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Xcellent, with a big old X as in Xtra special. I've always loved the Cheetahs. I remember drooling over them in Hot Rod, then there was the article in Rod & Custom, where Don Emmons combined a Cox Cheetah slot car body, Corvette engine and transmission and I think an AMT Mercedes Gull Wing chassis it was a true Don Emmons conversion as in beautiful! Kit bashing before there was a word for it. Now back to the present, your Cheetah captures the look and feel of the real Cheetah, thumbs up to Modelhaus for putting it into kit form. Great paint by the way, don't believe I've seen one in black, when I picture one in my mind's eye I always see the more common Red.

I miss his "interesting" posts, wish he'd find his way back into the fold again; maybe it's time for a good old MCM Revival Meeting to get the wanderers back! Edited to correct spelling, iPads can't seem to autocorrect the right words!

That looks great, that roof swap is completely plausible! Should finish up really nice.

Funny George Barris gets more print that SMP part of the AMT equation. Though SMPprobably never took credit for as many designs or cars as George did!

Tulio, That's a great tip, probably one of the best of the best that I have seen in many years of modeling. I once used a spray spray on contact cement product to glue household foil onto a Weird-Ohs Freddy Flameout plane. It worked, but had some of those same blemishes that you point out BMF having. I do remember some of the very early BMF having some blemish issues until they got the adhesive issues corrected. I don't know why it never dawned on me that regular acrylic Elmer's glue wouldn't work. I have been in awe of your amazing Ford based models for some time, you experiment with some things some of us don't look at and wonder why it wouldn't work, obviously for you it's paying off handsomely! P.S. I also love your English as a Second, (possibly more) Language Accent, proves to me that you are no stranger to hard work! For that you should be commended, (my wife is a Teacher so I recognize hose things too).

Nice looking Fleet of AWB's!

$27K would not be a bad deal, it even has provenance, however outside of California i wonder what that provenance would carry. I remember seeing these Sprint Roadsters in Hot Rod in the 60's, so for someone who saw them when they were running either in person or print would bring the recognition value, just wonder how much that would transfer do investment value. Still it has tons of "Cool" value that cannot be valued to the right person. Be fun to own if it could be made street legal while still retaining its Vintage Sprint Car appearance.

Dave, This is almost a ditto of my comments on Andy's "Misfit Ford" you guys must be reading each other's mind or something. This looks so "East Coast" Style. If you don't already have any pick up, find, beg, borrow or steal (not that I condone theft but it's part of the saying) copies of "Rodding and Re-styling" magazines it was one of the voices of the 50's - 60's East Coast Hot Rod scene. Lots of wild street and show Hot Rods what really defines the East Coast Style is the degree of channeling and either no or very mild top chops. Love your "New" twist on the 32 Vicky, just when you think you've sorta seen everything that could be done with a Hot Rod someone resurrects an idea out of the past in a really cool way. Keep it up, this one has the potential to be really cool!

I like the Stock Roof Height, just setting there with nothing else done it reminds me so much of an early 60's East Coast Hot Rod. They used to Channel them so low that they had to leave a little on the top or else they couldn't get in them let alone drive! For more information on East Coast Style Hot Rods check out "Roddinig and Re-styling" there are a couple other East Coast Rodding magazines, but "Rodding and Re-styling" is the easiest and cheapest to find at swap meets or on eBay. Have fun with this one, has the potential to be way cool!!!

I've sold a couple of my models a few years ago, like nearly ten when the economy was booming (it will again). I got $100 and $250 respectively. They were both nice models of kits which were not available right then, IMC VW Bug built as an early Cal Look Bug, Meyers Manx built as a Drag Race Buggy, used the AMT 36 hp Chrome Engine in both as they were the best engine to build a detailed VW Motor at the time. No doubt about it I never made a dime on either one considering time, paint, parts to kit bash with and materials. I really have no desire to get rid of models that way, what brings me a huge smile every time I've done it is just flat out giving the model as a gift. Right now I am working on an Ed Roth Mr. gasser for my Brother whose first car was a '57 Chevy Hardtop, the next "Give Away" will be an AWB '65 GTO to a friend who had a '65 GTO as his High School Hot Rod, I'll be using a Speed City Resins AWB Frame under it, 421 Pontiac... From the recent models I've given away the priceless smiles were worth every hour spent on the bench!

Looks like a "Skid Steer" like a Bobcat, which I wouldn't doubt there are a few parts off of some type of Bobcat like construction type vehicle. Very Cool though!!

An older friend (now deceased) had two Modet T Ford Tractor conversations plus a Model A that had larger wood spoked rear wheels, a pair on either side, I think he told me they were off of a Pierce Arrow. One of the Model T tractors ran steel wheels the other had about a 2" X 2" diamond pattern pneumatic rubber tire. One of the T's ran a much taller radiator almost the height of a Fordson Radiator, the other had a stock appearing painted Model T radiator she'll and probably a deeper re-cored radiator (Honycomb). Ignitions were the Model T "Buzz Box" Coils, no other electrics except for plug wires. Very simple Tractors to say the least. The T with stock Radiator she'll ran the top hood only, taller radiator had a simple bent sheet metal "Hood" held on with sheet metal screws and old rope. Both ran stock cowling and both had center mounted tractor type seats on a curved flatiron mount. Both had stock dashboards with non-working gauges. Both ran remnants of front bumpers one bent to a gentle vee the other a radius around the tall tractor type grill and bolted to the front of the frame horns. Bumpers being a place to hang lead or concrete weights onto the front but out of the way of the starter cranks. The tractor radiator also ran an auxiliary three speed no reverse transmission behind the stock Model T transmission. The Model A was much more crudely converted from car to tractor, it ran a stock coupe/sedan cowl, stock seat springs and metal seat structure only. This one ran head lights and single Model A tail lamp, probably for going to and from fields in morning and evening hours. The front wheels were stock Model A with a three rib implement type tire, rear tires were stock street type tires which appeared to have had a heavy lug to them floorboard was crude wood 4 - 6 inch wide X 1/2" thick (unknown) wood boards held in place by flathead screws with square nuts on backside. Radiator she'll was extremely well worn chrome, hood top only from a different car either black or blur at one time, cowel looked like it may have originally gray then brush painted faded red then gray again. Dashboard held all of the stock Gage's which all worked still, even the speedo, though not at the correct speed, all glass including the wracked and delaminating windshield were pitted and discolored. Any painted surface was severely faded with a light sheen of rust, but not severe rust. All three had shortened frames with shorter closed drive shafts, rear cross members were moved forward and bolted back to the frame rails. Most of painted surfaces were painted either black or gray. All appeared to have been maintained through the years. I was told that all three were found in the High Desert Areas of Eastern Washington State where they were working up until the late fifties to very early sixties. Most likely used in the orchards during the later part of their lives. When they were brought to Western Washington they were parked out of the weather inside of sheds and started every once and a while. I know that all three were originally bought with the idea of using their running gear in other Model T & A project cars, then he just couldn't bear tearing them apart. The two Model T's are back in Eastern Washington bought by a collector of farm stuff. Makes me wish I had pictures of them, we just didn't "waste" film on stuff like that back then. These would make an incredible weathering and conversion project, there are tons of pictures of these little tractors in books and I'm sure here on thee 'net. Lots of greasy open mechanicals, tons of dust, shiny worn metal from tons of use. Right up the Good Doctor's Alley!!

Shouldn't be an issue with backfire, there is normally either a thin metal burst plate which blows out the back of the intake manifold or couple of pop off valves located on either end of the intake. Pretty much the only way that type of blower would explode would be severe valve timing issues or a Foreign object lodged between the air vanes, it would have to be fairly large as lose as the vanes are Set on street blowers. Probably wouldn't be a huge factor. With a supercharger the air movement into or towards the inlet of the scoop is a small factor. The Butterflies are more like opening the front door of the house under vacuum, there is only so much air that can fit through can fit through an opening whether it's facing into or opposite the oncoming air stream. Think of it like a hose, you can only push more water through by speed or pressure both of which are performed by means of drive speed of the superchargers air vanes. Most superchargers Used on the street are under driven a lot. Top Fuel engines are way overdriven which is why when a TF blower pops it's major catastrophic. Agree 110% with Ace, these "Bikes" are mostly for show not go, E.J. Potter really never realized the full potential of the crazy V8 Bikes he designed, built and ran. I've never been near one of these Monstrosities, I used to ride some pretty mean Sport Bikes, some with extreme evil handling like the Kawasaki 750 and 500 triples they both had so much power that the swing arms flexed so much that They regularly wore out the bushings! A V8 engine would produce enough torque and rotational mass From crankshaft alone that it would have to be a factor in handling. Then there's the weight factor not a problem for the engine but the rider would have to be an animal to realize any way near the potential of its horsepower. Did I mention, it's just plain nuts. Cool to look at heck yeah, too crazy for me. They are feats of excellent mechanical engineering to say the least!

Nice "Acne" cure! Interesting take on a 40 Tudor.

Please run that thing into a tree so the rest of us are put out of our misery!! Some sort of warning points should be issued for posting something that foul!!

I was aware that Ford had an OHV V8 in '54, the point was that most Hot Rodders were running the Flathead not the 292 "Y" Block. The Chev' small block appeared in far greater numbers than the Y Block, which really didn't catch on until the 312 TBird came out, even then the Chevy Small Block was far more common. When it came to OHV V8 power, it was the Mopar Hemi and the Small Block Chevy powering more than their share of Hot Rods. For the most part Ford in a Ford wasn't a popular swap for one reason, engine length, when you hang the water pump and fan on the front of the Ford engine it's length is very tight for the Early Ford engine bay. (Many of the early engine swapping articles bemoan this fact.) Look through any of the "Little Pages" small format magazines of the '50 - '62 time period, the Hot Rods are running 1. Flathead Ford 2. Small Block Chev. 3. Hemi (Chrysler, Plymouth, DeSoto). Race Cars 1. Flathead Ford (in ever decreasing numbers) 2. Hemi. 3. Small block Chevy (Numbers climb as the Cubic Inches increase). I have been collecting the "Digest" Size, Small Format, "Little Pages" since before it was popular to do so. (I love the smell of a new to me musty magazine to add to my collection). Amassing a collection of around 200 at last count, Rod & Custom, Honk, Custom Rodder, Car Craft... so I'm pretty familiar with what's powering a great number of Hot Rods during that period.

That's the Revell Kit right? I thought it came with a couple of Webbers that look like they could be 48 IDA's. I ran 48's on my last (overly modified) Bug, with the right air filters they fit under the hood/bonnet of a '57 oval window. The only lame part of the Revell Bugs engine that needs some real work is its exhaust, the Myres Manx or Gasser Bug can be made to work if you have headers laying around from either kit. Wheels http://www.finksgarage.com has some nice VW oriented wheels four for $8 resin cast. Overall I Like the direction you're heading with this one.

Another point that's been touched on is Temperature and Humidity. Testor's is establishing their flash-off times in a controled environment, read that laboratory. Everything is repeatable down to time, distance, temperature in the lab and in the can, humidity, viscosity... They may even be using a hand picked can followed through the whole manufacturing process. (That way if anything fails its documented and they know where to start looking.) So any time you vary from their recommended temperature and humidity you will have to adjust flash-off time accordingly. Any time you vary from the labs surface prep (primer), you most likely will have to adjust accordingly as in experiment until you come up with a system which works.

Typically any type of paint will be off-gassing the volatile solvents for quite a while, Enamel being the worst. The solvents are trying to go both ways as they dry, into and through the primer in the case of a "Hot" solvent like lacquer thinner especially when over reduced. I have not had this issue on paint jobs I've done since using the dehydrator to heat cure the paint, prior to that I have experienced slight panel warpage with lacquer. With enamels the main issue that I have encountered is the uncured mid-layer where that coat was not allowed to cure out and remains soft forever because its trapped between the cured topcoat and substrate. Normally this has happened when I've tried to build up the paint too quickly rather than being patient and doing things the right way, patience is not only a virtue but pays off in the long run nearly every time!

Gary you are really coming along with this one, your Dad is going to love it!!! Very nice work on your part too.

Probably did the same thing that many of us have done to get a car on the road for a show or just to drive it and grabbed either what was available while looking for the right parts or just doesn't care about pleasing the crowd or anyone else than him/her self! They lost me at the lame spider web grill insert. The lack of paint on the exhaust system indicates to me that this is an "Unfinished" Hot Rod. As far as Chevy engine blowing it, Ford was still running the Flathead when Chev already had the 265 Small Block in production. This engine was at the time superior to the Flathead and is indeed a period correct engine choice, there are far more early mounts and adapters out there for the smallblock Chev than any other engine. (Just look around at the next swap meet that you attend, that question will be answered within the first 10 - 15 minutes.) Ford in a Ford has only been recent trend (in appreciable numbers) they've always been around but there have been more small block chevs than any other engine.

Pretty sure that Chevy didn't use the Uni-Body from the Chevy II under anything else, Corvair was their only other Uni-Body during the first series of the Chevy II and it's not even close. What about using the '66 Nova stock frame under the Rat Packer? Speed City Resin makes a rectangular tube frame slightly longer than the Rat Packer. In my oppinion this is a better frame just on looks alone, though it pretty much mirrors the AMT AWB Frames. You might ask Scott (Kapellusch) at Speed City about your Chevy II chassis question, he is probably one of the most knowledgable scale A/FX guys around.

Labor of Love!

The pictures that I have seen of the "Doug's Headers Chevy 2 Much" Chevy II appear in some configurations to be nearly identical in wheelbase to that of the Rat Packer. The main difference body wise is that the rear wheel wells are stretched. Frame is rectangular tube construction, front axle uses a transverse spring and (rather spindly looking) hairpins Vs. The Rat Packer's parallel leaf springs. The Rat Packer's front axle is nearly identical in shape to the Bill Thomas supplied axle, Doug's Headers axle is a chrome dropped tube axle. I do remember seeing the Doug's Headers Chevy 2 Much car run up here in Seattle, Kent Raceway then along with some other named AWB cars, but I remember the Doug's car because it was beautiful, that burnt orange color, all the Gold Leafing and amazing painted Lettering, people were so impressed , this was a "California Car" after all! I don't remember many of the Dragsters that ran that day, but I sure remember the Doug's car. So for me this is all about creating a memory of a day spent at the Drags with my favorite uncle. I've seen a couple Rat Packers (in pictures) converted to the Chevy 2 Much, it makes a visually plausable AWB Car. In all the pictures I've seen of this car the Class is not either painted on or shoe polished on the windows, so it is hard to tell whether it was a Match Racer, A/FX car or ? it doesn't appear to be a Funny Car, unless the later configuration was as both the rear and front axles are moved forward in the wheel wells. When it comes to these cars, I'm more so into whether the "Look" is right Versus whether it actually fit into any "Gray Area" rules"; now if I were building a period correct Gas or Fuel Dragster, SS, Gasser or Altered I would be more likely to look closely at a Rule Book and "Rivet Count". AWB and A/FX Cars were about as wild as they get, there were so many variations of the same cars within a very short period of time, so build what looks good! Even if it's not 100% Correct they sure look a whole lot better than all the "New Faux Gassers" showing up, most of which would never ever have been allowed to run on any sanctioned track! I remember reading an article on Dick Landy's Dodge in Hot Rod Deluxe and also in an old HRM both of which talked about the A/FX cars being twisted and tweaked to the point the Doors wouldn't even close they literally destroyed themselves with all the hard launches in a short period of time. It you take this into account it doesn't take much to read between the lines and figure out this is probably why there were so many configurations of the same cars. Not to mention that this was a period where the Rules probably weren't followed to the letter 100% of the time. NHRA and the other sanctioning Bodies of the time probably figured that they had a good thing! There was a huge amount of pressure from the Factories still actively sponsoring Racing (of any kind) to get and keep their Logo out there, which is likely why things get a bit on the blurry side at times until the actual Funny Car Class took off in '66 - '67 time frame. This is almost a case of not what the rules said, but what was printed in the pages of Popular Hot Rodding and Hot Rod from month to month.

Just popped open a Rat Packer, that isn't the came chassis in the kit, which is the same as the Funny Farmer Tempest, the Mustang and I think the Syclone. All of those chassis are the same round tube "perimeter" type chassis that they have came with since they were first released in the mid to late sixties. About the only thing that's ever been changed on these kits are the decals. This series was supposed to depict the A/FX cars that were running at the time. I don't remember which one came out first, I remember getting the Rear Engined, Plymouth 'Cuda first then the Chevy II so I suspect it was the second of the series; I think that only the 'Cuda had the term "Funny Car" associated with it so AMT most likely aimed these models as being A/FX Class. One has to remember that the rules regarding A/FX or Factory Experimental were pretty loosely based and were subject to interperatation in many cases, when the bodies began to start lifting to access engine or driver's compartment is about the time the term "Funny Car" began being applied. This AMT Series was more of a "Match Racer" configuration than Funny Car. With some work, the chassis and interior buckets can be detailed to replicate a typical AWB A/FX car just by doing things like fitting the chassis sheet metal to the body, all of them are way too short all the way around to "seal" the chassis to the body. With a little Evergreen sheet and a little tubing you can make this chassis work. The other glaring error pointed out by Speed City Resin is that the "Big Block" Chevy engine is way undersized only slightly larger than a Small Block, so a true sized Big Block Chevy is in order for the Chevy II and maybe a 421 Pontiac for the Tempest. Doing some research it almost looks like AMT based much of the front clip which was sold by Bill Thomas out of Anaheim, Cal. Dick Harrell ran this setup in early '66. The major difference between the Bill Thomas' front clip and the front of the AMT chassis is the lack of a parallel upper trestle rail, the Thomas clip used the same firewall supports as the AMT chassis does. Both use nearly identical front axle and parallel spring mounting. The "Perimeter" chassis probably came about because AMT figured they were going to use the Chassis on the other bodies which were all for the most part of a Uni-Body design. I haven't tried it but am told that the Rat Packer chassis fits under the 'Cuda, so you could use it to make the 'Cuda front engined. Looking at a lot of the A/FX cars of the day they were beginning to add some type of chassis under them or at least a stout set of subframe connectors. Of this series only the Murcury Syclone and the Pontiac '63 Pontiac Tempest would have come from the factory with a full frame under them. I really wish that AMT would release,the 'Cuda if the molds still exist, even if the Hemi wasn't that amazing in it, but you could use it to "Loosely" Replicate Richard Petty's foray into Drag Racing, if he had done so in an A/FX that is! Oh yeah, I almost forgot pretty nice A/FX Match Racer. I like it a lot, you've already taken care of a lot of the improvements to make it a plausable Street / Drag and or Race Car.