70s Era Asphalt Modified

[CabDriver]

Mannnn that pulley's huge   Well, that's some AWESOME info for the next one, thank you so much!  And appreciate the offer of help!  I like that manifold too - that would be a cool detail to include in a build.  Thank you again!

Oh, and cool late model!  Looks FUN!  Now the season's getting started I wanna get to the track more regularly...

[dwc43]

Welcome anytime. And thanks, on the late model. It's a handful for sure. You should get to the track more often. Us local racers appreciate more than the NASCAR junkies do. lol 

[Rattlecan Dan]

That Green Machine is looking awfully Sweet! Looking forward to completion.

[horsepower]

On 4/1/2023 at 8:35 PM, CabDriver said:

A couple of years back I built the evergreen MPC Rat Trap Vega, then last year entered it in a local show and it won best oval car:

The prize was…another of the same kit 🤪

And the condition was, build it and bring it back next year and enter again.  Deal! I doubt I’ll get away with another box-stock build with some light detailing though, so for this year’s entry I decided to see how far I could detail up one of these fairly-simple kits and really bring it to life - kinda like those amazing full-detail NASCAR builds done by people I admire like Clay Kemp and the late Dave Thibodeau.

First step in the manual is tires (why do NASCAR guys often start with the tires?!) and I wanted to switch out the treaded kit ones for a set of slicks.  I COULD print some, but the aftermarket has plenty of options so I ordered a set that I suspect are designed specifically for this line of MPC kits.  They slide right on the wheels like a glove!

These are actually injection molded rather than resin, and they come with waterslide tire lettering which is a big bonus in adding some detail.  So, how much detail can we add to a tire,  whilst I pondered that, I spent an hour or so cleaning up the mold lines, rounding off the edges and sanding some flats on the bottom to make them appear as though some weight is squishing them a little.

Kit tire on the left, new replacement tire center, sanded and prepped tire right:

I then shot the tires with a coat of Createx base (which is a translucent clear, almost like a primer) that allows better paint adhesion to tough-to-paint surfaces and tomorrow I can hit them with some airbrushing to add some realism.

Next step: the wheels - what can we do to THOSE to add some detail and realism?  Well, first thing that struck me was the lugnut detail is kinda soft and uninspiring, so I drilled them out…

…and 3D printed a whole bunch of replacements…

…and now I have separate pieces that I can paint more easily and that look a little better I think:

Tomorrow’s job on the wheels will be making some balancing weights and valve stems and playing with those tires some more.

This is gonna be a fairly deep dive into a bunch of probably boring little details (like sanding tires and making lugnuts) so if you’re not into that - apologies for being boring 🤪. 

More soon, soon as I’ve done more!

A lot of us short track racers from that era would take 1/4" or in a rough track area (bigger wheel banging) 3/8" steel rod and place it in place to fill the area inside the bead of the wheel and the actual surface of where the bead started to roll and weld into place completely around the bead of the wheel. This would strengthen the beads on the rims and keep them from being easily deflated and would also stop sharp edges from developing that were extremely hard on competitors tires.

[horsepower]

On 4/16/2023 at 8:13 PM, CabDriver said:

Thank you sir!  I’d like to build the whole set, and then forward date them somewhat too and make something more like they were running in the 80s.  So many projects in my queue (and the more I research ONE project, the more new ideas I get…)

Thank YOU too!

Another update, seeing as I’ve been kinda bad about posting updates…I’m kinda in that ‘primer and paint’ stage where nothing is really getting BUILT right now, but I made SOME progress anyway…

Got the engine components painted in various metal finishes, plus some of the suspension components…

…and then gave all the mechanical bits a blackwash.  I’m going for used-but-not-ruined as my weathering ethos on this…just a nice clean well-maintained car that has maybe just been refreshed a little for a fresh season at the track:

The intake manifold is amongst the more complex parts on the engine in terms of adding detail - drilled out all the molded-in holes and replaced them with 3D printed nuts and bolts:

Those washes really help bring out some detail in these parts, especially coupled with a lighter colored fastener…

I spun up some parts on the lathe and used some aftermarket pulleys to start dressing this thing up…plenty left to do still but I’m kinda building this as I go so I don’t lose any crucial tiny pieces 🤪

Shot the carb too - need to make a plate to mount it to the intake and then figure out all the details THAT will have added to it:

Got the frame in color:

And then hit it with some clear (and got WAY nicer of a finish than I really need…but this too will be getting some light weathering):

I decided that  kit radiator was a good enough starting point for some additional detail, so I added a filler neck, hose in/outs and then shot it all Testor’s enamel black for that glossy-enamel look that radiators seem to always have - I should probably figure out a catch-can for it too, although I’m not sure if those were required by most tracks in the era when this would’ve raced:

And finally, I did a little filler work on the body to get it smooth and hit it with primer…

…and then, having turned it from white to gray I immediately then turned it back to white again as a base for the rest of the paintjob:

MOST of these cars didn’t have super complex paintjobs, but some were nicer than others anyway - I’ll be going for the ‘nicer than others’ option but still shooting for something period correct…

And that’s where I’m at so far…oh, and I still didn’t finish the wheels, but I got them painted and in clear anyway 🤪

Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

Back in that time period all asphalt tracks required an overflow for the radiator and it was a loosely worded and enforced rule with them ranging from a metal tube into one of the front header tubes down enough that it couldn't run back into the exhaust port, the idea of this is the hot water would be basically steam and when it hit the much hotter exhaust it would turn to pure steam that theoretically would evaporate before hitting the track surface, but it had a bad effect at some places with a jumpy flagman who when seeing the big cloud for the first time would jump to the conclusion that it was oil from a damaged piston working its way through the exhaust and onto the track and would throw a yellow flag AND the black flag for the presumably offending car. One of the other favorites was to run the overflow hose into a frame rail and put a drain hole in the lower rear of the same rail that would usually allow any steam or hot water to condense and leak slowly out of the frame not being noticed by other racers, but it had a very dangerous side effect of causing the frame tubing to rust on the inside where it couldn't be seen, I have seen one of these cars literally fold up like an accordion when involved in a front collision with a dirt crash barrier. Another one was to put a gallon can in the interior of the car and put an overflow from it onto the floor of the car so it could be seen by the driver, I've also seen two of these fail, one resulting in some serious injuries the first was a gallon paint thinner can when it was built using the screw on lid and a half inch tube soldered into it as the overflow but with little thought as to any kind of an outlet just drilled an 1/8" hole in the top to allow it to vent, what wasn't considered was what would happen if it were to start really overheating filling the metal container faster than it could vent out that tiny little hole, well when the one gallon can grew to around a two gallon can and then decided to make a better vent by popping the top of the can open it really got the drivers attention, luckily it was on the other side of the car behind the driver when it failed. Unfortunately the other instance wasn't quite as lucky when the crew decided that an anti freeze bottle would make a perfect overflow container and would be easy to pour back into the cooling system if needed. But what nobody again thought about was what would happen to a plastic bottle that was filling with extremely hot water and steam, you guessed it exploded and this time it was just inside the firewall right across from the driver and resulted in serious second degree burns to about 40% of his body from the waist up and he was wearing an open face helmet and received some serious burns to his face also, and even the best firesuit has no protection from a hot fluid burn, in fact it can and will hold the hot water into contact longer with the skin. This happened to a driver who has recently retired but at the time was around 17 years old and I bet if you asked him today that Craig Raudman will still remember that night. 

Also in around 1969 Stock Car Racing Magazine and Dr. Dick Bergman built a project modified using what was considered at the time to be contemporary materials and methods it used a '57 Chevrolet frame from about the firewall back and a late '50 Chrysler product frame using the front suspension and steering complete with the front torsion bars and mounts for the rear with adjusters, it was also built using a Vega body and took a considerable time to get done what with staff changes and budget considerations. 😚

[dwc43]

2 hours ago, horsepower said:

Back in that time period all asphalt tracks required an overflow for the radiator and it was a loosely worded and enforced rule with them ranging from a metal tube into one of the front header tubes down enough that it couldn't run back into the exhaust port, the idea of this is the hot water would be basically steam and when it hit the much hotter exhaust it would turn to pure steam that theoretically would evaporate before hitting the track surface, but it had a bad effect at some places with a jumpy flagman who when seeing the big cloud for the first time would jump to the conclusion that it was oil from a damaged piston working its way through the exhaust and onto the track and would throw a yellow flag AND the black flag for the presumably offending car. One of the other favorites was to run the overflow hose into a frame rail and put a drain hole in the lower rear of the same rail that would usually allow any steam or hot water to condense and leak slowly out of the frame not being noticed by other racers, but it had a very dangerous side effect of causing the frame tubing to rust on the inside where it couldn't be seen, I have seen one of these cars literally fold up like an accordion when involved in a front collision with a dirt crash barrier. Another one was to put a gallon can in the interior of the car and put an overflow from it onto the floor of the car so it could be seen by the driver, I've also seen two of these fail, one resulting in some serious injuries the first was a gallon paint thinner can when it was built using the screw on lid and a half inch tube soldered into it as the overflow but with little thought as to any kind of an outlet just drilled an 1/8" hole in the top to allow it to vent, what wasn't considered was what would happen if it were to start really overheating filling the metal container faster than it could vent out that tiny little hole, well when the one gallon can grew to around a two gallon can and then decided to make a better vent by popping the top of the can open it really got the drivers attention, luckily it was on the other side of the car behind the driver when it failed. Unfortunately the other instance wasn't quite as lucky when the crew decided that an anti freeze bottle would make a perfect overflow container and would be easy to pour back into the cooling system if needed. But what nobody again thought about was what would happen to a plastic bottle that was filling with extremely hot water and steam, you guessed it exploded and this time it was just inside the firewall right across from the driver and resulted in serious second degree burns to about 40% of his body from the waist up and he was wearing an open face helmet and received some serious burns to his face also, and even the best firesuit has no protection from a hot fluid burn, in fact it can and will hold the hot water into contact longer with the skin. This happened to a driver who has recently retired but at the time was around 17 years old and I bet if you asked him today that Craig Raudman will still remember that night. 

Also in around 1969 Stock Car Racing Magazine and Dr. Dick Bergman built a project modified using what was considered at the time to be contemporary materials and methods it used a '57 Chevrolet frame from about the firewall back and a late '50 Chrysler product frame using the front suspension and steering complete with the front torsion bars and mounts for the rear with adjusters, it was also built using a Vega body and took a considerable time to get done what with staff changes and budget considerations. 😚

Most likely cracked heads or blown head gaskets caused those tanks to explode, but either way, I agree with you. We ran overflows by the right side windshield posts so we could see them. Of course, we run auto meter gauges and dummy lights to get your attention. And I can vouch for your driver suit theory too. It was not water but a blown engine jsut past the flag stand that got me one night. It was hot engine oil, not oil that got me. When it hits that suit, it sticks, and it burns till you can get it off or it cools down. I can't see how water would be any different.

[Bainford]

Looking good, Jim. Classic short-track vibe coming on strong.

[CabDriver]

18 hours ago, horsepower said:

A lot of us short track racers from that era would take 1/4" or in a rough track area (bigger wheel banging) 3/8" steel rod and place it in place to fill the area inside the bead of the wheel and the actual surface of where the bead started to roll and weld into place completely around the bead of the wheel. This would strengthen the beads on the rims and keep them from being easily deflated and would also stop sharp edges from developing that were extremely hard on competitors tires.

That’s really interesting - great info, thank you!  I’ll be using that on a future build!!  I love all these little tips and details that I’m learning on this one!!  
 

17 hours ago, horsepower said:

Back in that time period all asphalt tracks required an overflow for the radiator and it was a loosely worded and enforced rule with them ranging from a metal tube into one of the front header tubes down enough that it couldn't run back into the exhaust port, the idea of this is the hot water would be basically steam and when it hit the much hotter exhaust it would turn to pure steam that theoretically would evaporate before hitting the track surface, but it had a bad effect at some places with a jumpy flagman who when seeing the big cloud for the first time would jump to the conclusion that it was oil from a damaged piston working its way through the exhaust and onto the track and would throw a yellow flag AND the black flag for the presumably offending car. One of the other favorites was to run the overflow hose into a frame rail and put a drain hole in the lower rear of the same rail that would usually allow any steam or hot water to condense and leak slowly out of the frame not being noticed by other racers, but it had a very dangerous side effect of causing the frame tubing to rust on the inside where it couldn't be seen, I have seen one of these cars literally fold up like an accordion when involved in a front collision with a dirt crash barrier. Another one was to put a gallon can in the interior of the car and put an overflow from it onto the floor of the car so it could be seen by the driver, I've also seen two of these fail, one resulting in some serious injuries the first was a gallon paint thinner can when it was built using the screw on lid and a half inch tube soldered into it as the overflow but with little thought as to any kind of an outlet just drilled an 1/8" hole in the top to allow it to vent, what wasn't considered was what would happen if it were to start really overheating filling the metal container faster than it could vent out that tiny little hole, well when the one gallon can grew to around a two gallon can and then decided to make a better vent by popping the top of the can open it really got the drivers attention, luckily it was on the other side of the car behind the driver when it failed. Unfortunately the other instance wasn't quite as lucky when the crew decided that an anti freeze bottle would make a perfect overflow container and would be easy to pour back into the cooling system if needed. But what nobody again thought about was what would happen to a plastic bottle that was filling with extremely hot water and steam, you guessed it exploded and this time it was just inside the firewall right across from the driver and resulted in serious second degree burns to about 40% of his body from the waist up and he was wearing an open face helmet and received some serious burns to his face also, and even the best firesuit has no protection from a hot fluid burn, in fact it can and will hold the hot water into contact longer with the skin. This happened to a driver who has recently retired but at the time was around 17 years old and I bet if you asked him today that Craig Raudman will still remember that night. 

Also in around 1969 Stock Car Racing Magazine and Dr. Dick Bergman built a project modified using what was considered at the time to be contemporary materials and methods it used a '57 Chevrolet frame from about the firewall back and a late '50 Chrysler product frame using the front suspension and steering complete with the front torsion bars and mounts for the rear with adjusters, it was also built using a Vega body and took a considerable time to get done what with staff changes and budget considerations. 😚

This is awesome info too - thank you for taking the time to share it!!!  I was wondering what to do for a catch can - I was thinking of a little one in behind the radiator just between the inside of the frame and the engine maybe - but all those other solutions you mentioned got me thinking….

Sounds like I need to find those magazines too - they'd be invaluable reference material for future builds…

 

Thanks for the nice comments and info everyone - I’ve been learning a lot on this one!

Tonight's mini-update, seeing as I’m replying anyway…started detailing up the radiator with this nice photo etch mesh…I’m securing it with a little Future which seems to work fine and not ruin the look:

And I made the front shocks and got those installed…printed the tops, the shaft is a silver pin, the shock body is brass tube painted and lightly weathered and I wound some springs out of jewelry wire.  The outside spring (not that you can see it here) is wound tighter than the inside one, given these cars always lean the one way…

SO MUCH left to do on this one still, but every part I add makes me glad I’m adding all this detail…I love how it looks so far!

Thanks for looking - more soon!

[Rattlecan Dan]

Looks gorgeous already. The washes and details are adding up to the realism of it. You are doing an outstanding job.

[Straightliner59]

Here's the overflow can I made for my Supermodified.

[horsepower]

On our Pro4 mini stock we never seemed to have an overheating problem except a couple of times when we really had it sealed off for qualifying and they took six or eight cars at a time to the center of the figure eight track (Saugus Speedway in Southern California) and it was our first time there and the driver forgot about it being all taped up and sat there letting it idle and by the time he qualified (4th) and rolled back into the pits it was up to around 230° it hadn't over filled our recovery container that I had built with a 18" piece of 2" plated brass sink drain tube with a tight fitting freeze plug that was also brass soldered to the bottom to seal it off and a top for a radiator that we could put a twist on cap on and a fitting from that for the overflow if it ever got totally full enough so the water could be plumbed to the bottom of the windshield so the driver and crew would see it was pumping water out of the overflow, but we had a feed tube that came from the radiator overflow and into the tank and went all the way to 1/4" from the bottom so that it could still let the radiator overflow but it went into the tank and then when it cooled down the radiator would form a vacuum and pull water back from the overflow/recovery tank and into the radiator refilling it to its cool level. When qualifying had finished and he made it back to the pits you could hear water going into the overflow tank and it was boiling in there like a witches cauldron but hadn't started to push any water out so I untaped the grille and sprayed cool water onto the radiator cooling fins and when it stopped boiling let it sit and by the time the dash lined up the temperature was back to just below 180° perfect and we did win the dash and finished 4th in the A surprising a few of the other teams because we had never seen the track before and the water never exceeded 200° the rest of the night and my Mickey Mouse recovery tank was still on the car when it was sold years later.

[CabDriver]

On 4/25/2023 at 10:31 PM, Rattlecan Dan said:

Looks gorgeous already. The washes and details are adding up to the realism of it. You are doing an outstanding job.

Thank you!

On 4/26/2023 at 1:31 AM, Straightliner59 said:

Here's the overflow can I made for my Supermodified.

Beautiful work!  Thank you for sharing!

On 4/26/2023 at 5:17 AM, horsepower said:

On our Pro4 mini stock we never seemed to have an overheating problem except a couple of times when we really had it sealed off for qualifying and they took six or eight cars at a time to the center of the figure eight track (Saugus Speedway in Southern California) and it was our first time there and the driver forgot about it being all taped up and sat there letting it idle and by the time he qualified (4th) and rolled back into the pits it was up to around 230° it hadn't over filled our recovery container that I had built with a 18" piece of 2" plated brass sink drain tube with a tight fitting freeze plug that was also brass soldered to the bottom to seal it off and a top for a radiator that we could put a twist on cap on and a fitting from that for the overflow if it ever got totally full enough so the water could be plumbed to the bottom of the windshield so the driver and crew would see it was pumping water out of the overflow, but we had a feed tube that came from the radiator overflow and into the tank and went all the way to 1/4" from the bottom so that it could still let the radiator overflow but it went into the tank and then when it cooled down the radiator would form a vacuum and pull water back from the overflow/recovery tank and into the radiator refilling it to its cool level. When qualifying had finished and he made it back to the pits you could hear water going into the overflow tank and it was boiling in there like a witches cauldron but hadn't started to push any water out so I untaped the grille and sprayed cool water onto the radiator cooling fins and when it stopped boiling let it sit and by the time the dash lined up the temperature was back to just below 180° perfect and we did win the dash and finished 4th in the A surprising a few of the other teams because we had never seen the track before and the water never exceeded 200° the rest of the night and my Mickey Mouse recovery tank was still on the car when it was sold years later.

I love all these oval racing stories!  Thank you for sharing!!!

 

A few random little updates…

Cleaned up the rollcage ready for assembly.  I was all set to remake it from styrene rod rather than clean up all those awkward lines, then decided it would be character building to do it the harder way…

Using the floorpan as a jig is a good idea when assembling these, and drilling out the mounting holes so it fits together nice.  Still in progress here, but close to being done:

I’ve been wanting to practice polishing out acrylic clear, and figured this would be a good one to try it on, plus I wanted to try the new Createx Super Gloss, which they compare to an acrylic version of a 2k clear.  It has pretty particular recommendations for achieving the effect, but seeing as this one doesn’t NEED to be super glossy it won’t be the worst thing if my practice doesn’t work out.  

It did indeed lay down pretty shiny right out of the airbrush:

They recommend three coats, 15 mins apart, and it worked pretty well - it leveled out that lumpiness in the pic above nicely by the time it had sat overnight:

I’m provisionally impressed - we’ll see how it buffs up though after it’s sat for a couple of days…

Next job, remove the molded-in seatbelts from the kit seat so I can add my own later.  An original part sitting to the right, for comparison:

Shot some primer on that today and used a little filler and it looks surprisingly good considering all the grinding I did on it 🤪

Made an aluminum trunk floor, which the fuel tank will mount underneath:

And got the rear axle installed, as you can see and started adding some detail there too (but plenty left to add still…)

Next jobs will be that catchcan we were discussing above, plumbing and installing brakes and I’ve got some more painting to do on the body once I’ve got it polished out.  Oh, and start painting some interior stuff.  Plenty to do still!

Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

[Straightliner59]

Your finishes on the engine and chassis are (insert stereotypical French chef fingertip kiss, here)! Love them!

[CabDriver]

20 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

Your finishes on the engine and chassis are (insert stereotypical French chef fingertip kiss, here)! Love them!

I’ve always struggled with getting realistic metal finishes, and still do…but I’m starting to figure out some tricks.  Thank you!!

Some more progress today.  Took a shot at polishing out that Createx acrylic clear, and it was OKKKKKK, kinda, but not mindblowing.  Luckily, I have more stages of paint to go anyway, so no harm no foul.  I found some cool pics when I was researching this build of 70s late models with some cool chrome vinyl (I think?) and holographic vinyl numbers so I’m stealing that idea for this one too.  

Designed and cut out some numbers:

To make them actually look thought-out and finished though, I’ll be laying down a painted black shadow behind them, so that was the next job…

Now, I won’t get to see the finished effect until right at the end of the paint process because clearing over that vinyl somewhat ruins the effect of it, so I’ll need to be patient…

Meantime, added some decals, and the state identifiers on the side with some old (possibly era correct) Letraset dry transfers:

Letraset has a very thin clear backer that shows up at this stage, but it disappears with just a mist of clear over top so don’t be alarmed if you ever use this stuff…

Meanwhile, shot some paint on the rear brake drums and attached the front disks and calipers to each other, and made a start on some brake lines:

And that’s about the progress for today.  These cars didn’t typically run a bunch of sponsor decals - compare a 70s era car…

…to the busier look of typical 80s Modified…

…and you’ll see that these earlier cars were relatively light on sponsors and decals, but I do have one more thing I wanna get painting on there before laying down some clear…more on that tomorrow, hopefully!

Thanks for looking, more soon!

[Straightliner59]

5 hours ago, CabDriver said:

These cars didn’t typically run a bunch of sponsor decals - compare a 70s era car…

These are good projects to design local sponsorship art for. I always have a blast, doing that! I'm looking forward to seeing the finished numbers, too. 

Edited May 1, 2023 by Straightliner59

[CabDriver]

On 5/1/2023 at 3:32 AM, Straightliner59 said:

These are good projects to design local sponsorship art for. I always have a blast, doing that! I'm looking forward to seeing the finished numbers, too. 

Agreed!  It’s fun figuring out who a good sponsor would be, then working out the logos and seeing it all come to life!

Speaking of logos…the logo I wanted wasn’t available as a digital file, so I made that this week and soon as I got a chance cut some masks…

Shot some Tamiya matte white, my current favorite opaque white paint…

Then some red (yes, I use Post It’s for masking sometimes 🤪)

And that’s the last piece of the paintwork puzzle on this one…

My other project this week has been the headers - the kit pieces aren’t the best and I wanted actual hollow exhausts, so I sliced up the kit parts and added some pins so I could securely mount the tubes and not worry about them snapping off at some point:

Used some thin copper to finish up the collectors:

And shot them with some Vallejo metal finishes and a couple of different color washes:

Also made a start on painting the floor too, whilst I had the metalizers in the airbrush:

Will add some dry-brushing to that floor to add some realism and pick out the rivet detail before I start adding all the other stuff…seat, battery, fire extinguiser, roll cage etc etc etc.

Slow progress, but I’m having a busy week and grabbing a little bench time when I can here…more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

[Straightliner59]

7 hours ago, CabDriver said:

Then some red (yes, I use Post It’s for masking sometimes

I have done that thing, too!😁 Lenny's must be up around Oswego, somewhere--racers gotta' eat!

[Bainford]

This coming along great. You’re nailing the look. Impressive work on the rear deck lettering. 

[oldnslow]

Your build has inspired me to finish one I started years ago , while cleaning up the parts for the chassis , modifying the sway bar ( love the piece you added )  I noticed no provision for a steering box or idler arm . Are you adding these parts ?

[CabDriver]

On 5/4/2023 at 5:16 AM, Straightliner59 said:

I have done that thing, too!😁 Lenny's must be up around Oswego, somewhere--racers gotta' eat!

Much more southern NY than that…but definitely a semi-famous spot in the 70s thanks to a certain movie:

Saturday Night Fever was filmed in ‘my’ neighborhood in Brooklyn and I frequented it pretty regularly until we moved out of the city.  It just closed this year, so this is a little tribute to a spot that I’ll miss…

On 5/5/2023 at 3:59 PM, Bainford said:

This coming along great. You’re nailing the look. Impressive work on the rear deck lettering. 

Thank you!

14 hours ago, oldnslow said:

Your build has inspired me to finish one I started years ago , while cleaning up the parts for the chassis , modifying the sway bar ( love the piece you added )  I noticed no provision for a steering box or idler arm . Are you adding these parts ?

Awesome!  It’s a fun kit - get to it!  I added a steering box from a Revell Deuce - not sure how accurate it would be to the 1:1 but it’s in there anyway - I’ll take some better pics when I get the steering shaft made and installed properly…

A little more progress today…got the body ‘polished out’…actually I flattened the orange peel and got it relatively smooth and uniformly kinda-glossy by doing a partial polish but not all the way to show-car.  I don’t want it looking syruppy, but I didn’t want lumpy paint either…

Then, with that done, finally time to add the holographic numbers I’d been excited about:

Next up, finished up the brakes finally and got them properly mounted to my satisfaction.  The disks were shot with SMS chrome, got a black wash and then some thinned Vallejo rust around the edges:

Made a little rock-shield (I guess?) to mirror one I saw on some 1:1s in reference pics.  Not sure how much it would protect the radiator, but maybe it’s a simple air flow thing or something?  

And as you can see in the pics above I’ve been detailing the radiator some today.  Made a radiator cap, mounting brackets and installed the hood pin posts:

There’s an aluminum catch-can on the other side that I forgot to photograph and I made a start on the hoses…need to finish the driveshaft so I can get the engine in place before I can get the hoses installed before I can glue the radiator in 🤪

Quick motivational mock-up…it’s starting to look like a thing!

Still a bunch of work to do, but I like how it looks so far!  More soon, soon as I’ve done more!

[Rattlecan Dan]

Coming along Marvelously. I like your supports idea. I've been propping up with styrofoam,(not so good sometimes).Thanks for the tip and post.

[Straightliner59]

2 hours ago, CabDriver said:

Much more southern NY than that…but definitely a semi-famous spot in the 70s thanks to a certain movie:

Ah! I never made the connection. Duh...🙄 It's looking fantastic!

Edited May 7, 2023 by Straightliner59

[stinkybritches]

Looking really really good, Jim. Top notch work as usual.

[dwc43]

Looking good. Like the reflective numbers. Most places wont let you run those now. At least where I live. Blinds the drivers and the people in the stands and lots of times it's hard for the score keepers to read the numbers with the lights reflecting off of them. I still think they look good though, even on the real thing.

Edited May 15, 2023 by dwc43

[CabDriver]

On 5/6/2023 at 10:54 PM, Rattlecan Dan said:

Coming along Marvelously. I like your supports idea. I've been propping up with styrofoam,(not so good sometimes).Thanks for the tip and post.

Thank you!  And yeah, I’d been meaning to design and print some little stands like this, then decided I ought to be a ‘real’ modeller and just build some 🤪

On 5/7/2023 at 12:57 AM, Straightliner59 said:

Ah! I never made the connection. Duh...🙄 It's looking fantastic!

Thank you!!!  Always appreciate your work too!

On 5/7/2023 at 8:04 AM, stinkybritches said:

Looking really really good, Jim. Top notch work as usual.

Thank you!!

On 5/8/2023 at 7:52 AM, dwc43 said:

Looking good. Like the reflective numbers. Most places wont let you run those now. At least where I live. Blinds the drivers and the people in the stands and lots of times it's hard for the score keepers to read the numbers with the lights reflecting off of them. I still they look good though, even on the real thing.

Interesting - but it figures.  I would think a lot of places would have a transponder system but I’m sure plenty don’t.  Figures they’d want the numbers as clear as possible 

Some more progress this weekend…

Got the gas tank mounted - made some safety straps and added some fuel line and a couple of little details:

Still needs to be subtly weathered with a little dust and dirt…

I still wasn’t totally happy with the seat I’d been messing with, so I printed a Recaro for it, along with a battery…plus an era-correct helmet:

Shot the helmet (and steering wheel) with a little flake green, for my own amusement…

Got the roll-cage padding in place - used some 1/8” heatshrink and as low of a heat as I could blast it with so I didn’t warp anything:

Got the driveshaft painted - a lot of tracks stipulate it has to be white so it got a white center section, and with that done I could finally get the engine in place for good (and, in turn, with that done I could finally get the radiator in place and the hoses run):

Whilst the glue was drying on the wheels, I decalled that little helmet from before:

And it’s starting to look like a thing!

Next project, aside from a bunch of little bits on the interior and some chassis stuff I didn’t get to get, is that I wanted to make a base for it.  I’ve got a bunch of little wooden bases that it’ll JUST fit on nicely:

So I got out in the yard today and finally used some of that Rustoleum that some people rave about for something modelling related:

I’m not trying to make a full diorama scene, but it’ll have a little piece of asphalt underneath and some concrete barriers to add a little interest.

Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!