Nitrozilla

Been pretty busy the last couple of days. Hope you missed me. If not I've been making final adjustments to the new tin work in the rear and had to make some minor adjustments to the frame, but it fits beautifully now. Pics the next time on that when I do the permanent install with the roll cage. Getting close......... In the meantime, I made a chute release by wrapping red wire, (by sheer coincidence it's Radio Shack wrapping wire), around a piece of rectangular stock. Pushed it together tightly, hit top and bottom with CA, then added a piece of wire insulation. Just like me. Cheap and easy and it looks great. Well, 2 outa 3 ain't bad. Enjoy the pics and as always, Thanx 4 Looking.

Okay, NOW I see the bleeders. Incredible, just incredible.

What a nice surprise John. I hadn't checked this in a week or so. Welcome back my friend and well done. Beyond well done. Superb. Yeah, that oughta cover it.

Thanks James. Nothing dull about it yet. John, that is mighty nice of you to say. Too bad they'll never be on the same table together. I hate watching a grown man cry. By "grown man", I mean me. Today has been oodles of fun. Been attacking the roll bar padding. I had 3 choices for the padding. Paint, electrical tape or heat shrink tubing. Paint would not look realistic, I had a nightmare of the gooey tape adhesive failing in a contest against John and the shrink tube sounded like a pain in the ..........well, let's just say that's what I went with. I was wrong. I started by using a piece of scrap rod the same diameter as the cage ribs, then I bent it to match. Next I split a piece of 3/16" tubing, then wrapped it around the rod. As I applied heat by lighter it conformed perfectly with a slight bulge at the curve. After trimming to length, I popped them on easily. The straps are silver wire. The wrapping process is too tedious to detail, but that didn't stop me from doing it 10 times. Now try doing all of that while watching NASCAR and The Drags. Thanks everyone for following and the nice words. It's appreciated. Enjoy the pics.

Hey All. The cockpit is just about done. I still need to hook up the belts, wire the gauges, pad the back braces on the roll cage and plumb the master cylinder. That will happen when I permanently install the roll cage and the engine. After that will come the tanks and the rest of the lines. Thanks for looking.

Gonna' bore everyone to death with a couple of minor goodies. Messed with the trans pan I pulled from a Hawaiian. Clear red over chrome, then buffed ribs and bolt heads. Made the shoulder belt bracket and a bolt. I used scrap plastic and thin rod for the bracket. I also used round rod and hex rod to make a retaining bolt. It should be installed tomorrow along with most other cockpit parts. Back to work I go. Enjoy.

Wayne, you do so many things well I can only believe this will be another home run. My passion for 60's and 70's cars is because I missed the later model stuff when life took me in other directions. Had my interests continued on, the Omni/Chargers looked more truly aerodynamic and, well, it looks fast just sitting still. Best of luck. I'll be watching.

The side bulkheads are permanent. I've made end plates that are shaped like a Dart, not a Barracuda. Everywhere you see bare plastic is a mod or a fix. This is a "body up" pic that shows braces under the hood. I might give that a shot as soon as I get some plastic. Also got the rear cockpit filler piece done. Later today, I'll shoot all of the tin work again. Thanks for looking.

Thursday, October 30, 2014. Dear Diary, I was minding my own business, cruising the MC Forum, when I realized I must be satisfied with my current abilities because there are some people on this planet that I can only aspire to.

Caliper pistons too Tim? Will you please post a video of how you bleed the brakes?

I think it would be in the best interests of Revell or Round 2 to start a line of Ira's off the hook designs. I think there's interest in a wildly radicalized VW bus that has an Allison powerplant behind the pilot. Or is it just me?

As hoped for (amazing) I got to another update. Been doing tin work most of the day. Suuuuper tedious. Grind, fit, chop, fit, slice, fit, sand, fit. That kinda thing, but worth it. I haven't test fit it yet, although I'm sure minor adjustments will be needed. Made a piece to fill in behind the cockpit and I believe I'll make a couple of small side pieces under it to hide that gap too. The frame doesn't make the inward angle until well after the bottom of the cockpit and if I hadn't moved the whole thing forward, it would have mated to it. The cut off wheel is only holding down the seatbelts to keep them out of the picture. It will not be a part of the cockpit. Drivehaft is ready to install. Thought I'd even throw a balance weight on it. Enjoy Folk.

Thanks Gordon. I appreciate it. Thank you John. Kudos accepted and just for that, here's that update you asked for. I'm moving on to the cockpit, installing the seat, fire extinguisher, go fast pedal and shifter. Next comes the throttle linkage, brake M/C assembly and steering column. There will be a small plate behind the roll cage where I'll attach the shoulder belts after I make a bracket for them. Also been playing with positioning the side tins. I added 2 long braces under the tin work. Reason? The Barracuda body it was designed to fit has an upward arc that had to be flattened out for the Shoebox I'm trying to stuff it in. Also the side pieces needed to be set back to clear the fender wells. Now lemme see.......It's 5:30 in the morning. I MIGHT be able to squeeze in another update before the day is out. Enjoy the pics and Thanks for looking.

I saw your Rrrobot Ira. You know a thing or 12 about details yourself sir. Thank You Speaking of which, that's what I've done so far today. Started the interior filler piece. The first pic shows a pile of scrap I hit when needed. The piece I grabbed was already an exact fit. Too funny. I thought I needed 1/4". Turns out it's 5/16". Good thing I checked first. The cage is blended and paint repaired. Here's a pic of the Go Fast pedal. After the clear red dries on the pedal face, I'll scrape it with an X-Acto to clean the raised ribs. Not sure how "pedaling" a car was done back then, but I put on a toe loop just in case. Thanks for following along.

Thanx Bob. It feels good to come up with a solution that won't look like it wasn't designed that way. Thank You Brett. I do love the fact that the engine and interior tin become one piece that you can slide forward to fit any set up. Gotta get me more of these PL kits. I can make almost any body work with it now. The only trick I know with the Revell chassis is how to correct the stance with the rear axle mount. Next up is the interior, Made a nifty little throttle pedal set up today using the kit pedal with a photo etch pedal. It also has a toe hook and the start of the throttle linkage.

You want more Bob? Try this on for size. I've finished the mods to correct EVERYTHING concerning tin / engine / stance / global warming / world peace. Yeah, it feels that good. Enjoy the pics. I do.......

You keep ramping up the coolness factor Ira. The last picture knocked me down! Gorgeous man. I even saw yours first before I updated my own!!

Praise be to the Gods of Plastique and Resin. I've started the fixes and I don't have to do that major roof mod I was considering. Engine is moved forward with new mounts and a new mount for the oil filters also. Fuel pump is installed and set as far back as possible without hitting pulleys. The final length of the tin extension will be determined once the engine is in it's final position. Still some figetting to do. The last mod will be filling in the gap between the interior pan and the rear suspension. Now we ARE having fun.

I considered the longer driveshaft and the crampage of the pump to tank ratio. Did not figure on the steering shaft. Thanks for the heads up Jeff. You said the fun starts WHEN????

I think I've got it figured out. The fix is 3 step. 1 - Extend main body tin 1/4" under trunk. That will fix the length to mate to the front window. 2 - Reposition oil filters closer to oil tank, then bring engine / cockpit (it's a sub assembly) forward. 3 - Fill in gap behind cockpit created by engine / cockpit assembly moving forward. If it makes sense in your head, terrific. If not, pictures later.

Thanx Bob. Shane's build is also one of my inspirations and subject of research. However, while looking at his build again, I see where the difference is. His rear axle sits further back than mine. I considered moving mine for 3.5 seconds before eliminating that possibility. This is what happens when I don't do a full mock up before paint and starting assembly. Lesson learned.

First up is the new gauge cluster. I used Model Car Garage gauges and bezels. The gauges are black and transparent, so you put the gauge color on the back. I chose Model Master Cadmium Yellow. Shows up great when you hit it with a flashlight. Here's my quandry. As you can see from the overhead shot, the tin work is 1/4' short of where it needs to be. I can only think of 3 possible fixes. 1 - Extend the tin and doghouse, but that still leaves the motor too far back and you wont see the blower hat at the window. 2 - Install a new cross member for the body hinge further forward. Unfortunately, some idiot put a battery box there. 3 - Take 1/4" out of the roof and bring the windshield back to meet the tin. I'm going to do more assembly on the frame before I start hacking on the body (AGAIN). The stance on the front is too low, but easily fixable. John Teresi and anyone else who has done this build, if you ran into this, I'd appreciate your input. Thanx for lookies.

It's only common sense when you say a build like this could burn a person out, but when you say your next build is gonna be cool is like James Cameron saying, "I think you'll like my next movie."

I owe everybody following this build an apology. There was no parachute release gusset shown in the last update picture. We'll start this update with that first. It gets repainted after I finish posting this. On to the good stuff. Got the battery and starter wired and did the plumbing on the calipers and oil system. The caliper lines will be painted black to represent hoses. The headers should do an excellent job of hiding the starter and oil lines. Once I get the engine / floor pan assembly in, I can take final measurements for moving the windshield back. Enjoy.

Mike, I took all of the necessary measurements and I have bad news. It won't fit on your shelf. Sorry. More shots of the chassis. The missing cross brace is in place as is the parachute release gusset. Programming note: This build just got stupid. I'm in the process of setting up the tin work and have discovered the firewall / engine cover / blower hat dog house is about 1/4" too short. I'm sure that previous builders had their own way of dealing with this, but I'm going to do something bizarre. The plan is to scribe out the front of the lower windshield, then take 1/4" out of the roof length to move it back. If it works right in my brain, not only will it give the cockpit a unique look, it will essentially turn this into a long nose. Cross your fingers.