futurattraction

Thanks Rusty. I appreciate your saying that. I've gained so much experience since I mastered my Fairmont that I would go about doing it much differently, now, but that's part of the fun of it. Frank - Thanks for the support...

Thanks Bill...! LOL - I'd feel more comfortable getting a decent primer job on it than I will pain. I'm sure I'll be sweatin' bullets when the time comes! OK. I forgot to take a couple other pics last night, so guess I'll offer a really small update tonight. As with 1:1 cars, my dry sump oil pan got in the way of the stock starter, so I built a mini-starter that does a decent job of replicating what one looks like. I also scratch built a dry sump pump and got the holes drilled for fittings. Last but not least, here is a pic of the lower A-arms I'm going to build. I showed A-arms way back at the start of this thread, but do you think I can find the little suckers? You know the answer to that question. One of the problems of having a project that drags out over such a long time. I know there around here (somewhere) but I'm not going to waste the time looking in the million places they could be. This, at least, affords me a chance to show they a set goes together. I started by trimming the short arm of the wishbone so it fits in the tubing that runs perpendicular to the frame. A RB Motion #1504 rod end with shortened shank and jamb nut will go on the other end of it. The short tube is .200" long and the longer tube is going to be .550", or so it appears at this point. This pic shows the wishbone glued into the short tube. The long tube is shown for mockup only at this point. Comments welcome!

I have been working with Joseph on several projects and he is an A-1 person, first of all, and second, he is very detail-oriented and meticulous in his execution, so I would say these tires will be a great addition to his line of products.

Yeah, it's the shiny stuff that bothers me the most, Brad... LOL

Mitch - We're gonna have to straighten those people out, aren't we?!? LOL Seriously, if you've got a link to it, I'd be interested in reading it...

Thanks Chris. I appreciate your encouragement. The two areas I'm most concerned with are paint and keeping extraneous glue from being any more visible than absolutely necessary.

You and me, both, Aaron! Hopefully I can execute everything in the way I want to... Thanks Ron!

Thanks for your reply, Billy. I appreciate the extra info...

Stan - Thanks bud! I appreciate it, Jason. You do some really nice work yourself! There's more coming, so hang onto that jaw... LOL Thanks so much Clay. I work at the speed of a glacier - maybe slower - so I guess I better be patient! haha Chris - yes, we both have sort of a penchant for the detail, don't we. It can be a blessing and a curse. I can't wait to get some new photo etch in. I've got a handful of motor plates geared toward fitting this chassis and engine combo, including a dry mount pump mounting provision on the bottom of the plate. I'm very curious how all that will fit together. Thanks much, Håkan. I appreciate it, Ira. Tyrone - Sorry bud. I didn't mean to mess things up for you. LOL

Cool start to your build, Stan. I'll be looking forward to more updates, buddy!

Remind me never to jump the gun and glue things together that shouldn't be... LOL It was a real pain to modify the dry sump on my engine with the pan attached. I finally accomplished it, but it would have gone faster and looked a bit better if I'd exercised a bit more wisdom. Anyway, here are the progress pics with the extended sump and pickup tubs attached. I also made a bit of progress on getting racing harness mounting tabs and set braces added to the chassis. I also got started on the wheelie bars. I'm using one of my sets of PE wheel housings. I'm using RBMotion #1504 rod ends for the upper links and some way or other drilled out the eye on two of them and added stainless steel sleeves to size the hole down to .020". There isn't enough material around the housing hole to go any larger than that. The rod is .050" Plastruct. The #1504 rod ends have a .033" shank, so I made a fixture out of stainless steel tubing so I could drill centered holes in the rod. Holes are approximately .050" deep so the rod ends will have decent engagement inside the rods. The upper bars must be bent slightly so they'll clear the underside of the chassis. I haven't gotten that far yet.

Sweet!

x2

Beautiful work, Tyrone - as always...

Hey Billy, How was the TDR chassis to get primed and cleaned up? How much time did you spend getting it to the point where you were happy with it's surface? Any particular challenges with how it went? I've read where some have used CA glue to help smooth out the print lines. Others, I think, have just used a good primer-surfacer. Just curious what your feeling is after having gotten this far... I'll look forward hearing your thoughts.

Thanks Bob. You're right - we need to support those who are legitimately trying to do the right thing and make the hobby better - not the flip side of that...

Super nice job, Tyrone. Your cowl scoop looks fantastic, and I like how you adapted your axles to fit the new wheels. Can't wait for your next update... :)

Thanks, so much, for your support, Robert. It is frustrating, but I'm going to go with DirtModeler's thought - the quality and reputation I am doing my best to build and live up to will come out ahead in the long run... and that ultimately, we'll all be rewarded, in measure, for what we've done in this life.

Thank you very much Tom. I appreciate it...

Those rear wheels are gorgeous, even if they may be a bit wider than you want them to be. Everything's looking great, Tyrone!

I love it, Wayne! Can't wait to see your progress...

It's great you at least found a pic of them, even if it isn't very large or of high quality. Your SolidWorks drawings look super...!

Chris - You did a fantastic job on your breathers but I know exactly what you're talking about re making small parts so they're identical (or as close to that as possible). I just think your attention to detail will catch up to you if you don't 3D them. I know these breathers aren't identical to what is on the Snake's engine, but there are at least a couple of dimensions shown that might offer a tiny bit of guidance. If I come up with anything better, I'll be sure and let you know... http://www.rbssuperchargers.com/Products.cfm?pn=2600-0001&pID=6540

I'm all about uniformity, Chris, so I'd vote for having them 3D printed when you come up with a drawing. Your hand-crafted ones are dead-on, but I just think it's gonna be tough to make them match to your satisfaction - and after this much time and effort... My 2-cents'! Also, I agree with Paul, I believe the body of the breathers is a bit narrow, which accentuates, a little bit too much, the area where the fitting/hose attach to it.

Looking good, Joe. Man - your rear body mounts ain't going to no place. That aluminum tubing was a great fix!