6bblbird

The 392 was from a Miss Deal kit. I bought a few of those just for parts. I have a box full of Studebaker bodies! The hat might have been a resin piece. When I see them at shows, I buy a few.

Yes! Most of them are done that way.

Here's a detail tip that is often overlooked when building a car with a rollbar. It is often overlooked by modern 1:1 car builders as well. Headrests! They were, and still are required. Easy to make.

Gasser builds are almost always fun and you can get pretty creative. But if you want accuracy, there are many here that can help. The rule books are also available on line. I concur with iBorg about blown 409s in 1966. There are probably more of them today then there were back then! I'm sure that they were out there but they were rare for sure. You should definitely build one! As far as the frame goes, it wasn't until 1968 that NHRA allowed square or box tubing for frame construction and that was only for supercharged cars that were originally unibodies. As far as the inner fenders or splash shields go, they were required but could be trimmed for header clearance. Pie crust slicks were used thru the late sixties. I remember seeing them when I started racing in 1971. (Not everyone had money for new tires! lol) Please remember that there were other associations besides NHRA back then and there "rules" could be very loose! Match race "Gassers" played by their own rules. Some had hinged bodies and ran nitro! If you want to stray from the rule book a bit, why not make it an Altered? You have a lot more leeway and can still retain the look that you are after. WF

I'm thinking of hiring this guy to drive it: Time to move up to a funny car!

I built this car ten years ago! Seems like yesterday. Still one of my all time favorites. Started out with a AMT H.U.G. body. Altered the wheelbase and tried to make it a home built funny car circa 1966. I went out of my way to find a blown 392 as a 426 might have been out of reach for a privateer back then. I shaved the wiper arms, added valve stems, metal door handle, plumbed and wired it, and made covers for the grille and headlights. I made the decals with an ink jet printer. When I built this car, I did it as a tribute to my friend Bruce Peterson who had just crashed his real life NY Earthshaker Alky funny car. He was badly burned and retired from driving. Well, 10 years later and he is back behind the wheel of an all new Earthshaker Altered.! Now when I pose a car in a wheelstand I put a driver inside!

I promise that I will never try to help you again! Good advice is available here if you want it. Tons of extremely talented and knowledgeable builders. If you only want people to say "Nice build!" you'll get plenty of that too. I came off as a jerk. I apologize.

Cool goldfish! Cragars look great!

Nice! I can picture it at the track with the front wheels about a foot off the ground and charging hard!!

That should be done in 1:1 . Super badass!

I love it! I can imagine having one just like that on the street!

Great looking Monte! The color looks terrific!

Electric fuel pumps on race cars are almost always mounted in the rear because they are designed to push fuel and not pull it. Please don't try to school me on race cars. I've raced since 1971 in brackets, Stock, Super Street, Super Gas, and Modified Production and have built my fair share of drag cars. I am also a certified Bronze level, NHRA tech inspector since 1998. Currently a manager and announcer at an east coast National event track. If I offer advice, I do it to help those that want to learn. Want to go toe to toe with me on race car facts and construction? Care to list your drag racing credentials?

Nice workmanship so far but are you ready for some questions and critiquing? Never mind, build for fun. I'll avoid the tips and critique. You can learn as you go. (For those following this thread and being confused, I had offered a list of suggestions in this post but deleted them because it was a bit much and was probably interpreted as insulting. Many of you know that I often offer advice based on my experience with drag cars. Sometimes it's appreciated, sometimes it's not.}

Well done! I really like it! WF

Great paint! Love those wacky headlights! WF

That GTO kit is absolutely horrible ! You turned it into something absolutely beautiful! WF

Dramatic change to that Corvette! Great work! WF

There were many independents that built a.w.b.s with straight axles. Why not build a fictional car that "could have been"?

Wow! Those stripes are crisp! Great work!

dragcarz is correct!

Great interior and I love that color! WF

A time machine back to the seventies! I love it! WF

Good looking Dodge! Was your uncle Don Schmid? I also had an uncle that was a Mopar dealer. Sold me my first car, a '68 road runner. WF

Why wouldn't it be able to run in F/X? WF