four link chassis

[CodyZ28]

What would be the best four link chassis available right now? RBMotion seems to not have one anymore. Do the Revell Pro Street chassis work pretty well? And are they all the same size or a little different?

Sorry if these are newbie questions. I'm pretty new to this hobby.

I've built kits before, but never strayed away from what came in the box. I'm wanting to do something a little more "out there" now.

[CodyZ28]

Oops, this can be moved to the "Ask model car questions" area if need be.

[CodyZ28]

As far as RB Motion is concerned, contact Robert and he'll make the heims and tube kit for you. (he's got a website now btw)

Best looking 4 link on the market in kit form would probably be the ones from the Revell 55/57 Chevy's (pro sportsman cars) There was also the Jukebox ford and the Christine plymouth in the series. The 55/57 has been released more recently as something else but all the parts remain.

S&S used to make pro mod detail kits that had the 4 link plates for the rear end in them. If you can find that plus the RB stuff, all you'll have to make is the front 4 link brackets adapt them to any chassis you'd like with a lot of work. Or use the chassis back half like most do from any of the 4 linked tubbed kits out there. Some have done tubbed chassis in resin. Dencon comes to mind when it was Lookout models.

Hope this helps,

Paul

What would be my best bet for fitting a tubbed 4 link chassis under the AMT 1993 Camaro? I heard that the AMT 1966 Nova Pro Street was usually the most universal tubbed chassis, but the wheel base for the Camaro is about 10" shorter than the Nova in real life.

[Mark Brown]

What would be my best bet for fitting a tubbed 4 link chassis under the AMT 1993 Camaro? I heard that the AMT 1966 Nova Pro Street was usually the most universal tubbed chassis, but the wheel base for the Camaro is about 10" shorter than the Nova in real life.

There are two big problems with the Nova chassis - first, it's a leaf spring chassis, not a four-link, and second, the tubs are pretty shallow, meaning you won't get the car very low over the tires. You'd probably be better off trying to use either the pro stock chassis that Paul mentioned, or the Camaro Pro Stock chassis from some years ago.

The Nova chassis can be modified to accept a four-link and to move the tubs up higher, but it's a good amount of work. Here's a few shots of one I did. I made new rails from plastic stock and added spacers to move the wheel tubs up about 3 inches (in scale). Another project I need to get back to. I don't know how well they show up, but here's a shot of a backhalf I did for a 240Z project, using similar techniques to what Paul described. I made these rails from plastic stock (actually, these are resin copies I made from the original rails) and made forward four-link plates from plastic sheet, two per side. There are also scratchbuilt plates on the Fab9 9-inch Ford rear axle.

[CodyZ28]

Looks like I've got my work cut out for me. Thanks for the info guys and I'll come back if I need some more help.

[CodyZ28]

The problem with the later camaros is the body is not slab sided. It's too rounded especially as it curves to form the top of the quarter panels leading into the sail panels.(B pillars) Because of this, your really limited to tire size you can use under these cars. The rear end would be really narrow to tub it and fit a big tire plus the car will sit sit up in the rear more. (not that this is a problem mind you.) You may be able to get by with one of the later Pro stock chassis like what was in the Warren Johnson olds/Super Clean Olds pro stockers. That may work better as far as fitting the body with less amounts of work involved.

The Camaro that Mark mentioned may also work. I don't know where the year breaks are for the gen 3/ gen 4 cars are so it may be of the same style body and fall right in.

Paul

What are my chances at making my own tubs on the 93 camaro chassis?

[Mark Brown]

What are my chances at making my own tubs on the 93 camaro chassis?

I won't lie - it's a booger of a task if you haven't done it before. I find a tube or something similar that's the diameter of the tubs you want to make (even a larger diameter tire will work) and wrap an index card around it, and then hold it up to the outside of the quarter panel and start trimming. It's a lot easier to trim it to conform to the quarter panel from the outside, and then use that as your template to make it fit the inside. It's not impossible but it will take a few tries, so be patient.

I like to use a package of sewing needles taped to the tube or cylinder - you can slide the individual needles in or out to conform to the body shape, and then use that as your template. I couldn't find a photo of the needle package I use, but it holds about three times as many needles as the pic below. It's' a miniature version of a tool that's use in full scale auto bodywork.

[Crazy Ed]

Hi There Cody

The AMT '68 El Camino has a 4 Link Chassis and it's seperate. So you could chop it to whatever length you need to fit your project.

Ed

[CodyZ28]

I appreciate the patience guys. I'm still learning about scratch building so please forgive me if I'm asking dumb questions. I'll probably be experimenting alot on how to go about building the wheel tubs. The car will just be backhalfed btw. I want it to kind of feel like a really mean street car.

One more question, Is it just trial and error when trying to find a set of wheels and tires that will fit? Because most of the aftermarket wheel resins I've seen don't have a size listed.

[CodyZ28]

Ok thanks. I've been on a lot of different car forums, and have seen people get made fun of for asking simple questions. Glad to see that not every forum out there is full of trolls and has people that don't mind actually giving helpful advice.

[Mark Brown]

Choose your tire according to what the car you're modeling would be intended for. If it's just a street cruiser and traction isn't an issue, the good old Mickey Thompson pro street tires will work - various AMT kits had them and the old winged sprint cars had some nice big treaded tires. If it's a serious street/strip car, big drag radials would be the ticket, but unfortunately there aren't any in the hobby yet, that I'm aware of. Or you could just run slicks - maybe cut a pair of concentric grooves in them to make them "legal" for the street, similar to the M/T ET Streets.

[CodyZ28]

I found these, but have no clue how big they are.

My link

[Mark Brown]

I found these, but have no clue how big they are.

My link

They're very large in diameter - not really appropriate for a street car. They're more accurate for a fuel dragster, altered or something similar. And they're only accurate at all if you're posing the car on a launch - wheels up, driver figure on board, etc. Slicks don't wrinkle like that unless they're under huge load, and certainly not on a static model.

[CodyZ28]

They're very large in diameter - not really appropriate for a street car. They're more accurate for a fuel dragster, altered or something similar. And they're only accurate at all if you're posing the car on a launch - wheels up, driver figure on board, etc. Slicks don't wrinkle like that unless they're under huge load, and certainly not on a static model.

How do you know how big the diameter is?

[Mark Brown]

How do you know how big the diameter is?

I'm at work but I'll check when I get home. They're as large in diameter as the larger modern Top Fuel/Funny Car slicks, if memory serves. I've got an original pair or two of the vinyl ones (and a few resin copies) but I don't recall what kit they appeared in - maybe the T'rantula?

They wouldn't look right on a street car at all, or any doorslammer, for that matter. The width is good, but the diameter is not. There are lots of slicks you'd be better off with, if you want to go with slicks.

Edited December 1, 2010 by Mark Brown

[CodyZ28]

Ok, thanks. Would it be a good idea to buy the wheels and tires I like first, and then build the tubs around them?

[Mark Brown]

Ok, thanks. Would it be a good idea to buy the wheels and tires I like first, and then build the tubs around them?

That's definitely the way I'd do it. But as I mentioned before, choose your tires (and wheels) by the intended use of the car you're modeling. I always prefer to find a kit that has the tires (or whatever specific part) I'm looking for and just buy the kit. You'll rarely spend more than you would on the parts alone in the aftermarket, and you get the whole rest of the kit as a bonus. The Revell '41 Willys Street Rod kit is probably just what you need. It has the big M/T pro street-style tires, along with an outstanding blown 392 Chrysler/Torqueflite trans, a narrowed 9-inch Ford rear, a nice four-link suspension and a modern Mustang II style front suspension. Those Revell Willys kits are, by far, my favorite parts kits, and you can get one on Amazon for just twenty bucks.

Revell Willys Street Rod kit

[CodyZ28]

Thanks, sounds like a good start. I'll start a build thread once I get going on the project.

[Mark Brown]

Thanks, sounds like a good start. I'll start a build thread once I get going on the project.

I checked the wrinkle wall slicks I've got, but they're different from the Comp Resins ones, so I'd check with them if you're interested in getting those. The ones I've got measure a little over 1.375" (1 3/8") which is about 32" in diameter in scale. They're a little bigger than the slicks that came in Revell Top Fuel and Funny car kits a few years ago.

[crowe-t]

Cody,

This forum's members are the best around. The members here enjoy what they do and are always willing to help.

A good donor kit for the tubbed rear is the AMT 68 Roadrunner Pro Street. This kit has really large tubs and a nice 4-link and Dana 60. DenconResin.com also sells a resin version of the Roadrunner back half. Swapping out the back half will be easier then scratch building one. There is just some trimming involved. I have a Pro Street chassis from the AMT 70 Coronet that I'll be using the back half in a 68 Camaro 1/4 mile bracket car. I'm using the AMT 68 Camaro kit for this build. I'm going to order the 4-link/Dana rear from Dencon Resin. The AMT Coronet Pro Street has a slightly different back half with narrower frame rails. However there are no wheelie bars like in the Roadrunner kit. The tubs in these 2 kits are huge and these kits come with big Pro Street tires. I think they are Mickey Thompson's.

I hope some of this helps.

Mike.

Here is a picture of the AMT 1/25 70 Coronet Pro Street tubbed chassis.

Edited December 11, 2010 by crowe-t