Ace-Garageguy

Stomach pump...

Artificial stomach...

The pix posted by the OP were apparently hotlinked to sites that don't allow it, and disappeared shortly thereafter. Now the OP has taken his marbles and gone home. While I didn't take the time to find the first OP photo, the subject was the Romeo Palamides twin-blower manifold as pictured below. Something very similar is available in the AMT '53 Studebaker kits, and would be appropriate for drag cars and boats from the late '50s until today (on a nostalgia build). The second shot was an unusual sidewinder-configured rail. Probably the most interesting thing in the shot is the pre-Gilmer-belt chain drive for the blower. The drive to the rear axle was by chain as well. Note the hardware-store NPT plumbing for the water fill necks, etc., and the knock-off hubs on the rear wheels. The blower itself is typical of surplus and salvaged GMC units that were in wide use before the aftermarket began producing housings specifically for racing. This car was built in 1957.

Here's a thought...and it's been brought up before...but a more relevant parts-pack might be a newly-tooled collection of bits to build "traditional" hot-rods: multiple dropped axles (designed to be easily made pose-able), brake backing plates and drums, hairpins and wishbones, quick-change rear-ends and buggy springs, all on one sprue...or in a bag. With the imminent reintroduction of Revell's model-A roadster and coupe kits, now's the time. Frankly, if I were a few years younger, knowing what I now know about CAD, CNC, rapid prototyping, short-run tooling, and desktop injection-molding, I'd tool up and run a few thousand myself. I've already researched the expenses involved, and it would be entirely feasible for ONE guy to do it if he had all the required skills...and motivation. Imagine if all the parts coming out of this little rig were finned brake drums or dropped I-beam axles...

Generic tires and custom stuff is one thing, but this particular thread is primarily about the very specific vintage drag and roadster chassis kits, and the Fiat, Bantam, and T bodies, as well as the chassis goodies that made up the double kits from Revell. It is a fact that the last run of chrome engines from Revell sold poorly. That's why there are still bazillions available pretty cheap...though not as cheap as they were a few years back. The first few generations of the AMT parts-packs are also still widely available much cheaper than the recent repops...if you know what you're looking at. The Revell roadster and drag accessory packs (chassis goodies) might very well sell OK in small numbers, but once again, they're only really of any use to more highly-skilled modelers who understand the workings of cars, and are able to use them in situations that require building almost entirely without instructions...and often requiring at least basic scratch-building ability. The fact that many builders want to know what engines "fit" what kits with no fabrication or modification is in itself evidence that even minimal reworking and parts-swapping isn't high on the list of general modeling abilities today. I'd think the wheel and tire packs Revell used to make would be an easier sell, but they're also very dated period pieces in general. I'm sorry if this comes off as "negative" or "argumentative" or "know-it-all", but these are simple facts that would surely be considered by any manufacturer considering running these tools...if they even exist. That said, I'd personally LOVE to see them return, and I'd buy multiples of each, as I stated previously. But I won't be holding my breath.

Yeah, when I was a young, I bought every one I could get my hot little hands on. They were a great way for somebody who was highly motivated to get into the nuts and bolts of how rods and engine swaps and suspensions worked, and I retained my fondness for the fine detail Revell provided way back when. Between reading the real-car rod mags and building stuff up from parts packs, you could get a pretty solid basis for going into the business. Some of the stuff was disappointing, like the upholstery kits that you really couldn't do much with, but most of the good ones moved off the displays with regularity.

Upgraded my scanner inventory with a new Autel unit. The older cars I'm fond of are failing as their electronics age, and it's becoming increasingly necessary to be able to work deeper in the computers to correctly diagnose and repair systems. The newer Autel gives me expanded capability. Autel delivers incredible power for the money, but warranty claims require sending the unit to China. One would really think a cost-effective tool like this would be manufactured in the good ol' USA, but no dice.

Yup, thanks. Saved me a lotta digging.

We're gonna need more paint...

Interesting idea, and I'd certainly subscribe to help fund limited runs of all manner of subjects. NOTE: The "3% skim" that GoFundMe gets or Kickstarter's 5% off the up-front funding are FAR CHEAPER than conventional venture-capital sources that usually own a piece of your backside and bottom line forever. PS: When I got back into this hobby, I bought Revell chrome engine repops by the boatload when they were cheap (around $2-3 each) as well as any of the dragster and accessory kits that came up for anything like reasonable money. Even today, it's possible to get smoking deals on the drag chassis kits, the Fiat body kit, the Bantam, and others...but you have to put some effort into it. The last few I got for decent money (compared to the usually stupid asking prices on eBay) were test-shots that came from Ed Sexton himself.

It was their parent company Hobbico that went bankrupt. The Revell division was operating in the black.

I don't know exactly what you're asking. The twin-blower rig was built by Romeo Palamides who formed what would become American Racing Equipment. It was even seen on a couple of drag boats. Jack Chrisman drove the Joe Mailliard Automotive Engineering blown hemi sidewinder to a 9.05 / 151.51 on gas in 1958. The car went through a long series of rebuilds and development from '57 through 1960.

Wow. Extremely nice, everything about it.

Well sir, how many of that type of car do you see being built here on the forum? Vintage altereds or competition coupes or street-roadsters (the drag-racing class) or old front-engined, short-wheelbase rails, which is what these Revell kits are for. Here are two of mine. Like I said...there's plenty of stuff available CHEAP to build this type of car. How many do you see being built??

Exactly.

Try this...

Hmmmmm...the Green New Deal should get all the meat done away with...

Composite parts tend to shatter and crack. Freeze your model, then smack it. Ought to get pretty close to reality with a little practice.