1/16 Scale Army Vega Funny Car - Finished 10/14/2018

[Mooneyzs]

Bart no need to be sorry at all. Jim deserves the compliments and credtis. You are right that Jim is a stand up man and great to work with. His customer service is just amazing. Thats why I cant thank him enough. I will continue doing business with him as well as a few other that take good care of us modelers.... Like Charlie at pro tech and Robert from RB Motion. Even terry at Machined aluminum specialties. They have all taken great care of me. I really give Jim the credit at being willing to take a stab at some of the parts i have drawn up for him to try to make. I know that i am going to be amazed at the blower pulleys with the cogged teeth he is doing for me. I am sure that it is very teadious to do the teeth on the pulleys that small too.

Edited November 7, 2011 by Mooneyzs

[Mooneyzs]

As promised here are a couple of quick pics I took tonight. didn't get to work on anything. didn't get home from work until 8:45 and need to hit the sack and do it all over again early in the morning. Anyway just a few pics of the hubs and tapping them.

 

Tapping the Hubs with a 00-90 Tap with a pin Vise:

 

 

 

 

 

Here the Hubs are finished after tapping all the Holes:

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the rim sitting on top of the Hub:

 

Edited July 23, 2017 by Mooneyzs

[Len Woodruff]

Great stuff Chris. Looking forward to the finish!

[Mooneyzs]

Thanks Len... Hoping to have some more updates soon for you guys as well as getting to work on it alot this weekend if I can.

[Fuel Coupe]

great work as always!!!

[Mooneyzs]

Thanks shane.

Looks like I may get to sit down and get a little bench time in tonight. I am having major withdrawls on this build cause of work

[brad4321]

Dude, get going! I'm working on this same kit and your build is the best reference I can find. About 500 hundred of those "views" are from me, but I haven't commented once. Not much I can say that hasn't already been said. This is one great looking build. Sometimes it inspires me to improve my own skills. Other times it inspires me to start a bon fire with all my kits and quit the hobby. I hope when mine is done it is 75% as good as yours.

[Beavis]

im getting impatient awaiting some rolling chassis pictures with all this detail, you sir. are one of many model car gods, we're not worthy, we're not worthy lolol

[Mooneyzs]

Brad... Thanks for following along on this build and for the compliments. Feel free to use any of the idea's I have shown here. My biggest piece of advice for you is to take your time and have lots of patience. I am sure you will do a great job on your build. Look forward to seeing this build of yours.

Vince....Once I get the new hubs and rims I will get some rolling chassis pics and post for you and hopefully by then I will have my motor mount brackets completed and installed. Thanks for the Compliments.

[Mooneyzs]

So I was able to sit down for a little bit and make more progress on this tonight. I ended up doing more work for the hubs and I worked on the studs. I took some of the Scale Hardware 00-90 bolts and cut them down to size so they would be ready when the new parts arrive. I test fit them into the hubs and happy with how they turned out. Here are a few pics of tonights work.

 

 

I Started out by cutting the Scale Hardware 00-90 bolts:

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the stud after cutting, sanding and cleaning them up:

 

 

 

 

 

Here I took the studs and inserted them into the Hub:

 

 

 

 

 

Then I had to stick the hub in the disk to get the total look with these hubs, Very pleased with them I must say:

 

Edited July 23, 2017 by Mooneyzs

[brett]

You have a sickness my friend one that I could not afford ( financially ) to catch although the results sure speak for themselves. Doesn't hurt that you got a lot of talent either , Keep at it bro , we're all watching.

[Mooneyzs]

Hey Brett... Sometimes I think I do have a sickness on this build and I must be nuts or something . I do have to admit that is the first build that I have ever put this much money and time into. Thanks for the kind words on my talent. I will have to say that it has taken many years, alot of patience and alot of practice to where I am today. I can't tell you how many times I have redone stuff on this build. I am looking forward to getting to do some more work on this build this weekend, so I am hoping to have some great updates for you guys. Stay Tuned!

[gasser59]

Unbelievably cool Chris. That hub is outstanding. I can't wait to see a rolling chassis on this and I'm sure can't either. Keep at it.

[Mooneyzs]

Thanks Brad! Wish i was making progress a little faster than I have been lately. I should be working on the engine mount brackets for the motor and the chassis this weekend. Then I should be able to start getting some of the engine parts in primer and possibly the chassis too.

[Danno]

So, Chris ...

Is it true? The rumor I heard that the rolling/running chassis will be done and on display at GoodGuys Southwest Nationals next weekend?

We'll save the table space for you, bud!

[Dr. Cranky]

Amazing craftsmanship!

[eviltwincustoms]

Chris that looks pretty darn slick..... they look like they belong on a real Drag Car! So I have to ask, when you cut your bolts down, did you just use the Nut trick as your guide to cut and keep the threads from getting messed up?

I sure wish you would hurry up and get your hours in at work! Is it possible you could just not sleep and work around the clock? This way you can get back to building this awesome build! LOL.... I know Selfish Me!

[BigDaddy]

WOW. All I can really muster right now ! Ive read this thread over the last couple days after going thru Chris' FED build, and I have to say WOW.

One has to be very dedicated to a project such as this, and the excitement of seeing it to completion will make one go thru all the steps to get it there.

Considering, he couldve re-roofed his house, paved his driveway, and rebuilt a small block chevy in the amount of hours he's put into this so far !!! However, that time invested will definitely pay off in spades !!!

I have to say this is the most amazing build Ive ever seen. The attention to detail and the craftsmanship is second to none. It doesnt take much to impress me, but this has overwhelmed me.

You were right Chris !! Top notch build. Very inspiring, to say the least !!

[John Teresi]

Chris.......sure makes my day when I see your latest up-date.......your work is OUTSTANDING!!!!!!!!

[Mooneyzs]

Danno... You know I am not sure if I will have the rolling chassis done by then. Plust I am not sure if I will be able to make it out to Goodguys or not now. I really want to bad but it all depends on work.

Virgil... Thank you, appreciate it.

Bart... Thanks Bud! So the trick I used was I took two nuts and basically used one as a jam nut. Then I took my razor saw and placed it up against one of the nuts and then cut the bolt at that point. Next I undid the nuts by backing the one off the other. Spunn them down the stud, took one of my sanding sticks and sanded the end of the stud flat and chamfered the edge. Then I chased the threads by running the nuts off the side that I had cut and they were done. And from there I took the side that I cut and that was the end that went into the hub.

Joe..... Thank you for the kind words about this build. All I can say is that I have had to have a lot of patience with this build...lol Ithere are times that I have wished that this would come together faster but I know with the outcome I am wanting that I am needing to take my time. Plus it will be worth it. I am just anxious to see more of this togehter and get some primer and paint on this bad boy.

John... Thank you very much my friend. I have been a little bummed that I haven't really been able to work on it much the past few weeks cause of work. So it was nice to sit down and do a little last night.

So I started getting some templates made last night for my motor mounts. Pretty much have the mounting plate template for the back of the motor done. Just need to cut it out of some sheet plastic. and started with mounts on the front of the block. Got a little stumped last night as to where I actually wanted them to mount to. Then I need to make my mounting tabs that go to the chassis. I will post some pics in a little bit to show you all the progress. Stay tuned and thanks for following along.

[Mooneyzs]

So I got a little done on these motor mounts so far. Been tossing ideas back and forth all day. So not a big update as I am still working on these but wanted to share the couple items and get some peoples opinions.

 

Here are the mounting brackets which will be glued to the chassis and will site behind the motor brackets:

 

 

 

 

Here is the motor with the motor brackets mocked up in place of what I have so far:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok so I will be going back and probably making these brackets one more time since I wanted to change them just a smidge. I am also debating if I sould make them out of aluminum or brass. But the one thing I keep going back and forth on is from my reference pics of the Army Vega Funny Car. I can't tell if on the timing cover area if the brackets are on the front side like in my picture above or if they are mounted behind the timing cover plate. In your option what do you think would look better?? Thanks in advance.

Edited July 23, 2017 by Mooneyzs

[gasser59]

Exceptional as usual Chris. Very well documented with both your question and the accompanying photos.

IMHO, I think they'd serve their purpose better behind the timing cover plate and I'll tell you why. There would be a ton of stress on these at full throttle and they were only held on by just the heads of the bolts, I would think they'd be prone to shearing off. If they, on the other hand, were underneath the timing cover, more than the bolt heads would be holding them in. I guess what I'm trying to say is if they're on the outside, just the small surface area of the backside of the bolt heads, which is minimal, would be holding the mounting brackets on.

I realize it would be a bit more intricate work to put them behind but it would look better and they wouldn't have as much visual prominence as in the front.

On another note, are you planning on having two frame brackets per side or just the one? Can you tell on the 1:1 car if there's one or two per side?

Edited November 13, 2011 by gasser59

[eviltwincustoms]

Chris I am not sure how the Motor Plate is mocked up on the Original Army Vega, but on a real car based on my knowledge they are not behind the Timing Cover. The plate actually is cut out around the timing cover/water pump and such.

Here is a Link that I use for mocking up my Motor Mount. http://www.rjracecars.com/Motorplates-Prodlist.html

To address the torque, I would assume that due to the multiple bolt mounts around the timing cover section addressed any torque twisting concerns.

But then again, I am not someone that has first hand knowledge.

[comp1839]

i'm not sure about the original car you are trying to copy. most funny cars utilizing a hemi today use 2 simple mounts (one per side) that go from the frame to where the water pump mounting bolts are on the block. i believe this is what you have already made. i'm sure i have a pic if you need it. they use very "flimsy front mounts to allow the chassis to work. if a funny car frame didn't flex and move around it wouldn't work.

Edited November 13, 2011 by comp1839

[Mooneyzs]

Brad, Bart and Dave.... That's exactly the info I was looking for. the pictures that I have of this car I can't totally tell how its mounted but when i went back to look I found one pic which it looks as if its behind. And Brad to answer your question about the frame brackets from the pics I see there are only one frame bracket per mount. so a total of 2 up front, 1 per side and I belive on the plate that the clutch housing bolts too, it is the same.

 

Dave... If you have a pic that you don't mind sharing with me, I would appreciate it. My thought was to go and cut some of the block away from behind the timing plate unless its a tab that I need to add onto that plate..

 

Here is the image that if you look closely that it seems it's behind the plate:

 

Edited July 23, 2017 by Mooneyzs