comp1839

sounds great! with these bodies available soon. maybe TDR can get to those drag racing parts. hehe. great job guys!!!!!!!!

ABSOLUTELY AGREE WITH YOU RICK! TDR has gone out on a limb and made a statement. i'm neither a '32 ford nor a cobra guy. i'm hoping they do a drag racing line of parts/ products and let us pick our own version of whatever we want to build.. these guys can do what ever we want. as far as accuracy and detail. i'm a big accurracy and detail guy, as you know. TDR's stuff is no doubt accurate. what ever little frivilous details i'd like to add are what makes modelling,... modelling.

len, you are correct as far as the 1:1 specs go. 396, 402, 427 and 454 are all 9.8" decks. the 427 truck block is 10.3".

tim, i think see where you're going with this. you (the customer) can take the car down any avenue you wish. if the part you want isn't on the "kit". you can produce that particular part on a customer to customer basis. so, i agree whole heartedly with LDO. i'm glad to see this kit. 1/8 scale needs it badly (yes, i'm aware they can produce it in any scale) but, the offerings in 1/8 scale are so few and far between that this "breath of fresh air" is sorely needed. by the way, i love my toploader rears. i certainly can't go "kit bashing" and get one of those! and don't forget the roots blowers you guys did for me. while i couldn't use one on this alcohol car(end recipient requested a screw blower)i haven't found a 1/8 roots blower as accurrate or as cool.

cato, maybe one of the guys from TDR can better answer your question but, i don't think this is a direct copy of any of the cars you mentioned.

wow!!!!!!! my eyes are popin' out of my head. tim and tony, you guys have really out done yourselves. excellent job.

well it looks like you'll have a great time. all the key ingredients are there for sure. keep it safe and i hope you win!

that is just incredable guys!!!! it looks extremely well done. the more i look at this thing. the absolute cooler it gets!

john, i don't have the equipment to do fancy machining like that either. what i did was got some alphabet thingies from Plastruct. they make a few different sizes and just glued them on. hope this helps.

sniff, sniff, i think i smell the heat.

"Do the chassis shops really use elastic bands????" well, sure they do rick. just really big ones and when they're done with 'em, they use 'em for blower belts! LOL!!!

thanks don. glad you like the jig. watcha runnin' at the old farts gig? charles, the extrusion is from a company called 80/20. i bought from a supplier called mcmaster carr. the rest of the pieces are just "what not's" i had laying around.

cato, if there were any way i could make a magazine holder work for me....i would. it shows great thought and ingenuity to make things like that work for you. melanie is one of my favorites too. besides being not to hard on the eye, she has a great attitude about racing. i have a pro mod '63 corvette on my long distance radar but, first i have to finish this dragster and hopefully the pro mod "cuda will be ready to start on again, soon. since it takes me almost a year to complete a model you can see how far out my 'vette could be. and you bet.......i'll be a couch spud all day tomorrow and monday!

i've started a new topic on this, even though it is the chassis for my TAD chassis. the jig i built can be used and retro fitted with any number of fabricated fixtures to build anything from a short wheel base door car, to a funny car, to a 300" wheelbase dragster. the back bone is a piece of extruded 1"x2" "t" slot aluminum. you can see in the pictures the fixtures i've produced for the dragster build. i try to emmulate the actual process/ procedure of building a 1:1 car. you can see the pinion center line of the rear is tied directly to some machined plates that reproduce the relationship of crankshaft centerline and motor plates. towards the front you can see the stands that hold the king pin boss for the front end. the correct king pin angle, front end width, wheelbase and front end offset(if any) is also set. there are some other fixtures not shown that set other parameters. such as, shoulder hoop height, roll cage position, etc. i hope this is informative and if you have any questions, just yell. hope you enjoy!

i've been watching the builds on the gt-40's and i agree with you. the engine looks pretty inaccurate from the shots i've seen. be careful about buying some of these resin re-pops. there are some people out there who don't really know what "scale" refers to. they like to eyeball stuff and it can be VERY disappointing when you recieve it. i've had the misfortune of buying some really terrible stuff. not sure if the guys at TDR can help or not. i know i've been very pleased with all the engine components i've recieved from them. and i check them for deck height, pan rail width, OAL, bell housing and front timing cover bolt patterns and such.

this has to be my all time favorite, al!!!!!! turned out really nice. even the paint looks good!

header tubing bends are typically in the 3-4" radius zone. if you want to learn more, here is burns stainless' site. http://www.burnsstainless.com/j-bends-2.aspx

i wouldn't be so hard on yourself if i were you. your work is really quite good. your desire to get better and time are key ingredients to becoming better. even if it's just a little better than the day before. i know, every time i look at my stuff, i always find a ton of things i could have done better but,......that's what the next build is for. oh, and if you're going to crunch either the gt-40 or the porsche, send 'em to me. i have a spot on my shelf for them. hehe.

i must tell you that i find your attention to the details quite refreshing. i think you're doing a stellar job at attaining your goals too. keep up the great work. i'm really enjoying this.

donald, out of respect for the originator of this thread, i think we should move our conversation onto a different thread. i will tell you i suffer from fat finger syndrome myself. perhaps my top alcohol dragster posting?

in an effort to try and clear up any confusion about hi tech machinery or expensive parts i figured i'd voice an opinion. in 1/25 scale you guys are very lucky to have it so good. there are tons of aftermarket parts available at reasonbly low cost. there are is virtually an endless supply of kits that are offered. between the the two offerings, i can see where you could say it doesn't take a ton of money to build a highly detailed car making your statement true. unfortunately this is not a true statement in the 1/8 world. there is almost no aftermarket and very limited selection of kits. if you want to build a highly detailed car in 1/8 scale well, let's just say you don't have many choices. so you if you want to build something out of the ordinary like, a AA/FA in 1/25 no problem. tons of offerings. 1/8 there's nothing. so what do you do. i opted to make all my own stuff. by the way my equipment is not high tech by any stretch of the imagination. my 2 vertical mills are older than me and i'm over 50. ain't nothing high tech here dude. lot's of time and effort. j. sauber i see you have some pretty nice wheels on the front of your pro mod. where'd you get them? i'm pretty sure they don't make 'em in my size. here are some of my (maybe not so highly detailed) builds. for the record 98% of what you see is totally scratch built. what surprises me is, i never hear any one say anything about the approximate 2000hrs. i have in each one of these builds. i never hear that somebody even knows the blower pulley ratios are correct, or the wheel base is correct or that the injector's square inches of opening is corrector that any of the thousands of other details i've tried to accomplish are correct. you see, that to me is a detailed model. what i seem to hear is " you have high tech machines that i don't have". i'll agree with you a hundred percent on it's the talent of the builder not the machines he has but, i don't think you can build these with a dremel tool and a hand file. i guess i don't think your opinion is a fair one in the world of 1/8 scale car modeling.

you do some mighty fine work there, j. sauber.

hey guys. thought i'd jump in here and put some real experiences with TDR out there. i have on several occasions asked TDR to make special parts for me. they did some 1:8 blowers and most recently a 1:8 strange top loader rear. their work has been nothing short of perfection. some things to note though before every one goes running to phone to have specialty parts made. if you don't do your homework and have measurements /drawings for the parts/ pieces you want. they're going to have to charge you to figure this stuff out. so do the leg work and the pricing will reflect it. you are likely to get sticker shock if you don't. here are some shots of the blowers and the rear. here it is in all of it's plumage. here's the rear completed unit. i cannot tell you how impressed i am with the work TDR has done for me. it is top shelf stuff. 1:8 scale modern racing parts are practically non-existant. TDR can help fill the void. what ever i can't or don't want to make, they can. and when you think about it, the pricing isn't really all that bad. not for the work they have to do. and no. this isn't a paid endorsement.

i hope everyone realizes just how big these are. that's a 1/12 scale mustang, 1/6 scale motor and 1/8 scale tires. these are BIG! i've had the pleasure to see kieth's work in person and i have to tell you, it's awesome!!

rick and derrick, thanks for the comments. rick, pick up as much literature as you can. i'm always learning something new. i think machining your own parts could be the best thing that happens to a modeller. the sense of accomplishment is second to none. it also gives you a new appreciation for the parts that you do buy.