1977 McLaren M24 - Tom Sneva

[ModelcarJR]

This kit is from Silver City Models and is a complete resin and white metal kit. I've wanted to build this car for many years as it it the car that Tom Sneva drove in 1977 and broke the 200 MPH barrier for 2 laps in qualifications on the first Saturday, Pole Day. I know because I was there. I positioned myself about halfway up the 1st turn stands toward the short shute side so that I could see the inside of the wall in the apex of the turn. In those days, you could tell how fast a car was by how close to the wall the front tire was in the high part of the turn. And when Tom drove that day you couldn't have put a sheet of paper between the front tire and the wall! I wouldn't be surprised it there wasn't a tiny black mark on the wall. In those days, the first day of qualifications was a big deal and the place was at least half-full of race fans. Everyone was standing and gasping on every lap that Tom turned that day! He is forever in the record books as the driver that broke the 200 MPH barrier. Although A. J. Foyt won his fourth race that year, Tom finished a strong second as he would two more time before finally winning the race in 1983. 

I found this one with a mention by a fellow  modeler.  That's when I finally got smart. Since it cost about 3 time what a normal model would cost, I mentioned to my son that I would really like to build this kit. Low and behold, it showed up for Christmas!  Thanks, son!  Now to get started. I looked at the wheels and they are not exactly the same as a photo of the car. The wheels are a straight 4 spoke cross and the ones in the kit look more like a 4 spoke star. So since I have a few Indy kits I found a set of wheels in a Penske PC-6. But one of the front wheels had bad sink marks in it. So since I have two PC-6s I took the good wheel from each kit and now I have one good set of wheels. I also won't have to clean up the resin wheels and tires. I have already built one PC-6 so I may use these other kits for parts. But I could still build one with bad wheels. 

I've primered the body after cleaning it up ( I am going to minimize the vent holes from the inside) and have started building the engine. I thought I would do any wiring since its hard to drill holes in solid resin. that might end up with broken bits and scarred cam covers. Now I am thinking that maybe I could take an extra Cosworth plastic engine and substitute it. That way I could add more detail because it easier to drill out the spark plug holes in plastic. So that is where I am. I have ordered decals from IndyCals and I am still waiting on a part from Silver City that didn't make it into the box. I want to wait on decals before I try to pick the blue paint that I will need. So that is progress so far!  Thanks for looking! 😎

 

[absmiami]

JR - nothing wrong with subbing the kit engine parts - but try drilling the plug wire holes in his resin - dont think you’ll have any problem - also you can try using a lubricant if you’re drilling into a solid resin part - 

[IanH]

Very cool project, interested to follow your progress. 

[Phildaupho]

I will be following. The body looks very nice.

[dragin70s]

Love to see the Indy builds, thanks for sharing this one. Been gather up kits, parts, and materials for a few, so very interested in your build progress.  So cool that you were at the qualifiers for that one. My white whale is the '70 Colt that Unser drove to victory as my 6 year old self watched from turn 4. 

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Andrew, Ian, Phil and Rob! I appreciate your comments! Rob, I missed the 70 race. My first year in college and I was cramming for year-end exams. I always hated that gthey had exams the week after Memorial Day.

So to accomplish substituting some plastic for the resin I saw that I couldn't use the extra Cosworth engine/transmission as it was much too long. So I decided I would cut the engine from both the resin and plastic transmissions. I have to use the resin transmission, suspension as it is shorter and the suspension is not as wide as the engine/transmission from the extra Kraco kit that I have. I am also hoping to use the headers and crossover pipe from the Kraco kit because the crossover has a connection to the turbo which is necessary but is not present in the Silver City resin kit, probably because its close or connection is not visible. I don't know. Also the front cover of the plastic kit gives me a little more room when attaching the front of the engine to the body so that I have about 1/16" more room for the rubber tires in front of the side pods. So all of these things seem to make sense to me and I can also add the plug wires - holes are already drilled!  Thanks for looking! 😎

[ModelcarJR]

One other thing; Does anyone know if a wastegate is on this engine? I can't find a photo of the rear of this engine. 

[absmiami]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/225415954291

mr silver city  -  think his name is Kevin ??  researches his projects pretty carefully

his built kit shows the standard turbo / wastegate set up

have a look also at the photos from the Penske racing museum site  - they've got the car  (??)  ...

forgot how handsome this car was ...

 

 

 

[absmiami]

Does this shot help -

check also

the Indy Museum on-line photos for the ‘77 race …

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Andrew.  The kit includes the turbo but not the wastegate. The wastegate exits with a pipe that goes over the transmission like the no. 6 car. I can't see if it is present on the no. 8 car from this photo. I'll take a look at the Penske Museum.  Thanks for the help! 

[ModelcarJR]

I think I found my answer.  There are two kinds of wastegates. External and internal that regulate the pressure of the turbo. This one probably is an internal wastegate so that it is not visible. I'll call Kevin and see if that is the case.  I am not a mechanic so I am learning as I am building. Thanks for any comments! 

[ModelcarJR]

I spoke to Kevin at Silver City Models and he indicated that He couldn't find a photo of the back of this car either.  He thinks it might be an internal wastegate but is sending me an external one when he sends the plenum that was left out of the kit originally. I should have them be Tuesday. In the meantime, I have completed everything I can complete on the engine.  I added plug wires, attached the headers and crossover pipe, sway bar, shocks, and of course, the cam covers, distributor and injectors. 

I couldn't drill out the middle part of the sway bar (the silver piece) so I substituted a piece of brass tubing. I'll paint it aluminum when I finish detail painting the rest of the engine. I can't add the turbo until I get the plenum but I think I try to cut a piece of the other crossover pipe from the Kraco kit to connect the bottom of the turbo to the crossover pipe. Hopefully, it will sit just over the top of the sway bar. In the meantime, I'll paint the headers, assemble the wings, and start getting the body ready for paint. Thanks for looking! 😎

[ModelcarJR]

Well, I'm kinda in a holding position now. I ordered decals for IndyCals but I think Michael must be on vacation because I haven't heard anything from him all week after ordering decals on Christmas day. I want to match the blue paint to the decals and I have a feeling I may have to mix up some Testors for airbrush to match. Kevin said he thought he used Tamiya Light Blue but that looks too dark to me. Its more like Petty Blue which I don't think would match the decals. Also waiting on the missing parts from Kevin which should be here maybe Tuesday. I've built the wings and painted them and painted the white on the body. Looks like the only other thing I can do is sand down 4 tires and get them ready for decals. Since I'll probably be up till Midnight with fireworks going off, I guess I should get started! 

[ModelcarJR]

I was wrong, I received the decals from Michael at IndyCals on Tuesday. They look great, as usual, and I also bought the tire decals because I can't use the extra set that I bought for the Kraco special because before 1980 the tire didn't include Eagle. But the blue does look like its the grabber blue similar to Tamiya #23 Light Blue. It looks a lot lighteron camera. So I order some paint and it will be here next week. Its either that or drive 30 miles downtown to buy it in the only hobby shop that carries it in Houston. 

Today, I also received the plenum and some other parts from Kevin at Silver City that had been left out of the orignial shipment. So I am almost set to complete this one and I can work on the engine and tires but will have to wait until next week for paint. thanks for looking! 

[ModelcarJR]

Still waiting on paint but I have made a little progress since receiving the parts that were missing from the original kit.  The engine is complete but I can't attach it to the bulkhead until I paint the body. I glued a piece of crossover pipe from the extra Kraco kit underneath the turbine to crossover the sway bar to the crossover pipe that crosses over the transmission.  So now that I have crossed over to the crossover, the circuit is complete! The exhaust comes out of the cylinders into the pipes, then into the turbo, is supercharged and into the plenum, then into the injectors and finally the cylinders and the cycle starts again. I am going to assume that the turbo contains an internal wastegate so when disengaged the wastegate will open and the exhaust will exit with the normal exhaust.  That causes that whining sound and backfires when coming to a yellow, i think. So other than that I have sanded out the tires and will apply the decals but I can't do much more until next week when I receive paint and we are suppose to have a hard freeze next week. Thanks for looking! 😎

[absmiami]

If Houston still has a hobby store  - why not hop in your car - burn some gas - and by their  paint - you’ll thank me in the morning …

[ModelcarJR]

I have done that before but the only Hobby shop in town is about 30-35 miles away in downtown Houston near the Medical Center. Probably $10 in gas, another $8 - 10 in toll road tolls, a couple of hours on the road and in the Hobby Shop, the possibility that I won't buy only 1 can of paint but may spend up to $100, which Grandma will frown upon, and a long nap when I get back. I have already ordered and paid for the paint.  If I were a younger working man I probably would have done that but there's nothing but downside at this point. 

[ModelcarJR]

Got the paint yesterday and today it finally warmed up enough for me to paint! Looks pretty good and I just need to raise the blue outline on the engine cover which I already have done but don't have a photo.  The resin doesn't like paint so I hope I can rub this out without chipping or peeling any paint. I did soak it in Bleche White, washed with soap and water, and scratched it up with some sandpaper but that may not have been enough. But so far so good - only a couple spots that I'll have to touch up with a brush but they are not easily visible anyway. Thanks for looking! 😎

[ModelcarJR]

Finished rubbing out the body and other parts (after 3 coats of clear yesterday) and then painted the interior and bulkhead with a brush. Touched up the edges with a brush. I also picked out the seat harness. Nothing I can do about the ripples in the resin. Maybe I should have sanded it more smoothly with sandpaper and a file but I didn't really see it. The first photo is a before and after rubbing out the sidepods. A few other photos of progress. Thanks for looking! 😎

 

Edited January 20 by ModelcarJR
Copy text

[ModelcarJR]

Making some progress as construction is moving right along.  The engine has been glued to the bulkhead and the suspension supporting rods have been attached. Finished the front suspensions too. I attached the left brake rotor to the wheel because the axle on the kingpin is not long enough to attach the rotor there to mount the wheel later. So after I decal the tires I can mount both wheels but I don't want to do that until last. I made sure that the engine cover would fit before doing anything else and did have to remove the engine initially to lower it a bit so the engine cover would fit. Finally, the cockpit detail have also been added; pedals, shifter, dash and steering wheel. No decals for the gauges so I just painted the white metal black and left the gauges in white metal. Thanks for looking! 😎

[Pierre Rivard]

Awesome looking race car and you are giving it justice. Beautiful heat stress finishing on the exhaust headers. Adds a lot of realism.

Thanks for sharing this build. Lot's to learn here.

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Pierre! i appreciate your comment! 

My goal for today was to have all the construction done so I could apply decals tomorrow and finish this one up. I now have all the construction done. I had a surprise when I test-fitted wheels and tires as one side on the rear was close to the sidepod and the other was not. The first two photos shows the before and the last two are the after shots. The problem was that the wishbone under the transmission has come unglued and the suspension had gone caddy-wampus, that is, closer on one side than on the other. I should have noticed this when I cut the supporting rods for the suspension and I noticed a little difference from side to side but didn't think anything about it. So I straightened it out, reglued the wishbone on the bottom of the transmission and shortened the supporting rods on the left side and now everything is square! Thanks for looking! 😎

BEFORE

AFTER

[ModelcarJR]

I had hoped to have all the decals on by now but after I completed the tires I attached the wheels and it wasn't sitting on all fours properly. So OI couldn't figure out what was wrong and decided to give it a little tweak. Wrong! I cratered the left rear suspension including breaking a few white metal parts. So after much weeping I started rebuilding the rear suspension including substituting some brass rod for parts I had broken and finally got it all back together. It still wouldn't sit on all fours so I started adjusting the front suspensions and finally it just fell into place on all fours. So at this point I am just glad its finally together! Decals will have to wait until tomorrow! Thanks for looking! 😎

[ModelcarJR]

I was moving along happily getting all the decals on and i noticed that the front left wheel was askew. I went to straightened it out and it was loose. I lifted the wheel and realized that the white metal axle in the kingpin was broken. Soooooo, now I had to figure out how to get the axle and rotor that was glue into the wheel out without ruining the tire decal. So I tried some Z-7 debonder on the axle and rotor but it wouldn't come loose. So I had to get the wheel off without damaging the tire decals so I could pull the axle out. I put some debonder on the joint between the inner and outer wheel and the wheel finally came off. I ruined the wheel because the debonder took off the chrome but I have anohter one although it has some sink marks in it. it will have to do I didn't damage the tire decals too badly. I next drilled out the white metal rotor and kingpin to install a piece of brass tube to serve as an axle. So now all I have to do is put everything together and remount the wheel and suspension on the body. 4 or 5 hours later I'll be back to where I left off with finishing the decals. It will have to be tomorrow since I am warn out now! Thanks for looking! 😎

[flashman1957]

On 1/3/2024 at 7:48 PM, ModelcarJR said:

I was wrong, I received the decals from Michael at IndyCals on Tuesday. ...... But the blue does look like its the grabber blue similar to Tamiya #23 Light Blue. It looks a lot lighteron camera. So I order some paint and it will be here next week.

John, so what paint did you decide best matched the blue on the Indycals sheet? Forgive me but I couldn't find anywhere in the thread where you said what color and brand of blue paint you decided to go with.

I also have this kit and have always really liked the look of Sneva's car, and the Indycals decals are on their way right now. When I saw your mention of "grabber blue", I used Google/Images, and from what I see that color appears correct for this car to me. So I will have to get it from Duplicolor or one of the model paint suppliers.

Thanks,

Cameron