Help Needed Researching A Very Old Build

[Bernard Kron]

I have only one model from when I was an avid modeler as a kid. It's a blown small block Chevy stuffed in a stretched Tony Nancy "dragster" chassis. (I was a huge Pete Robinson fan at the time) Somehow it's survived my leaving home, my mother gluing it to a plastic showcase and then sending it to me without proper packing and several moves throughout my life. The plastic is hopelessly brittle, the tires have shrunk, and if I handled it at all it would probably turn to dust. So, instead of attempting to restore it, I want to reconstruct it.

I just bought a Revell Tony Nancy double kit (Roadster and Dragster) because I remember buying multiple copies of what I recall as the “Tony Nancy Dragster kit†in order to make a stretched chassis. Back in the early 60’s when this kit came out wheelbases on diggers were getting longer literally by the month so the frames on these kits were always hopelessly too short. The solution was to cut the frame at the point just in front of the motor, then cut another frame at the firewall and glue the two together. Voila! You instantly went front 102†wheelbase to 130â€+. The body was made from index card stock and then painted.

Anyway, comparing the old build to the “Tony Nancy Dragster†instantly revealed that I must have built it from the 22 Jr. Roadster and not the later Plymouth engined Dragster. Details in the interior, the fuel tank and the rear wheels pretty much confirm that. I’m pretty certain I never built up a stash of dragster bodies and Plymouth 426 engines. The double kit did not exist when I built this car.

Now the mystery – the blown SBC. Almost nothing on it except the headers (if I cut them up) resemble anything in either Tony Nancy kit. The blower drive, injectors , and scoop are all entirely different. The mill has Corvette valve covers, too. The decals on the build may hold a clue to its source. There’s a list of the team members on the panels under the engine: “Builder – Keeler, Owner – Paeth, Driver – Jonesâ€. A web search reveals that this was a little in-joke that the late Bob Paeth made when he first got to Revell. He was assigned the job of checking the soon-to-be released ’55 Chevy Hardtop gasser kit. Jim Keeler, Lloyd Jones and Paeth were all “research analysts†assigned to the project. He got into trouble for doing it and apparently the little decal is only included in the original issue of the kit. Here’s a link to his memoir on the matter: http://theboxartden.com/Artists/Bob%20Paet...Chevy/paeth.htm . There are also some other decals that might help track things down (or not…).

Does this engine or any of its parts look familiar to anyone? I know I “imagineered†a few things (the “magneto†drive off the back of the blower is particularly funky!) but I doubt that I would have done much more than tweak an engine from another kit.

Here are some pics related to my quest:

Thanx in advance for any help in tracking this down…

B.

[LDO]

DO IT IN 1/8

[Mike Kucaba]

The engine could have been from a Revell parts pack,but those headers look like the AMT double dragster kit.

HTH

[Raul_Perez]

I'll look through my stuff when I get home tonight. I'll send you an email if I find anything...

Later,