Mooneyzs

Hakan.... Thank you Henry... I make them working but probably won't have the gas pedal working. Just will be able to position the butterflies Brad.... Thank you... Lmao at having whole car 3D printed.. May get done faster that way... Hahaha thank you for the kind words. I can't wait to get these done and have them in my hand. I hope the print nice and look good.

Joe... thanks... you know I am always trying to out do myself... lol. I think by now people have to think i am nuts...haha i could alwas draw up and add the rotors...lol James.... funny thing at one point in time I was considering making working butterflies when pressing the gas pedal down and the butterflies would open. I had talked myself out of it thinking that It may be too delicate and the fact I didnt want the risk of something breaking after this build is completed. Althought I am condidering it on a future build. Henry... it would be cool for sure.

Ok Fellas.... so I have been in Design mode and no physical progress has been made one the build but I am getting closer to having a few more parts closed to being done to send to Shapeways. I have added a few more things to the injector hat to pretty much finish it off and I have started progress on the Blower. The blower still needs the ribs added, mounting bosses located, mounting holes. some detail to the side body of the blower as well as the "M" logo on front and back panels. Here are a few pics to share with you what it looks like at the moment.... Here is the blower, you can see it still needs the ribs, mount holes/bosses: Here is the back panel, and I need to add the "M" to the two circular bosses: HEre is the blower in an exploded view to show you how many pieces I am making this from, My plan is to add some more holes and stuff on the inside to make this from the least amount of material but still be strong for the part. Shapeways charges by how much material is used per part, the less I can use the cheaper it will be: And you know how I have to mock things up. I had to create an assembly with with blower and injector hat to see what it would look like together:

Dale... That would be pretty cool if I was able to talk to him for just a few mins if possible. only tough thing is that would be available to get access to him. I am sure maybe people like him have a lot of people around but you never know it may be as simple as going up and introducing and being able to say Hi...lol Brad... I was hoping that whoever received the email I sent would be able to pass the link of the build on to Mr. Hendrick. I even mentioned that in the email but I am sure they didn't....

Clay... awesome update. Love it in primer. What I would give to have my funny car at this stage...lol. i have been debating if I should use a 2 part primer for my body because I typically been using Plastikote spot filler primer from a rattle can. I have recently purchased some Napa brand primer but may try it on a different build. As always I am looking forward to more progress on this build. It's giving me more motivstion to get my funny car done..just like you i am running out of time and April is getting here quick...lol

Ira... thank you Danno... you know I am going to keep at it trying to make every part as acursct as I can. Scott... I have realized its ok that they couldn't help. I was hopeful that maybe they would seeing what I am doing here. Well a while back (abouy a year ago I think) I was considering driving out to Prudhommes in SoCal to see the car in person but thats when I realized that he had sold it to Mr. Hendricks. I will continue to use what pictures I have and make the best I can from it. Thank you on the injector hat. I have done a little more work on it and am currently working on the blower. I hope to have it done in a day or two and will post pics of it when its done.

Oh... that is just a package label for some small zip lock baggies I got at hobby Lobby that i was planning on putting the bolts and hardware in for the engine compone ts as well as the rest of thr build to keep separated for the engine so I know what goes where...lol I will be labeling each bag to keeo myself straight...haha

Brad.... the body turned out really nice. I was jist glad to hear the Chuck will be doing decals of a car I rember as as kid. Just like you I cant want to have this printed. I am curious how it will look printed bit I have a litte work left to button it up You talking aboit the plier rack you made and gave to a couple of us I think hat Johns minions like doing sork for him they aremt very motivsted for me... haha ot may be the California Sunshine they are missing...lol

Hello Fellas... so I did some more design work this evening.... I decided to draw up the injector hat and in the model I have the Butterflies modeled up that I purchased from Future Attraction. This injector hat still needs some more details. There is a lip that needs to be added to the front part. I need to get the inlet holes for the injector lines put in and I am also trying to figure a way to change the radius on the sides instead of being a constant radius to having it a variable radius. I should of shown the real hat but I don't have a very . I can see what I have to show as well as the resin one from Mark Johnson with is a very nice piece as well. The only reason I am going to have this 3D printed is becuase I was having trouble figuring out the best way to make the support pieces between the butterflies and for them to be identical plus I think it will help doing it this way to install the butterflies into the injector hat. Here is the injector hat assembly with the butterflies, butterfly shaft...etc... Front View: Back View: I also have to share a couple of pictures of a little something that I got in the mail today from a Very good friend of mine... Mike Garland. I got one of the 1/16th Scale Omni Funny Car Bodies that Mike and Jay Kamoto worked on together. Its is a very nice body. If anyone is interested all they need to do is get a hold of Mike. Here are two pics to share....

Hakan....thank you. I will definitely be showing pics of it when I get them printed. I was wanting to get a couple more pieces drawm up before I do another order from shspeways. What where you needing drawn up? Depending on what it is maybe I can help. No promises on how quick I could get to it though.

Henry... thank you. Brad... I sure have been... lol i can't wait to have it printed and in my hand...lol i am curius if I shoild have one printed as a full assembly and one done in pieces. Think individual pieces would be better though.

Tyrone... that is just sexy. Love that silver and black vinyl top as well as the black graphics. very classic look. Bice work my friend.

I would love to have a 32 in 1/16th scale.... Just wish one was made...

Here is Reference PIc #2: Here is the similar view: Here is the last pic from Hilborn: Here is a similar view:

Ok Fellas... I want to show you what I have been working on tonight. Little change of pace...haha Yep I decided to work some more on the fuel pump. I am first going to show you the assembly view and an exploded view then I will show you views that compare the pictures that Carol Hilborn from Hilborn send me a little over a month ago. I used the three pictures to come up with the dimensions and get it sized just right. I drew it up in 1:1 and then I scaled it down to 1/16th scale. Here are some pics.... First off I would like to show the Assembly view, Now this isn't complete yet because I am going to measure some of my RB motion fittings and added them to the assembly model to make sure I have Holes sized properly for the fittings and making sure everything looks ok before sending it off to shapeways: Here is an Exploded View, I decided to make this fuel pump consisting of 3 main pieces as you see here. I will be using Scale hardware bolts for the front plate: Here is Reference Pic #1 with a couple measurements from Hilborn: Here is a view oriented similar to above of the 3D model:

Joe... Yeah its a bummer. Sad thing is that I am a huge Jeff Gordon Fan when it comes to nascar and I even put that at the end of the email guess it didn't help...lol. That is awesome that they tried to find pics for you even though they wern't able to find any pics. I will be honest I know that it would of taken maybe 30-45 mins to take the pics if that. I just wish there were better pics of the restored car out there.

Clay... Thank you so much for the words of encouragement. Oh n o I a not gonna let it get me down. I do have to tell you that I got a hold of Hilborn and they send me a coupe of pics with some measurements which I though was pretty cool of them to do. I know it was probably an odd request that I sent them but maybe it was overwhelming with the 30 things I asked about....lol I gotta get going and make some good headway on the build now. Steve.... It was an absolute pleasure meeting you as well. I look forward to chatting more with you at future meets and shows. Thank you for the kind words on my build.

Well Fellas.... I want to share with you some information I just received that I am really bummed about. Last week I contacted Hendricks Motorsports in regards to the Army Vega Funny Car. Mr. Prudhomme sold the Vega to Mr. Hendricks a while back. for a while know I have tried contacting Snack Racing to see if there was anyway to get some more pictures of the car since all I really have to go by is whats on the Snake Racing page from his website and the You tube video. So last week I wrote to Hendricks Motorsports explaining the build I was doing and that it was a replica of the Army Vega Funny Car that Mr. Hendricks purchase from The Snake. I gave them the link to this build to show them as well. Told them a little about it and I asked if they could take some pics for me. I had about 30 items I wanted them to shoot. Well I just got an email from them back today and here is their response..... Chris: Thank you for your interest in our Snake Vega Funny Car and it sounds like you have a tremendous project going. I will admit your request was unusual but I understand your need of detail. Unfortunately we don't have the personnel or time to do this for you. Photography is normally prohibited and access to the car is restricted in its current Hendrick Heritage Center location. Sorry I wasn't more help but best of luck to you in finding the information you need as well as the completion of your project. Infrastructure Manager Hendrick Motorsports 4400 Papa Joe Hendrick Blvd Charlotte, NC 28262 704.453.2161 work Needless to say I am a little bummed. I completely understand that they don't have the personnal or someone available to take to some time to take the pics and send them. I was sure hopeful that I would maybe be able to fill in those blanks on the details I was hoping to find. Its not going to stop me from continuing building this build at the level I have been doing, I am very proud of it so far and just hope it turns out as good as I hope. I think I am going to try and get a hold of the guys at Snake Racing again to see if they could maybe help. Maybe they have pics of when they build it back up. Anyway yeah.... I am a little bummed out that they couldn't help. If you guys would like I could post the actual email that I sent them...

Danno... Thank you so much for the kind words. Its always a pleasure to bring and share the build with you guys in person. LOL @ if ever finished....hehe You know I am trying to get it done in time for the Desert Scale Classic and Hope that I can but I know I won't rush it and skip over any detail just to make it so if by chance it doesn't get done by the show it will be ok. But I promise I will be trying my hardest to get it done in time. Johnny..... You are alive...lol Sure miss ya buddy. LMAO at giving it to "The Snake" when its done. I would love the opportunity to be able to take it to Snakes Shop to show him the build for sure. I guess I could always do a replica of one of Mongoose's cars too. Dale.... Thank you. It was a pleasure meeting you Saturday at the swap meet. If you have questions on anything feel free to ask. Also I am still going to try and look for some pics about the details we talked about you were looking for. Brad.... One Hundred pages??....... Not sure if you ment 180....

Steve... thabk you for flowing along with this build for as long as its beeing going in. I am pretrysire everyone is wishing that I would finish it soon and not make a career of it...lol. you are right that Prudhomme ran Ed pink/Keith Black engines but keep in mind that this build is based off the restored car. I think I was only able to find 3 or at most 4 pics of the car when Prudhimme ran it. I believe he only ran it at 2 races. This build has been based off the pics on the snake racing website under his collection that they had posted on the Vega as well as the 3:00 min video on youtube that Prudhomme talks about the car. Hakan... thank you for posting. You are correct about it being based off the restored car. And where there are missing links I am basing some parts or details off cars from thar same era or even making a judgement call and doing what I thought it may of beem like. Bob... yep I will be adding butterflies to the injector. I have photo-etch butterflies from Future Attraction. I actually worked with Scott to have them made and he did a killer job sizing things and they are spot on. I will be redrawing the injector hat up this week to have printed at Shapeways. I would love to have a working linkage but notnsure If I will attempt in this build where you can press the gas pedal and the bitterflies open... for sure in a bigger build I have in mind. although I think I may try make it so I can positiin the butterflies open or closed. Now no promises on it because I am afraid and leary of having parts break if I try to make workable since they will be small.

Bob... good Idea.... I may just have to try that. I know when I make my next shapeways order when I get a few more parts drawn up I will probably order a few more of the breathers to have.

Mike... Thank you I am getting there little by little....lol wonder if I should order another set or two of breathers. I guess I could increase the size of the EP so paint build up wouldn't be a problem...lol. I am so ready to get some paint on some parts...lol

Tim... Thanks man. I don't know if I can do every build at this level but I will do my best with detailing but trying not to make a career out of it...LOL Ok fellas I did a little work today which its not much but I sanded the fire bottle brackets and added another coat of primer. They look great and think are ready for a final sand and then primer. Then I sanded on the oil breathers with 1000 grit paper and added more primer to them. Little bummed that one of them I lost a little of the detail of the EP on the side. not sure if it was due to maybe a tad too much primer or what... Here's a few shots... One side of the fire bottle bracket: Other side: Here are the breathers and you can see how the one EP lost a little of its detail: The other side:

Tyrone... Ina. Digging the color and loving it. I think that the vinyl top is gonna set the paint off and so much more to this build. Nice work my friend

Wayne.... Nice work. It is so clean and looks great.