Yellow Fever Competition Coupe, Keeler's Kustoms

[OldNYJim]

6 hours ago, Luc Janssens said:

Thank you for posting these pics, Jim!

One can really make the parts pop using metalliser paint and also not having to scrape off the plating is a plus too

Again thanks, and puts this kit on my shopping list.

I agree - I’d rather paint my own chrome (usually) than strip kit chrome and redo it…and I’m sure Atlantis isn’t targeting the ‘shake the box’ builders with this one - I’m sure people who know about this kit and know why it’s cool are capable of shooting their own Alclad or similar…

[stavanzer]

I like the fact that I don't need to strip chrome from Revell's typical 1960's scale parts. Getting them to hold is always a gamble, and these parts will make getting a solid frame easier.

Way to go.

I just wish there had been a real Hemi to match the decals, rather than the heavy (and rare) Caddy motor. Just means I'll have to swap one if from the recent Jungle Jim car.

Edited June 7, 2022 by stavanzer

[oldrevellfan]

thanks for sharing !

[Ace-Garageguy]

Seein' as how you get multiple vintage parts-pack trees (that I'd assumed were long lost and gone forever) that bring pretty fair money for the '60s releases (and that I've been buying up for years 'cause I thought they'd never be back), this kit is a pretty sweet deal.

Just the original "roadster accessories" pack with the axles, springs, and hairpins routinely brings more than this whole kit is going for.

Looks like they may have addressed the slight short-shot problems that a lot of the later chromed Revell engine kits had, causing sink marks that didn't appear on the original runs.

Bravo Atlantis.

[OldNYJim]

They’re starting to sell some of the parts trees separately too…$8 a tree seems VERY fair to me.

Managed to pick up a couple of the Mooneyes kit for $18 each on eBay a while back, so I’m getting a nice stock of brand-new vintage parts pack parts myself now!  

[Reegs]

The "4 carb manifold" for the Caddy: I can't tell. Is that a Man-A-Fre manifold?

[Mark]

The four carb could be a Cragar, same as the one Ed Roth used on the Excaliber/Outlaw.  (Cragar made speed equipment starting around 1930).  I'm not positive but I believe Man-A-Fre came later, after Revell tooled most of the parts packs in 1962.

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 hours ago, Reegs said:

The "4 carb manifold" for the Caddy: I can't tell. Is that a Man-A-Fre manifold?

Could be several things. First Man-a-Fre was about '62, IIRC...but could have been earlier.

EDIT 2: Further research indicates they were not made for Caddys:

EDIT: Quoting from https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/meet-man-fre-guru-makes-carburetor-injector-systems-look-like-new/  

"Speed Mechanics (Dec. 1962 and Feb. 1963), Hop-Up, Custom Rodder, Speed and Custom (Jan. 1963), Car Craft (Oct. 1964), Popular Hot Rodding (May 1966), and HOT ROD (July 1968) all ran stories about the system. It was also featured in Petersen Publishing's Basic Fuel Systems Spotlite Book and the Custom Rodder Handbook No. 4."

 

Edited June 8, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy

[dodgefever]

1 hour ago, Mark said:

The four carb could be a Cragar, same as the one Ed Roth used on the Excaliber/Outlaw.  (Cragar made speed equipment starting around 1930).  I'm not positive but I believe Man-A-Fre came later, after Revell tooled most of the parts packs in 1962.

I could be misremembering, but I thought it had a Cragar logo moulded on it.  I can check tomorrow if nobody else gets there first.

AFAIK, Man-a-Fre intakes were only made for Chevies and used modified Rochester 2GC carbs.

[Ace-Garageguy]

39 minutes ago, dodgefever said:

I could be misremembering, but I thought it had a Cragar logo moulded on it.  I can check tomorrow if nobody else gets there first.

AFAIK, Man-a-Fre intakes were only made for Chevies and used modified Rochester 2GC carbs.

I just checked the parts-pack version...no manufacturer cast in, definitely.

And I could almost swear I've seen real ones with Stromberg 97s too, three-bolt pads...but I could be wrong.  

EDIT: See the flyer copied in my post above for engine availability: All Chevy V8, Pontiac and Ford V8, Pontiac OHC 6, and Chevy inline 6

 

Edited June 8, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy

[Reegs]

Thanks Ace.

 

 

Edited June 9, 2022 by Reegs

[unclescott58]

I got my Yellow Fever kit at the MCCM (Model Car Club of Minnesota) meeting last night. I have not opened mine up yet. But another member open his up and showed it to the rest of us. It looks pretty good. I’m glad I decided to get one. I especially like the decals. And the two different engines. 

[Dave Darby]

21 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

I just checked the parts-pack version...no manufacturer cast in, definitely.

And I could almost swear I've seen real ones with Stromberg 97s too, three-bolt pads...but I could be wrong.  

EDIT: See the flyer copied in my post above for engine availability: All Chevy V8, Pontiac and Ford V8, Pontiac OHC 6, and Chevy inline 6

 

My post last night must not have gone through. The Roth Outlaw has a Cragar labeled 4 carb manifold. The Parts pack 4 carb manifold is a bit different design, and has no labeling.

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 hours ago, Dave Darby said:

...The Roth Outlaw has a Cragar labeled 4 carb manifold. The Parts pack 4 carb manifold is a bit different design, and has no labeling.

Thank you. Good to know.   

[unclescott58]

Well, I’ve started doing some subassembly work on this kit. And I’m not so sure what to think? No 392 Hemi, as the decal sheet indicates. Or the nailhead Buick that originally came with this kit. The engine mounts mounting points are a mystery. As are how and where one mounts the fuel tank. And is it the hood and/or the nose I need to modify, if I use the Ford engine with the blower? In test fitting things, it looks as though the blower fits through the hood opening just fine. And only the nose piece will need modifying to fit the blower belt? And will this change once the engine is fitted to chassis? 

In many ways this kit is a mess from what I can see. Much like Revell’s/Atlantis’ Moon Eye dragster. It can be put together. But, not without a lot of fiddly work. I will get it built. But, if I just wanted a Fiat dragster, I’d go with AMT’s instead. In my opinion it’s a much nicer kit. 

[Mark]

The Atlantis Fiat is definitely not a "shake the box and it assembles itself" kit.  But I figured that going in.  I never had any of the original Revell double kits, but I'd guess they were the same way.  The parts packs are compatible, but they weren't necessarily designed to fall together.

The instruction sheet is vague in a few areas, and doesn't describe the many alternate parts.  Again, I'd figured on that.

With this kit, the assembly sequence should probably be:

-assemble the chassis and get it on four wheels but without the floor or roll bar.  If you intend to use the belly pan, you'll have to work out how to attach that, and how the body attaches to it.

-fit engine/transmission, then fit the floor if desired.  You'll probably have to cut the floor to fit around the bell housing or transmission.  Once all that is in, then the roll bar and steering setup can go on.

-Fit the body, trim the hole in the hood/nose.  Inner rear wheel houses are included, but will need trimming to fit the chassis.  Once body fit is established, it and the belly pan can be painted.  Firewall needs to be fitted also.

-Fit small items like fuel tank, headers, etc.

[Bill Eh?]

Mark, thank you for the advice in your post. This progression of fitting parts makes a lot of sense. i am going to save these steps, as a general guideline to myself, when I am undertaking drag racing subjects. I like drag racing kits, but have minimal experience when building them.     Bill

[unclescott58]

I’d love to see HPIguy do a build on this one. It would help. 

[stavanzer]

Just be patient, Uncle Scott. He has the kit. It will indeed be very helpful to watch him tackle it.

My only gripe is that it needs a better engine. Neither of the two in the kit, make any sense. The Big Fords were rare, and the Caddy was not used much either. It really needed the Hemi, and Atlantis seems to have planned for one, at one point. But, this is a small issue, really and there are Hemi Motors out there for the folks it bothers,

[Mark]

Cadillac engines were used in the late Fifties and early Sixties.  The Ford would be borderline for this particular car, as the chassis design would have been going out as the Ford engine came in.  There is one error on the Ford engine, the rear mounting position for the magneto with the supercharged version.

The chassis looks like it would be a super light weight piece if assembled with the straight tube front axle and hairpin radius rods, and either the spoke or magnesium front wheels.  That would beg for a high-revving, lightweight small-block Chevy.  Atlantis already put one in the Mooneyes dragster kit, they probably didn't want to put too many of the same parts in the first two kits based on parts packs.  That engine has a crank drive blower anyway.  The other parts pack Chevy engine is in the Atlantis '57 Chevy kit, and includes the conventional top mount blower setup.  Since all the Revell Chevy engines from back then interchange with one another, one of those with the blower setup would be right for the Fiat.  If you really want a Chrysler, the Studebaker funny car kit has the one that used to be in a parts pack.

[unclescott58]

I’m going with Caddy engine. Just for something different.  

[Mark]

The Cad engine would work.  George Montgomery used one in his '33 Willys up until '63 or so.  The instructions suggest using the four-speed transmission from the Ford engine pack; however, there is an in/out box on the Cad engine parts tree.

Back to the Man-A-Fre discussion: they apparently didn't make an intake for the Cadillac engine.  Even if they had, the one in the engine pack doesn't resemble one.  The Man-A-Fre design appears to position one carburetor over each of four pairs of intake ports, similar to a fuel injection setup.

[dodgefever]

On 6/9/2022 at 5:11 PM, Dave Darby said:

My post last night must not have gone through. The Roth Outlaw has a Cragar labeled 4 carb manifold. The Parts pack 4 carb manifold is a bit different design, and has no labeling.

Thanks, I knew I'd seen one somewhere, hadn't got around to checking.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Besides the hemi in the Miss Deal kit the revell hemi hydro also had a hemi.

[RancheroSteve]

This thread might give you a few ideas: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/lets-see-some-fiat-topolinos.1035602/