MojaveRacer208

Beautiful! Very nicely done and an uncommon Cobra.

Buenos Dias Simon. Looks as though you are doing very nice work as usual. Here is the Giulia version I would build of this kit: It's not my car, I built the roll bar for it. A couple of suggestions based on personal observation of the full scale car: Como recuerdo, the access plate on the bottom of the bell housing es hecho de acero estampado, no vaciado de aluminio. Es pintado negro, and attached to the aluminum casting of the bell housing with the bolts which show on the model. Y todas las piezas vaciadas de aluminio, no son tan brillantes. These suggestion are very minor details, but maybe they can help you to succeed with your competition with this model. The following is for information to those who would also prefer to build this as a racer. Being a race car, the one in the photos has a fuel cell with fabricated suppports, and much wider tires. But the body, other than the holes for the rear braces, removal of the bumpers, aluminum headlight replacements, hood pins and the replacement of the windshield with a small plexi-glass screen, is quite stock. If the roll bar seems very tall in these pictures, it's because the owner is very tall. The roll bar had not yet been painted black and the head restraint pads and fiberglass seats were out getting upholstered. The class designation "F/MP" is for a vintage racing organization. Original SCCA would be "F/P" or "F/Prod". The exhaust without a muffler would exit just ahead of the rear wheel. Oh, and for those not familiar with Spanish: As I recall, the access plate on the bottom of the bell housing is made of stamped steel, not cast aluminum. It is painted black, and attached to the aluminum casting of the bell housing with the bolts which show on the model. And all of the cast aluminum pieces are not so brilliant.

Very cool. In the 60s, my older brither raced a 64 Plymouth MaxWedge. One thing that puzzles me though. It appears you are building a vintage racer: tube front axle, high in the nose, along with what the car is in the 1st place...yet you say you are working on including a nitrous system...Nitrous systems weren't around until the 80s... A modern car which would run nitrous would have the nose practically scraping the pavement on strut front suspension. The rear end would have larger slicks in tubs and it would also ride quite low. The chassis would be at least back-halved if not full tube. On the other hand, a 60s gasser would be likely to have injector stacks. I'm quite aware that it's your model to build as you want, just trying to get an idea of what you're after.

Derrrr... Let me guess... It's because of your member numbers...Right? Nick #822, David #3,822... Couldn't have anything to do with F40s... Nice stuff David. I may be into offroad racing, but I grew up around SCCA, and my folks met at a road race.

You've done a fine job on that chassis for what it is. Have you considered using the chassis from one of the later versions of Chevelle or GTO? They should be virtually identical chassis to the Buick, even the same basic body structure (look at the roof!) and have some great chassis.

Love it Irv. I may be a Ford guy but my older brother had a serious 68 Nova with a small block back in the day. A friend has a few Novas of that generation now, from 69 to 74. One is a drag car. I love the look of yours. The stance, as is usual for your work, is great!

I really like it. It is just basic and nearly stock so far. I live near El Mirage Dry Lake, the place where the Bonneville racers race most of the time. They do monthly meets May through November, except August, when they go to Bonneville. While 'ratrods" are all the rage these days, the real Hot Rods of the 40s and 50s weren't so overly channeled and such. Most were driven daily on the street to work and the grocery store. On the weekends, they would get driven from LA or San Diego 75 to 150 miles out into the desert to places like El Mirage or Harper's Dry Lake. Your model already looks the part. scrape off the chrome strip on the side and sand a little along there, maybe put some small spots of rustall or small primer spots to represent where trim holes were welded shut. The black wall tires are more period correct, as whitewalls are heavier and weaker than blackwalls and more likely to come apart at high speed, and cost more too! The Avanti discs or the chrome reverse rims look late 50s/early 60s. Don't do much else to the paint, but add a coat of dust, heavy at the back of the wheel openings and around the inside of the wheel rims, and light everywhere else. Then a number on the window and a class designation to look as if hand written with a white shoe polish aplicator...and she's straight off the lakebed!! In the (IIRC) 92 SA Contest Annual, there was coverage of a show from Norway, which included a 39 Ford Tudor Sedan done similarly. It was SO GOOD I remember it still. I took the magazine to the next race at El Mirage and showed the sedan to some friends, like "Kong" Jackson, whose name was lettered on the side of the hood of the model. He thought the model was great and very accurate, but thought it strange that someone in Norway would know of him.

The Cheetah was a gorgeous car, designed to race or be a street super sports car. It was just a little too late to achieve much of anything against the sudden wave of mid-engined monocoque chassis cars with less frontal area. They rarely ran directly against the Cobras because they weren't built in sufficient numbers. The shop burned down before many were built, but they weren't going to sell well anyway because they had to compete against Lolas and Chaparrals and Cooper Monacos. They were better than the GS Vettes though. I watched them in person and they were beauties. That is a great kit and I would love to see it built. There is a company building new 1:1 Cheetahs with approval from the creator, Bill Thomas.

Where does one find Silly Putty these days? The last time I ran across it was maybe 15 years ago in a machinist's tool supply catalog. It was everywhere when I was a kid...LOL I never was real fond of the shape of the nose and fenders on the Aurora XKE. Maybe if one kitbashed it with a Revell roadster...? Richard

Awesome looking Scott! I love it. Chassis looks very good and the body, while not something I would have thought of, winds up very sleek and cool. It is similar to my buddy's streamliner with body by Jocko (see below). What is the canopy from? Is it of your sculpting? Richard

Thr Avanti looks great on the trailer Clay! As for wheels and tires, My personal choice would be a set of salt discs to fit the theme. I haven't heard of "Parts by Parks" lately, but his moon discs are the deal! For tires, maybe some of the relatively tall Monogram "GT Radials" (plain sidewalls on most of them) which were in most of their kits in the 80s and 90s. They would fill the wheelwells without being so wide you would need to tub the thing. And that brings me to the rear fenders...Since you seem to like the custom effect of the Chevy rear fenders, If you have no plans for the stock fenders, I have a Ford Off road truck which they would be appropriate on. Maybe I have some of those tires... The rear bumper would best be the drilled one, with a trailer hitch added. A wood push bar on the front made from a popsicle stick, with some weathering...would be my suggestion. Most lakes cars are geared so tall they need a push to get them rolling. Richard

The problem is the plasticizer compound in the vinyl of the tires. It is an oily material which makes the vinyl soft. Early model kits with vinyl tires suffered badly. Vinyl used for model tires was reformulated in the 60s, but the problem will still exist as long as you have vinyl and styrene in contact with each other. One contributing factor to the problem is having the parts in a confined space, another is high temperatures. Intermixing brands of tires and rims can get a little more risky. I DO advocate separating tires from other parts in the box by putting them in a small polyethylene ziplock bag or paper envelope to prevent damage to styrene or decals. I also find the problem more common where glue has been used to mount tires on wheels. OTOH, I have had much worse trouble with tires made of rubber cracking than with vinyl tires melting the wheels. And "resin" parts, which are made of urethane, can have troubles with warpage and meltdown as well. Richard

Well then, I will try to take some pics and share them with you. I presume you work on 1:1 drag cars and maybe hot rods? It would be interesting to hear about and see some of the stuff you work on I am currently working on an off road car (Baja Bug), which is what I do mostly (Baja Bugs to Fiberglass buggies to sand rails to pre-runner pickups, and all of these types as race cars including Class Champions and Baja 1000 winners). I have also built Road Racers (from club racers to Trans Am champions), Dry Lakes racers (El Mirage is with in sight of my home) and open wheel circle track racers (1940s vintage Midgets and Sprints to present-day Super Modifieds), as well as Hot Rods and others. Richard

I don't want to start (or sustain) an argument, but I got one of these Ramcharger Transporters with the Ramchargers rail back in the 60s when MPC 1st released it. The rail was molded in white, the transporter was molded in metallic red and did not include the rear canopy, although I did see a release of the transporter with the canopy back in the day. My transporter was crushed in an earthquake in 1971, but there are bits of it in my boxes of old model parts. Richard

Well without wanting to hijack the thread...but maybe it will provide some inspiration... The Falcon wagon is a 1-owner car (inherited from my grandparents) with a 170 six I installed in 1971. Converted to a C4 trans 12 years ago, there is a 302 waiting for it, and an 8.8 rear axle, Granada spindles and disc brakes. 15x7 steel sport wheels and a set of salt discs for rolling out to nearby El Mirage...Paint plan is 1990s Ford Turquoise metallic... The F100 needs its 428 Cobra Jet (70 Cougar Eliminator) freshened up, it has nearly 300,000 miles since it replaced a 390 in 1989. The C6 trans also needs freshening. A little buffing of the original Aqua Blue paint color and slot mags with fresh rubber, and she's ready to cruise again! Richard

Hey Shane, This thing is coming along just Awesome!!! I've been doing some work for an old friend lately. He is a fabricator of 1:1 race cars. One of the projects in his shop right now which I've helped him with some is a Bantam Altered for nostalgia drags. It is an entirely new car he is building from the ground up for a customer. The frame is custom fabricated similar to Pure Hell's and Willie Borsch's, instead of using a standard funny car frame as so many others do now. It's even getting a small wing on top of the cage. The gel coat on the Bantam body is even hot rod gray, like Cal Auto used to use in the 60s, which is what the Pure Hell had under that fancy candy paint, and just as Revell modeled in their Parts Pack kits. It is getting a Big Block Chevy motor with Injector stacks. 18" American mag 12 spokes on the front and American Torque Thrust Ds on the narrowed rear. Maybe I can get some photos next time I work down there, probably early next week. Richard

A subject very near and dear to my heart. I built my 1st buggy kit in the mid 60s when AMT came out with the Manx kit modeled from the one owned by AMT consultant, photographer, kit builder and magazine writer, Don Emmons. The Revell Californian is their old 1968-69 vintage Empi kit. I have a Glitterbug Sportsman out back waiting its turn. Ahead of it in line project-wise are my Hi Jumper ex-race car (same mfg as Glitterbug - see my avatar) and my 58 Baja Bug. I have built a couple of buggies for others recently. A California Clipper, like yours Merk: and a Dune Runner: You guys have a couple of interesting cars yourselves. Dave, yours is beautiful! And Merk...yours looks very straight and full of potential. Interesting links for those interested in VWs and buggies like these: http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/ http://www.thesamba.com/vw/ Richard

Oi!! Shame you lot haven't caught on to the English lingo yet! LOL ;~) I have a brother-in-law from WA and another deceased from N-Zed, not to mention a number of on-line contacts, so I've heard a mite of your version of the lingo. A lot of Americans aren't too familiar with it though. LOL Richard

The body is getting there Dave. What's the plan for the chassis? Richard

Oh and PS, the correct term is not "unibody", but rather..."Integral Cab" LOL And there is a lot I like about that 62... Richard

Maybe he plans to build a diorama of my yard... uncanny similarity already... Richard

Here is a link to the photos I was trying to send earlier today http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a44/Mojav...er104/ElMirage/ 1 picture of me And an Avanti: Oh!, And I agree with Raul about the stance for an Avanti. The one he showed a pic of from Bonneville, perhaps they were trying to get some downforce from the tail-high stance? Note that there are photos in here of a roadster named "The Salt Licker" Richard Enjoy!

With so many of the posters on this thread and Clayton's about Salt-racin' Avantis being from California, I gotta get you guys to come over the hill to El Mirage for an SCTA event sometime. I would invite you too Clayton , but you're a long way off and concerned about the cost of an $80 resin Stude pickup. I can understand tight money, so unless your wealthy uncle sends you to 29 Palms, you'll have to just sit with your little guy and your wife and check out the photos. I live within sight of the dry lake, and my dad was into dry lakes racing as far back as the 40s, so I go fairly often. I missed the May meet, 1st of the 08 season, because I went to work Tech at an off road race, but saw the lakes racers lined up from the hills north of the lakebed on my way. I rode my dirt bike to El Mirage day before yesterday, but no lakes meet. http://www.scta-bni.org/ I was trying to add a photo here, but I am having a little trouble with Photobucket right now. I will send a link later to some of my photos. In fact, I just got a phone call, and I need to go past El Mirage to meet a racing associate...Later! Richard

HOORAY! for STOCK cars. I love that Crown Vic! And people just don't understand me when I say I don't have much of any interest in NASCAR racing these days. The 64 is great. Both are very well done and well photographed too. If I were an Exec at Ford, Chrysler, Toyota or GM, My company would NOT be involved in current NASCAR racing. Richard

Hrrrrrmmmm... Look at these 2 pics to see what I am talking about...Note how close the front edge of the front tire is to the front edge of the front fender in one pic with the old wheels, then compare in the pic with the new wheels. Richard