Ace-Garageguy

Glad you found something useful. For what it's worth, I think this 9" may be somewhat over-scale for the 1/25 kits it comes in, and it looks kinda huge on this 1/24 model...but I haven't measured a real one...yet. Thank you, sir. You've been an inspiration in that area, as your in-progress work is some of the cleanest I've ever seen.

Thank you all for your continuing interest.

Thanks to all for your interest and comments.

Just FYI: the photo below shows a 547 4-cam in a 904 chassis, using the pulley-end distributors and long fabbed pulley-end mount. This is possible because the 904 engine bay was designed to accommodate the longer 911 flat six engine, so there's plenty of room forward of a 547 engine. All that space doesn't exist in the RS60 chassis.

1) Same thing goes about the transverse torsion bar housing on the 356 chassis and its surrounding structure. 2) The Porsche 4-cam type 547 engine mounts vary somewhat by generation and application. All the 547 engines mount primarily to the gearbox through 4 bolts-studs surrounding the flywheel, with the gearbox mounts taking most of the weight. Interestingly, the VW Bug and Porsches 356 and 911/912/914 and the aircooled derivatives use the same flywheel-end transmission 4-bolt pattern...including the 4-cam 547 engines. Some applications use a pulley-end supplementary mount attached to the case through 4 smaller diameter studs. Note the 4 studs projecting past the crank pulley in the photo below. Those studs can carry both an optional extension housing that allows distributors to be run on the pulley end, and a fabbed mount that can carry a portion of the engine weight. Photos at the Revs Institute site show the RS60 rear gearbox mount fairly clearly. https://revsinstitute.org/the-collection/1960-porsche-rs-60/#gallery-3 https://revsinstitute.org/the-collection/1960-porsche-rs-60/#gallery-8 The flywheel end of the gearbox is supported by 2 lower pad-type mounts that bolt through the bellhousing, like a Bug or 356. I don't know if the RS60 uses the supplementary pulley-end mount, but IIRC, the 4-cams mid-mounted in the 550 Spyders did not. NOTE: mid-engine-mounted 4-cams usually used distributors mounted to the heads and driven by the cams, where the engines intended for rear-engine mounting usually used distributors mounted on the pulley end of the engine case, driven by a jackshaft off the crank.

Bravo. That's quite a transformation.

Fascinating build evolution. Much to learn from following this.

I've mentioned frequently that I think one of the most worthwhile upgrades to any model is posable steering, and I think it's especially important on this one. So I made up some quick but accurate control arms and spindles to achieve it. After carefully establishing the ride height / stance in an earlier step, and drilling the tub for a brass axle to maintain it, I made up an upper cross piece that would put the front track at the right width to keep the tires in correct relationship to the wheel openings...depth-wise. Next step was to make some lower arms that were the same width, and begin fabbing a spindle...kept square as shown. The 1/16" styrene stub axle that will result is more than strong enough to support the weight of its corner of the little car. Putting a brass axle back in let me make precise measurements of where the stub axle needed to be relative to the height of the spindle. The previously made spindles were trimmed appropriately to achieve that measurement. The spindles and the control arms were drilled for wire kingpins, plenty strong for the application. voilà...

The Lotus 7 wheels are probably as close as you're going to get to the correct centers. Turning them down to 13" isn't difficult if you have a lathe or electric drill, but they're nowhere near as deep as your reference shot. Aoshima has a set of 14-inchers that have a deeper rim. You could turn the rims off the Lotus wheels, turn the centers out of the Aoshimas, and swap in the Lotus centers. Lot of work, but it would get you there. Fat little 13" tires are another problem entirely. Only kit source that comes to mind is the AMT '69 Corvair...though they'd most likely need some modification to get the right look (again, not too hard, as sidewall details can be removed, and tread details softened, by progressively wet-sanding with 180 up to 600).

Yup...cute lovable little critters, but the ones in my area have a penchant for getting under the hoods of my cars and mindlessly chewing on wiring. It's maddening to have to repair what would be hundreds or even thousands of dollars of electrical damage (if I had to pay somebody else). But my feral cats and the local rodents have established an uneasy peace over the years, with only the slow, stupid ones becoming lunch. The smart ones stay up in the trees, and out of the cars. There's a lot to be said for natural selection.

Rather a lot of that around..."expert" advice, nothing to back it up.

Very nice adaptation of the 911 chassis to the required RS60 mid-engine configuration. The necessary removal of the transverse rear torsion bars and housings and all the related structure, and then fabbing up new structure and coilover rear suspension is what makes converting a 911 to mid-engine in reality a significant piece of engineering. There have been a few. https://rennlist.com/forums/racing-and-drivers-education-forum/450089-mid-engine-911-a.html

For thin veneers, a "contact" type adhesive (as above) is definitely your best bet, either spray or brush-on. Epoxy is difficult to spread really smoothly over a largish arera, as is CA...but contact cement is designed for the purpose. On the other hand, thickened ("gel") CA or epoxy work very well for structural wood applications like a woody body, or truck bed framing, or older car body support members that are exposed.

I'm sure it was a resounding success, and look forward to seeing the reports as they start coming in. In the event, I had to miss it, even though I got 4 models far enough along to make it to the "primer" category as on-their-wheels late-stage mockups. I've been sick with something like the flu all week, felt kinda OK this AM, but decided to not expose anyone else to whatever-it-is. Let's see some photos, fellas.

A little more...fitting, adjusting...primer...etc.

To use the 9" diff from the Revell '32 Fords, the axle housing ends needed to be shaved...just like using a real junkyard housing in something it wasn't made for. The eyes in the axle mounts on the springs had to be carefully bored out too. Here's the axle installed in the chassis, AFTER the center tube of the crossmember that fouled it was removed for clearance. Still a tight fit back there, so the frame bays on either side of the pumpkin got squared up. Fixed on the right, unfixed on the left. After squaring the other side, I made a curved frame-tube section to replace the straight one removed earlier, to tie everything back together. Also visible below is the additional setback required on the driver's side of the firewall to accommodate the head stagger of the Pontiac engine, to finally allow me to measure for a driveshaft. We needed another modded 1/25 wheel to fit the remaining larger diameter 1/24 tire, achieved, as earlier, by wrapping it with .010" strip stock.

Opened up the vents behind the coves, and finished up the wheel-arch lip detail molding... Then got both sides in primer. Not quite perfect yet, but getting pretty close. Need to smooth out the curve over the cove, and tighten up the hood fit.

Eons ago, before I was confident enough in my ability to spice things myself, I used to use Ol' Shel's chili kits. Pretty good IMHO.

Your observation about the ram's horn manifolds was a good one though. I'd forgotten them entirely, and that's something good to know if you're using a Y-block in anything.

No, but beer can be good...

Yup, they're beautiful, great handling cars with a supple ride and good brakes, but the emissions-strangled ones are slow. The American engine swap makes them pretty much the perfect fast tourer. I already did the 700R4 conversion in my '86, and the extra gear makes a world of difference to acceleration...and with the lockup converter, she'll get better than 20MPG at 70+ mph cruise.

Nice clean build. A kit doesn't have to be complex or expensive to produce a very attractive model, as you have demonstrated here.

Epoxy is good for large or poorly-fitting parts. Any of the white PVA glues work extremely well for light lenses, or smaller pinned parts like door handles and wipers, or very delicate PE scripts, etc.

I rarely make it the same way twice. Last time was 1.5 pounds of cubed pork loin, browned in olive oil. No beans. Add a huge chopped red onion, several cloves of garlic, smashed. Let that cook a few minutes to season the meat. Then add one can of beef broth and a 7 oz. can of chipotles in adobo sauce (warning: to most folks, it's pretty hot). Add a little water to keep things from burning, simmer for at least an hour, stirring every few minutes. Close to the end, stir in about a tablespoon of maple syrple for just a little sweetening (a little semi-sweet chocolate or day-old coffee can make the flavor more interesting too). When the sauce has reduced to the consistency you want, it's ready. Nuclear-hot heaven, served with warm flour tortillas, guac, and sour cream on the side. Great with hot homemade cornbread or a buttered baked potato too. NOTE: If you live somewhere the stores have a selection of dried peppers, you have more interesting options.