1969 Nova F/SA NHRA Stock Eliminator

[R. Thorne]

On 7/6/2023 at 5:10 AM, dragcarz said:

So true, I I’m surprised as to what is allowed in Stock Class racing, back in the day stock meant  stock.

 

On 7/6/2023 at 7:51 PM, Nitrobarry said:

I like it so far. Good to see someone taking extra care in replicating a contemporary Stock Eliminator car. I`ve noticed a fare number of rule changes that do make sense to me, (non stock racing seats, electric water pumps, wheelie bars, etc). Amazing how many people don`t understand class racing as they think it`s just bracket racing. Stock Eliminator has always been my favorite category! Keep up the good work. I look forward to seeing the finished car.

 

On 7/17/2023 at 7:12 AM, dragcarz said:

I’m liking the Cal-Track bars, good job on those!

Thanks, gentlemen.  You help to keep me motivated to finish this one.  I, however, have no excuse for this last delay.  Anyway, I got the rear end drilled out for a metal axle, shortened .200” on each side, in order to use the rear wheels (thanks again, Roger).  I then decided to use plastic rod instead (easier to cut).  That’s it for today.

[Straightliner59]

Aluminum tubing also works well for axle shafts. It's coming along very nicely, Ron! I second Roger's sentiment on the CalTracs. 

Edited July 21, 2023 by Straightliner59

[R. Thorne]

18 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

Aluminum tubing also works well for axle shafts. It's coming along very nicely, Ron! I second Roger's sentiment on the CalTracs. 

Thanks much, Daniel.  Trial fit for width of axle with slicks.  Looks close.

[R. Thorne]

Glued the rear axle back together, hopefully properly aligned.  Touched up the outer rim of the wheels with some GreenStuff and a micro brush.  Put some 1/32” rod in the springs.  The reason the springs look so rough is they are not the smoothest castings you can get from Shapeways.  

[TransAmMike]

The GSW chrome looks good. I have some and tried it. Put one pretty heavy first coat and it looked great. Then a few minutes later sprayed another coat and it wasn't as shiny. What was your process? 

[R. Thorne]

Sorry for the delay.  The GSW was only put on the outer edge of the wheels (thanks again, Roger) and applied with the microbrush as shown.  I tried to airbrush the GSW when I first got it a couple years ago with less than stellar results with the air brush version (there are plain and air brush types available).  The “plain” version I like a lot for touch ups and interior work applied with tooth pick, micro brushes, and just got some mascara throw away type really small pointed brushes that work pretty good.  I tried to show the difference between the plain(on the lower right of the roll bat) and airbrush version on the left.  If you look at the top of the bottle(s) , you can make out the superior chrome look on the “plain “ version.

On 7/27/2023 at 10:49 AM, TransAmMike said:

The GSW chrome looks good. I have some and tried it. Put one pretty heavy first coat and it looked great. Then a few minutes later sprayed another coat and it wasn't as shiny. What was your process? 

 

[TransAmMike]

9 minutes ago, R. Thorne said:

Sorry for the delay.  The GSW was only put on the outer edge of the wheels (thanks again, Roger) and applied with the microbrush as shown.  I tried to airbrush the GSW when I first got it a couple years ago with less than stellar results with the air brush version (there are plain and air brush types available).  The “plain” version I like a lot for touch ups and interior work applied with tooth pick, micro brushes, and just got some mascara throw away type really small pointed brushes that work pretty good.  I tried to show the difference between the plain(on the lower right of the roll bat) and airbrush version on the left.  If you look at the top of the bottle(s) , you can make out the superior chrome look on the “plain “ version.

 

I have only tried the airbrush version. Looks to me like the brushable version is a little darker.  Thanks for the reply.

[R. Thorne]

After some “slump” time, I am back at it.  After shortening the rear axle (actually, a no-n in 1:1 cars) , I realized (duh!) that the spring mounts were too far inboard now.  I still can’t believe I pulled such a dumb move.  The reason behind shortening the axle was the wheels stuck outboard too far.  Well, I have since fixed this issue (hopefully) by drilling out the wheels to remove the hub caps that came on these wheels.  Anyway, I have made new spring mounts, made a jig for gluing, drilled out the inner wheel hubs I scrounged up so they will slip over the rear wheels, and set her aside to dry.  

[R. Thorne]

A little trial fitting and super glued the rear in.  Hoping for the best, but moving on, anyway.

[dragcarz]

Looking good Ron, your getting close!

[R. Thorne]

On 8/5/2023 at 10:26 PM, dragcarz said:

Looking good Ron, your getting close!

Thanks, Roger.  Some small progress.  Worked on the roll bar that came in the kit, changed the diagonal.  Scrounged up 2 racing seats from NASCAR kits, modified them to more closely resemble Mike’s Kirkey seats.  Cut some forward bars up to fit, held the side panels on with tape.

[dragcarz]

Does Mike know your building this?

[R. Thorne]

16 hours ago, dragcarz said:

Does Mike know your building this?

Difficult to answer.  He may have some idea that it may be in the works, but I don’t think he knows for sure.  I am hoping to surprise him.

[dragcarz]

I haven’t said anything about it to him.

[R. Thorne]

18 hours ago, dragcarz said:

I haven’t said anything about it to him.

Thanks, Roger.

[Brockc]

This is an extremely tasteful build keep up the good work

[Rattlecan Dan]

Whew! That's a lot of nice work. You're doing an outstanding job.

[R. Thorne]

17 hours ago, Brockc said:

This is an extremely tasteful build keep up the good work

 

11 minutes ago, Rattlecan Dan said:

Whew! That's a lot of nice work. You're doing an outstanding job.

You are too kind, gentlemen, but I thank you.  Some small progress on the roll cage.  One of the joys of modeling is you learn something every time you try a different approach or try to stretch your skills.  This is my first roll cage.  In this case, I learned it would have probably been easier to build the cage from scratch instead of using the bar from the kit, some tubing from a nascar kit, and some 1/16 Evergreen rod.  Anyway, my ceramic bladed knife (much safer, no cuts) helped remove the seam line from the NASCAR tubing.   Side bars are fitted, glued only at the bar.  The top bar was hand bent and glued on with ModelMaster cement (after letting it set a few minutes and get tacky).  I actually liked working with it better than the medium super glue I had used previously on the cage.  Going to let it dry overnight and see how it fits inside the body.  Looks like it might be slanting down hill a bit and have to be adjusted.

[Straightliner59]

Nice job, especially given it's your first! Keep it up, Ron!

[R. Thorne]

12 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

Nice job, especially given it's your first! Keep it up, Ron!

Thanks, Daniel.  Trial fit, without windows, may raise the front bar up some.

[Straightliner59]

9 minutes ago, R. Thorne said:

may raise the front bar up some.

That looks like a good idea.

[ybsluos]

I really like this Ron.  (Pls see my Avatar!) You do really clean work.  Model on brother!

[Tortuga Kustomz]

awesome work my friend

[Zippi]

This is a really good looking build.  Nice work.

[R. Thorne]

On 8/14/2023 at 4:06 PM, Straightliner59 said:

That looks like a good idea.

 

On 8/17/2023 at 1:12 AM, ybsluos said:

I really like this Ron.  (Pls see my Avatar!) You do really clean work.  Model on brother!

 

On 8/20/2023 at 3:59 AM, Tortuga Kustomz said:

awesome work my friend

 

On 8/21/2023 at 7:28 AM, Zippi said:

This is a really good looking build.  Nice work.

Thank you, gentlemen, you are way too kind.  Took some time off the Nova to experiment with some new mig slower drying cements and also my first 1/35 model kit out of the box (with some Tamiya rubber black for the tires).  I also tried some different sprue nippers, but went back to my 3 peaks that leave very little, if any, nibs which is even more noticeable on 1/35 scale.  This was a tribute to the Jeep I drove for about 6 months in 1970 at Ft. Carson, Colorado.  I was in he 148th MP Co. and drove the company commander to different venues.  Anyway, I am now back at the Nova.