Because I don’t have enough Lotus kits. ...

[absmiami]

To the sump - which is more like the sump on the DOHC than the 289  ...  it’s deep - about 7 inches in depth - and it has a ribbed section half way back - the 29 restoration videos posted on the Indy Museum site are critical ...  the ribbed section was made with the Tamiya .2mm scribing tool - its very good - and a section of Evergreen rail road siding sheet ...

[absmiami]

So here’s the base of the sump ...

[absmiami]

The middle picture above is some siding that was not used ...  used the siding with the wider ridges - shown below - the narrower pattern will come in handy for another engine - not yet begun ...  well I guess I just started it ...

[absmiami]

See big John’s contributions at

the top of page 2 of this thread ...

[Big John]

Today I saw a 1:1 one of these Weber intakes for a small block Chevy up for sale on ebay.  Coming along nicely, Webers are looking good.

Thanks for the notice!

[absmiami]

Thanks for perusing ... while the Webers are napping ...

The sump is built up [down?] in layers of Evergreen styrene sheet and strip. - from .040 thick to .015 for the ribs on the side of the pan ...  used epoxy, liquid glue, and CA, depending ...

[absmiami]

The front cover of the Fairlane based engine was very much like the front cover of the DOHC engine that was used by Lotus and  Gurney and Foyt et al beginning in ‘64.  In fact Ford began to work on the DOHC engine just before the Fairlane based SOHC engine - Late in ‘62.  The part on the 29 kit engine has the correct features and shape - but it’s way too small - even taking the scale diff - 24th to 25th - into account.   So I traced the outline of the kit part on .030 w a Sharpie  onto evergreen sheet and went from there ..

[absmiami]

Began to drill the bolt and engine mount holes - mostly .018  - and filed the profile some more - when I had one part with the correct shape - I then traced that part for a second one - the engine cover was a housing - back and front - that housed the gears and pumps  - -  which was then bolted together - I’ll scavenge some of the features on th kit part for the front cover.  

[absmiami]

The features on the front engine cover are complex in scale - I’ve saved somE build time by “borrowing” some parts from the AMT 29 kit and the crank shaft balance wheel from a different Mad Mike engine print - the FORD DOHC Indy engine.  

[absmiami]

One large difference between the 289 Shelby engine and the Fairlane 255 that I’m making is an additional row of studs and bolts  -  4 left and 4 right - on the edge of the engine block - Ford beefed up the block to handle the horsepower needed on a mid sixties Indy engine... this is the engine casting without the needed changes ...

[absmiami]

The additional row of bolts is seen on this screen grab from one of the Indy Museum Gurney restoration videos ...

[absmiami]

It’s too visible to leave off - so I performed some razor saw surgery on the block casting and added the feature with some strips of evergreen strip and bar ... nuts will be glued to each of the 4 posts ...

[Bainford]

That's coming along nicely. Nice attention to detail. I wasn't aware of the extra row of head bolts. Very interesting.

[absmiami]

Well it’s May  -  so what better month to make the Lotus 29 monocoque.  These are scr grabs fr one of the Indy Museum restoration videos.  

[absmiami]

The paper outline was cut from one of the Clidinst drawings - Road & Track published drawings in 1962 of the Lotus 25 profile but the 29 monocoque was a little wider and deeper.  And I’m pretty certain that Clidinst got it right ...  I’m doing this first one with Evergreen plastic - and the trusty xacto saw and mitre box 

[absmiami]

The chassis tapers out to the instrument panel bracket location and then runs back to the rear suspension bulkhead - sheets of .250 and .060 by .250 make chassis horns that are 7.5 scale inches wide - which is about what you need - left and right.  I can date the age of the evergreen package by the price. The one that’s pictured cost 1.49 - at a local hobby store - probably Orange Blossom Hobbies - back when - 1985 ??

[absmiami]

Whilst adding the studs to the top of the engine block - I decided to remove the valve covers - making them easier to finish - probably Alclad - or maybe try a spray of Molotow-     Used the razor saw that is super thin - so only a sliver of material is hacked off ...

[absmiami]

Making the left hand chassis box - trying to correct some build errors on the right side - and trying to match left and right - which will be critical for bulkhead location - engine mounts - etc

[absmiami]

Each box has a channel made from Evergreen L shape strip that bends inward at the mid point of each box - the kink in the boxes is what distinguishes the 25 and 29 from the 32 and 33 ... the channel houses the water and oil lines plus the brake line and the wiring ...this is one of the features of Lotus kits that usually is missed - 

[absmiami]

The monocoque is riveted together from folded sheet metal - this is visible in sheet metal folds or extensions seen clearly on the Indy Museum resto videos for the 29 .... this feature is added to the chassis boxes with strips of .040  and .060 that are glued on with a support strip - which is then sanded away once the bond is set ...

[absmiami]

Once the boxes are done I’ll add some of the rivets and the openings for the fuel bags and then measure, cut, and fix the bulkheads and the floor - at that point this will start to make some sense ...

[absmiami]

Size and

shape are in line with Clidinst’s great drawings ...

[absmiami]

Some more work on the engine - mite use solder for the exhaust pipes - it’s the easy way out - but the bends will be very hard to execute in brass or nickel - even with heat treatment ...  and the collectors in the AMT kit are actually quite good - so I think I’ll use them ...

[absmiami]

Well.  McLaren has just given us a good reason to watch the Monaco Grand Prix next week ...   the valve covers have plug wire looms - 3 each side - evergreen L shaped strip. -  their smallest is .060 x .060 - but we’ve got files  ...   so. ...  these are about .035 x .035  -  closer to scale ...

[absmiami]

The plug distributor is “pegged” w a brass rod and sleeve - so it won’t break off when I install and bend the plug wires ... the oil lines are - at the moment - .032 solder - but the scale lines look to be closed to one inch - so I’ll probably replace these

- time to make The roll bar and It’s base - unique to the 29 - the bar attaches to the leading edge of the cam boxes - with braces running back into the carb manifold - an arrangement that Chapman abandoned with succeeding open wheelers - he had lots of ideas - they weren’t all winners ...  most of course were ...