Frantic Ford , Lil John Lombardo Mustang

[dragcarz]

I’ve debated posting again for a while, as I’m working 10 hour days, and my build time is so limited these days. With that said posts may be slow in coming. 
Back in the late 70s I had the opportunity to crew for an Alcohol Funny car called the Gateway Shaker. It was a 76/77 Mustang II and if my memory serves me correctly it was a Spitzer trailing front axle chassis. The car had very little success, we usually qualified for events near the back of the field, which placed us first round against the quicker top half and we were headed home after the first round was over.

Needless to say I’ve wanted to build a mid 70s Mustang II bodied funny car, but not a replica of the Gateway Shaker , something different and maybe a little more successful and colorful. 
The problem arises that the only Mustang II Funny Car was produced by AMT many years ago and the body is far from accurate. There are resin bodies available, but I’m my minds eye they to have issues also. I’m not a huge fan of resin, and correcting the resin bodies seems more difficult than plastic, so I’m gonna attempt to build an more accurate body from the old AMT kit, and the latest release of this kit a few years back.

The next challenge is which car to build. Slixx Decals makes several decal sets for the Mustang II body style, and I’ve narrowed it down to two. The Frantic Ford, or Lil John Lombard. If you have an opinion please express it. I’d be really interested in your thoughts. Info on both cars seems limited in my searches, which seems to be a common issue with the builds I attempt. Thanks for staying with me in this ramble! 

[MAGIC MUFFLER]

Personally I like LiL John. It's cleaner looking and looks all business. The Frantic Ford looks too busy for me.  It is a great looking Funny but just too many decals.

I tend to lean towards LiL John anyway because I wrote him many years ago about one of his early cars. He was kind enough to write me back with photos I had never seen before.

Or, build both as I'm sure your hand is skilled enough to make both of them outstanding for all of us to enjoy!  Looking forward to seeing what you choose - they're both great either way.

[HankinWisconsin]

Definitely following!

[bytownshaker]

Tough call, the Lil John car is very nice looking car but for me I saw the Frantic Ford car often.

[dragcarz]

5 hours ago, MAGIC MUFFLER said:

Personally I like LiL John. It's cleaner looking and looks all business. The Frantic Ford looks too busy for me.  It is a great looking Funny but just too many decals.

I tend to lean towards LiL John anyway because I wrote him many years ago about one of his early cars. He was kind enough to write me back with photos I had never seen before.

Or, build both as I'm sure your hand is skilled enough to make both of them outstanding for all of us to enjoy!  Looking forward to seeing what you choose - they're both great either way.

Thanks Billy, I’ll agree that Lombardos car is cleaner looking, it also ran the Donavan style early Hemi, which is different considering most had went to the Keith Black late style Hemi by then. I like things that are different.

[dragcarz]

39 minutes ago, bytownshaker said:

Tough call, the Lil John car is very nice looking car but for me I saw the Frantic Ford car often.

Thanks Edgar, I really like the Frantic Ford name on the car, kinda screams Race Car.  It’s a tough decision for me. 

[dragcarz]

My ideas consist of stretching the wheel base to utilize the Revell/ Monogram chassis with a few modifications. I did this by using two bodies, cutting the front section on one longer and adding it to the rear of the other adding about 3/8 of an inch in wheelbase.

The next issue is the original body really curves in on the bottom of the body. The. Mustang II I crewed on didn’t curve in so drastically so I cut the bottom of the body off below the cove and straightened it out. I then filled the cut outs for the headers.

[FoMoCo66]

Very cool man! I saw Dyno Dons Mustang II this weekend t a show, this IMHO is the only way a Mustang II looks good, as a drag car with a whole bunch of rake.

[dragcarz]

Checking the wheelbase to a previous build…..I probably should have gone another 1/16 to an 1/8 inch longer????.

[M W Elky]

It looks great so far . My favorite mustang 2 funny is the blue max 

[dragcarz]

3 hours ago, M W Elky said:

It looks great so far . My favorite mustang 2 funny is the blue max 

Thanks Michael, I’m a huge Blue Max fan, I already have two Blue Max builds and thought I needed to do something different, I have Slixx Decals for  the Max Mustang II alteady.

[dragcarz]

Some spot putty, a coat of Tamiya brush primer, a second coat of putty and a coat of primer… getting closer.

I need to modify the front wheel bulges, their different on the two cars, and I’m still undecided on which version to build, I’ll fill the back window next.

I’m pretty happy with the location of the motor sitting in front of the windshield. I need to adjust the opening for the supercharger and the rear wheel openings. 

[catpack68]

The mods to the body look great Roger.Looking forward to see seeing more progress on it.

[bytownshaker]

The body is really looking good, amazing what a difference a little putty and primer make.

[MR. Macabre]

Growing up in SO. CAL. meant that we saw L'IL John's car every time we were at a drag race, so I'd go with his. 

[Zippi]

Looking good so far Roger.  I'm really liking it.

[chris chabre]

The last era of good looking funny cars in my opinion! I love both one due to how clean and mean it looks, and the other for being typical colorful paint of the era

[meechum68]

Awesome work! The body work is smooth!!!