Codi

I apologize Mike, I mis-read your question I use a 250 watt American Beauty resistance soldering setup. It uses electrical current to heat up the tips to melt the solder. Mine has the optional ( a necessity in my opinion) foot switch that controls the current. You can adjust the current (therefore heat) on the unit and the foot switch frees up a valuable hand to secure and solder whatever you're working on. I could not imagine soldering anything in 1/25th scale (or smaller) with a conventional soldering iron. It might have been done, but I'm just not good enough to even try. It's really helpful because you can control the heat in confined areas and not loosen nearby joints. Cheers, Tim btw, I bought the unit 4 years ago from Micromark. Not sure if they still offer it but American Beauty IS still in business and I can swear by their USA made quality.

Appreciated everyone. Brad....of all the tools I have so far at my disposal, I consider the Dremel Stylus to be the most "important". I've used up one so far and have 2 on my desk. No one was more surprised or disappointed than I when Dremel announced it was discontinued. UGH! The newest micro model (that's what they call it) is a dismal replacement in my own personal opinion. I've tried buying them on ebay and others and they're going for $200.+ now IF you even find one offered. If anyone has a NEW one they want to sell me, I'll pay ya' $200. no questions asked RIGHT NOW! Cato (BigBoyz) feels the same way. Mike, I've used only TIX solder to date on my builds. I do have some SilverBrite I bought not long ago, but I've no reason to change or try something new I've been so pleased with the TIX. Tim

Hi Fellas, Someday I hope to get a chance to meet each and every one of you. Your enthusiasm for this build fuels mine. I wanted to take a moment to answer in some detail Scott's question on cleaning up my messy joints. (and we all do get them at somepoint when doing a big soldering job.....and I'm discovering the reasons why from my experiences on this build) This is my second attempt at soldering a chassis. My first was my 33' Willys as most of you are aware. Totally different cars and challenges. The Willys build was a great place to start and learn from but this is like going from sitting to sprinting and to heck with walking or even standing up before. I'll post the pic of the pieces I use for clean-up and below this pic (it's lousy, sorry) a brief description of its purpose and use for when I use it. 1. Micro round tipped dremel tips. 3 different sizes. Small, smaller and TINY. They're great for tough to reach places and for removal of small quantites of solder. 2. BRASS (do not use the steel wire ones, it'll rip through your brass) wheels. Use only on the lowest speed setting of you dremel. The wheel and cone shapes help get in tough places too and really brighten up the joints and remove rather delicatecly solder as needed. Be careful to avoid any kick back and never press the wheel forcibly on the joint. you can be to aggressive. Better safe than sorry and take of little bits at a time. 3. Dremel 220 grit sanding pinwheel. Reddish color. Don't buy the white ones, they're 120 and are far too agressive. You'll note one only has a few "flutes" of material on it. To minimize removal of too large an area, I simply cut out the other bands on it. This is one of the more aggressive pieces/ tools I use. It WILL take it off and quickly. Buyer beware. 4. MY favorite. This dremel polishing wheels cleanup everything in a really beautiful way. And its actually more agressive than other tools shown here but not like number 3. I will even trim down the size of the wheel to get into harder to reach places. This is a must have to making em' pretty. They have soft, medium and coarse wheels, I only use the soft (fine) as the others are too aggressive in my opinion. There, my secrets out. 5. You'll see a pile of files (diamond) that I thought were skinny and small enough for most jobs. Wrong. I use them infrequently BECAUSE of the 4 small perfectly round diamond files you see next to them. They are tiny tiny tiny files (sizes I think are .4mm all the way up to 1.5mm...or something like that) that I bought from Rio Grande (a jewelry trade supplier that all of you should check out) THESE are a must have for the round tubing jobs found on this build. Great for fish-mouthing joints too. Can get into hard to reach areas and I'm just glad that I discovered these. They are perfect. 6. Small thin sanding sticks I bought from MicroMark. I cut them to length so I can use them as needed. THe different colors represent the different grits they come in. These are VERY handy too. Inexpensive and I use them on so many other parts of my builds. But they're great for brass work too. The green pad next to the sticks is green scotchbrite pad. I cut it as needed but honestly, use it infrequently. Great to cleanup your brass before a soldering session though as it helps the flux and solder flow and stick to it. Hope this helped. A lot of trial and error to narrow it down to these. I can cleanup the joints on my recent session in about 30 to 40 minutes and make em' pretty using these tools. My last suggestion for anyone would be to practice on some solder joints that you mocked up and try each on first. A little bit of practice might save you a bunch of aggravation later. Cheers to all! Tim

Joe, that is just "mindless" in its creation. I love it. You and John Teresi have very creative minds to say the least. Cheers, Tim

Joe - Appreciate your comments as always and your fantastic sense of humor. Reading your posts are usually good for a hearty chuckle or two. Thanks. John, It would be great to meet you as well. I have sooo many questions I'd like to ask you and to pick your brains. I admire your skills as well and we'll have to plan to meet at some future contest somewhere in the middle of the country. I don't get out west and I'm not sure how far east your travel. Someday......... Michael - Thanks...and I always look forward to your questions. The batteries will not be in the boxes. You'll see shortly how I'm going to triangulate the upper and bottom boxes with a "climbing" x-brace. I coined that term after seeing it done as a unique feature on one of Dave's builds. It makes perfect engineering sense and looks cool to boot. The batteries will be contained in the back of the chassis tree that I've yet to build. Braille batteries. (and my 3rd set of boxes to hold them). Regarding the smaller x-brace bars, nope. They are 4 individual pieces that I supported with 4 small pieces of aluminum to raise their level up to the thick bars so they were centered in the middle of the thicker (1/16") tube. Getting them lined up wasn't too difficult and I got lucky soldering them on the 1st pass. This is mostly all new for me too as the Willy's brass chassis was so dissimilar to this build. So I'm learning and creating many new ways (for me at least) to get them fabbed up. Cheers to all and for those that celebrate the holiday, Happy Easter! Tim

Thanks Dave and Chris. I'll have to try that glue Chris. Anything that can prevent a big ol' mess is great in my book. Some pics of the backhalf....building up the upper rails and the "box" for it. This was a bit exasperating at times to make. Not overwhelming but tedious........I know it doesn't look like much, but I think I have 8 to 10 hours getting them done. Lining up everything in every plane and angle is time consuming. Please ignore some of the joints, I haven't had the time to clean them up yet. Cheers, Tim

Hey Bruce, That's a great pic of the car and tires. Your painting skills really give the car a "real" quality that is tough to beat. It just looks "right"! Cheers, Tim

No worries Pim. I actually did the same. Certainly I take that as a compliment. Yesterday was a long day of fighting with "Henry" to get the top rails going. If I had one thing to do over, it would be to use brass rod throughout. The reason being that the tubing wall (in 1/16") is thin and you have be very aware of how much heat you're applying. I was fortunate to not have any issues but I can see that it COULD be an issue if ones not careful. Pics in a few days. Cheers, Tim

hi mitch - the penske shock in my pic is adjustable at the collar at the bottom of the shock. The dimples you see on the round collar are my attempt to replicate their design. I used round brass rod, chucked into a rotary table on a tilting table. useed a ball end mill to put the concentric dimples in it then used a different ball mill to remove the "edge" from the entire circumference. Unfortunately, I did not take pics during this operation. The engine info is noted on the 1st page of the thread I believe....but in summary...427 c.i. small block ford based on an aftermarket 351W shelby block. twin turbo. Thanks for the compliment too! Cheers

Hi Fellas, Just want to thank each of you for your comments and interest. I'm headed back to the bench this morning for a little more fabbing and then it's time to play with the kids. ( Springbreak ) Michael - I think I'm going to make it so that the body will easily lift off for matters of disply & judging at shows. The front clip, trunk and doors I had already planned to remove. Otherwise, the body will be on. I just have to consider the rear wing and chutes and how they attach to the chassis so that it remains simple to remove. On the nuts, that can be an issue. Depending on which ones, I might use a tiny drop of Future on the end of them OR on those like the 4 link bars, I'll put the tiniest dop of super glue (go for the ones that dry clear) and you'll be good to go. Surprisingly, if you need to remove them in the future it doesn't take that much effort to take it off because I use such a small amount. But it does keep them on otherwise. I do have some drawings (from my friend Dave) of the wingstruts on the way to me. (told ya' I"m not the best at that just yet). He took the original piece, improved certain aspects and showed me how to mill it in a particular fashion. Couple weeks from now I hope to get it done. If you visit the forum and read this Dave.....THANKS AGAIN! I'll post pics of the setup and machining with an explaination as I fab the brackets. (Ray ) Cheers! p..s - For those that are not members of the forum, I've seen the request for additional photos, my signature on my posts lists my FOTKI link. If you can't "see" the link, then just visit FOTKI and type in Steppenwolf56 (my account name) and you'll be able to find my pics. Hope this helps.

WHOA...thanks Gentlemen! Ray, no mill on the brakes. All done scratch by hand. Titanium. I just had to share this pic so I could see what I've spent months on...I just didn't want to take the time to put all the bits and pieces that I made for the interior in....(fire bottles, inters etc.) but I think you'll appreciate it. Now it's back to building....and thanks so much again, it's all the inspiration I need. Cheers!!!

Couple quick mock-up pics before moving on with the rest of the rear rails. I wanted to do a body /chassis mock-up too to check some things and I wanted to see what it will look like with the brakes on as well. Cheers, Tim Penny shot

Chris, how long have you been using that brand of putty? Any longer term (shrinkage) issues you've had with it? Looks good for sure. Cheers, Tim

Man John, you are really good with an airbrush. WOW is all I can offer. Tim

Hi Mitch, working from 2013 NHRA rulebook (note the dates I started this build, that's why its not a 2015 rulebook build) Top Sportsman class running 7.50 or quicker. The baseline chassis spec requirement is SFI-25.1E and 25.2 among others. As Dave (my friend comp1839) described to me, everything inside the cockpit / interior is dictated by the chassis rules. Bar sizes and location in other words. IF it were my REAL car, I would have a beefed up 25.1E spec (which is what mine is built around due to the shortened chassis I'm having to work with) and add some additional rails ala a 25.2 spec for safety and stiffness considerations. Everything behind the main hoop and in front of the firewall is pretty much up to a fabricators interpertation. Between those areas, the rules are what they say they are. I've sifted through hundreds of files / pics as part of my research in addition to being able to frequently "pick" Dave's insights and knowledge as I planned my car. Hope this helps somehow / someway. Tim Dave, thanks....I realize I post frequently but if the pics help in terms of some kind of "order" or method to my madness and it helps someone else in their planning, all the better. I'm learning too as I go trust me. Cheers, Tim

Appreicate all of your positive remarks guys. Scott, I use a Nikon D5000. Costco had a great buy on em' years ago. Cheers, Tim

Thanks Brad and Matthijs for the interest AND comments on the Henry. Randy - Depends on the piece. The main hoop and bottom rails are tube, I drilled and pinned them together for the sake of argument. They won't come apart regardless of what I hang off of them. The funny hoop and the twin rails out the back are rod. Most of the rear suspension / backhalf will be rod. To curve the pieces, I have a set of hardened steel dowel rods that range from 1/8" up to 1". I pick out an appropriate size and bend accordingly. If you take your time and use light pressure you'd be surprise how easy it is to bend tubing without it crimping or collapsing. Just have to work it slowly. Let me know if I can be of any more assistance. Today- pics of the anti-roll bar brackets soldered up and a test fit of the anti-roll bar & brackets. Everything lines up beautifully so far. Cheers, Tim

Thanks Chris......and boy o' boy aren't we glad those days are few and far between. Anyway, I went to plan "b" on these silly two rails. And they're on and I've included a few pics of the "perpetrators". Please ignore the solder joints as they went on terribly today. Don't know why either. But, I'll clean em' up and then put the anti-roll bar brackets on next. So I'll have to put the rear-end back in place for a quick test fitment and onto the next step. Can't tell you how annoying it was getting these two bars on but they are straight and true so I guess it was worth it and that's all we can ask for when we scratch-build. Cheers, Tim

Thanks Chris for the links. Spent all day trying to get 1 pair of bars on.....plan A failed. Today, plan B. Don't ya' hate when that happens? Your car is looking sharp too! Thanks Dirk....what have you been working on lately? Let me know and I'll be sure to check it out. Dave, Gary and Chris...thanks gentlemen. Just so you don't think it's all easy peasy lemon squeasy (as my 6 year old would say) I spent an entire day getting nothing done even though I worked on it "relentlessly". It won, i lost. Gotta go a different direction so I can move forward with it. Hopefully I'll have some pics today or tomorrow of something. Cheers!

You are moving at "Teresi Speed" now. Great work and so realistic again John. Thanks for sharing. Tim

Awesome Randy. I KNEW you had something good you were working on. So well done my friend. Tim

Very cleanly exectuted Scott. Sharp. Tim

Ken, you brought a smile on my old face. I built these (well, simple plastic kits) as a kid 40 years ago. The Cutty Sark comes to mind and a couple Men O' War ships. Granted you're on another planet but it's great to see your passion for the subject. Superbly done and congratulations. Cheers, Tim

Mike and John, thanks again guys. Glad you're liking it. Dave (GoatGuy) - Check out page 16 of this thread, you'll see an alum. piece that is 5mm high (6/32"on the drawing) the chassis is set at that height and the body is supported during the build for test fitment by the two brass strips you see that stretch out from it. They're bolted on and can be removed quickly at any time. The strips are recessed into grooves I cut in the alum. so that the chassis and body match up at the bottom. It's worked quite well for me so far. Hope this helps. Randy, you owe me (us) some pics. And thank you too as always. Scott - great question and I mentioned it earlier but I don't mind sharing again. 1/16th for the bigger main rails, 3/64" for the secondary ones and finally 1/32" to bracing etc. I will go smaller on some things such as the seat supports but I'm not quite there yet. The sizes scale out in order 1:1 at 1.6" - 1.2" and .81" . These are as close as one can get in 1/25th to the actual build and if you saw the car in person, it is apparent that these are very appropriate. Too many times I see tubing that is too large on a build but if using plastic it is tough to use the smaller sizes I mention and to get the structural integrity for the chassis. It's one of the reasons I chose to do it in brass btw. thanks for asking and peeking in. Thank you too Chris. I'm on the lookout for alum. or titanium tweezers and micro pliers right now as the magnets (although very effective and convenient) are annoying when they grab tools out of my hand. And it could be a really "bad" thing if it happened at the wrong time. I'm being very cautious when I'm working near them but the best solution is to find a couple of the "right" tools so I don't have to worry about it. Cheers, Tim

Chris, that just POPS. The entire bottle assembly is perfect and that red is just fantastic. Time and money...hmmmm....I would describe your build as simple "priceless" ! Looking forward to your next posting. Cheers, Tim