They shoot horses, don't they?

[STYRENE-SURFER]

I thought I needed a break from my long going 40 ford project, and decided to attempt the (AMT Funny Car Mustang-GT).

I know this kit is well documented here and there are many fine examples of completed models.

But...

What makes this horse such a pain in the AFX.

OK hang on, I am going to deal with this mysterious interior tub fit first.

I marked centerlines on all the parts: interior tub , body , frame , as best I could.

There is nothing here as far as molded in locaters to depend on. 

After some careful sanding(mostly around the rear wheel arches, see picture 1and 2)

the tub now fits square in the body (checked w/my height stand on granite)

More to come.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 8, 2016 by STYRENE-SURFER

[STYRENE-SURFER]

So.. after getting that interior tub sorted, I created these locators useing the pins molded into the 

original body.

[STYRENE-SURFER]

chassis tweaking.

Zing the frame.

 

[STYRENE-SURFER]

Z'd frame... twisted the K-member forward to move the axel.

 

[STYRENE-SURFER]

Mock up, wrong tires sorry.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Having dealt with the vague fitting of the interior I like your solution of adding the tabs. Definitely will be following.

[vintagercr]

I like what you've done so far

[STYRENE-SURFER]

Thanx.

Amazingly the glass fits front and rear quite well, dash as well.

take a careful look at this next picture, I outlined the Teardrop scoop with pencil.

I don't know if I'm up to correcting that hood, so the engine will have to be

shifted to the left side to look right.

[STYRENE-SURFER]

Well, not a lot of progress today.

A little shook up really,  someone tried to break into the house last night.

The idiot is in jail now thanks in part to the snow that was falling at the time.

they tracked him down into some woods nearby. 

I don't usually appreciate the S word this time of the year, but it helped.

So back to subject...

changed the rear wheel tubs so they are not so visible when viewed from..., well lets just say they were a problem.

Did some work on front and rear bumpers, front narrowed a bit. and locating pins added to fit the previously filled

in gaps above the front and rear fascia.

 

 

[STYRENE-SURFER]

By the way, If you want to build an accurate A/FX Mustang from the day, don't start w/this kit.

Here is a interesting thread from the H.A.M.B. dealing w/the front suspension on these cars.

Hope it's okay to link here, I searched for ever to find this info.

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/ford-a-fx-torsion-front-suspension.820584/

 

I have no idea why this link is acting this way, copy and paste. sorry.

Well It is working now... Hmmm.

Edited April 10, 2016 by STYRENE-SURFER

[STYRENE-SURFER]

Spent about two hours today just cleaning up the Trailing links.

Moving the front axle forward meant changing there attachment points.

I am trying to use only parts from this kit, as bad as it is.

Big problem now is the front axle is so narrow, what to do?

 

[STYRENE-SURFER]

Things got a little slowed down on this due to the amount of time and work that I spent de-chrominrg parts.

Had to go medieval on the nasty varnish goo that is part of the plating process.

While soaking the parts in a solution I did some Google image searches of these old drag racing Mustangs.

So with some inspiration from the "BOWANI II" of Sam Auxier Jr., I did some chassis work.

Changing the front end to a double leaf spring arrangement.

Using parts from the K.S. Pittman Willys; front axle, leaf springs, wheels and tires.

Some Evergreen .125 square strip for frame rails, w/just enough room between to fudge the 427's injectors

centering the (out of center, as moulded) hood opening.

Exhaust manifolds will reach over the outsides of the frame, rather than between.

Well, that is if all works out.

 

[Snake45]

Things got a little slowed down on this due to the amount of time and work that I spent de-chrominrg parts.

Had to go medieval on the nasty varnish goo that is part of the plating process.

While soaking the parts in a solution I did some Google image searches of these old drag racing Mustangs.

So with some inspiration from the "BOWANI II" of Sam Auxier Jr., I did some chassis work.

Changing the front end to a double leaf spring arrangement.

Using parts from the K.S. Pittman Willys; front axle, leaf springs, wheels and tires.

Some Evergreen .125 square strip for frame rails, w/just enough room between to fudge the 427's injectors

centering the (out of center, as moulded) hood opening.

Exhaust manifolds will reach over the outsides of the frame, rather than between.

Well, that is if all works out.

 

Absolutely amazing! I've been playing around with one of these off and on for years, the idea being a "BOWANI-ish" Stang. (I saw him beat Bill Jenkins in that car in 1968).

Finally decided that I needed to come up with my own box tubing frame arrangement and have mentally sketched out something almost identical to what you're doing here. You can bet I'll be watching to see how this all works out for you!

BTW, I vacformed a teardrop hood from a '66 Galaxie, then cut out a piece to fill the hole in this hood. Sounds simple, but it's much trickier than it looks to get that all blended in and make it look RIGHT. Have had to make a couple custom sanding tools to work it. I'll either be shortening the stacks to fit under it, or just going with a dual carb deal.

Haven't yet decided whether it will be finished as a 1966 funny car, or as a modern streetworthy tribute to same. But it WILL be "BOWANI Blue."

[STYRENE-SURFER]

Absolutely amazing! I've been playing around with one of these off and on for years, the idea being a "BOWANI-ish" Stang. (I saw him beat Bill Jenkins in that car in 1968).

Finally decided that I needed to come up with my own box tubing frame arrangement and have mentally sketched out something almost identical to what you're doing here. You can bet I'll be watching to see how this all works out for you!

BTW, I vacformed a teardrop hood from a '66 Galaxie, then cut out a piece to fill the hole in this hood. Sounds simple, but it's much trickier than it looks to get that all blended in and make it look RIGHT. Have had to make a couple custom sanding tools to work it. I'll either be shortening the stacks to fit under it, or just going with a dual carb deal.

Haven't yet decided whether it will be finished as a 1966 funny car, or as a modern streetworthy tribute to same. But it WILL be "BOWANI Blue."

Thanx, Snake

I wonder if I could ask you how to deal with the front frame braces?

The 427 block is allot to reach around.

Mocked up two different solutions; one taking the shortest rout 

and the other going higher w/an more abrupt angel down to the

main frame rail. don't know which is more correct.

Here is a nice 1966 mustang gasser that I found on the web.

http://bangshift.com/bangshift1320/the-war-horse-a-1966-straight-axle-mustang-fast-back-that-punches-all-the-right-bangshift-buttons/

 

[Snake45]

Oh I'm nowhere NEAR worrying about those frame braces yet.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to separate the interior floor from its sidewalls. The sidewalls will go into the body, and the floor and firewall will stay with the frame. Should simplify construction and assembly. Don't forget to scribe some door lines in those interior panels!

[STYRENE-SURFER]

Oh I'm nowhere NEAR worrying about those frame braces yet.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to separate the interior floor from its sidewalls. The sidewalls will go into the body, and the floor and firewall will stay with the frame. Should simplify construction and assembly. Don't forget to scribe some door lines in those interior panels!

Snake, yah there is lots of things that would be nice to correct about this kit.

1. interior, tub is just wrong.

2. Exterior, no door pulls, but wipers exist.

There is allot about this thing that is just wrong.

But still, trying to pull it off.

Here is another angle of the different solutions to

the front bracing.

Thoughts? 

 

[afx]

Just my opinion Kurt but I would take the high road for the braces.

[Snake45]

I think I like your second treatment of the braces better, but hey, go with whatever works and what YOU like. There were very few if any hard and fast rules on this type of car.

Your frame mod lets you fix the kit's wheelbase. AMT made it too short. On built examples I've seen, the rear tires are crowding the forward edge of the grossly over-radiused rear openings, and the fronts are too far back in the front openings. You'll be able to center the fronts in their openings, or even move them a few inches forward, crowding the front edge, as was seen on many of these cars, Mustangs and Chevy IIs alike (and others).

Those rear wheel openings are SO big I was considering replacing that section with a part cut from a trash (roof smashed) Monogram '65 Shelby body, but I finally found some slicks that will fill them pretty well--the HUGE 11.75x16 AMT Parts Pack tires. They're technically too big for a true period '65-'66 funny, but I don't care.

Gonna try to set up the stance so the lower edge of the body runs right through the centerlines of both front and rear wheels. This will give me a fairly high stance but with a little rake, which should look good. I'm gonna make my own front springs and axle so I can get the height pretty much anywhere I want.

Thinking of using some SOHC engine parts from the AMT '68 Shelby, such as the intake, carbs, and maybe headers. Would almost rather use a 427 wedge but I don't have a spare one. Maybe I can score a Revell Parts Pack one cheap. If I make it a current day streetable "tribute" car, I guess I'll need a radiator up front, too.

I know exactly what I want the thing to look like when done. Now I just gotta figger out how to get there. Watching your build closely to see if I can pick up any tips or ideas.

[STYRENE-SURFER]

Thanx for the comments,

Snake, I totally agree with you on what improvements are possible.

This build is turning out to be much more enjoyable than I expected.

Researching and learning about these old drag racing Mustangs has been interesting.

I don't think I am going to build a specific car from back then, but something

representing the short history of those AFX cars.

Your idea about constructing the frame and interior is interesting.

I taped the chassis to the interior tub, to see if it was possible to slip

them into the body as a group. It is possible, with some flexing of

the body.

Now thinking it would look better to remove the rear part of the tub,

the sort of mono-tub area in the back, exposing the real chassis, and

tying the roll cage into the rear frame.

 

[Snake45]

Oh yeah, this kit doesn't come close to the "factory" FX Mustangs of either '65 or '66, in either body or chassis.

Body-wise, closest thing I've seen was the Psycho, which was actually a rebodied Fiat altered IIRC.

But for every one of the well-known and/or "factory" funny Mustangs, there were probably three or four or more locally built hometown heroes that didn't get much ink, and were built to "whatever" rules, standards, or specs the owner could afford or thought he could get away with. That's why I say as long as you're not trying to duplicate any specific car, there's almost no "wrong" way to nail one of these funky old kits together.

Bonus tip: The wheelbase on the AMT Double Dragster Fiat altered chassis comes darn close to fitting these first-gen AMT funny bodies. Just sayin....

[louie]

Really, Really like this. Been following this one and appreciate all the tips and tricks you have been doing. Also thank you for the links above about the suspension. Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing this with us.     Jeff 

[STYRENE-SURFER]

Thanx for looking and commenting.

spent some time doing more research, not allot out there on how these chassis where built.

I will let you all in on how I removed the varnish left over from removing the chrome on parts.

Now, I don't know the long term effects on this plastic.

I did do a 24 hour test on a piece of cut off sprue.No ill effects.

I mixed 3 oz. denatured Alcohol with about 5cc of cheap lacquer thiner in a jar.

After several hours soaking the parts in this it was soft enough to start removing it.

Picking it off w/toothpick and sharpened piece of plastic sprue.

Also scrubbing w/hard bristled toothbrush.

Took 3 soakings and picking,scrubbing to get cleaned up.

So far there seems to be no ill effects from this.

 

[Snake45]

I've taken the chrome varnish off with Easy Off oven cleaner. Usually though I don't even bother, I just strip the chrome itself off with ammonia and paint right over the varnish.

[Rrrrrrumps]

Man I love the links...this is what keeps me up all hours of the night. I was just saying to my wife to find this info without the internet would take weeks...months and not to mention the bucks to track down such info...now off to my Alter Wheelbase Mustang that I making back to the original FX mustang...can't keep it simple stupid. I have taken a 66 AMT coupe and cut it up to make the AMT Mustang  back into a factory AFX...and I couldn't have done it without all the links. I love the H.A.M.B. and I love this website. Life is fun.

[socal76]

Since you were not happy with the wheels in the first pic showing the wheels, just send that set to me! I have a project waiting for them.