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

[Ian McLaren]

Looking great Daniel, the T handles are spot on and I am definately stealing your tie wrap proceedure. I do however have a question about the wires themselves, what sizes are the and where did you get all of the colors from? Usually I can only find red, green white, and black. What are the head gaskets made of, they look to be brass or copper.

[Straightliner59]

19 hours ago, Calb56 said:

The details you're accomplishing are beyond amazing. 

Thank you very much, Charles. It's just the stuff that I love doing!

[Straightliner59]

19 hours ago, Ian McLaren said:

Looking great Daniel, the T handles are spot on and I am definately stealing your tie wrap proceedure. I do however have a question about the wires themselves, what sizes are the and where did you get all of the colors from? Usually I can only find red, green white, and black. What are the head gaskets made of, they look to be brass or copper.

Thanks, Ian. The ties go pretty quickly, once you get the hang of them. I have been meaning to thank @peteskifor suggesting the pliers, rather than the vise, I'd been using to flatten the bulbed end. It's every bit as effective, and much faster. Here's the link for the wire. I originally saw it on here, somewhere, so I thought "Gee, you can never have too many kinds of wire!":

https://www.ebay.com/itm/165383729590?var=465469430732

The grey is closer to white than I'd hoped, but...

Edited June 16, 2023 by Straightliner59

[Straightliner59]

20 hours ago, Ian McLaren said:

What are the head gaskets made of, they look to be brass or copper.

Back in my lumber truck days, someone had demoed and replaced a front door. The weatherstrip had thin copper flashing, so, I used the snips I cut banding with to cut off a few inches of the flashing. When I built my replica of "The Bug", I used the foil wrapping from Rolo candies for head gaskets. I think I used that for the head gaskets on my '32 fuel roadster, as well.

[Straightliner59]

I'm about to get back to finishing up the "back half" of the car, but got a good start on the engine...

[cifenet]

Ok, this is super fantastic!  I found this WIP just now and this is purely impressive with efforts to make things proper.

Keep up the good work!

[Straightliner59]

7 hours ago, cifenet said:

Ok, this is super fantastic!  I found this WIP just now and this is purely impressive with efforts to make things proper.

Keep up the good work!

Thank you, Steve. I appreciate your kind words! I've been enjoying your Peterbilt project, as well. 

I finally got both rear axle sensors tied down and connected. I made and installed the fittings (engine block end) for the oil filter plumbing, and the oil pressure sensor. Next, I will make the mounting bracket  and fittings for the filter. I'm thinking it might be kind of cool, if I can get the block assembly installed, before bedtime, in the morning.

[Straightliner59]

The engine isn't permanent, yet. but will be, as soon as I can get it fully settled-in. I made the oil filter mount, and got that installed. Here are a few updated photos. Thanks for looking! Feel free to comment.

[Straightliner59]

Engine is installed an oiling system is hooked up. I'm currently replacing the nuts and bolts that went missing from the steering box. I don't have photos, yet, nor do I recall if I've mentioned that I shot some primer on the tail...

[Straightliner59]

The cockpit is done. Finished the butterfly, and got it mounted! I'll have to think some, about what's next. It'll likely be the front of the motor. That way, I can get rid of some more of those loose wires (cables) by hooking up the throttle, shutoff and fuel controls. As always, questions, critiques and comments are welcomed. Thanks for looking!

[absmiami]

You’re welcome …

[Ian McLaren]

Daniel,  I'm running out of superlatives  to describe  what you are accomplishing here,.  but I don't think I've used next level yet. Truly a great effort!

[Straightliner59]

18 hours ago, Ian McLaren said:

Daniel,  I'm running out of superlatives  to describe  what you are accomplishing here,.  but I don't think I've used next level yet. Truly a great effort!

Thank you, Ian. I appreciate that, very much! I've been working on the injector and blower the last couple of days. Krylon has a Short Cuts color called Antique Bronze that is excellent for blowers. Not that it's going to matter, too much, given that it will be blanketed. Thanks again or your comments, my friend.

[Straightliner59]

I got the yellow Surfers' tribute scoop painted. Got started on the blower blanket. Added a photoetched starter bracket. Much more to come, here. I broke three attempts at making a new drive for the fuel pump. I'll have to figure out where I am going about it, wrongly, and fix it. I made some castings of Enderle 'K'/barrel valves. I'll be needing one of those. I may just scratchbuild one, if I can't get a satisfactory casting. I've been struggling to get my printer to work. I was hoping to print the test masking templates I made for the body, but, I'll need to figure out what's going on, there, too. Anyway, here are a few update photos. I'm hoping to have the blower and hat done, in the next few days. Comments are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

[cifenet]

Wow...  Things are looking very sophisticated and getting more complex as you reproduce each component here!   I bet the model is also getting heavier, I am thinking you need both arms to handle it.   

 

[Straightliner59]

11 hours ago, cifenet said:

Wow...  Things are looking very sophisticated and getting more complex as you reproduce each component here!   I bet the model is also getting heavier, I am thinking you need both arms to handle it.   

 

Thanks, Steve! The weight is working out, well!! Instead of going to the gym, I just move the dragster around a few times! ?I'm getting ripped! I'm fighting with the fuel pump drive and these barrel valves. I'm starting to think I may just have to scratch a new one, instead of trying to make a 40-year-old mold work!

[Straightliner59]

I've been working on several different things arund the engine. The blower restraint bag is kitchen parchment soaked with diluted tacky glue. It's painted with Krylon Chalky Finish" Anvil Grey. The plate for the restraint straps is from an old photoetch sheet (S&S Specialties?). I like to use wine bottle foil or lead foil to make any kind of straps. I generally leave it untextured for harnesses. Since the blower straps are made of coarser material, I added texture by placing a strip of foil on my anvil, and placing fine-toothed file atop the strip, then striking that several times with a neoprene mallet. That gave me a texture similar to fabric tape, but with the control of lead foil.

I finally succeeded in making a new fuel pump drive. Yay! 

I found some things that weren't making me happy with the valve covers, so I began working on a new set. This set of Donovan covers are a tad too small for the heads I'm using (Mark Brown castings from Miss Deal). I cast a new pair of valve covers (the color is mixed-in metal powders--always experimenting). I was able to place them in the mill vise, and mill them accurately flat. I then filed off the cast-on flanges, and rounded the reliefs for the bolts to the bottom of the cover, with a file. Then I added-back a flange of .010" styrene. I used a short bit of 3/64" tubing to space the drill for the bolt holes, equally in each relief. I held the tubing in place with the tweezers, to drill, but determined it impossible to photograph that operation! Anyway, I just wanted to give an update. As always, questions and comments are welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

[afx]

Impressive level of detail you are putting into this project Daniel, great work.

[Straightliner59]

17 hours ago, afx said:

Impressive level of detail you are putting into this project Daniel, great work.

I appreciate that, JC. Thanks, much!

[Ian McLaren]

Great progress and as always a tip on how to do something a bit better, I love your approach to the valve cover hold down holes and the flange itself. That will definately appear in my future models, using the tube spacer/drilling guide is inspired if not easy to photograph.

[Straightliner59]

On 7/3/2023 at 1:17 AM, Ian McLaren said:

Great progress and as always a tip on how to do something a bit better, I love your approach to the valve cover hold down holes and the flange itself. That will definitely appear in my future models, using the tube spacer/drilling guide is inspired if not easy to photograph.

Thanks, Ian. I'm always glad when I can help out my fellow modelers! I knew I wanted those holes to be uniformly drilled, and figured that was about as good as any way I could think of. It worked out, well.

I spent my day off, today building the valve covers. There are twenty-one pieces in each assembly. I used some tiny Precision Scale hex NBW castings (brushed with Testors Burnt Metal Metalizer) for the breathers and block-offs and Tichy's (shot with Krylon Original Chrome) for the valve covers, themselves. I shot them with a cast aluminum paint I mixed up using Testors Chrome Silver and a light grey enamel I don't recall. I cut it with standard lacquer thinner. Once that had dried, I used a mixture of Vallejo washes to bring out some of the detail  I then used a small section of Pink Eraser dabbed in Testors Metalizer Buffing Aluminum to highlight the ribs, the block-off plates and the nameplate on the cover. The spark plug tubes are 1/16" aluminum tubing.

I haven't been happy with the blower blanket. The paint wasn't sticking to the material, and, I generally just didn't really care for its appearance. I noticed that , recently, the inner wrapper of Pall Mall cigarettes had been changed from the long-used foiled paper to a white paper that is similarly textured. It is also much more flexible and easily workable. Earlier, I shot a section of that paper with the same paint I'd shot on the initial bag. After 30 minutes, or so, I was able to handle it. It was twisted, folded around corners, and fairly tortured. The paint stuck and the paper retained its shape and its integrity. One new blower bag, coming up! 

Anyway, the valve covers are completed and installed! Your questions and comments are always welcomed. Thanks for looking!

[Straightliner59]

Got the new blower bag mostly made, and turned some butterflies for the injector. They'll need some adjustment, and I need to make a cross shaft. Thanks for looking!

[John B.]

Nice work on the injector scoop - if my Porsche's engine comes out a quarter as nice as yours, I'll be happy!

[absmiami]

Great stuff

[Straightliner59]

22 hours ago, John B. said:

Nice work on the injector scoop - if my Porsche's engine comes out a quarter as nice as yours, I'll be happy!

You'll do fine, John. Just make it a point to try something new, or concentrate on making a particular aspect better, that you think needs work on each new project. Wanting to is the biggest part of improving our skills! Thanks for your kind words!

3 hours ago, absmiami said:

Great stuff

Thanks, Andy!