully done but needs work. Skulls, toys, silly stuff need not apply in my opinion. But... if they are there then the theme should be held tight. Such as this machine I called an "ART CAR". The theme is true all the way around. It's silly and I would never have done it, but I can appreciate it for what it is. In conclusion, I really don't understand or like the Pro-Street trend. But I pretty much kept my mouth shut about others who "tubbed classic cars with aplomb". I liked the Van craze and would have had one myself if I could have afforded one. But today I see how silly it was... but when Scott Stevens (Editor of Traditional Rod & Culture mag) brought a 73 Econoline recently. I complimented him and wish him luck pimping it up with murals and portholes. There is no reason to mock and be hateful, okay? Okay!

All vintage parts are gone??? I doubt that very much. Now that I have an older rod I attend all the swap meets I can find and they are replete with tons of vintage parts including one guy with a trailer and 4 vintage engines for sale that RUN! (The best one was a straight Pontiac 8 and it sounded soooooo sweet!) No, there are plenty of vintage parts out there and that '47 could have been built with a straight 6 or at the very least, they could have put vintage Corvette valve covers on the V8. Speaking of valve covers. I put a vintage set of Cal Custom rocker covers on my wagon Tuesday. Much better than the "Powered by Ford" ###### that was there before. Not only do they NOT leak, but they look more vintage and stuff like this is easy to find.

Yeah... .no, I don't care for the '47 Chevy posted. Number of reasons but the least of which is the lack of pride of ownership. Back in the mid 90's Hot Rod ran the aforementioned article written by Grey Baskerville. In it the four examples were built up from vintage parts. Did you get that? Vintage parts! The '47 Chevrolet has a modern engine, modern wheels (that don't match), modern vacuum booster brakes and plastic sheathing on the wireing looms. Plus... it shows little pride of ownership. Rust is one thing but "More Rust" is just junk. Go back to the articles in Rod & Custom and Hot Rod and you will see primer and shag carpet... but clean and simple engineering that shows pride in the construction.

So far.... yeah.

While there are no correct 71 - 73 Mustang kits out there, there is a very nice AMT '73 Cougar kit with the correct engine and engine compartment.

Well guys, really busy with artwork right now but hoping I can find an hour this evening to do some body work. Bill, counter sunk screws would work fine. The body is no thinner than any other AMT 1957 Chevy casting. This is the look I'm going for... The body currently has a coat of "Plastakote" primer, but earlier I removed all the engine compartment walls and glued the hood shut with JB Weld. Also need to cut a flat plate for the interior and make a roll bar.... etc, etc. Onward!

Yeah, I can barely cook... so it would seem.

P.S. I got my copy of the January issue in the mail Saturday.

Ah, so you admit to the sipping huh? Hey, suggestions are always accepted. Feel free to send them to: jairuswtsn@aol.com No guarantees that I will do it of course... but it's nice to hear a little feedback.

Don't mind him guys... I think he's been nipping at the cooking sheri again...

I think the figures in the Revell '57 Wagon are beautiful in their details and represent the era perfectly. Unlike that tiger suited driver which makes me think of Oregon District One Representative David Wu who resigned his seat due to sexual assault allegations. Seems he likes wearing a tiger suit during off times and has been photographed that way a time or two. How he kept getting re-elected is beyond me. In the slot world there are a few companies that produce various scales 1:23 to 1:27th and many times come with various helmet styles to represent the different eras of racing. I have talked to Ric of Scale Equipment and he has yet to produce any racing driver figures. Too bad because his stuff is beautiful and I know they would become hot items. But I would have to say that it is that most builders don't bother with figures and so the manufacturers eliminate them as a way of cutting costs.

At this point it's a good idea to check clearances like tires to fenders and the like. If anything rubs, make chassis or spacer adjustments. The car as you see it here weighs in at a flyweight of 143g. In my opinion (And Gregg mentioned this as well) it could do with some careful placement of lead, available at your local slot shop or via mail order. Instructions suggest trimming away some of the engine compartment for chassis clearance. I agree with this if one is mounting the body lower than stock looking like I did. It would also help lower the center of gravity. But the option is also there to superdetail this project with an opening hood and fully detailed engine compartment. Also, while the kit does not provide any sort of interior... one could be sourced from a well supplied stash of '57 Chevrolet bits with clearance cut out of the rear seat area to provide room for the motor. Driver figure also will need to be sourced. This is my last post today as paint and details take longer to accomplish. Shooting primer next! Continued...

Okay, mounting this one is no more difficult than any other hard body car. I went the simple route as you will see since my build-up is to be an actual racer and not just a shelf queen. The kit instructions suggest and provide double sided tape to mount the body. This would work fairly well, but for a racer... just will not do! A racer is always pulling the body off to make adjustments and the tape is pretty permanent. The body is set up using brass tubing under the lower quarters until a correct stance is achieved. Then, move the light like so.... ... and you can see the chassis mounting bracket. Use the Sharpie NOW! Drill holes in the body on the marks and run those screws home. Yeah, as a modeler it's pretty crude, but is the strongest mounting option and provides the quickest way to remove the body. Screws can be painted to match the body btw.

Depends on where you get it I suppose. I have heard retail prices ranging $50 to $60 for the complete kit. That is fairly comparable to other slot cars on the market. Parma's hard body chassis comes assembled at $39, but that is with-out the body. With model kits approaching the $25 dollar range.... you do the math.

The chassis before: And after: With the adjustments and the wheel spacers, this chassis can fit almost any 1/24th scale model kit body. But the spacers are not easy to cut. I tried cutting them with an exacto blade.... But a cutoff wheel in the Dremel seems to work more quickly. The '57 Chevy required .15 front and .45 rear spacers by the way. Using the vintage white nylon spacers would have been easier and more precise tho. I would say that it took me a good solid 2 hours to build as I took my time making sure everything went together well. The gears have me a bit worried. The set screw doesn't go deep enough so the gear rocks slightly. No way to set gear lash... a lot like Scalextric does with their 1:32 cars. By the way... TSR motor will not fit. Clearance under the chassis is a hefty 5/32". Guide is positioned 1/4" behind the front axle. When it pivots the stops are unfortunately the lead wires. Don't think they will last long mounted there. Soldering them to the brass tabs sticking out seems more logical. Mounting and painting is next.

Received on my front step last night at 6:30 and I worked on it till 10:30 assembling the chassis and taking pictures. The following is my thoughts and a basic assembly review. That is part one. Part two will be later and involves mounting the body, paint and detailing. Part three will be a road test and part four... the "hop up"! Initial look at the box art shows this to be beautiful! Vintage colors, no expense spared on printing and packaging. Parts under a blister just like the old days... and still hard to remove from same.... Two types of window glass are provided: injection molded clear (including headlights) and vacuumformed and tinted full glass. This is handy as there is no provided interior details whatsoever. Decal sheet seems complete and is extremely well printed. Appear thin enough to disappear under clear coat... that is if I plan to go shiny. Frankly, I plan to go period dirt track.... but that is later. Little baggies of parts... Two piece guide? Some assembly required here.... In this day and age, why AMT engineers choose to re-invent the wheel I do not understand. But... it does go together with little fuss and seems like it'll work fairly well. Continued.... The guide is after all, patterned after Parma almost to the dimension. Nice that the threads go all the way down though eliminating the need for a threading tool. Parma item will not fit the chassis without modifications to the chassis as we will see later. Wheels are plastic/nylon material. No set screws. They press fit onto the axle like some of the 1/32 kits do. Inside dimension just about perfect for a set of inserts. Tire are soft rubber and will provide fairly good traction with this motor. Front and rears are the same material and all four wheels same size. Motor has little markings and the magnets are no where near as strong as those in a TSR motor. However, spinning up on the tester shows it to have plenty of torque. This explains why it comes with a 3.75 to 1 ratio. The aluminum adaptor is there to convert the motor screws from vertical to horizontal. This is interesting to me. Why not simply make the chassis with horizontal holes in the first place? But... that means it fits this motor with no mods.... This motor, btw, is in my hop up kit for part four! Continued....