edboys

Thanks Chris. I find a lot of inspiration from your Snake Vega build.

Started this project a couple of months ago and it is going somewhat slowly. Going to begin posting some of the progress photos I have up to this point. I've been in contact with Wes Ingram, who built the car and partnered with Joe Davis until he left the team in '68. He is an invaluable source sharing info regarding frame configuration that isn't available from existing photographs. Wes helps me fill in all those lost particulars that are needed to complete a project like this. I hope everyone that wishes to follow along enjoys the journey. I'll start out with a shot of the Supercharged BBC that I created for this project. More on the actual development of the engine later, these shots shows some of the resin parts I have at this point. I will be using a GMC blower casing and the pic of the oil pan is the one created for use on the Jewel T.

In regards to Steven's comment, yes do the research or at least consider greatly what he is conveying in his comment about cost. I am a caster and the initial outlay for the cost of materials such as mold rubber and resin are not as much as what photoetch will cost. The acid chemicals alone that are involved in the process would require a license just to get the quantities to do a large job. The process Steven has mentioned is time consuming and we all know what time invested can amount to. As a caster, nobody can imagine the amount of time I have to invest in creating a part from scatch. If that amount of time had to calculated, and I chose to just pick a number such as $15.00 an hour, I would have to charge close to $100.00 a part just to break even. I offer my parts as sideline to supplying my own needs. MCG is a real business unlike what I do and has to make a profit in order to stay in business. We all hope for many items to be supplied for our interests and not every want or desire is going to be made on our personal schedules. Currently, we all live in the most prosperous period in modeling history. The aftermarket industry is threatened by the current economy and if you wish to blame it on some political situation so be it, but just remember you could be living a modelers life like in the 60's when thread was used for ignition wiring and cotton used to simulate smoking tires. Been there, done that and I am glad I live in the current timeline.

Chris, Sorry to hear you haven't been feeling well and hope it passes soon. Just wanted to know if you received the updated parts I sent you recently? I know you commented on the Mallory mag, but have you gotten the new heads and valve covers?

Michael, Thanks for the kind words. Don't always have time to reply to everyone's build here on MCM/forms. I do my best to create these parts as I am the first person to satisfy, these parts go into my builds too. I hope to see your progress pix and eventually the finished project. As Ted Bowe has commented, the engines can be tailored towards specific builds. The 392 Hemi has the most variables to choose from with more parts being added or updated for all the engines I offer. Just added a new valve cover for the 426 Hemi engine recently and in progress to finish up the Arias parts for the upcoming BBC. Just remember that at this point all my engines are race application and in supercharged configurations. Only the 392 is offered with Hilborn fuel injection. Good luck on your build.

3D printing is the wave of the future. I'm sure that all engines will eventually be available as time goes by and maybe the cost will come down too. It is a shame that all that detail gets covered up when assembled, but would lend itself to parts that come off for display purposes. Here is my latest attempt at doing the 1/16th BBC. Most of the parts have been completed with molds being prepared at this point. I'm even getting a set of Arias heads and valve covers done as well as a carburated manifold for the eventual stock application. TDR will obviously do a better job than I have, so oh well.

Great job and welcome to the wonderful world of casting. I wanted to share a couple of tips if you don't mind. Your use of clay is common practice and once you have submerged your parts halfway into the clay, press the clay tight around the part so that there is no gap or space between the clay and part. This will keep the chance for a seam line to a minimum. Also, use the end of small paint brush to press hemispherical indents into the clay before you pour your RTV. These indents will serve as mold alignment aids helping to hold the two mold halves in place while casting. Well, provided that you are doing 2-piece molds? One more thing is that you have the opportunity to break the parts down into sub-assemblies. The pulleys can now be separated from the belt before molding. The heads as well as the pan can be done as individual parts too. Here's a pic of the Chrysler 392 I do in 1/16th scale and you can see the number of parts that are separate pieces. Again, welcome to parts replication and have a great modeling adventure doing this.

Chris, Watching this build coming along and like all the attention towards that 426. I hope the bell housing worked out for you as there were no bolt heads on the casting. Since you are using aftermarket bolts and nuts for this build I thought sending you the one that didn't have them would be more to your liking. Looks great so far. I still haven't finished up the newer style valve covers and if I can wrap them up in the next 2 weeks will that be too late to send them to you? I don't want that to hold you up though. Let me know. Mark Johnson

Don Prudhomme's Wedge done in 1/16th. Built a few years back and still don't have it decaled. Shame on me.

Anyone that has an interest send me an email at mjaafd1@msn.com for a parts list. Here are a couple more pix showing some more parts for the BBC and what I have towards the SBC.

Anyone that has an interest send me an email at mjaafd1@msn.com for a parts list. Here are a couple more pix showing some more parts for the BBC and what I have towards the SBC.

Yes the 392 and 417 engines are based on Aurora's engines. Refinements have been done as well as additional part creations made to offer parts that Aurora never did. I also bring over some Revell parts to fit the Aurora part platform. Blower end plates from Revell's engines are adjusted to fit the Aurora blower which is bigger and more appropiate in size. These adjustments and additions are based on real parts used on drag vehicles. I continue to refine parts all the time when research show that I missed something or find additional info that may not have been available at the time of creation/modification. The SOHC effort is my creation and is not a copy offered by Altered States. Their SOHC was done by an individual, Vince "Bayarinas(sp)" and I believe he still posts on Straight Line Modeler @ YahooGroups. Both Vince and I endeavored to create the SOHC in 1/16th scale around the same time, he got his done first and has Altered States offering it through their site. It is a great engine and also comes injected which I do not presently offer. Anyone who states that my engine copies Vince's parts, I will happily show them my masters to prove that is not the case. The 426 that Chris Sobak is using show my version of a refined Revell engine where I increased the engine's size and adding some much needed details. Revell never offered detailed heads for their kits. Using the Aurora blower as the standard, I increased the engine's gerth to fit that blower. This makes my 426 comparable with 392, 417 and SOHC 427 in scale relationship. Not to mention that you would want to have a engine sitting between the frame rails displaying as much detail as possible. I continue to work towards finishing my effort at a BBC as well as a SBC. The BBC needs finish work on the block & manifold and the SBC needs a manifold in order to be complete. Both of these engines will open up a lot future build possibilities. Here's a pic of the head and valve cover so far. I will post some pix tonight and tomorrow. Included is a shot of my 392 engine used in a current build whenever I get time to work on it.

There are a variety of sites you can visit to aquire offerings in 1/16th or 1/12th and 1/8th. This effort will be ongoing and fruitful at times and sometimes disappointing. Obviously there are some versing personal opinions and they are correct in their reviews, however take all this with a grain of salt. At what level do you intend to build at? TDR is a very accurate producer bar none, but at what cost? Can you afford to put over $500.00 dollars into one build? Even if TDR was to produce everything you would need to build a complete vehicle the price would be outstanding. Or...you could search around and find other alternatives to your quest. For the price of one Camaro body from TDR you could have 4-5 bodies from Flashpoint or Comp Resins. I have bodies from both of the aforementioned suppliers and find some fault with both. But I'm a modeler who can make whatever changes needed to correct to my liking. If you don't have the talent then spend your money at TDR and avoid the stress. Photoetch parts are somewhat harder to come by and other modeling suppliers like ProTech make some great products used by us large scale modelers. Finding uses for items at a local craft stores becomes an interesting search by itself at times. But by all means listen to what others have to say about the quality of products out there. Just remember that what one individual considers top notch quality may not fit your needs, by price or quality. You will have to seek out these products on your own and decide for yourself. This forum site is a great place to start. I do engines in 1/16th scale and have done so for some time now. I don't have a website because I don't want to deal with the very thing that is happening here on this thread. I'm not an engineer and don't make intricate scale measurements to make sure that my engines are accurate to scale by the thousands of the inch. However, I have never had someone say that my product sucked or have I needed to refund any purchases...ever. I'm very picky about how these engines come together and continue to improve various parts all the time. Appreciate the efforts people extend themselves to provide for all us large scalers because you will not find this coming from the model manufacturers. You will hear good and bad reviews all the time and everyone is entitled to their opinion. So go after this endeavor to aquire the parts you are looking for with zeal as well as some trepidation. By all means have fun with it.

Hello, my name is Mark Johnson and yes I do have a 392 engine offering in 1/16. The email given earlier is incorrect, send me a message at mjaafd1@msn.com

Chris, Haven't been keeping up with your progress lately and will say that you are coming along great in this effort. I like all the detail you are putting into your build. Your progress on the engine will deliver a spectacular example that shows how beautiful these engines looked in the frame rails during this period in Drag Racing history. Keep up the good work! Mark Johnson

Chris, Sorry about the mistake with the history of Prudhomme's Vega. My bad. Here is copy from the Dakota Star, Sports Headlines, Nov. 30, 2006 concerning the history of the sale. It was Tom Hoover who initially bought the car from Prudhomme. Brain doesn't remember everything most of the time. Here are a couple of pix showing the car with Hoover's paint scheme. "At the same time, however, despite Pudhommes displeasure with the car, it had already caught the fancy, Merchant said, of Revell, manufacturer of model cars who had already begun production of models of the car and toy replicas of the car for youngsters. Merchant was soon to find that the tracing of cars continued genealogy was not unlike that of someones historic ancestor. The car was to travel widely throughout its racing career. Pudhomme had sold the car to a Minnesota resident, Tom Hoover, who for a time, raced it as the SHOWTIME Vega Funny Car and would later sell it to a Mason City racer, Tom Hovland who raced the car through 1978 when it was sold to a Greg Riles, Sheffield, Iowa. Going another lap into the Vegas history, the cars next pit stop was with Dick Hirchett, South Sioux City. Hirchett, racing the car under new colors at Thunder Valley Dragways, would eventually sell it to Merchant." Mark Johnson

Chris, Are you duplicating the restored version or doing this car as it ran in the day? I believe the photos you have posted are as the car exists today...restored/rebuilt. As I understand the order of his vehicles, Prudhomme ran the Army Cuda and tried a new Vega body car which he didn't like, selling it Don Schumacher (Stardust Vega) and later went on to the Monza Funny Car. All of these cars carried the Army logo. Here are some photos that may help you decide if you are going to build the Vega as it was run in the early seventies. The valve covers on the Schumacher Vega are the same ones that Revell supplied in the kit and also match one of the sets I have done. Also take note that these are the same valve covers used on the Cuda. The valve covers on the Monza are like the ones in your research photos. So the call will be yours to make, but I do not have the later covers and you will have to either create those on your own or keep searching for someone who does offer them. As for your interst in using the Donovan 417 for this build it would not be correct as Prudhomme never used this engine. As mentioned in an earlier posting the 417 incorporated the use of 392 heads and is configured like a 392 Hemi. The short block assembly was totally redesigned for fuel use only and offered the very first direct application engine for the fuel classes. The 426 offered a better pattern to follow though. All fuel motors today follow up on the later elephant 426 design. Mark Johnson

Chris, Would be nice if I would click on the attach button to show you the pix. Sorry Mark Johnson

Chris, Visited this site tonight and noticed my friend Mike Garland mentioned my 426 Hemi engine and thought I would send you some pix that I have showing what was done to correct Revell's kit engine. Unfortunate that Mike got my email incorrect so that may explain your inability to reach me. Here's a couple of pix that should show my version of the elephant 426. I'm working up a couple of these engines for a couple of 1/16th builders and will have some more recent photos showing a complete engine that includes an Aurora style blower and injector along with valve covers. The engine has been modified to fit Aurora engine parts such as the blower and is sized for those parts. I think this version looks more correct and should look awesome in the rails of any vehicle that displays an open engine. Contact at mjaafd1@msn.com for more info. Mark Johnson