Pirahna Land Speed Record Car - DONE!

[fordf-100]

Really cool! Looks great! 

[250 Testa Rossa]

Love it

[1930fordpickup]

This coming along nicely. 

[Snake45]

It's reminding me a little of the 50 cent 1/32-ish rubber band powered Hawk Bonneville cars of the early '60s. At least one of them used the clear canopy from their 1/48 F2H Banshee kit. 

[Harpo]

3 hours ago, Snake45 said:

It's reminding me a little of the 50 cent 1/32-ish rubber band powered Hawk Bonneville cars of the early '60s. At least one of them used the clear canopy from their 1/48 F2H Banshee kit. 

I've always loved Bonneville cars, and I built those Hawk kits when they first came out.  I have a NOS Apache, don't know if I'll ever build it:

[Harpo]

Cockpit opening located and cut, edges where putty is exposed between styrene layers sealed with liquid glue. 

Engine is done, and I just couldn't resist keeping all those parts chrome!  I'll probably add some weathering and grime later.

 

[GerN]

• Here's the real thing.  That kit engine looks a little strange as the spark plugs go into the cylinder top sides, through the cooling cover.  I'll try to dig out my unbuilt copy.
•  
• 

Edited August 26, 2018 by GerN

[Harpo]

Yes, the engine does seem a bit strange.  Twin turbos, Weber carbs, and what appears to hemi heads?  It doesn't line up with anything ever used on any Pirahna that I can find.

But if we pretend the heads were custom made, the rest of the components were all available in the 60's - so I'm considering it a reasonably believable LSR engine. 

Edited August 26, 2018 by Harpo

[GerN]

I should have mentioned this before:  no fan belt.  BTW, great work on the body.

[Harpo]

1 hour ago, GerN said:

I should have mentioned this before:  no fan belt.  BTW, great work on the body.

Thank you!  Ya, I thought about the fan belt, but I'm claiming it's under the shroud, or perhaps a custom gear drive...

Edited August 27, 2018 by Harpo

[Harpo]

Interior panels formed from .020" Evergreen, installed, dash/seat/wheel installed and painted. 

I didn't spend much time here, as the interior is barely visible even with canopy removed.

Edited August 31, 2018 by Harpo

[Rider]

Some good progress on this, I like where this is going. Good luck with the rest of the build. 

[Harpo]

Engine cover filled and fitted, scoop attached.  Since it's in three pieces (lower body. interior/engine comp, upper body) this is turning into a real challenge deciding what order to assemble and paint it.

I'd planned on assembling all then masking the engine compartment and interior openings before final putty and paint, then adding the engine and suspension.  But since I've decided to include deep fender skirts, that may make the suspension/wheels/tires a challenge too.  

Also need to devise some way of securing the canopy.  This one is taking more time to engineer than to build!

[Harpo]

Roll bar (made from parts tree) installed, canopy retention system designed and fabricated.  Sheet styrene "spring" engages roll bar, slides forward, two angled pins engage body to secure.  Rear of canopy will be painted body color.

[cobraman]

Coming along nicely.

[Richard Bartrop]

Nice job on the body.

[geetee66]

This is excellent! Super reworking of an already unique car.

The Piranha is a strange choice of car for a spy. Not exactly discreet, is it? ?

[Harpo]

Front and rear ends reshaped and filled, sides smoothed, profile is looking better.  Still considering partial fill for wheel openings.

[Italianhorses]

Neat!

[Art Laski]

Cool project, Gary!

[Ich_Will]

I remember reading your post when you first started and thinking “hmmm not feeling it.”  I’m super glad I checked back. This. Is. Absolutely. Fantastic!!

[Harpo]

3 hours ago, Ich_Will said:

I remember reading your post when you first started and thinking “hmmm not feeling it.”  I’m super glad I checked back. This. Is. Absolutely. Fantastic!!

Thank you, and thanks to all who have commented! 

It's interesting to hear this comment in particular, because there's been several times during this project that I've felt exactly the same way, just not feeling it.  I went in with a rough concept of what I wanted to see, but no definite plans how to achieve it. 

I tried doing some drawings, but ended up just winging it.  So far I'm happy with the way it's coming together!

Edited September 12, 2018 by Harpo

[chris chabre]

We need more land speed builds!!! Looks awesome, man I miss racing

[Harpo]

Lots of progress!

[Deuces]

Wowsers!!!!!!......