Race of Gentlemen presents... California Drag Racing 2023 Build Thread

[Calb56]

Just putting it out there, the rules say no headlights but if you want your car, pre-race, before they were removed, I think that'd be OK.

 

[Straightliner59]

13 hours ago, Calb56 said:

Just putting it out there, the rules say no headlights but if you want your car, pre-race, before they were removed, I think that'd be OK.

 

I was just looking at an issue of Hot Rod Deluxe, the other night--two were being flagged off, and both had headlights. They had tape on them, but, they were there. I know the rules say they aren't allowed, but, it seems to be a pretty loose rule, because I've seen photos of quite a few with the headlights on them. 

Edited December 9, 2022 by Straightliner59

[Calb56]

6 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

I was just looking at an issue of Hot Rod Deluxe, the other night--two were being flagged off, and both had headlights. They had tape on them, but, they were there. I know the rules say they aren't allowed, but, it seems to be a pretty loose rule, because I've seen photos of quite a few with the headlights on them. 

Good to know!

[stavanzer]

Ulf, you may need to replace the rear Mags with something older. Other than that, it looks good.

[larman]

On 11/26/2022 at 3:43 AM, Fat Brian said:

 

This is about as dead on for a vintage roadster as it gets! Super job so far!

[Bernard Kron]

This is my first entry in the TROG California Drag Racing 2023 Build Thread. My intention is to do several projects across the next year focusing on the various aspects of The Race Of Gentlemen events as they have evolved over the years. This first one acknowledges the original Spirit of Wildwood, the funky, no holds barred, old car and motorcycle beach racing in Wildwood NJ. I’m not by nature a replica car builder but this car, the Sea-N-Sun Motel ‘29 Ford phaeton from the 2016 Wildood TROG has always appealed to me. It caught the eye of several photographers, so if you’ve done a web search on TROG events chances are you’ve encountered it.

I don’t much about it or its entrant, but the Sea-N-Sun is a real motel in Wildwood, N.J. rear next to the amusement park and the beach where TROG runs its event. It’s got a mildly hopped up 4-banger and is otherwise pretty much just a stripped down stock A-Bone.

For my donor car I’m using a Monogram Red Phaeton survivor I got off of eBay, so it won’t be a strict replica since it’s a ’30 instead of a ’29. It’s just being shipped to me so in the meantime I prepared the logo art and am rounding up the parts from my stash, like the 4 cylinder motor and the stock hood, etc.

Here’s a composite of the decal art development and the eBay photo of the donor car.

 

[Calb56]

13 hours ago, Bernard Kron said:

This is my first entry in the TROG California Drag Racing 2023 Build Thread. My intention is to do several projects across the next year focusing on the various aspects of The Race Of Gentlemen events as they have evolved over the years. This first one acknowledges the original Spirit of Wildwood, the funky, no holds barred, old car and motorcycle beach racing in Wildwood NJ. I’m not by nature a replica car builder but this car, the Sea-N-Sun Motel ‘29 Ford phaeton from the 2016 Wildood TROG has always appealed to me. It caught the eye of several photographers, so if you’ve done a web search on TROG events chances are you’ve encountered it.

I don’t much about it or its entrant, but the Sea-N-Sun is a real motel in Wildwood, N.J. rear next to the amusement park and the beach where TROG runs its event. It’s got a mildly hopped up 4-banger and is otherwise pretty much just a stripped down stock A-Bone.

For my donor car I’m using a Monogram Red Phaeton survivor I got off of eBay, so it won’t be a strict replica since it’s a ’30 instead of a ’29. It’s just being shipped to me so in the meantime I prepared the logo art and am rounding up the parts from my stash, like the 4 cylinder motor and the stock hood, etc.

Here’s a composite of the decal art development and the eBay photo of the donor car.

 

I'm really looking forward to seeing this!!!

[thatz4u]

On 10/22/2022 at 11:45 AM, thatz4u said:

Not an entry, just to inspire...If I find an older kit I may enter...

 

I found the right kit, so I'm in....

[Calb56]

18 hours ago, thatz4u said:

I found the right kit, so I'm in....

Good to see you join us!

[thatz4u]

4 hours ago, Calb56 said:

Good to see you join us!

thanks, Charles

[Ulf]

Some work done, rear rims might be a problem but I have 2023 to solve that.

[stavanzer]

Looks Good, Ulf.

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

I had kinda forgotten about this build....I had better get going on something!!! -RRR

[Calb56]

3 minutes ago, Rocking Rodney Rat said:

I had kinda forgotten about this build....I had better get going on something!!! -RRR

Yep, you're the reason for this build!

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

14 hours ago, Calb56 said:

Yep, you're the reason for this build!

Thanks, I guess..... -RRR

[Ulf]

I've been thinking about colors that you see, maybe pale pink instead of the turquoise and blue ? There are similarites in the design. Yes, I’ve ”built” the pig and yes it’s airbrushed.

Merry Christmas !

 

 

Edited December 24, 2022 by Ulf

[Fat Brian]

Major progress on the 29 this weekend. I'm not good at weathering but I'm satisfied with this. I'm giving up the number 707 and switching to 424. I went with a military theme, maybe a former pilot or tank commander getting his adrenaline running with fast cars after the war.

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

I started working on my TROG entry. I will post some pix soon. It's going to be a quick simple build.... -RRR

[Calb56]

 

 

[Bernard Kron]

I’ve made solid progress and the Sea 'N’ Sun Special is rapidly taking shape.

As I mentioned earlier, the donor car I’m using is a Monogram 30 Ford Phaeton gluebomb I got off of eBay. The seller tried to be informative about the condition of the car but when I got it it turned out to be far worse than the pictures showed. The body is actually from the original issue Model A Phaeton from 1961. The chassis, however was an AMT ’32 Ford piece, chopped up, crammed under the body and generally useless, as were most of the other parts. So I had to take a deep dive into my parts stash to get this thing started.

The deep dive resulted in a complete chassis and motor from the Monogram ’30 Ford Coupe re-issue from a few years back. The front wheels and tires are from an AMT ’34 Ford 5-window coupe. The rear tires are my favorite period bias ply rear tires for these early hot rods, Herb Deeks truck tires, and they're mounted to Revell ’32 Ford Tudor Kelsey Hayes wire wheels, stripped of their chrome and narrowed to fit. The motor, as on the original, is in a mild state of tune. While the stock style carburetion can just be glimpsed in the few photos of the 1:1 that are out there, I took the liberty to guess at the top side of the motor, which is invisible on the photos. I installed a Riley F-head from the Revell ‘’30 Ford Sedan “Rat Rod” kits. The rear seat is the original Monogram Phaeton rear seat which had served as the front seat on the gluebomb (!). The front seat was cobbled together from an AMT ’32 Ford Phaeton rear seat (got that?).

Here’s a composite of the final decal art. I noticed that the graphics on the 1:1 were hand painted and that they were distressed, probably as a result of sand and wind at the beach, so I added t=distressing to the lettering. The effect works well on the black hood, I have yet to apply decals to the main body.

And here are a couple of the mockups of progress so far. The photos show the parts held together entirely by gravity and masking tape (no glue…).

The body decals need to be applied and then it will be time for final assembly.  I’m hoping to get it done before the New Year.

Thanx for lookin’ and here’s hoping you all are a having a Happy Holiday Season,
B.

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by Bernard Kron

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

4 hours ago, Bernard Kron said:

The body decals need to be applied and then it will be time for final assembly.  I’m hoping to get it done before the New Year.

Thanx for lookin’ and here’s hoping you all are a having a Happy Holiday Season,
B.

Looking good!! I like those decals... -RRR

[Ulf]

This build will be 75% AMT, 15% Revell and 10% Tamiya (the putty).

The Sea 'N’ Sun Special looks good.

[Bernard Kron]

Just a quickie post. The Sea-N-Sun Special was my final completion for 2022. Below is a summary composite showing some details and the stance. I’m editing the final beauty shots right now and will post them later this afternoon or evening.

Hope you all had a Happy New Year,
B.

 

[Bernard Kron]

Hot off my bench, my last completion of 2022 and my first entry in the TROG California Drag community build. Direct from the Jersey Shore, the Sea-N-Sun Motel Special!

Edited January 2, 2023 by Bernard Kron

[Fat Brian]

Bookending with Bernard my first build of 2023 is the Revell 29 roadster in east coast TROG style. It's the 29 roadster body on the 32 rails from the kit and the 32 grille from the 30 5 window kit. The engine is made up of various Revell flathead parts, it's a later block with the removable bell housing and a LaSalle transmission. I put a 50s style post mounted distributor on it with heads and intake from the recent 37/38 pickup. The exhaust is made from 1.5mm stainless steel tubing. I removed the rumble seat and hinged it like a trunk where I put the battery and fuel tank along with some tarps and a tool kit. I removed the pleated sections of the interior panels to give it a stripped down look and used the bomber seats from the 30 kit. I converted the rear end back to a transverse leaf spring and banjo axle from the 37 pickup and swapped the finned drums for late 30s Ford units and wide 5 wheels that I widened in the rear. The decals are from various kits and hint at a driver who was filling his post war adrenaline needs.

This was a super fun build that feel together very quickly once I found the direction it wanted to go. This is the most extensive weathering I've ever done and I know it's not great but hopefully I can build on this experience. 

Edited January 3, 2023 by Fat Brian