Shirley Shahan’s Hornet Pro Stock

[dragcarz]

On 1/20/2021 at 1:37 PM, Jack L said:

amt 33 willys ,       1st issue 57 chevy  ,  72 GMC pu ,  72 chevelle?  

I found them in the AMT 33 Willys, I have a first issue 57, and the holes seem too squared, I have an issue of the 72 Chevelle, but it has ugly 5 hole modular looking wheels. I guess the 33Willys will be sacrificed. 

[Force]

If you have the most recent issue of the "Ohio George" Montgomery 33 Willys from 2012 you get two sets of rear wheels, a set of four slots to do the original car and a set of five slots to do the restored car.

[mustang1989]

Good progress on this one Roger. Didn't know you'd came down with it but I'm glad to hear that you're working your way through the whole Covid mess. 

[Ben269]

This project is super cool. I like AMCs.

[BubbingScrubbles]

Funny I should find this thread, in those pictures of the car at MCACN, there's a model of the car sitting on the hood scoop. That's my model! I had built it to display alongside the car at the show, and I even got it signed by Shirley while she was there. I built mine off of a promo model, so the details are a little lacking. I'm very excited to see how yours comes out. If you're interested, I think I still have the files from printing the decals. I printed them on clear decal paper with a normal inkjet printer.

[dragcarz]

On 2/16/2021 at 3:58 PM, BubbingScrubbles said:

Funny I should find this thread, in those pictures of the car at MCACN, there's a model of the car sitting on the hood scoop. That's my model! I had built it to display alongside the car at the show, and I even got it signed by Shirley while she was there. I built mine off of a promo model, so the details are a little lacking. I'm very excited to see how yours comes out. If you're interested, I think I still have the files from printing the decals. I printed them on clear decal paper with a normal inkjet printer.

Wow Eddie, that’s really cool, I’m stalled right now I just  moved my daughter out of state, and I’m training for a new job, too busy to get any bench time. Yes I would be very interested in the decal file. Or a printed sheet, let me know what you would want for it. I’m really interested in the roof decals also.  Thank you!

[dragcarz]

Your model looks great by the way!

[dragcarz]

Ok, so I revisited this post as I started working on the Hornet again and realized it’s been a year ago since I last posted anything. It took me forever to get over Covid, it really messed me up physically. Im what they call a long hauler, but enough of that.
 

I had cut the inner fender structure from the American kit and aligned and glued it in place. Since the interior from the American is too narrow I cut the floor from the door panels, and removed the back seat. The molded in front suspension is not accurate so I’ve trimmed it from the chassis plate. I have some parts box Mustang front suspension that is more close to the original AMC pieces. I’m going to need to trim the shock towers and make shock mounts. 
 

[dragcarz]

I started on the engine from the funny car kit. I modified and deepened the oil pan as was the practice back the. The headers from the AMT Gremlin kit appear to be a perfect fit. I  lengthened the header collectors with evergreen tubing. 

[Scott8950]

Glad to see you back on this build. 

[afx]

Nice book on AMC's motorsport endeavors, includes information on the Shahan cars.

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by afx

[GoatGuy]

This is a great project. Good to hear you're doing better. I'm looking forward to more updates.

Dave

[Bills72sj]

Good to see your are back on it.

[Ian McLaren]

Good progress

[bisc63]

On 2/12/2022 at 5:14 PM, dragcarz said:

I started working on the Hornet again and realized it’s been a year

Congrats on your recovery, and welcome back! Happy to see this build continuing. Very cool idea. Not clear if you ever found the wheels you needed, but a beautiful set can be found in the AMT '57 Thunderbird, scale out to 15-inch size, all four same deep dish. Here's a bad flash photo:

 

Edited February 15, 2022 by bisc63
added info

[dragcarz]

On 2/13/2022 at 7:21 AM, afx said:

Nice book on AMC's motorsport endeavors, includes information on the Shahan cars.

 

I need to check this out, I could sure use some more reference photos on this car. There’s not a lot out there.

[dragcarz]

9 hours ago, bisc63 said:

Congrats on your recovery, and welcome back! Happy to see this build continuing. Very cool idea. Not clear if you ever found the wheels you needed, but a beautiful set can be found in the AMT '57 Thunderbird, scale out to 15-inch size, all four same deep dish. Here's a bad flash photo:

 

Right now I have the Ohio George AMT wheels…. I would assume there the same wheel. 

[Sportabout]

This is a great project. As a Hornet owner, this is close to my heart. The first page article read that the transmission was a Borg Warner Super T-10s. The SC Rambler’s engine is from Jo-Han ’66 Marlin with upgraded parts and the transmission is an old torque tube manual. You can get the right T-10 4-speed manual from AMT's Bobby Allison's 1975 Matador.

 

[Bainford]

I'm glad to see this project back on the bench. Nice work so far.

[thatz4u]

keep it going

[dragcarz]

Small update, the downer 69 Rambler chassis’ front crossmember was short molded. The front frame rails were also very thin, like Kit flashing, so I needed to replace the crossmember and I filled the gaps in the rails to strengthen it. Kari suggested the engine from the Matador kit might be a more accurate, so I pulled my NASCAR Matador kit out. At some point I had obtained a poorly built glue bomb and put it in with the new kit. There I found my answer to the crossmember. I cut it free and trimmed it to fit. I did look at the engine though, and I have the one from the original funny car kit and it appears to be a good choice, so I’ll be using it. I also found that the AMT NASCAR kits rear spring fit perfectly in the shock towers. I have some lower control arms, I think there from the Monogram 65-66 Mustang kit, that I’m going to try and make work

[dragcarz]

Stance, Ride Height, whatever you call it, can make or break a model! Get this wrong and it just won’t look right. All the detail in the world isn’t going to help if at first glance the model doesn’t appear realistic sitting there. I try to find a good photo of the car sitting still, and pay attention to where the center of the wheels are in relation to the body rocker panels. Is it above or below the rocker panel and I try to place the wheel centers accordingly. I also try and match tire sizes. If I can obtain the correct tire/ slick size, I measure different kit slicks and conversion the measurements to 1/1 scale. 
On the real car, according to my reference material the rear springs were moved inboard into the rear frame rails for additional tire clearance so I starter these modifications by notching the rear rails and filling the original spring mount holes with styrene. 
The Dana Rear axle housing was also braced, so I added the braces using Plastic Rod. 

[dragcarz]

I forgot to post the in progress stance photo.

[dragcarz]

I think the front is a little low and I still need to raise the rear a smidge and get the body off the tires.

[bytownshaker]

Roger I'm really enjoying your build. I've been a Pro Stock fanatic from the early 70's. I found this picture that might help with your stance/ride height.