zenrat

Still here. Done nothing. Some interesting work has been going on though.

It's an illegal street race David. Probably not a good idea to advertise you are participating. Good work every one. Looks like there'll be lots of utes in this one. I've ordered an engine from Clearly Scale in order to get a suitable manual gearbox. Very good communication from him. He tells me it's been sent to the US for forwarding down here. I can't start building the chassis until I get the transmission but in the meantime i've cut down the Grand National body to make a ute cab and after rummaging through my parts boxes have located a pair of resin 9 inch diffs I'll use as centres for the independent suspension.

Not done anything yet except think, shop and then take delivery of the results. These are the mutts nuts. Has anyone bought anything from Clearly Scale? http://clearlyscale.com

Maybe. Some say silver automotive paint will seal in the red and others Future but IME nothing will keep it hidden if you go too heavy with a later coat (due I assume to the solvents penetrating down through the layers). I'd say prime and them apply a white undercoat over the top. if it stays white then you've done it. If not then you need to try something else. And if you have success then light coats only as you apply the rest of the paint. Enamel primer will not work on its own. Of course you could always paint it red. A tip for making RHD dashes. The hardest part is getting a good fit to the base of the windscreen and the sides of the interior tub. To ensure you get this take the original LHD dash from the kit and cut away the guts leaving a C shaped shell. You may need to glue a temporary brace across inside before you cut to maintain rigidity. Your aim is to remove anything which isn't symmetrical. Then, cut the instruments, stereo, ash tray etc from the bits you cut off and using sheet styrene and filler rebuild the C section shaped into a dash with the steering on the correct side. It's not too hard if you are not going for something prototypically correct. Kits which give you decals for the instruments are your friend here. As far as the pedals re concerned I rarely bother moving them from left to right unless I am building an open car as when everything is all buttoned up you usually can't see them anyway.

350hp. Is that all Ray? I'm using an 800ci mountain motor detuned for reliability to a mere 1000hp. I've already begun forging the unobtanium gearsets for the tranny, transfer box and diffs... BTW Dennis. When painting the Tamiya 'cruiser watch that mica red plastic. You might think you've sealed it under your paint but then put down too heavy a coat of clear... Don't ask me how I know.

I made the hole smaller with styrene rod. Not prototypically correct but it stopped the "glass" falling through.

The problem with scale cycle fenders would be that if moulded at scale thickness they would be incredibly fragile and if moulded thick enough to be strong enough they would look too thick.

Count me in. Another Buick this year. A Grand National.

Thanks Tim and anyone else who assisted in the running. And thanks to everyone else who entered without whom etc etc.

I was going to have a year off but seeing as how it's local... I'll be knocking up a car based ute with a tray back on a scratchbuilt/kitbashed chassis. Current front runners for parts donors are my last remaining Buick Grand National, a Ross Gibson Monster Motor, The Parts Box 4wd tyres and a Monogram High Roller Chevelle. I'm Imagining a combination of these... The roo bar on the Ramcharger is a narrowed Italeri 1/24 truck item. It comes in one of their truck accessories sets. The wheels and tyres are from www.thepartsbox.com.

Road Games (or Roadgames) starring those great Australian actors Stacy Keach & Jamie Lee Curtis http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083000/

Congratulations guys. A good race and the best cars won. FWIW the car that I thought was perfect and which I wish i'd though of is Lunajammers Audi powered PT Cruiser. It looks so boring and ordinary that no cop in their right mind would suspect it. Plus its got woodgrain panels!

I've been told that Wombats are so solid they'll roll a truck if it drives over one at speed. Not sure if I believe it and i've yet to meet anyone who has directly experienced it. I have met an ex truckie who described in great detail the smell that results a few days after hitting a roo which, unbeknownst to him has then got wedged up next to the hot engine for a few thousand km. I think Ray and I were simultaneously composing last night. Tim, if 3000 km is too short for you (and I doubt it would be possible to AVERAGE 300 km/hr which is what would be required to do it in 10 hrs) then how about running Perth to Brisbane (or Brisbane to Perth if you'd rather be driving into the setting sun instead of the sunrise)? http://www.whereis.com/directions?na=Perth Airport%2C WA 6105&str=&su=Perth Airport&lat=-31.9327431&lon=115.9602617&ena=Brisbane International Airport&estr=Airport Drive&esu=Brisbane Airport&elat=-27.4025227998&elon=153.1088731&rt=fastest_tolls Thats 4,600km by sealed road which is 2 days non stop at legal speeds. However, as you'll see from the map there is a more direct route if you go dirt roads. Put in compulsory checkpoints at either Melbourne or Coober Pedy (depending if you want to go on or off road) and you make it much more interesting plus give people an option to build a purely road car if they wanted to. If anyone wants to get an idea of what the roads would be like you could do worse than watching Priscilla, Queen of the Desert for the more barren outback roads and Mad Max (the first one) for the sealed country roads in Victoria and South Australia. Also check out Midnite Spares and Running on Empty. There is also another Australian road movie about a truck driver on a run from Melbourne to Perth which has some good footage of the roads and scenery across the Nullarbor Plain. However I can't for the life of me remember its name. Maybe Ray can jog my memory? He has a run in with a girl and is travelling with his pet Dingo in the truck.

Taking the respective casinos as the start and end points (seemed appropriate) and assuming we will Run North to South (keeping the midday sun behind us plus its faster driving downhill) Darwin to Adelaide is 3,026km by the fastest route and can be done non-stop in 1 day 5 hours obeying the speed limits. http://www.whereis.com/directions?na=Skycity Darwin&str=Gilruth Ave%2C The Gardens%2C&su=Darwin&lat=-12.460724&lon=130.841207&ena=SKYCITY Adelaide Casino&estr=North Terrace&esu=Adelaide&elat=-34.921753&elon=138.596936&rt=fastest_tolls Most of this route is the Stuart Highway which is sealed all the way. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Highway "In 1994 the first and only Cannonball Run in Australia ran from Darwin to Yulara and back again. Based on similar events in the United States, this event ended in tragedy when an out of control Ferrari F40[9] crashed into a checkpoint south of Alice Springs, resulting in the death of four people including the occupants.[10] The remainder of the race had a 150 km/h (93 mph) speed limit imposed to prevent further accidents." The wikipedia page is incorrect - there was an earlier run in 1984 from Melbourne to Perth. http://www.boostcruising.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2268367&st=0 It is possible time could be saved by following the railway line however I would take "maintained gravel road suitable for 2wd cars" as meaning a corrugated dirt road that gets graded once a year if you're lucky (of course, with such roads the trick is to go fast enough so the car floats across the tops of the corrugations...). While you wouldn't necessarily need 4wd or high ground clearance you would need; Very good shocks (at least 2 per wheel), To wire all important parts onto the car and, To have a dental appointment booked to have your fillings put back in. The 1994 Cannonball BTW was a legal run. Back then the Northern Territory had no speed limits. This is why the run went from Darwin to Yulara and back. The NT now has 130 km/hr limits on the Stuart although there are still some unrestricted sections. Once you get into South Australia though the limit is 110 km/hr. The biggest issue I can see with this route is that the Stuart Highway is the only sealed road for a lot of the way. It would therefore be very easy to block - a fact which makes the ability to go fast on bad roads or cross country more desirable so you could bypass the road blocks. Some form of air support might be required to spot what the cops were up to. As far as the roadworthy rules go - make it look legal-ish and you might not get stopped. As to what looks legal-ish well that will vary according to where you are. In a small country town you'll get away with a Hilux running a cut down tray, dog cage, 33" tyres and a 4" body lift while in the centre of Sydney you might get pulled over for driving a Yaris with your arm out of the window. Horses for courses. Lets just say a Monster Truck wouldn't really be a starter... Must haves would include driving lights, a roo bar, GPS, satellite phone and long range tanks. Things to avoid on the road include roos, wombats (solid little buggers - you don't want to hit one), camels (we have the worlds largest feral dromedary population) and Road Trains.

If you want to have an OOB or factory stock build off them have one. Just don't make it a Cannonball build. I don't see the point in limiting our imagination that way. Plus you set yourself up for pointless arguments about which build options came with which release and whether the 69 big block had bench seats or buckets. Similar arguments are possible with Muscle cars - "What is a Muscle Car" is one of the oldest and largest automotive can of worms there is. Just do a search here for that topic and see what I mean. I'm not interested in exotics. Euro is too limiting. All you'll get is Porsches plus V8 Trabants from me, Jant & Luna. Why not make it Euro Jap? Body must be European or Japanese but other than that anything goes. Lets see how good you all are at scratchbuilding under hood detail into engineless Jap kits. Sixties is good but be prepared for arguments over wheels. Aussieball is my favourite. Compulsary RHD as IRL no-one would enter a race on public roads and deliberately handicap themselves by restricting their ability to overtake by driving on the wrong side of the car. So I vote; 1) Aussieball 2) EuroJap 3) Sixties

I suggest a combination of which one you think would do best in the actual race and which one you wish you had built. How you apportion those two criteria is up to you. In my case there is one build which as soon as I saw it finished I thought "Dang, wish i'd built that. Its perfect". It also happens to be one that I think could do well in reality.

Thanks for all the nice words. The Donuts are on me... Same debate every year regarding the poll since we've been here. Jant knows my views so I won't repeat myself. Two things have surprised me with this years run; 1) the number of most excellent ideas you lot have come up with and 2) that no ignorant moron has failed to read the first post and posted comments on the finished builds thread. Roll on 2016.

I've gone for the beater you wouldn't look twice at. A Chevrolet Citation body has been mounted on Plymouth Prowler chassis thus gaining the immediate benefits of wishbone independent suspension on all four corners and superior weight distribution due to the rear mounted transmission. Obviously a mere V6 donk wouldn't cut it so it was piffed and it's place taken by a 440 ci Dodge sucking in through dual quads on a cross ram and farting out through 4 into 1 extractors. A 5 inch body stretch was required due to the Prowler having a longer wheelbase than the Citation and while we were at it we re-engineered the nose to come off in one piece. Due to the engine having a slightly greater setback than the original transverse FWD installation the driver and his donuts now sit where the rear seats were so lets hope the cops are not paying too much attention as we drive by. A large fuel cell replaces the boot and did I mention there are donuts? The model. AMT Chevy Citation Turbo body shell with the bonnet bulge and spoiler removed and 5mm added in front of the doors. AMT Plymouth Prowler chassis Revell 440 Magnum from '68 Dodge Charger with cross ram from AMT '70 Superbee Scratchbuilt interior, engine mountings and fuel cell. Revell '41 Willys Street Rod Seats and AMT '58 Edsel & '57 Chevy hubcaps. Silver & Metallic Brown car paint from rattle cans hit with a white filter inane attempt to make it look oxidised on the roof and the cleared with gloss acrylic on the sides and satin on the top. Grand Spaulding Dodge decal & No. Plates from Revell Mr Norms Dodge Dart GSS.

Done. See you all at the start line.

Excellently disgusting? Heres a crappy phone pic.

Dang that interior looks clean Mike. I've installed a box of doughnuts in the Citation and now the body, interior and chassis are permanently mated. A last minute change of wheels has delayed things slightly but it's worth it as everything looks better with slot mags. Obviously they'll be hidden behind hub caps but i'll know they're there. The previous wheel selection were just too tall. Paint touch ups, mirrors, rear lights and weathering and it'll be done. Of course I could always drop it...

Good work everyone. I thought I was cutting it fine but some of you guys... The Citation is pretty much at the stage where I could button it up and call it done. Needs a box of doughnuts installing in the cabin and some rust, dust & dirt adding but it's all there and i should be at the start line as long as I don't break something putting the body on.

Paint. Yes, I know I said it'd be silver over black but I didn't have any black car paint. Some ghosting has occurred on the bonnet where I removed the bulge so to hide it i'm going to put a white filter (hopefully looking like oxidised paint) followed by satin clear.

Yep. I'll be putting mesh panels on the bottoms of the door which will be hiding the ends of the extractors. Not only is the engine set right back but its also sitting very low in the chassis meaning room for some subtlety on the induction front - like dual quads on a tunnel ram...

I dobbed a bit of filler on and apart from sanding it the interior panelling is finished. So I took a really crappy phone picture. I found some seats that fit, have a centre console for instruments and so just have to scratch up pedals and something to hold the steering wheel in the right place. Then I can paint the tub.