Billy the Kid Demon Pro Stock

[ybsluos]

Absolutely fantastic work Roger!  Always loved Billy’s cars.  It may have already been mentioned in this thread (haven’t read all the comments) he was from Dayton Ohio….only about 90 minutes from my neighborhood.  

[dragcarz]

15 hours ago, ybsluos said:

Absolutely fantastic work Roger!  Always loved Billy’s cars.  It may have already been mentioned in this thread (haven’t read all the comments) he was from Dayton Ohio….only about 90 minutes from my neighborhood.  

Thanks Mark, I read that, he was supposed to be a bit of a gangster also.

[bluestringer]

Great work on this. Looking forward to seeing the finished model.

[dragcarz]

On 12/3/2023 at 11:24 AM, bluestringer said:

Great work on this. Looking forward to seeing the finished model.

So am I, James! 

[dragcarz]

I’ve moved my second daughter back to Georgia, I kinda miss them….but, I moved my model bench into her old room and now I can model in the warmth of my home during the long Indiana winters?

Small update, I filled the gaps in the front and rear subframes, with Evergreen plastic strips, the front because it shows and the rear for the  integrity of the build. The rear still needs to be narrowed for slick clearance. I removed the accessories from the firewall. When I mock it up, it appears to have gaps between the windshield and dash, and the firewall and the cowl. I’ll address this after I get the chassis in one piece again.

[Zippi]

Making some great progress there Buddy.  With that newly acquired model room you'll have this one done in no time 

[dragcarz]

 

3 minutes ago, Zippi said:

Making some great progress there Buddy.  With that newly acquired model room you'll have this one done in no time 

LOL, I don’t hardly know what to do with myself!

[Zippi]

44 minutes ago, dragcarz said:

 

LOL, I don’t hardly know what to do with myself!

???

[dwc43]

15 hours ago, dragcarz said:

I’ve moved my second daughter back to Georgia, I kinda miss them….but, I moved my model bench into her old room and now I can model in the warmth of my home during the long Indiana winters?

Small update, I filled the gaps in the front and rear subframes, with Evergreen plastic strips, the front because it shows and the rear for the  integrity of the build. The rear still needs to be narrowed for slick clearance. I removed the accessories from the firewall. When I mock it up, it appears to have gaps between the windshield and dash, and the firewall and the cowl. I’ll address this after I get the chassis in one piece again.

On the factory frames, the front does have a wide depression where you filled that in, it's just not as deep as it is on that frame rail. But the rear frame rails are 100% correct. They are U shaped and just as deep in the inside as they are tall. The only thing that covers them is the trunk floor pan. If you removed the floor pan, by drilling out the welds, you would see that open channel. Not sure if they covered it on the car you are building though. You can remove the two lines on each side of the firewall too if you're not using the fender wells. 

[dragcarz]

Thanks DW, the rear rails were filled to increase the gluing surface, and strengthen the chassis. I have no reference on the chassis of the real Demon, so it’s getting my best guess for what was under the real car. There were so many thoughts on early Pro Stock cars as a lot of them were home built, or by local chassis builders. I almost scratch built the rear rails, and may still do so if my original idea doesn’t work. 

[Ulf]

Fantastic work, these Pro Stock cars are car design in its purest stripped down form without windscreen wipers, ventilation grilles and side mirrors. I will follow this project to learn.

[dwc43]

13 hours ago, dragcarz said:

Thanks DW, the rear rails were filled to increase the gluing surface, and strengthen the chassis. I have no reference on the chassis of the real Demon, so it’s getting my best guess for what was under the real car. There were so many thoughts on early Pro Stock cars as a lot of them were home built, or by local chassis builders. I almost scratch built the rear rails, and may still do so if my original idea doesn’t work. 

Anytime. I can understand wanting to stiffen up your build. I cut two frames to make it longer and did the same thing you did, but it was hidden by the floor pan. Yeah, not a lot of good reference pics of the cars from that era too. I would imagine they left the trunk floor pan in them since they needed some weight back there, but who knows. It's looking good though. My Mom had a 71 Dodge Demon in Plumb Crazy Purple. Only new car she ever owned. Miss that car. 

[David G.]

Quite the ambitious project! 

You're doing an excellent job with the body mods. And what I see of the chassis work you're doing looks great too.

I can't wait to see more.

David G.

[catpack68]

Loving the mods you are doing on it?As a fan of 70s Pro Stock cars, I will be following this thread closely as I plan on doing the same car in the future.

Edited December 13, 2023 by catpack68

[dragcarz]

On 12/13/2023 at 3:54 AM, Ulf said:

Fantastic work, these Pro Stock cars are car design in its purest stripped down form without windscreen wipers, ventilation grilles and side mirrors. I will follow this project to learn.

Thank you Ulf, I really appreciate the early Pro Stocks, and the individuality of the builders, no cookie cutter cars like today. 

[dragcarz]

On 12/13/2023 at 7:07 AM, dwc43 said:

Anytime. I can understand wanting to stiffen up your build. I cut two frames to make it longer and did the same thing you did, but it was hidden by the floor pan. Yeah, not a lot of good reference pics of the cars from that era too. I would imagine they left the trunk floor pan in them since they needed some weight back there, but who knows. It's looking good though. My Mom had a 71 Dodge Demon in Plumb Crazy Purple. Only new car she ever owned. Miss that car. 

I have NHRA rule books from 70 through 84, and reference them frequently, it’s amazing to read the changes from year to year. In 72 the rear floor pan could be replaced but had to be .028 steel. 
I would miss that Demon too, I wish I had my 67 Barracuda still also. 

[dragcarz]

On 12/13/2023 at 7:24 AM, David G. said:

Quite the ambitious project! 

You're doing an excellent job with the body mods. And what I see of the chassis work you're doing looks great too.

I can't wait to see more.

David G.

Thanks David, I appreciate your comments. I usually start to question why I’m doing this about half way in. 

[dragcarz]

On 12/13/2023 at 8:02 AM, catpack68 said:

Loving the mods you are doing on it?As a fan of 70s Pro Stock cars, I will be following this thread closely as I plan on doing the same car in the future.

Hey Scott, thanks, hopefully I can do it justice! 

[Nitro330]

Making some good progress Roger! 

[dragcarz]

11 hours ago, Nitro330 said:

Making some good progress Roger! 

Thanks Terry, one of the perks of being unemployed!

[dragcarz]

OK this is a long shot, but there’s very little reference material on the construction of this car, I don’t know what rear suspension was under the car, coil overs, or leaf springs. Car Craft magazine article on Sox and Martins 72 Duster shows leaf springs, the Sox and Martin built Herb McCandlees Demon shows Coil overs, but it’s a restored car, and may not be the original rendition of the 72 car. the Mopar Missle 72 Duster was also coil overs. Does anyone have any info that might help? The front suspension had to remain Stock to the vehicle, but the torsion bars were swapped for coil overs between the stock control arms, and Pinto Rack and pinion steering added.

[Straightliner59]

I have Hot Rod Yearbook #11. It has an article in it called "Pro Stocker Parade", it shows all of the following Mopars with leaf springs: Vanke Duster, Lambeck Dart, Leal Duster, John Petrie 'Cuda, Motown Missile Challenger. They seem to be more common than the coil overs. 

[Altered Ego]

I found this picture from the 1973 AHRA Winter Nationals.  You can see a ladder bar bracket and small tube running to it.  This indicates a ladder bar / coilover setup.

[dwc43]

There's bunch of pics on this site, but even with the wheels up, it's still to dark under the car to tell.

 

Billy "the Kid " Stepp???? - Moparts Forums

[dragcarz]

1 hour ago, Altered Ego said:

I found this picture from the 1973 AHRA Winter Nationals.  You can see a ladder bar bracket and small tube running to it.  This indicates a ladder bar / coilover setup.

Thanks Jeff, that was my first thought also, but the Sox & Martin car had ladder bars with leaf springs. The front mount has three mounting positions to adjust the ladder bars for different tracks.