edboys

Chris, your build is incredible and I must say you are a brave man to have so many parts in primer and paint while still creating additional pieces. I would be afraid of scratching something while the process continues. Kudos to your efforts!

Brad, any of my parts are available for those that are interested. Once I pull a few from the mold and make sure they meet expectation I begin to put together a stash. I want to be able to put together a package that will include the rear ends as well as individual caliper/drum sets. Hopefully, that won't take too long. Chris, Thanks for your encouragement. Everytime I look at your page I get all kinds of ideas, just don't have enough time to get to all of them. Your build is intense.

When I started out disc brakes seemed like the proper parts that would be used on the Jewel T Altered, but late found out that in fact drum brakes were used instead. So, just for grins and giggles I am showing what will not appear on the build. Too bad as these would have look very nice. All is not lost as I usually make molds of everything I do and will find another build for these later.

Probably micro managing here by showing small parts, but here is the manual overide for the Torqueflite trans and where it is located on the tail piece. Mold that was made for both the Mopar and Olds rear ends. Soon I have all the parts I need to get the Jewel's rear put together. This is the mold for the various brake parts that I have done and the brake drum parts are included here as well as disc brake parts.

Casey, Being that the parts had been glued together by a previous builder, I soaked them in brake fluid for about 5 days and this not only will help remove paint but also seems to crystalize the left over glue, making it easier to get glue parts separated. I was able to get the parts clean of the glue residue and then proceeded to soak them again in Bleach White for an additional 6 days. Bleach White will eliminate the chrome finish in just a few minutes, but it takes a much longer time to get the carrier film (brown stuff) off. I use these two processes all the time to save old builds as well as my regular builds.

Thanks guys for the kind words. I have a long way to go with this build and would like to have it done by June. I just did a Google search for how the Torqueflite is joined to a BBC and now I have to create an adapter plate. I realized there was a problem with the fit as the starter is on the wrong side for the Torqueflite and the adapter puts it on the correct side for the BBC. Important as the Jewel T employed the starter. Story told by owner is that when opponent would play games on the starting line, Jim Davis would shut off the engine, wait for them to stage, restart the engine and not suffer from over-heating.

Got the opportunity to center the trans and engine today. I will need this in order to line up the drive train in the frame. Having the 1/16" (.062) aluminum rod running through the whole assembly will help to place it in the frame rails and make connection with the rear end. These are still the master parts for the transmission and as soon as some more minor tweaks are complete then a mold will be made.

Jumping around with parts development, so here are the brake drum, backing plate and axle pieces. The drum and backing plate come from an old Pyro T-N-Tee kit. Acquired the kit in built condition, but the parts are re-storable and in this case a must have for the Jewel T build. I don't know if I will complete the brake shoe assembly yet as I haven't made a decision to display that much detail. The parts as well as the bolt pattern are done to accommodate the Revell wheels. This wheel was used for testing and assembly of the parts created.

With such a long list of vehicles it makes me wonder why there hasn't been more re-issues of the subject matter.

Here's a Paul Rowe torqueflite tranmission that I will be using with some minor clean-up mods for the Jewel T. Gotta figure out some more particulars cause Wes Ingram said that there was a clutch pedal that hangs from the hoop just behind the firewall. Sounds like a clutch-flite might be in order here and that will take some research on my end. Also, got the ladder bars done and now to get the attachment ears on the rear end so I can get more of the frame completed.

Getting some more tube into the frame and after I get the rear end mounts done I can locate the ladder bars and finish up the rest of the frame. Here is what I have done so far in furthering that process.

Finished the third member for the Olds rear end. Now to get the backing plates and drums for the brakes done. I can proceed to make the attachment ears for the ladder bars and get the frame on wheels.

Chris, Thanks for your comments, but I have to say that while watching your build you have made an impression on me as well. Casey, I will be scatchbuilding the front 12-spoke wheels. Going to make them to fit the existing tires for Revell's FE dragster kits. After I do one spoke, then a mold will be made to copy it and then pull six good ones for the wheel assembly. I will be posting pix of that soon.

Early progress on the Olds rear end needed for this build. Started out modifying the Revell kit rear end and third member (not shown yet) and will be adding drum brake parts by the time it is complete.

Thanks for the kind words Chris. Yah, the lighter method keeps the heat concentrated to a very local area as opposed to the hair dryer. Just don't use the lighter too long or it will melt/distort the plastic.

Working on the Olds rear end and this is the ladder bar that I plan to use. Trying my hand at plastic rod ends with another attempt at aluminum ones next; then to decide which to use.

Well, still don't know exactly why I can't post twice in one day. This morning everything worked just fine, but the past few days I have only been able to comment or post pix once a day. I will muddle thru for now until I figure this out. Enjoy. Various parts for the front axle assembly. Use of .045 aluminum rod, .032 aluminum plate, .062 stainless tube, .060 plastic hex rod, .020 plastic sheet, .080 & .100 plastic rod. Spindle assembly & radius arm Torsion bar connection and first spindle assembly

Well, the image link is there along with my text message. Does anyone here know how to fix this little forum problem. Been to the general topics page and some other people have commented about the same problem and I didn't see a direct answer about how to fix it. Thanks for anyone's help. This forum project will come to an abrupt end if I cannot post pix.

Wanted to share the next set of photos, but the site page for inputting images go grey when I click on the 'images' icon. I can however paste the Photobucket link and will post to see what happens?

Chris, Usually I bend by hand first, gently putting the radius in the plastic. As you already know the plastic has memory and wants to return to its' original shape. I then hold the plastic where I want it in final form and pass a lighter underneath, enough to introduce the right amount of heat to get the plastic to relax. You will feel the plastics' tension give when the right amount of heat has been attained. Continued holding in position until it cools and the plastic will now retain the bend I want. The jig I used in the photo is little different in that I found my usual method left bends in the straight area of the main roll bar hoop. By putting wooden guides along all the straight sections of the roll bar and then placing a pre-bent plastic tube in the jig, the use of the hair dryer supplied the needed heat to re-set the plastic tension.

Couple of frame ideas I wanted to shoot past Wes Ingram. He has since helped me to get things right.

Dave Labs, That's a Hilborn 4-hole injector hat. The Crower looks different in shape, it does not narrow in the middle like the Hilborn shown. I make this part as well as all the other parts shown. I will post more on the engine later if I can figure out why I suddenly can't post pics anymore.

Starting with research for any and all info for the Jewel T Altered I found that there was no photographic info for the cockpit interior or substantial frame info inside or below the body. Wes Ingram has been invaluable in this regard being the builder of the car. So I began this build by importing photos into CAD, scaling the pics in order to create some usable drawings for layout purposes. This way I could begin to explore how the frame will go together. Test fitting some ideas and forwarding those to Wes for his input so he can steer me in the right direction. Here are some shots of where that process began.

Thanks, Bob, Wayne, Tom, Ray. Bill, I do remember and hope to see you again soon. Thanks, I've been busy with a lot of resin stuff lately. Wayne, where's the 13th dimension? I would like that option as well....

Using an old 1/16 Pyro Tee,N,T kit for the 23 T body. Unfortunately, there is no turtle deck in the kit, so that is where I will be starting with the body. I borrowed the dimensions from the 1/25 Wild Willie Borsch kit to get me in the ball park in creating this one 1/16 scale.