’72 Dodge Demon Drag Racer 1/25 scale

[Ian McLaren]

If it wasn't for the dime in some of the photos, this would simply be an article in Hot Rod Magazine about someone building a real car.  The fidelity to scale is off the charts.  Amazing!

[AmericanMuscleFan]

11 hours ago, Moparman18064 said:

Sweet, loving the leaf springs. You can ship all your extra ones to me😁. Looking fantastic as always!

Thanks Rich!  Unfortunately I don't have any leftovers but they are actually quite easy to make with a good sharp Xacto blade.  It's even easier to do with Styrene but you have to paint them to have the metallic effect.

Francis

1 hour ago, Rigor said:

Looks fantastic Francis need an extra leaf on the right side

Thanks Dwane, I had thought about it but I wanted the car to remain parallel to the ground. 😂

Francis

1 hour ago, absmiami said:

very nice  -  did you cut the alu strips fr sheet stock  ?  -  thats hard work  -  and what is the thickness ?   -  appears 1/32 or thereabouts  -  ...

Thanks Andrew!  Yes, I cut them by hand from a large aluminum sheet.  The stock is 0.016" thick, I wanted to make them thinner using stainless but it's too difficult to work with.  Lots of sanding to make them acceptable and reduce the shine of the material though.

Francis

[AmericanMuscleFan]

1 hour ago, Ian McLaren said:

If it wasn't for the dime in some of the photos, this would simply be an article in Hot Rod Magazine about someone building a real car.  The fidelity to scale is off the charts.  Amazing!

Thanks Ian!  I would like to be able to make certain elements even more to scale but there is a limit to what I can do and what the material can render without distorting.

Francis

[Claude Thibodeau]

Salut Francis!

If only MOPAR at made them this clean back then. Masterfull!

CT

[AmericanMuscleFan]

On 4/3/2024 at 2:04 PM, Claude Thibodeau said:

Salut Francis!

If only MOPAR at made them this clean back then. Masterfull!

CT

Thanks my friend, love makes you blind, maybe that's why I don't see that in reality and why I love these d@mn Mopars so much!

Francis

[AmericanMuscleFan]

Hello everyone,

It's time for another little update after this superb solar eclipse day, an incredible spectacle by the way, we feel very small and vulnerable after that!  The last solar eclipse in my area was in 1972 which oddly coincides with the model year of my current project, I hope it's a good omen! 😁 

OK, enough astrology, I've finished making the wheelie bar brackets, rear shock absorbers and rear brake caliper brackets.  I chose brass for the wheel bar brackets because I want to weld them to the axle which is already made of brass as you can see.

The rear shocks are Styrene and aluminum, the aluminum rod is adjustable in length by simply sliding it in or out of the Styrene cylinder.

The brake caliper brackets are aluminum, the bolt pattern is exactly the same as the housing ends, they will be mounted using small aluminum bolts from RB Motion.

The next step will be to machine the brake calipers, the fit will be very tight but if my calculations are correct, it should work! 🤔

I will come back to you soon with other custom-made parts!

Francis

I have few photos of the machining steps but they are fairly simple parts made in two parts. This is the base where the leaf springs will be bolted to.

The notches I made in the previous photo were made to insert the other piece, they were then resistance welded.

Different view.

A little last one.

Very simple but effective way to make adjustable shock absorbers by drilling a straight hole in a piece of styrene rod. All that remains is to paint them.

Brake caliper brackets in the rotary table, I found the reference on the internet.

I drilled the bolt pattern to match the housing ends, I was careful to note the distances between the holes.

After separating them from the rod and a little sanding.

I now have the pair! 😊

[Moparman18064]

WOWWWWW!🤩

[Musclecarbuilder]

Absolutely stunning! Can I borrow your shrink-ray Francis?😁

[AmericanMuscleFan]

22 hours ago, Moparman18064 said:

WOWWWWW!🤩

Thanks Rich!  When the brake calipers have been made I will start assembling all these parts, I can't wait to work on the front suspension and the steering system.

Francis

6 hours ago, Musclecarbuilder said:

Absolutely stunning! Can I borrow your shrink-ray Francis?😁

Thanks Will, I would be very happy to pass it on to you but I don't know if you have the right kind of electrical outlet to plug it in, it's a very old model! 😂

Francis

[Ian McLaren]

You just keep raising the bar Francis, I love it!

 

[FoMoCo66]

7 hours ago, Musclecarbuilder said:

Absolutely stunning! Can I borrow your shrink-ray Francis?😁

Dang it I was going to say that. Anyway, very impressive Francis this thing really does look like you used a shrink ray. But we all know your just that darn talented!

[Musclecarbuilder]

1 hour ago, FoMoCo66 said:

Dang it I was going to say that. Anyway, very impressive Francis this thing really does look like you used a shrink ray. But we all know your just that darn talented!

Hey great minds think alike, am I right?😁

[Codi]

Hi Francis, well I had a solid 6 pages or so of catching up to do but all of the things you've accomplished we fantastic.  Loving the results AND the methods shared.  Keep em' coming!  cheers, tim

[Mike Williams]

Francis, I'm interested in learning of the milling speeds you apply.  Sure, small holes are fast and without liquid cooling. The larger cuts though, must have some kind of cooling applied, of course considering the size of the cutting bur. Do you draw back without cooling, or dig in with milling oil?  My old days of milling small scale things, were all done very high speed, with lots of oil.

[AmericanMuscleFan]

On 4/9/2024 at 8:48 PM, Ian McLaren said:

You just keep raising the bar Francis, I love it!

Thanks Ian, I really appreciate your support my friend!

On 4/9/2024 at 9:11 PM, FoMoCo66 said:

Dang it I was going to say that. Anyway, very impressive Francis this thing really does look like you used a shrink ray. But we all know your just that darn talented!

Thanks Ace, stubbornness makes you do surprising things, it's within everyone's reach, but you just have to set limits! 😊

On 4/9/2024 at 10:33 PM, Musclecarbuilder said:

Hey great minds think alike, am I right?😁

Thanks Will, more madness to come! 😉

Thanks again guys, Francis

[AmericanMuscleFan]

On 4/10/2024 at 1:27 PM, Codi said:

Hi Francis, well I had a solid 6 pages or so of catching up to do but all of the things you've accomplished we fantastic.  Loving the results AND the methods shared.  Keep em' coming!  cheers, tim

Thank you Tim, on the motivation side I must admit that you put gas in my tank and I am inspired by your work.  You can never have too much motivation and examples to follow when you commit to a very long project and I know you know what I'm talking about!

I would really like to document even more how I make my parts but I'm short on time and the months are flying by! 😢

Francis

[AmericanMuscleFan]

On 4/11/2024 at 6:38 PM, Mike Williams said:

Francis, I'm interested in learning of the milling speeds you apply.  Sure, small holes are fast and without liquid cooling. The larger cuts though, must have some kind of cooling applied, of course considering the size of the cutting bur. Do you draw back without cooling, or dig in with milling oil?  My old days of milling small scale things, were all done very high speed, with lots of oil.

Hello Mike and thanks for your great question!  I don't use any coolant, it's a disaster and I want to keep my work space as clean as possible.  I compensate with more small cuts at high speed and always use 2 flute cutters for aluminum.  I only use very hard T6 type aluminum because soft aluminum cannot be machined, it produces a very ugly finish.  For holes, I almost exclusively use carbide drill bits at the highest possible speed my machine can give me (I think it's about 2800 RPM with standard pulley).  You have to stop often and feel the progress of the drill and back off when there are no more chips coming out of the part, it is no worse than breaking a carbide bit in your part, it is ruined and you have to start again.

I hope I answered your questions well.

Francis

[Mike Williams]

23 hours ago, AmericanMuscleFan said:

Hello Mike and thanks for your great question!  I don't use any coolant, it's a disaster and I want to keep my work space as clean as possible.  I compensate with more small cuts at high speed and always use 2 flute cutters for aluminum.  I only use very hard T6 type aluminum because soft aluminum cannot be machined, it produces a very ugly finish.  For holes, I almost exclusively use carbide drill bits at the highest possible speed my machine can give me (I think it's about 2800 RPM with standard pulley).  You have to stop often and feel the progress of the drill and back off when there are no more chips coming out of the part, it is no worse than breaking a carbide bit in your part, it is ruined and you have to start again.

I hope I answered your questions well.

Francis

Yes, I understand. Many thanks for the insight. Drilling soft metals is a mess. Thank you!

[Randy D]

Well just spectacular Francis!!!!!   Your builds are always one of my favorite stops on this Forum. Always learn something.

Randy

[AmericanMuscleFan]

16 hours ago, Randy D said:

Well just spectacular Francis!!!!!   Your builds are always one of my favorite stops on this Forum. Always learn something.

Randy

Thanks Randy!  I started working on the rear brake calipers. They will be made of brass, this famous material that you use so well.  Your notoriety on this subject is undeniable and you inspire us to use it as much as possible, I find more and more of the advantages thanks to you and the other magicians who inspire me on this forum!

Francis

[Tony Coomer]

Everything is looking great… I make my elliptical springs out of .016” aluminum and the top spring out of .016 brass and solder brass tubing on the ends for the eyelets. I have tried to bend the ends like you have and even after annealing the aluminum I didn’t have the right tool to pull it off. May I ask what tool you are using to make these bends?

[AmericanMuscleFan]

On 4/17/2024 at 9:50 PM, Tony Coomer said:

Everything is looking great… I make my elliptical springs out of .016” aluminum and the top spring out of .016 brass and solder brass tubing on the ends for the eyelets. I have tried to bend the ends like you have and even after annealing the aluminum I didn’t have the right tool to pull it off. May I ask what tool you are using to make these bends?

Hello James Anthony, thank you for your kind comments and question!

I used slices of 0.015" flexible aluminum sheet (K&S) that I purchased several years ago but should be easily found at your local hobby store.  In order to have a nice eyelet, I choose to make these by wrapping the end around a drill bit of the same size as the brass sleeve that I had determined.  This way, the folding or rolling is less aggressive if I can put it that way and the aluminum has no recall so it does not require glue to hold it in place.  I think the result is quite realistic but unfortunately the leaf springs don't have a rebound effect but that wasn't necessarily the goal even if I would have liked that.

Sorry for the delay in responding, I'm working nights this week.

Do not hesitate if you need more info,

Francis

[AmericanMuscleFan]

Hello everyone,

I spent the last few days available for my favorite hobby working on the rear brake calipers.  On my previous builds I usually made them out of aluminum but this time I wanted to make them out of brass.  I find more and more advantages every time I work with brass, the fact that it can be soldered is certainly a plus.  The technique for machining them is not new to me but the shape I decided to make (generic type) is more elegant than my previous ones if I may say so.  I made them to mount on the brackets and the rotor will spin freely inside these as well as passing freely (very close) to the inside of the wheels.  This took a lot of calculations and keeping track of cutting measurements but I think it was worth it.  In the coming days, I will upload the photos of my assembly tests because just for the fabrication of the calipers there are already a lot of pics.  I wish I could have taken even more photos of the process but feel free to ask if you have any specific questions.

See you soon,

Francis

The first part was to determine the maximum external size to free up the inside of the mags and the clearance needed for the wheel hubs.

Then I drilled the holes to match those for the caliper brackets.

Different view, the holes are more visible.

First cuts on the rotary table.

The technique consists of doing the front part and the back at the same time, it requires more precautions but it is faster.

After a few cuts at different positions and angles, all the main parts are made.

Now the brake fluid reservoirs.

I had drilled holes for the brake lines, the bleeders and reservoirs are now welded to the rear part of the caliper, thanks to the brass for this great advantage.

In this photo you can see the exterior and interior.

The three parts are welded together to create the assembled caliper.

View of the top portion of the caliper.

The brass pins are too long, they will be cut to length and aluminum nuts will hold the caliper to its bracket.

 

[Scott8950]

Wow....Francis you never disappoint with your updates it just keeps getting better..

[Moparman18064]

Do you sleep next to that machine Francis? You just keep us all in awe of the product you put into your builds. Are they going to have the Wilwood script on them too? It should be able to stop on that dime!

Edited April 23 by Moparman18064