Chi-Town Hustler

Chris; Judging by how many "problem areas" you've already addressed and fixed successfully on this build, there's no doubt you will fix this one too....When it comes to modeling, you've shown yourself to be an accomplished problem solver over and over again....Which most definitely gives me and probably many others on this board encouragement when we hit a snag in our exploits with styrene....Good luck and let the tin reinforcement begin!!!

Chris; Having thoroughly enjoyed following your Army Vega FC build for the last few years, and knowing your penchant for perfection and "getting it right" (i.e., the drive shaft and driveline cover on the Vega FC ), something tells me that you will be fixing that camber, or else it will drive ya crazy, ha ha!!!! ....Although I possess no where near your level of skill, I am the same way, little things like that will drive me crazy!!....And I'll tweak and tweak and tweak....I've ruined a few things that way, BUT I've also done some of my best work because of that....Here's to pushing that envelope!!! Cheers

Great concept for a ProMod and a killer build....The Missile was always one of the sexiest pro stocks on the circuit.... Ted Spehar, Don Carlton, Dick Oldfield and Joe Pappas would be proud....Mopar rules!! Cheers

Awesome work Charlie....Ride stance and height are so important on a drag car and you have this one nailed....Can't wait to see her all dressed up!! Cheers

Great looking build!!....Although with that beefy-looking powerplant, you might want to put some wheelie bars and a 'chute on the back of that thing!!....Super clean work!!

Chris, Top notch, incredible work as always.... As far as the front wheel camber question, I can recall seeing several photos of older diggers with the fronts cambered outward a slight bit, but can't recall ever seeing any that were cambered inward....That might be a real handful to drive!!....Not saying they couldn't be but my recollections were either outward a slight bit or straight up and true.... Out of curiosity, how were you planning to heat up the front end without risking damage if I might ask?.... Or, is there possibly a way of redoing the bolt holes on the top of the "C" joints where they attach to the front axle to achieve a truer vertical camber?....Just a thought....Either way, it's a stunning model to say the least!! Cheers

Chris, throughout this one entire masterful build, you have now elevated your game to become the Michaelangelo of Styrene!!.... Simply incredible and inspiring to witness the planning, precision and execution of your work!!!

Hey thanks Chris....Have been getting back into the hobby over the last year and a half or so after a long 15 year plus layoff and doing a few builds as well as tweaking/upgrading some drag diecast which I enjoy putzing around with when I don't have time to build.... Gotta say, I stand amazed at the level of craftsmanship you and some others on this board are achieving....Hope to get there myself someday and work like yours is a real inspiration....This is a great board and source of info, glad I found it!!!

Thanks Cobraman....Actually I did find some front runners from the GMP Marcellus & Borsch fuel altered that should match the 1 1/4" outside diameter I need but had to buy them as a set with the rear slicks which are way too big for the Vega....I'll end up stashing those for future use on something else.... Still looking for 1 1/2" dia. x 3/4" wide rear slicks, couldn't find any by GMP or Acme....Most or their 1/18 slicks are either too large in diameter or too narrow in width....Don't have much wiggle room because of the wheel well size. Any other sources anyone can think of??....Thanks again....

Would any of you great modelers be so kind as to post some sources you know of for 1/16 or 1/18 scale drag slicks and front runners??....I'm re-working a Grumpy Jenkins Vega diecast in 1/18 and am looking for very specific sizes due to wheel well clearances; Rear Slicks; 1 1/2" O.D. x 3/4" wide Front Runners; 1 1/4" O.D. x 1/4" or 3/8" wide Also, any sources for the old Cragar aluminum spun wheels in 1/16 maybe??....Having zero luck on ebay or from the two sources I know of. Any help would be appreciated....Thanks in advance!!! Lee H.

Amazing how sometimes the most unlikely things can yield the perfect solution....All that's required is a little "thinking outside the box"....Very cool and real looking belts Chris.

Chris; Just got back from vacation, forum was down before I left and so I had been anxious to see your updates when I returned.... Simply amazed at your work and how you manage to keep everything so clean....The Dzus spring clips are downright unbelievable....Did you glue those with CA or something else??....Can't even tell they're glued!!....Amazingly CLEAN work!!!

Chris; There certainly isn't a driveline angle issue anymore!!...Now the centerline pretty much looks straight and true from the crank thru the tranny to the rear end.... Nice fix man!!....That clamp is scale artwork....Love watching your progress and the way you conquer problems, very inspiring....Onward and upward!!

Chris; I'd have to agree, it's close enough for rock and roll....Plus as you said, with the drive shaft cover and all the tins on, that slight angle will hardly be noticed.... Another thought; Did FC's of that era have balistic blankets on the tranny?....Some sort of rubber-like or cloth-like boot that would go over that end portion of the tranny?....Not sure if they did or not back then, but if so, that might be another way to disguise the slight angle where the shaft cover meets the tranny and button the whole thing up....Either way, this is phenomenal modeling on your part and interesting as heck to follow along with what you're doing....Keep it up!!

Chris; Regarding the drive shaft alignment issue....Is there anyway to slightly shim the motor mount plate at the tranny where it rests on the chassis rails up a degree or two without completely throwing everything else off or is that impossible at this point??....Would that maybe help minimize the alignment angle a bit so it's not as noticable?....It's amazing how correcting one problem begets another one sometimes!....Enough to drive ya crazy!!.....I think overall, the correct stance of the ride is more important than the driveshaft issue in the grand scheme of things.

Regarding the oil filters, I found this on the Internet; "Lee Eliminators was an advertising promotion for Filter Dynamics Corp. / brand name Lee Oil Filters....Many of the top drag teams in the early 70's had an associate product/cash sponsorship with them for many years....They may have merged or been bought out by another company....Lee Oil Filters eventually disapeared in the mid to late 80's and are no longer produced".... In all probability, Prudhomme likely ran Lee Filters on the original car but by the time the car was restored, Lee was long gone....So it's anybody's guess what was used on the restoration....I'd bet Prudhomme's right hand crew man, Willie Wolter would know....He still works with Prudhomme at the shop restoring cars I believe.

Incredible work....Have been following this build for over a year now and it always inspires me to go further with my own modeling and has been a source of many ideas. Chris, one question; On the oil filters, I was kind of surprised to see the WiX brand logo....Would have thought a Prudhomme car from the early 70's would have used either Fram or Lee filters, which were very prominent at the time....Not that it matters any, because the workmanship is outstanding!!....Was just curious as to your choice....Maybe Prudhomme actually did use WIX filters on this car??....Either way, outstanding work on this....

Have never posted but have been watching various builds on this forum for awhile now...I consider myself to be a pretty experienced modeler with a very critical eye for detail, color combinations, weathering, etc., and I must comment: These motors are so incredibly detailed and beautiful and the metal finishes and washes look so real, that it literally looks like you could prime the injectors and start the things up....These examples are among some of the finest, most realistic metal finishes I've ever seen and the overall effect is jawdropping.... There is such a huge difference between a "paint job" and a "scale paint job" and your mastery of the latter is amazing to see, right down to the most minute fitting....Your work is absolutely stunning in it's accuracy and craftsmanship....You sir, have a real gift. Best Regards, Lee H.

I have a bunch of old Drag Racer magazines from the mid to late nineties and into the early 2000's....From what I can tell at least, the carbon scoops and larger blowers started appearing somewhere around the 98-99 seasons....By the early 2000's they were pretty much common place, at least in NHRA, not 100% sure about other sanctioning bodies....One mag from the '99 season shows a centerfold type, close-up pic of the top view of a TFX motor on Gary Scelzi's Winston top fueler and it's definitely a CF scoop and what I believe is a 14-71 blower wrapped in the ballistic bag....The mags from the 95,96 & 97 seasons look like everyone in fuel categories were still running the metal injector scoops....'98 season might be a bit early but I'm sure the CF scoops were at least in development at that point....Again, these are only my observations, maybe someone else on this forum can give an exact time frame??....Hope this helps!