Nostalgia Fuel Dragster--Blower Manifold (01/28/23)

[Straightliner59]

On 11/14/2022 at 7:33 PM, mr68gts said:

Nice to see this thing back out! I remember it from way back!

Paul

I was thinking, Paul--you can attest to how old this thing actually is!

[iBorg]

I do believe you need to call this the Ghost for ghost of SLM.....

 

[Straightliner59]

4 hours ago, iBorg said:

I do believe you need to call this the Ghost for ghost of SLM.....

 

Not a bad idea! I will definitely consider that, or something in that (ahem) "spirit".

[AmericanMuscleFan]

This Nostalgia Dragster doesn't waste time waiting, there are 25 years of experience and amazing skills at its service, the project has waited until now to get a new start... even though there is a lot of good in what was done at the time!

Thanks in advance for all the great tips you'll be sharing with us my friend!!! ?

[Straightliner59]

1 minute ago, AmericanMuscleFan said:

This Nostalgia Dragster doesn't waste time waiting, there are 25 years of experience and amazing skills at its service, the project has waited until now to get a new start... even though there is a lot of good in what was done at the time!

Thanks in advance for all the great tips you'll be sharing with us my friend!!! ?

I always knew that it was just awaiting its time! I am very happy with the work I did, in those days of yore.? I reached the point at which I was afraid that all I could do, was screw it up, from there. It needed to wait until I no longer felt that way. Very happy to have you along, my friend!

[Straightliner59]

More steering stuff. I milled six more handrail stanchions into rod ends. All of those are done, now (for the steering, anyway). I need to make the support tabs for the long steering rod. They'll "bolt" to the tabs already soldered to the chassis. I also need to make the steering arm for the box-end of the steering, and for the crank, at the spindle end. I really like the way the milled stanchions look! They could easily be done with a file and a pin vise (I've done it that way, before). I used the mill because, well, it's here, and it's more accurate, and way faster! As you can see, based upon my precision setup, accuracy is extremely important, to me!? Well, it doesn't need to be uber-precise, in this instance...

Since this project's inception, back in 1997, or 1998, I have wanted to incorporate a wheel design, based on classic Halibrands. I think I've come up with something that works. I cut the (broken, even) rim from a Johan (P.L.?)wheel from the parts box, down, on the lathe. I then removed the spokes from one of the wheels from a Tony Nancy 22 Jr. kit. That rim just sits along the edge of the Johan wheel. The remaining, widened flat area of the Johan wheel gives the whole thing a retro-modern look, which is what I have been looking for! I'd really appreciate your thoughts, regarding this. Thanks for looking!

[Claude Thibodeau]

Hi Daniel!

Wow, very impressive "museum quality" work. I wish I could master metal as you do! Keep on, those front-engine dragster were always more gracefull than anything that came afterward. Bravo!

CT 

[Joe Nunes]

What an incredible build. I am amazed by this workmanship and talent. 

Joe 

[Straightliner59]

18 hours ago, Claude Thibodeau said:

Hi Daniel!

Wow, very impressive "museum quality" work. I wish I could master metal as you do! Keep on, those front-engine dragster were always more gracefull than anything that came afterward. Bravo!

CT 

Thank you, Claude! Your words are too kind.? The FEDs do have a certain grace, about them, for sure! The thing to remember about working metal, is that it's just like plastic, only harder!?

15 hours ago, Joe Nunes said:

What an incredible build. I am amazed by this workmanship and talent. 

Joe 

I appreciate that, Joe. Thanks so much!

[Bainford]

Everything is looking nice and proper. Very nice fab work, especially that 25 year old chassis. Good stuff, Daniel. I'm watching.

[Straightliner59]

1 hour ago, Bainford said:

Everything is looking nice and proper. Very nice fab work, especially that 25 year old chassis. Good stuff, Daniel. I'm watching.

Glad to have you along, Trevor. Thank you for your kind words!

[Straightliner59]

I did some more work with the wheel. I got it all ready to mold, tacky glued it into a mold box, and found that my rubber was bad. Got that ordered...The drag link I had was a tad too small to work with the handrail stanchions--the wall was so thin, it was tearing.  I straightened a length of .052" aluminum wire, and drilled the ends of it, to replace the .040" wire. I have some slightly smaller Special Shapes tubing that would work, but I really don't want to use that much of it, here, if I can find an alternative.

The front tires I had planned to use don't fit the wheels satisfactorily, so I found a pair from one of Revell's later Top Fuel kits that I'll go with. While there aren't prototypes, I like these wheels, and think they look feasible enough, as a retro-modern design.

Once the steering is worked out, I'll be expending a lot of elbow grease, scrubbing the plastic coating off these aluminum sheets, so that work can commence on the new body. I have a couple of new tricks that I am looking forward to employing, here.

Edited November 21, 2022 by Straightliner59

[Joe Nunes]

This is just amazing to me; the insight into your modeling techniques and ideas is eye opening as to what can actually be accomplished at this scale. A wonderful build to watch come together. 

Joe

[Straightliner59]

On 11/21/2022 at 3:02 PM, Joe Nunes said:

This is just amazing to me; the insight into your modeling techniques and ideas is eye opening as to what can actually be accomplished at this scale. A wonderful build to watch come together. 

Joe

Thanks so kindly, Joe. Your words are inspiring. I appreciate them! I apologize for the tardiness of my response. I was attempting to get the steering all pieced together, before bed, yesterday morning. I didn't make it!? I did make a decal for one of my (very) old projects, and added a couple of others to it. Thanks again! I hope you'll keep following!

[Straightliner59]

The steering is all roughed-in. Once everything is glued solid, it will stay aligned. It's something of a mess, in that regard, now. The steering rods are .052" dead-soft aluminum. It straightens easily, by rolling it under the steel block, atop the cutting pad. I drill the ends on the lathe, to accept the handrail stanchions. Just a couple of small tweaks to make, on final assembly, and this is done. I'm looking forward to building the body! Questions and comments are welcomed. Thanks for looking!

[Ian McLaren]

For the life of me I don't know how I missed that you were back on this model!  I'm  caught up now and again, you are hitting this one out of the park. As an old model railroader I should have thought of the stantion deal.  I guess it's of to see the guys at Trains & Such, I haven't been there for years.

[Straightliner59]

16 hours ago, Ian McLaren said:

For the life of me I don't know how I missed that you were back on this model!  I'm  caught up now and again, you are hitting this one out of the park. As an old model railroader I should have thought of the stantion deal.  I guess it's of to see the guys at Trains & Such, I haven't been there for years.

Well, thanks to you, for your comment, when I posted it in my Vega thread. I'd been thinking about getting back on this, and that comment was the impetus! Don Fahrni first discovered them, back in the early-mid '80s. I've been using them, ever since. Yes, go pay those guys a visit!

[Tortuga Kustomz]

You're doing an amazing job with this project, love the wood Jig you have there

[Straightliner59]

4 hours ago, Tortuga Kustomz said:

You're doing an amazing job with this project, love the wood Jig you have there

Thank you, Marcos. Yes, it's my fancy balsa wood alignment thingie!?

I just tweaked the steering components, a bit, to get everything aligned and give it a tidier look. I shortened the outer shafts of the tie rod, because I had some toe-in, before. I'm very happy with it, now! I "sleeved" these wheels, so they'd fit the spindles, and I would have a better visual on the alignment, etc. I'm about to put the sheering shafts back together, and devising a way to connect the joints. I think I am nearing a method, to that end. I expect to get that at least mostly done, on Saturday.

I have been trying to make a working worm-and-sector steering box for quite a few years, and have made inroads, but, am not sure if I'm quite there, yet. I have the gears, it's just making a box that's small enough, to house them. We'll see...

I had a setback, when I poured the mold for my front wheel. The rubber didn't cure properly. I'm not sure why. I didn't do anything differently than I normally do. Anyway, it took a while to clean that glop off the master. I'm going to mix a test batch of rubber, and just leave it in the cup I mix it in, to see if I did something wrong, or if it's a bad batch of rubber.

Comments, questions, etc., are always welcomed. Thanks for looking!

[Joe Nunes]

WOW!  ?

Joe 

[Tortuga Kustomz]

Awesome job so far, love the jig man, thanks for the info...

the rubber mold not drying enough i thing is the same thing that happen to me before, i guess the material you use expires, but i'm not an expert on this, i'm just a rookie making molds

[Straightliner59]

1 hour ago, Tortuga Kustomz said:

Awesome job so far, love the jig man, thanks for the info...

the rubber mold not drying enough i thing is the same thing that happen to me before, i guess the material you use expires, but i'm not an expert on this, i'm just a rookie making molds

Thanks again, Marcos. Balsa is the only thing I ever build on. I draw my guidelines--chassis centerline, axle centers, overall width and length, and, with dragsters, I usually draw the outline of the bottom of the chassis and the crossmembers, for use in layout. Simple lines work, I just use a single line to denote the centerlines of things added to the chassis. I can pin tubing or strips of other stock, to determine ride height. It's worked great, for almost 40 years! I solder on it, too. Never even set off a smoke detector. Give it a shot. I think you'll like it! Oh, and get yourself a bunch of straight pins, too. 

I'm no pro at moldmaking, either. Since I only make parts for myself, or maybe a friend, I just go for the most basic, quickest way to get it done! ? After I gave up on the rubber curing and dug out the part and cleaned it up, I got home from work, tonight, and all the wads of destroyed mold had cured. I don't have 48 hours to wait for rubber to cure. I'll mix the next batch hotter. I ordered this rubber, because the Oomoo I got about three months ago had set. I'm aware of its shelf life, but I have never had it go bad, that quickly!

[Straightliner59]

I've started work on the steering box. Now, it's brass. It's still the same size as the plastic one I had, before. This will work much better! I'm in the process of making aluminum end caps, for it...I poured a new mold for the front wheel. It's curing, but, it's taking its sweet time! Not sure what the deal is, with this batch. It's supposed to be 8-12 hours. It's getting toward 24.

[Straightliner59]

Inspired by Francis and Tim, I did some work between the lathe and the mill, to make the ends for the steering box. I've figured out how I'm going to mount the pittman arm, so that it will work as flawlessly as the tie rods do. I am very happy with the way this is going--so far--knock on wood! As always, questions, critiques and comments are always welcome. Thanks for looking!

[Joe Nunes]

It is fascinating to see how this is coming together. I am now thinking of throwing out the models on my bench and then taking up tiddlywinks!  ????

Joe