Old Coyote

OK, here it is .......... the best I can remember it from 54 years ago .............. Jim Nelson and Dode Martin's Dragmaster .............. winner of the first Top Eliminator title at Amarillo Dragway in April 1960 Modified Revell Attempt 1 kit .......... engine, tires and wheels, etc all came from the parts box ............... very simple but a fun little build

An outstanding build ........... simply gorgeous

.... Finally got up the nerve to start a pair of old dragsters I have been wanting to try to replicate for years ............. not sure I have the expertise to pull off either one, but I'm going to try The first is John Milner's small block Chevrolet powered dragster from the movie More American Graffiti ............. have had the kit for years but couldn't convince myself to cut it up ........... I can't stand the seam running lengthwise down the body ............. the only thing I could think to do was to cut the top of the body off so I could slide the chassis into the "filled" body .............. want to do this car with the proper blown small block Chevy, not the abortions provided in the kit ................ here's where I stand on the chassis The second car I want to try to replicate is the first dragster I ever saw .............. as a 13 year old at the opening of Amarillo Dragway in April, 1960 ............... Jim Nelson & Dode Martin's Dragmaster ........... outran Raymond Godman's Tennessee Boll-Weevil A/MR for the Top Eliminator title that day ............. using the Mickey Thompson kit ........... having to widen the engine mounts to accommodate the 283 Chevy

Absolutely stunning build Mark ................ your talents never cease to amaze me sir

Great build Jim ........... that thing is way cool B)

Beautiful build Bruce , simply beautiful ............... your skills never cease to amaze me

............ and her mean mother Mopar ..................... Judy Lilly from Wheatridge, Colorado ................ one of the best drag racers I was privileged to know

Rich Bickle .................. Buddy Baker .................. Mike Wallace .............. Ted Musgrave ..................

David Green ............. Robert Pressly ............... Phil Barkdoll .................. Terry Labonte ..................

Beautiful build sir ,,,,,,,,,,,, very nicely done !!

Back in the "Good old days" we didn't have roller starters or "snout" starters that spun the blower snout pulley ............... cars were started by pushing them and doing the "starting line dance" (notice the Chevrolet Suburban with the push board attached to the front bumper behind the Carroll Brothers car) .............. the cars were pushed from the finish line back to the staging area ............ in the picture, Ivo has pushed down lane one into the staging lanes (his push vehicle, which happened to be a Cadillac Eldorado, is out of the frame to the right .............. and he will run from lane two ............ the Carroll Brothers car will likewise make a "turn" into lane one but closer to the starting line than Ivo ............... Ivo's crew will then pull him back so he can straighten out into lane two ............ and vice versa for the Carroll Brothers crew so their driver can straighten out into lane one ................ burnouts and dry hops (no longer allowed) could be done past the starting line and the crews would then push the cars back into the staging area (reversers were not required back then) ............. dragsters, funny cars, altereds, any cars that had to be push started followed these procedures And yes, the idler pulleys could be positioned to the outside of the blower belt, or to the inside ................. it was simply a matter of what the owner/crew chief preferred (or felt most comfortable with) ............ since I never campaigned a blown car I couldn't give you an opinion of which way was better ......... John

Beautiful build sir ................. outstandingly well done

You are correct, they are a visibility aid ........... There were two different types of lines painted on the slicks ........... one, like on my rear engine dragster model crossed the sidewall area .............. the second (which came later) followed the circumference of the tire ................ check the picture below of Eddie Hill's Pennzoil dragster ................ the line across the sidewall allowed the crew chiefs to check for sidewall deflection and the possibility of beadlock failure (beadlocks were used to permanently "lock" the bead of the tire to the wheel, which kept the wheel from spinning inside the tire) ................... the line around the circumference allows the crew chiefs to see the distortion of the soft compound tires as they "grow" due to wheelspeed ............... there may be other reasons for the lines, but these are the ones I'm most aware of ............... you can see both on Eddie Hill's dragster Steel wheels don't "deflect or distort" (or shouldn't anyway) ........... so half painted one color and half another would probably just be the owner's paint preference Thought you might like these shots from Amarillo also .......... Stellings & Hampshire 1964 ......... Weekly, Rivero, Fox, and Holding .......... 1964 .... and Tommy Ivo and the Carroll Brothers doing "the starting line dance" ............ Photo by David Ray

Back in the late '50's through the mid '60's, back before the advent of slipper clutches and delay boxes, about the only way to increase performance was to add horsepower .......... and you have to remember that NHRA banned nitro for many years ............ but those were the days of spinning slicks all the way through the quarter and horsepower meant speed and sometimes better ET's ............... so many of the teams tried twin engines ........... some were successful (the Howard Cams Twin Bear, Peters and Frank's Freight Train, Tommy Ivo's twin Buick, Eddie Hill's twin Pontiac, Jack Moss' Twin Chevy) .................. however, most of the time the ET's of the heavy twins and the significantly lighter singles were about the same ............ the twins did have a decided advantage when it came to top speeds ............. but top speeds don't win races The Freight Train could hold its own with some of the early, post fuel ban, fuel cars ............ but that situation did not last for long ............... since the nitro burners began making more horsepower than the gas cars as the mid to late '60's came along, plus they weighed significantly less, the gas cars just couldn't compete anymore ............ so Top Fuel Eliminator and Top Gas Eliminator were created ..................... by the early '70's, the interest in true "Top Gas" cars was waning and unfortunately the big gas burners were put out to pasture and Top Gas Eliminator became just a memory ................ but what a wonderful memory it is Here are a few pictures from Amarillo Dragway .................. gotta love those Top Gas Cars Prentiss Cunningham The last "Freight Train" .......... Frakes and Funk ......... Top Gas staging lanes .................

Yep, that looks like an Ernie Irvan car ............... there was a reason they called him "Swervin' Irvan"

..... I was rummaging around in my model boxes in the attic and came across this car ........ I originally built it almost 50 years ago ......... my first reaction eas to take it apart and rebuild it using all the aftermarket parts and pieces which are available today ........... but then I thought better .............. it's built like it was nearly a half century ago ............. only changes are a new set of wheels from a Polar Lights funny car, Cobracolors Fiji Blue Pearl, and Slixx decals ................ upon sanding the body down, I went through five layers of paint before I reached the white plastic ............... red, black, silver, yellow, and green ............ this old beast has been around the block numerous times

The front engine car uses an Altered States "Shorty" body on a Two Much chassis and small block Corvette engines from the Double Dragster ....... Two Jeb Allen kits gave their lives for the rear engine twin ........

Yes sir, they are

1960's .................. 1970's .............

.......... a quartet of 1999 Monte Carlos .............

I apologize that I am just now seeing your question .......... it's Testors Bright yellow enamel toned down just a hair with some gloss gray

I would paint it ............ to me it makes the model a little more realistic

Beautiful build Mark ........... simply stunning

Beautiful build Paul ............ you did an awesome job on it

I love it ........... gorgeous build of a rather finicky kit ............... beautiful work My favorite little car because I have one