'Twelve Bolt'; flat 12 stovebolt

[James W]

First let me say I hesitate to post in-progress because I tend to jump around on my builds.

But my employment has been slow and I have been building more than usual, so I may stick to this one.

Plus, maybe, watching eyes will keep me on track.

I have cast a few extra blocks to play with, so I put them together crank to crank. I should not have staggered the cylinders. It would use dual ended connecting rods instead of a redesigned crank, but I glued it that way so I will live with it now. The front engine covers were cast in JB Weld, blocks are casting resin. I have created a one piece intake since taking this picture.

Transaxle was a brainstorm. Driveshaft passes to the quick change at the back, into a Mopar automatic, then to the pinion and ring gear. Buick drum brakes will mount inboard of the axles. Might be IRS.

Frame is taking shape now. Front axle will mount via torsion rods inside the frame tubes.

This is it, so far. I sectioned the cab as a building exercise and just liked it. I thought about mounting this drivetrain in some different cars including a gasser style Corvair, but came back to this truck for visual impact. It needed to be a Chevy with a narrow hood to show it off.

This is why I like to work in plastic. As long as it is visually reasonable, the engineering can be overcome in the imagination.

Any attempt at practicallity is strictly implied!

Edited May 11, 2009 by James W

[RodneyBad]

Looks quite Wicked..

Love the motor.

To me, it has a Duck look to yet..

Nothing personal tho.

Best yet,

Quote of the year.

Any attempt at practicallity is strictly implied!

[E St. Kruiser50]

First let me say I hesitate to post in-progress because I tend to jump around on my builds.

But my employment has been slow and I have been building more than usual, so I may stick to this one.

Plus, maybe, watching eyes will keep me on track.

I have cast a few extra blocks to play with, so I put them together crank to crank. I should not have staggered the cylinders. It would use dual ended connecting rods instead of a redesigned crank, but I glued it that way so I will live with it now. The front engine covers were cast in JB Weld, blocks are casting resin. I have created a one piece intake since taking this picture.

Transaxle was a brainstorm. Driveshaft passes to the quick change at the back, into a Mopar automatic, then to the pinion and ring gear. Buick drum brakes will mount inboard of the axles. Might be IRS.

Frame is taking shape now. Front axle will mount via torsion rods inside the frame tubes.

This is it, so far. I sectioned the cab as a building exercise and just liked it. I thought about mounting this drivetrain in some different cars including a gasser style Corvair, but came back to this truck for visual impact. It needed to be a Chevy with a narrow hood to show it off.

This is why I like to work in plastic. As long as it is visually reasonable, the engineering can be overcome in the imagination.

Any attempt at practicallity is strictly implied!

WOW, WOW, WOW

James, this is very cool .

I love all the "Resiny" stuff you've made and shared here.

This is going to be great to watch.

I think you're right on target here, with this build.

Love the body stance, sectioned body and stock roof height. Your builds are always "Way Over The Top Cool" .

Keep up the great work as we'll all be watching. Thanks for the PM - dave

Edited March 14, 2009 by Treehugger Dave

[Foxer]

The batteries scared me at first ... builds should be filled with plastic, not wound armatures! eheh

Looking great! some nice casting work there.

[george 53]

WOW James, talk about bein different! That's in it's OWN category! I like it! At least you'll be the only kid on the block with one! Hey, don't even worry about it's practicality, If it can get ya from point A ta point B (even in modelcardom),and it looks like it could, It'll work! You got you one HECK of an imagination goin for ya there! It sure IS unique!

Edited March 14, 2009 by george 53

[James W]

Some work done today.

Made transaxle mounting brackets. I think I will mount a transverse spring across the top of the axle and make lower swing arms for the rear suspension. Still planning on inboard Buick brakes.

Bottom of engine. Two pans were used, the lower reservoir was eliminated. Two posts are for twin distributors.

These castings are made from masters out of the AMT 60 chev pickup. I joined the intakes to a plate under the blower. Not sure about the carbs, maybe fuel injection is in the future. Cooling will be a nightmare, intake hoses mount at extreme left and right. Returns near the center are not a problem.

Comments, criteques, condemnations?

[evilone]

###### thats cool.WAY outta the left field with this one.I want to see where this one goes.

[Helipilot16]

Wow!! I love your originality and engineering. You're on the same path as me with my 16 cylinder Fordoni.

[Steven Zimmerman]

This is wild,original thinking and great !....but please,don't go 'rat rod' although it would make a good one.............I'd like to see this all shiney and smooth................the'Z'man

[James W]

Thanks for all the nice remarks. I seem to be riding an alternative engine wave right now. v8's are just so... common.

Marcus, I will look for your Fordoni on the forum, how about a link on this thread?

Steve, I am leaning toward dirty right now, how about we just say it will be a driver. I'm still working through the back story on this one. Everything is old technology, say 1955. There will be some patina but I'm not sure if this was just pulled out of a barn or if it's a 60's rod.

Been working some more today but no pictures, I found the Johan 31 Caddy wire wheels fit the rear tires so I'm using them. Rear suspension is goingto be a challenge to 'imagineer'.

I want to bring this to the Portland Model Fest in about a month. It won't be done but I'lll bring what I have.

Thanks for watching

[James W]

Update 3-22-09 After sitting home for two months, I decided to post this project and my work called me back. I'm not complaining, this my just take a little longer.

Here is the engine w/blower sitting in the car. I don't have engine mounts made but it is pinned to the frame. When doing this type of work I find it critical to be able to disassemble and reassemble at will and always have everything mount in the same possitions.

The engine mounts to the frame and the rear engine mounting plate locates the cab. Here is the back of the cab w/ the transaxle bracket. A tight fit locates the cab side to side.

Here you see the Johan Caddy wheels I referred to last post. The gap between the brake drums and center section is there because it is not in the frame.This is a swing axle design with only one flex joint.

These arms tie the outer hub to the frame and pivot on the same plain with the axle without allowing the axle to move forward or back.

A transverse spring provides for movement up/down and helps locate the axle. Subassemblies still plug together so that I can break them down and paint later.

Hope to get back to the model desk soon, but that will depend on work.

I'm gone.

[Jairus]

Wow!

Now that is one wicked looking machine buddy!

Do I see some bare metal foil on that cowl?

Excellent idea and I am very interested in updates...

[James W]

A few more pics, some work done today.

Jairus, that is bare metal foil but I hate to disappoint, it is left over from another abandoned project. It may not survive this build.

Maybe I can reincorperate it into the section job at the beltline. Hmm...

Here a the front 4 bars, built from the Revell 32, They were broke when I got 'em so I beefed them up a little.

I like the size and gerth of this rear transaxle. It is the size of the cab. The rear tires are a bit out of scale but I think they work here.

The whole rod is big. Here it is with my 'Stray Dog' which is small but about average for this type of car.

I said I was going to use torsion bar springs up front but that is not panning out. So on to Quarter Elliptic springs which use only half of a conventional leaf spring. Here is one on the Stray Dog, hard to see, but I will show better views as I build the new set.

It's as long as a whole pickup even though it is a cab only rod.

This view shows the grill I worked on today. I ground out the back side then reinforced it with K&N brass screen. I hope to carve a fuel tank for the front to mimic the waterfall portion of the 41 grill. I think this is one of the prettiest grills going and would hate to only use a portion of it.

That green truck looks familiar, where have I seen it before..

[Scott Colmer]

WOW! This is a great project. Truly a bit of genus in the entire drive train. Great fabrication. Please keep the pics coming! I will be following this one.

Scott

[RodneyBad]

WOW, AWESOME..

Quite the Engineering feet you got going on.

Love the flattie with a Blower

Took a little longer for me to figure out your Tranny thingie.

Get's a 10 on the cool Meter.

[Helipilot16]

Thanks for all the nice remarks. I seem to be riding an alternative engine wave right now. v8's are just so... common.

Marcus, I will look for your Fordoni on the forum, how about a link on this thread?

Steve, I am leaning toward dirty right now, how about we just say it will be a driver. I'm still working through the back story on this one. Everything is old technology, say 1955. There will be some patina but I'm not sure if this was just pulled out of a barn or if it's a 60's rod.

Been working some more today but no pictures, I found the Johan 31 Caddy wire wheels fit the rear tires so I'm using them. Rear suspension is goingto be a challenge to 'imagineer'.

I want to bring this to the Portland Model Fest in about a month. It won't be done but I'lll bring what I have.

Thanks for watching

I'm sorry I never saw this request sooner. Here is the link: Fordoni engine

[James W]

The idea of putting the fuel tank up front has been nixed. I decided on twin jerry cans.

But I had none that fit the space and only one of the correct type so...

Starting with the prototype I cut some plastic to size.

Once I had a rough shape glued together with liquid cement I created a second and glued it with CA glue.

After some careful carving, the two bucks were split where they had been glued with CA and were then planed down to the correct thickness.

To form the reinforcing cross I carved a panel to be glued to the front side.

Now I have a left and right jerry can. The right one has been shaped with a radius gage. notice how it looks a little smaller.

A little more detail, handles and a fill cap, just basic shapes added to the tops

I created wrap around brackets with .015 strips glued around the cans. Some 'angle-iron' glued to the cap will get a little more file work before it is finished.

A few hours at the bench yeilded some nice, one-of-a-kind details that fit perfectly on my project. I really enjoy this type of building, but it is the reason I don't finish many projects. Lots of hours and very 'little' to show.

Oh well, I enjoy it!

[CB]

Excellent jerry cans James!

I'm like you, stuffs like this here is my favorite part of the building as well, and yeah, it do make for a slow build, but like you said, I enjoys it

[Scott Colmer]

Amen to that! Making one off parts is the best part of the fun. Just finished off a set of hydraulic, lever action shocks. It's those one off parts that add to the entertainment factor.

I did like the idea of making a tank to pick up the look of the lower grill. That's OK. Great looking jerry cans. I was thinking "How's he gonna do that X?" Simple solution! Way too easy.

Keep 'em coming!

Scott

[James W]

CB, glad you like the jerry cans.

Scott, never fear, the reason I did not put the fuel tank up front was I had no room for a radiator and fuel tank.

But with the fuel tank(s) moved to the back... you will just have to wait and see if you like my solution.

I was thinking the front was a little long, Jairus said he thought it was too and he seems to know something about design.

I originally had the wheel base at 5 to 5.25 inches. It is over 5.6 now. The four links at the front are a little long and can't be moved back because they would interfere with the engine. The frame itself could also be shortened too.

The quarter eliptic springs I want to use can act as half of the linkage. I have pictures of a rod that show how it can be done, so this weekend I will be constructing the new front suspension. A slick and cool way to do it and very clean.

See you next time.

[James W]

Well a little update is in order. Life got busy.

I have mounted the radiator and seperated the 41 kit grill bars.The grill bars will span from the top grill down to the frame covering the radiator.

At this point I am still trying to envision the front axle brackets that will mount the axle to the leaf springs I have made with an upper link to hold the axle in place. As soon as I know what they will look like in my head I can build them. Right now they don't look graceful or cool so I am holding off making them.

I am working other projects on and off the model desk while I figure this out.

Thanks for watching.

[Foxer]

I have mounted the radiator and separated the 41 kit grill bars.The grill bars will span from the top grill down to the frame covering the radiator.

I love the sound of that .. waterfall over the radiator!!!!! It keeps looking better and better. This is my kind of modeling, as others have mentioned. Your build images and ongoing design story have been fantastic to follow.

[James W]

A little update. Working slowly so I don't screw up, This is the front axle with brackets for springs and control rods. In the back are the quarter eliptic springs that will mount to the bottom of the axle. I have not built the control rods yet. The springs will be trimmed a little shorter when I figure out how long they need to be.

I will most likely mount the front axle solid to the frame before painting. It is too hard to make it removable, so it will wait until I am ready to paint. That means, now that I figured that out, that I can get on with other aspects of the build so hopefully I will be updating more frequently and with more to show.

To be fair I have been working on other projects, but with this build front and center on my desktop it means I have to at least think about it as I do other stuff. I have some different ideas for this rod. I see it as a road machine.

Thanks for watching

[Jairus]

Looking great there James!

[Scott Colmer]

Hey James,

Good to see some progress on this one! Very clean work. I can't wait to see the grill finished.

If you want to mount the axle for fab work but remove it later for paint, there are few options. White glue or a tiny bit of CA glue works. I like to use liquid tape, but it takes some clean up with alcohol after.

Keep going. It's a great build.

Scott