Mooneyzs

Art... I have to ask what color and brand of tans have you used for the interior. Its a perfect color

Chris.... this is one totally build. I am digging it. Looking forward to seeing more of this tractor. Keep up the great work on it.

Art.... holy crapola this is just beautiful. You are and artist my friend. I love this build. Looking forward to more.

Dave... Thank you Sir. Well Fellas.... I did some more work last night just was a little tired to download the pics off my camera and post last night. I was working on the front windshield, drilling out the rivets and transferring the holes to the body for the Rivets. Once I got that done I started to make a make shift template for the dog house that goes around the blower. I still have to make it and starting to make this gage to figure out the size of things. Here are a few shots, I know this update isn't too exciting and hopefully I will have some better updates soon. Here is the front windshield, I started by taking my xacto knife and cutting the rivet a little flat to give me starting point where to drill my holes and then I transferred them to the body and installed the rivets for fitment: Inside of the body, I will have to go back and cut the length down on all of these rivets but it will be done at a later time: Here is the start of what I am using as a gage/template for this dog house. I wanted to be able to get the fit right so that the lip on the dog house would meet up to the glass correct and since I couldn't really get a good way to get measurements so I started to build this as a starting point:

Art.... The count down is on on this Epic build. I have Willys on the brain too. Can't wait to see the finished pics.

Johnny Boy.... That chassis is looking sweet Brother!! I see you put your minions to work. Man that thing is nice!!! Very nice work buddy. oh yeah I forgot to mention..... I think I finally figured out where you get all of your minions from....... I gotta win me some so I can put them to work and help me finish my Vega F/C fast....hehe

This is a totally cool project. Looking forward to seeing more of this one

Scott.... you are doing some killer work my friend. I am loving this build. The Photo-Etch in the engine compartment it Top Notch!!

Jason.... thank you. I am hoping to get a little bench time in tonight. It may not be much time but will be starting on the dog house now that I have the dash location set. Mike.... thank you for the encouraging words. I have to admit it give me that extra motivstion I need at times when I feel I am so.ehat burnt out in working on the same piece over and over it seems like. Scott... thank you my friend. Those adjustments on the fly are the best...lol. The mid-plate fix was a big one that needed to be done. I am glad to have majority of it fixed other than I need to add some bondo and do the finishinf body work to it ao I can get some primer on it. Its a sense of relief now knowing that the little twist that the motor had is not fixed and it sits straight the way it should of been. Well it feels like this body tin work has turned into a small project of its own. From when i originally started scrarch building it, i didnt think it would take this long but it will be nice when i can get it into primer. I will be focusing on it this week. I will start by working in the dog house as I mentioned above then i will have the dash blend into the body. I need to add the sight glasses in the firewall. Then i need to cut out and add the portion that will clear where the steering rod come thru. I think once i get all that done it, the fabrication may be close to being done on it. Then its just doing some of the body work and final sanding before shooting some primer on it.

I am planning on going to the GSL next year. Its been on my Bucket list of shows to do for quite some time. I want to experience the whole 4 days. I would love to take my Army Vega Funny Car to this show. Crown Burgers is really good there. I used to travel to Hill Air Force Base (which is in Ogden and its about 30 minutes North of Salt Lake) for one of the Aerospace companies that I worked for. We always stayed in Layton just a mile or two down the road from the South Gate but we would always at least go to Crown Burger off Antelope on our trips there. There were a few other great places we used to eat at by the Hilton garden Inn that we stayed at most of the time. Roosters Brewing Company and Corbins Grille, as well as Iggy's sports grill

So I was able to get to the bench a little tonight and make some slight progress on this build. I decided to work on the the Body Tin work and specifically on how I was going to pretty much pin the dash portion to the body. With recently getting the mid-plate updated so that it was sitting in the right spot I had to adjust the lip on the mid-plate. And since I finished that it was time to get the dash set in place. I apologize for the pics not turning out so great. But here is what was done, its not much but glad to finally have this little detail done. Now I think I am going to work on getting the Dog House built on the dash as well as getting some bondo on the mid-plate so I can primer and paint it again. I first started out by adding another support piece on the body to where I wanted to be able to pin to: Next I added more to the dash portion of the Body Tins to extend it some, It will still have some more added to it but for the purpose of how I was going to get the mounting portion done this was good enough for the moment: Here I have drilled two holes per side and decided what better way than to hold the dash in place and use some .8mm threaded bolts from Scale Hardware: Her I cut the extra piece out that I added: Here is the inside of the tin work again. I actually added a .010" thick piece of styrene to the inside of the tin where it met with the mid-plate trying to fix the gap: Opposite side with the same as above:

Paul.... Thank you. Bob... Thank you. The issue with the gap was that I didn't tighten the mid-plate up to the block tight enough in the pics. Then I also changed the way the front mounts were put on before I just used some simulated bolts that just pushed into the hole. well I ended up tapping the hole and using a threaded bolt to make sure that the font mounts were nice and rigid. Mike.... Thank you my friend. Danno... Thank you. When I bring it to the show next year I will have to bring a big along for ya ...hehe Scott... Thanks Brother! Mark... Thank you. I appreciate your kind words Jim... Thank you so much. Dave... Thank you so much my friend. Progress has been slow with some of my reworks this week, guess I don't want to go to fast and screw it up...lol

John... Awesome work man. That mock up engine looks great and love the start of the body. You will be painting in no time at all.

John... this is looking great Brother... i have head hunter on the brain. You are sure making some great progress. I really need to borrow aome of your minions and mini me's to help me get my butt in gear on my funny car and make some good progress...lol Keep up the killer work.

This is going to be one killer build. I love the inspirstion and love the direction and progress you habe made so far. Itbis looking great. Looking forward to seeing more on this build.

Art... this is one beautiful builds. Man it is gorgeous. I cant wait to see it in person. I admire your attention to detail. Every little detail is there on this build. I really wish I could make it to the So Cal NNLs thats coming up but I am going to try to make it to the Lower Left coast NNL that is in the San Diego area later this year. i amnlooming forward to seeing this one completed. Nice work Brother!

Very Nice build you have done here. I picked up one of these kits to build it like this one of these days. Was this the Tamiya kit??

John... Fantastic work Brother. This is sure coming along nice!!! Before you know it, you will have this one done before you start your "Other" Project Keep up the killer work my Big Brother!!

Johnny boy.... that interior is looking great!! Nice work brother!!

Tyrone... Steller work my friend. This is another beautiful build.

Here is a mock up shot before I added the lip to the back of the Mid-Plate, I was trying to gauge the size of plastic I wanted to use...lol: Here you can see the lip that was added: Another angle of the mid plate, Now all I need to do is sand and do some body work to the mid plate so I can get some primer on the thing: I had to do another test fit with the body and a few of the parts in place. I am pretty happy with it now: Here is another angle of the test fit. Now I need to add a .010" thick piece of styrene around the inside of the body tin to tighten up the gap a little bit. Other than that I think I can call the rework a pretty good success. As I mentioned before all that I really need to do is sand down the mid plate add some bondo in a few spots and then its ready for primer and to be repainted. I think I may also try to figure out where to notch the mid-plate for the throttle cable and fuel shut off cable to pass thru:

Hello Fellas.... well I got some time in at the bench tonight and wanted to share the little progress I have made with it. I know it seems that I have been somewhat slow with fixing this Mid-plate. I guess I am taking my time and not rushing it because I want to to get the fitment correct so I don't have to worry about it. But I feel I am a couple more steps closer to having it completed. I was able to extend the length so the Body Tin will fit correct as well as adding the lip to it. I also got to where all of the bolts that mount the Mid-Plate to the chassis fit good, I couldn't tell you how many times I had to screw them on and off checking things as I went...lol Ok I will shut up and show some pics now Here was my test fit for the Bell Housing and Tranny before I started to hack up the mid plate: Shot from the other side: Here I have extended the back part of the plate for the body tin work to sit on as well as I did a small amount of work on the mid plate mounting locations: Another shot of the Mid-Plate with the added plastic:

How are the rims and tires in this kit? I am hoping that Hobby lobby will get them. Can anyone post some pics of the kit opened up??

John.... Dang Brother you are making some Killer progress. This is sure coming along great.Keep up the great work.

Bob... isnt that so true. Or the ine dimension thst is missed is the most critical one. with some of these details that I have missed and have had to redo has made me realize things to take into account first on the next build. I love that our hobby is always a learning lesson. Art.... thanks brother! Alan... thank you. I am making some progress right bow but its a little slow. Hopefully i will get back on the body cart soon bit want to finish up this mid plate issues and a few other things first. Derrick.... thank you for the kind comments. That is some great news with your 70.5 camaro. Well deserved awards. I really like your air jacks you are ahowing there. I am going to have to make some of those for another build in the fuure for sure. I have thought of an old school way that I am planning on doing for displaying this. As soon as I get the parts I will show everyone. I Have had this idea for a while now. I am hooing to get some bench time on this tonight. I did get a chance to fit the tranny and bell housing in place. Things seem to line up pretty good. I will have to show a few pics that I did take. Jist havent had the time to posr them. I still have a little work to do to the mid plate bit rework has beem started on it.