Ace-Garageguy

It's an actual screen shot from Gone in 60.

Well, Mr. 4X4 made a good point about something that needs clarifying. The Hardcastle car wasn't actually a Montage (which I implied in those photos) but was based on molds pulled from a McLaren M6GT, while the Montage was a kit car also based on the design of the McLaren M6GT (which is pretty much what I said originally) and they all 3 look rather alike. Then there's the Marauder McLaren, which is an exact copy (appearance wise) of a McLaren M6 GT. Confused yet?

I think it's a Europa...roof's too low and wide for an Elite...or a 246 Dino. Small lights wrong for Europa. Nope. Not 246. But I don't think Lotus Elite either...

OK, my bad implying the Coyote was a Manta Montage, which was a later development kinda based on the M6 GT as well. BUT the phony Montage and the phony Coyote and the phony Marauder McLaren are all obviously based on a REAL Mclaren M6GT design, and the Manta is based on the real M8. Also, Mike Fennell, not the ubiquitous Barris, is credited with the Coyote X. WikiPee entry: "The car that McCormick drove, the Coyote X, was built from custom molds based on the McLaren M6GT.[1] The original Coyote X was molded, modified and assembled by Mike Fennel. The nose, windshield doors and lower body (minus the ventral intakes) are faithful representations of the McLaren; the cut down rear deck, however, was a custom component that became a feature on many Manta Montage kits with damaged or removed rear windows. The most noticeable differences between the Coyotes and Mantas are the wheel wells, roll pan height and shape, and the fact that the Coyote has a one piece front clip that terminates about an inch before and surrounding the windshield. Most of the cars made for the show were molded and assembled by either Mike Fennel or Unique Movie Cars. Like many kit cars of the time, the car uses a chassis from a Volkswagen Beetle and its engine from aPorsche 914."

Have you got a normal funny car bellhousing in your parts stash mayhaps? Look at post #4 again. All you really need is a big bellhousing and some kind of output-shaft-looking thingy.

The "gearbox" on the AMT Allison is a gear-reduction drive for a prop and accessory drives in an aircraft. A large multi-disc (possibly a "slipper") clutch is all that would really be necessary, as the Allison makes enough torque to shred an in-out box made for a car engine. Google "Allison powered pulling tractor" images, and you'll find lots of shots like this, which shows a plausible design for a clutch housing (yours would be single, of course). A Google image search for "Arfons Allison Green Monster" should also pull up some good photos, as several versions were built specifically for drag racing exhibitions. Here's one oddball Allison drivetrain. The lesson is...make up something that looks kinda like a clutch housing and / or a BIG transmission. Nobody is really going to be able to tell you it just won't work. Another option is a BIG auto trans from an OTR truck, etc. A big automatic gearbox could conceivably be beefed up for drag racing behind an Allison.

Yes, Bondo #801 Professional finishing glaze. It's a 2-part polyester product, chemically identical to regular bondo, but with a much finer texture. As JTalmage says, there are many brands of similar product that work equally well. (Do NOT confuse it with Bondo # 907, which is a single-part lacquer putty.) 801 comes with its own hardener. The advantage the Bondo product has in the US market is that it is available in small, modeler-friendly packaging, while most "professional" products come in larger amounts that will probably go bad before you use them up (unless you build a LOT of custom models). The larger package is #391. Same exact stuff.

FYI...actually, no. The Manta Mirage and the Manta Montage are two entirely different cars. You're correct, a Mirage was stolen in 60 Seconds, The Mirage has the characteristic McLaren M8 front wheel opening shape, like this... While a Montage ( the Hardcastle car) looks very different, and is a semi-clone of a McLaren M6 GT...

ABS unit, I believe.

Great photo.

The Coyote (Manta Mirage) was based on the McLaren M6GT design, but like most kit-cars, lost rather a lot in the translation. REAL McLaren M6GT...

It LOOKS (the body, anyway) like a season-1 Coyote, which looks like a Manta Montage, which looks like a customized McLaren M6GT. Nothing at all like a GT-40 MkIV. The MkIV chrome tree was modified (4 of 5 wheels were changed) to make the Coyote kit, and new tooling was done to make the body. If the original tools for the MkIV still exist, who knows?

Looks great so far. I've wanted to pirate the guts out of one of these and build a hot-rod Rotus 7. I'm sure I'll learn a thing or 3 from watching this build.

%&^*((#$@#@ !!! Just kidding.

I think there's some confusion here. The AMT H&M Coyote kit is based on the MPC GT-40 Mk IV, not the AMT Mk II kit (at least, it shares nothing with the original AMT MkII I have). I have all 3 of them on the shelves and have just checked. Much of the underbody and guts is identical between the AMT Coyote and the MPC Mk. IV. This is, of course, prototypically totally incorrect. The REAL TV Coyote was built from molds pulled off of a McLaren M6GT, and was on a Beetle chassis. The M6GT was also cloned into the Manta Montage kit car, which could be assembled either Beetle-based or mid engined, and could be quite a potent machine. Another Manta kit-car, the Mirage, was loosely based on the McLaern M8 design.

I've been fascinated by GM's "Bison" concept turbine-powered tractor / container trailer rig since I first saw it in '64. I've been kinda waiting for my skills to catch up with my desires, but I think I'll at least get this one started this coming year. Lotsa scratching.

Thanks again. I really DO appreciate you all's interest. It'll be a while yet. I still have to do the forward under-part of the bellypan, the entire rear bellypan, decide on where and cut the hood/nose into sections, cut holes in the hood sides for the exhausts, and make up a hard tonneau with a base for a curved, Indy-style windshield. Then 2K primer, molds and pull final parts from them. Plus smooth the '28 body shell and fill the rear wheel wells. Whew. Then there are the floors, supports and bulkheads inside the car, more cleanup/filling to do on the frame rails, and a roll bar. And rear wishbones and brakes. Gotta make a bomber seat, steering linkage, instrument panel, etc., plus a water tank to go in the tail, and all of the hoses and wiring details. Kinda like eating an elephant.

If he paid $0 for it, which I believe is the case, then whatever he makes is pure profit.

Individual's problems don't mean diddly in the grand scheme of things anyway, no matter if first or third world...unless the individual happens to be an actual Einstein or Salk or brother Wright. Then everybody loses. But I kinda think the 3rd world just might be having a tiny bit harder time of things if it weren't for the first world, ya know? Maybe too little, too inefficiently delivered, too late, but what medical and monetary aid goes to those 'developing' areas comes from the the developed 'first world'.

You'll have to source wheels for the car too. The photo shows the '37-'39 "wide 5" style wheel, and there were several variations in width, from 3.5" on the V8-60 powered cars to 5" on some trucks. AMT '36 Fords have kinda pretty good stockers, but they lack the scalloped centers your photo shows. The Revell '37 Ford trucks have the scalloped centers, but unfortunately, part of the hubcap assembly is molded on to the wheel, and it completely obscures the signature "wide-5" bolt pattern. I know I've seen the correct wheels somewhere, either in a kit or in resin, but I can't recall where. Bigkenny is right about the chassis. All '35-'40 Fords are on essentially the same chassis, but the street-rod version with independent suspension that's under the kit you have isn't appropriate for a period stock-car racer. The frame and running gear from the Revell '40 coupe (the stock one) comes with the 2-speed Columbia rear end, which is also wrong for a race-car, but otherwise, with a few slight adjustments, should work fine. You'll need a non-overdrive rear end, and any of them from the Revell '48 Fords should be adaptable to the '40 chassis.

In general, yes, stock T springs are on top of the rear axle. However, there are 2 complete chassis in this particular kit, with 2 complete sets of running gear. Neither is particularly correct as to how a 1:1 is set up, but the hot-rod version he's building has the spring ends going into little slots to the rear of the backing plates...a setup that would not work at all on a real car, as there is no provision for shackles (which the free ends of leaf springs HAVE to have, no matter where they're attached).

Here's some info and pix from Model Railroader Mag. http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/p/190663/2082405.aspx And here are some shots of a beautifully weathered one...http://lsa-space.blogspot.com/2012_09_06_archive.html

From 1935 through 1940, Ford cars were on essentially the same chassis. The body, however, was redesigned in 1937 and had more in common with the '40 than it did with the '36 (the basic 1937 body shell carried through to the end of the 1940 models, though the '39-'40 had different firewalls and 'faces' due to differing front fenders, grilles and hoods). The '37 body shell redesign probably accounts for the width discrepancy between your 1/24 '36 and your 1/24 '37. Both body and chassis were redesigned completely for 1941, and would be essentially the same (again, with minor sheetmetal and trim changes) through 1948.

Great project, and a car you almost never see. Looks really good so far.

It's really a pretty simple kit, with most of the piping details molded on the the boiler, unfortunately. But I have seen some extremely attractive static models built from it, and a couple of running locomotives with Bowser and Rivarossi guts. I have one on the shelf here waiting to become a scrap-line / pre-restoration piece.