Codi

Tidy and perfect as always Francis! cheers, tim

This car does look really nice. Congrats to you sir on a job well done so far. cheers, tim

Just wanted to acknowledge and thank the entire team hosting the DSC contests for doing last years first virtual contest. I got my copy of MCM 208 magazine yesterday and the coverage was fantastic all the way through along with the rest of the magazine. Not sure if I'll entire some past builds this year or not but no matter what I look forward to seeing the entries and results to THIS years show. Thanks again Danno! Cheers, Tim

I'm going to have to give you a call sometime Francis, I have a lot of questions in particular about how you're doing such a sweet job machining in plastic as well. Really opens up possibilities. Nicely done! ? Tim

So, I rolled out of bed and thought I'd just whip up an engine today in CAD........yeah, that's it..........SERIOUSLY Jason, that is pretty darn sweet not only that you can do such work but do it so quickly. You're very talented. Love the position of the turbos too. The entire car looks great and has a realistic look about it that is hard to get in 1/25th. congrats. tim

I want to take a moment and acknowledge those that have posted comments along the way on this build. Ray, Daniel, Chris, Dave, Francis and Marcos just recently.......I thank you all and the many others who have visited and not commented one way or the other. I used to spend at least twice as much time at the bench as I do now. As mentioned, "life" jumps in and takes up time from my hobby. Dave asked the question (tongue in cheek I'm sure) about the logo on the cross rib. I thought about it believe me. But the rib is so small even if I could 3D print one you'd still not be able to read it. Many racers bought Ramcharger units but because they weren't Mopar cars, they simply ground off the Ramcharger name and ran them regardless. Being that mine is going in the Maverick, well............ It was around the mid/late 70's that the Ford 9" rear started to become adopted by many racers but for the time period I'm building this car, the Dana 60 was a more common choice in drag racing. So far this week, I've completed about half the assembly & I can't wait to get this piece completed. Happy Easter to those that celebrate the Holiday!! Tim

THANK YOU GUYS!! Seriously this was a slog, not enough bench time and tedious stuff to machine. Hopefully you'll like what you see even though it's not quite completely finished. Sooooo, many days/weeks later and I finally have something to post pics of. I just have to assemble it and "finesse" things like the ribs etc. to final fitment. After getting all of this machined I had to see a mock-up so these pics represent where I'm at. Give me this week and I should have pics of it completely assembled / completed. Not sure yet if I'm going to paint the pumpkin' portion or antique black it with Caswell's aluminum "Blacken-It"........It will be media blasted regardless before doing so. The back cover / plate will polished however! The axle itself is titanium. I'll share some comments with the pics below for info/clarification. Cheers to ALL! tim These 1:1 reference pics show the rear in the Mopar Missile "Wire" Car. They had titanium axles and driveshaft components along with their magnesium rear end. Pretty much what I'm trying to replicate. This is a pic of a "Henry's Axle Company rear end, they made the famous Ramcharger rear ends.....a lot of ribbing throughout. I was VERY fortunate to find a dozen great reference pics of it on an ebay sale and I printed them out.........now if you search for them, ebay says they can't find them.......I guess they delete their files after a given period of time. these pics show it mock-ed up. Again, ribs and some other details during final assembly have to be finessed but it should be pretty close to the real deal. If its as cool as I hope, I'm going to open up the trunk and possibly the doors on the body to show it off along with more of the chassis. you'll note the little "wings/ribs" with a hole drilled in the center standing on end, you can see 2 of them in place in some of the pics even though they're not glued in permanently yet. The bolts are for the 4 carrier bolts internally as an fyi. cheers

Hey Chris, now THAT is something. You've obviously been quite busy with the build and I am most struck by the last pic. When I see the cockpit / seats and the size of that motor, it gives you a real appreciation for what these cars were all about. Well done sir, she's a beaut! tim

Charlie, this thread quite frankly deserves more views & posts. The parts and fabrication you're doing are top drawer. Hopefully more members/guests will stop by and enjoy your creation as much as I have/am. I particularly appreciate the time you've taken to post pics & methods to make certain parts. Love learning new things and there is plenty to learn from here. cheers, tim

I'm confused Ian, do I want to see the funny car finished or do I cheer you on to stop what you're doing and move onto the dragster instead......I only say that as I'm not capable of doing 2 at the same time. Both look GREAT all the same. Congrats to you! tim

- All the time was well worth it Paul. The engine is spectacular. cheers, tim

Wonderful work Francis. Your ability to machine / fabricate bits and pieces for this truck in plastic are every bit as impressive as what you do in metal. Your capturing ALL the details too, truly a unique AND top notch build by any standard. cheers, tim

Well, now that winter break is over, I've got a single pic of the drawings I've worked on to do the rest of the Dana 60 rear end. I bought an actual rear cover gasket to base my original numbers upon and did TONS of research on-line. Came up with reasonable numbers & drawings to work from to mimic the "Henry's Axle" company casting. Reminder, they were the firm that did the Ramcharger's rear ends back in the day and was used by many racers. Cast in magnesium was one of the claims to fame. 7 renderings (not counting those thrown away) and materials prepped. Today I'll get started and see where it ends up now. In the pic you can see the gasket and the drawings themselves. Thanks to each of you that continue to follow and post words of encouragement. cheers, tim

Beautiful car you posted Matthijs, I put an index card on to of the roof line and visualized it with a 2" chop.......hmmmmm. Still a gorgeous car as it is, thanks for posting the pics. cheers, tim

Man that is coming along nicely Chris. How many bags of parts are left? The details are fantastic. cheers, tim

Hey Charlie, enjoying your posts and learning along the way too. Thanks for posting as you progress and sharing the pics on the bench/mill. cheers, tim

Your car and the efforts you've put into it already show that it's going to be a great build when completed. Congrats! tim

That's the baddest blower hat I've ever seen and one of absolute favorites. Your efforts to "massage it" to make it even better were well worth it. cheers, tim

The entire car is coming together quite nicely Ian. Good job on the chassis / tin work too! cheers, tim

Nicely done Francis, all of it. Especially like the trick hood hinges you fabricated. Enjoying it as always. tim

Clean great looking car Dave. You nailed the color too. cheers, tim

Wonderful thread John and it's a pleasure to see your skills. Love renshape too and it really does present well with your body. The reference pics you shared and that of the chassis in black and white are phenomenal. Thanks for sharing that as well. For what it's worth, I like the 3rd body color choice. Your 1st pic is probably more in line / contemporary for the era you're building for and is nice as well, I think you have a winner no matter what you choose. Cheers, tim

Hi everyone, I got the rear cover done. The pieces are NOT permanently assembled just yet. Some I might media blast, others polish. Bolts have to be added too. Next up is the tricky part of the rear end. I have to figure out a few steps to create it but I',m making headway. The last pic shows the rear cover, a titanium rod (for the axles) and an acid etched piece that shows the effect that I am going to apply to the main portion of the axle. I learned that to get a proper etch on it, I need to media blast if first, then dunk it (I'm using Caswell's Aluminum Black-en-it as an fyi then I lightly polish it with my dremel wheel). I think it should look pretty cool when I get it done. Cheers to all! tim In this pic you'll notice that the girdle is not exactly in it's slot.......it does fit I assure you.........

A fiddly exercise I'm sure Ian but you it was worth it no doubt. For me it is always amazing how much time it consumes to accomplish what seems pretty simple, but it's never "simple". The entire car is shaping up very well. cheers, tim

Some really great update pics Charles. REALLY nice! Look forward to your next post as always. cheers, tim