Romell R Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 (edited) Nice Charlie I want a Donovan too but for my next project, And Charlie from Pro Tech is a great guy and Im getting some of those throttle links from him. Cant wait to see what you do with the Donovan. Edited August 18, 2011 by Aftashox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragracer Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Glad to hear your finally getting that 417, the parts from Pro-Tech look good, but they always do, liked the plugs,boots & other parts I got from him a few years ago & I'll be ordering more stuff soon (hopefully soon), also be ordering parts from RB Motion (glad to see he got a website so I don't have to go through a catalog!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooneyzs Posted August 19, 2011 Author Share Posted August 19, 2011 Brad.... I have been waiting patiently for this engine kit. and now I can't wait to start digging into it. Back to the drawing board on the engine... well I do have plans for the engine I have started Rom... I have some plans thats for sure Richard... Been looking forward to getting one of these engines. and yes you are right that Charlie at Pro-Tech has some great parts. I need to make another order to RB Motion for some more fittings I didn't account for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edboys Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Chris, Visited this site tonight and noticed my friend Mike Garland mentioned my 426 Hemi engine and thought I would send you some pix that I have showing what was done to correct Revell's kit engine. Unfortunate that Mike got my email incorrect so that may explain your inability to reach me. Here's a couple of pix that should show my version of the elephant 426. I'm working up a couple of these engines for a couple of 1/16th builders and will have some more recent photos showing a complete engine that includes an Aurora style blower and injector along with valve covers. The engine has been modified to fit Aurora engine parts such as the blower and is sized for those parts. I think this version looks more correct and should look awesome in the rails of any vehicle that displays an open engine. Contact at mjaafd1@msn.com for more info. Mark Johnson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edboys Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Chris, Would be nice if I would click on the attach button to show you the pix. Sorry Mark Johnson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooneyzs Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 Hey Mark... I wanted to say thank you for swinging by here and checking out my thread and posting the pics of your 426 Hemi. I am Definitely interested in one of those engines. I will shoot you an email from my personal email addy. I was wondering why my emails didn't go thru and makes sense now. I have been going round and round on what I was going to use for an engine. Originally was going to go with the kits engine just because then was thinking of the Donovan 417 engine. and now seeing yours makes me wonder if that would be the better bet. You will see in the pics I post here in a few why I may change my mind yet once again...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooneyzs Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 (edited) Hello All... Â I know I haven't done much on this since last week and over the weekend I had family in town. so today was the first night I have touched this build since last week. I Have a little update but its not too much of an update. I did receive a Competition Resins Donovan 417 Engine in the mail today. so of course I had to break it open and check it out. Very nice kit and looks great. Now here is were I want to hear all of your opinions on what I should do. I am going to show you pics of both engines as well as a couple of pics of the engine in Prudhommes Army Vega Funny Car. I have also started on what I am calling the body piviot bracket don't have pics of it tonight but will have some of them tomorrow to show you guys. Â After receiving my Donovan Engine today, For some reason I wasn't aware of the location of the Distributor. So now I have a little dilema with which engine to go with. As well as with Mark Johnson posting pics of his Elephant 426 Hemi to show me. I am planning on ordering one of these 426 Elephant Hemi's as well. I will show you the pics of the engines and would like your guys' opinion on what you would go with. Â Â Here is the Competiton Resins Donovan 417 Engine: Â Â Â Â Â Here I set both the kit engine block up next to the Donovan Block: Â Â Â Â Â Here are a few shots of the Engine that is in the Army Funny Car: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â So after I was looking thru some of my reference pics I was noticing that the distributor on the Kits Hemi was located in the front like the pics. Well when I was ordering the Donovan engine I was unaware that the distributor was located on the back of the engine. And its ok if I don't use the Donovan in this build because I have another project that it will go in to...lol So now with that said. The one thing with the Donovan Engine is that it has valve covers that look almost identical to the valve covers that are on the Army Funny Car which I like better. After all of this looking at the reference pics and now seeing the Resin 426 Hemi from Mark Johnson I am thinking that maybe going the route of using the Elephant 426 Engine on this build. I was never able to find much reference material other than the pics I found off of Prudhomme's website which had some pics of this car but since he didn't run it but a very short while I was never able to run across more information on this car. I appreciate your guys opinions and help with this. Thanks Edited July 23, 2017 by Mooneyzs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romell R Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 in my opinion Chris stick with what you have , 1 the distributor is correct , 2 you already have detail work started on the kit engine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooneyzs Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 Thanks Rom... I was thinking about that as well since I have already have the engine started. I think one of the biggest things to make this look correct is the valve covers. I think that its one of the first things that would be noticed. All of the resin valve covers that I have bought which is about 4 or 5 different styles don't fit the kits heads that well but nothing says I can't modifiy them a little bit... Then my next choice is to modify a set of valve covers. Even if I was to go with the Elephant 426 Hemi. I would have a use for this block I have started in a Fiat Build I am planning on doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3men2s Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Don't misunderstand my quote. I knew the tires are too small in the kit, what I missed was the size difference in the diggers and funny car kits... got cha...my apology, I am sorry if I sounded critical, honestly was not my intention, I just cought part of what you were saying and brought out a beef I had with the Revell company and their problems making at least an attempt to make the right scale tires. on the 70's funny cars, specially the big scale....thanks for correcting me and my respects to all the members here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooneyzs Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 got cha...my apology, I am sorry if I sounded critical, honestly was not my intention, I just cought part of what you were saying and brought out a beef I had with the Revell company and their problems making at least an attempt to make the right scale tires. on the 70's funny cars, specially the big scale....thanks for correcting me and my respects to all the members here. I have to agree that revell should have made a better attempt at making the tires the right size. I am thankful that we have the aftermarket companies that we do to get parts from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comp1839 Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 FYI guys. the 426 chrysler hemi and the 417 donovan are totally different engines. the donovan is modeled after the 392. as far as i know ,in 1:1 nothing in these motors is interchangeable. most notable exterior changes are: the donovan has a rear cam driven dist. location. the 426 has a front driven. the donovan has the oil pump in the pan at the rear of the motor and the oil lines exit the right rear side of the block. the 426 has an external oil pump mounted on the left front of the block. the donovan heads have 6 valve cover bolts while the 426 has 10. the spark plug location on the right side of the cyl. center line on the donovan, while it is on the left side of center with the 426. everything else is different too but, i think these are some of the most noticeable differences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romell R Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 (edited) ENOUGH OF THIS I DEMAND TO SEE MORE PICS OF THIS FABULOUS BUILD!!! ...........I'm sorry did I just say that out loud ? Keep the updates coming Chris Edited August 23, 2011 by Romell R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gasser59 Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 ....I'm sorry did I just say that out loud ? Keep the updates coming Chris Yes, you did 'cause I heard it from here and I'm in agreement with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hOLMS Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Yep, I heard it too. Agreed, more pix please. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gasser59 Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 (edited) Chris - I'm sure you've seen Unraveling the Snake Pit on Straight Line Modeler but just in case, here's the link: http://www.straightl...g/snakepit.html There is a ton of reference for your era of funny car plus there's a bonus feature of additional pictures. Edited August 24, 2011 by gasser59 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edboys Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Chris, Are you duplicating the restored version or doing this car as it ran in the day? I believe the photos you have posted are as the car exists today...restored/rebuilt. As I understand the order of his vehicles, Prudhomme ran the Army Cuda and tried a new Vega body car which he didn't like, selling it Don Schumacher (Stardust Vega) and later went on to the Monza Funny Car. All of these cars carried the Army logo. Here are some photos that may help you decide if you are going to build the Vega as it was run in the early seventies. The valve covers on the Schumacher Vega are the same ones that Revell supplied in the kit and also match one of the sets I have done. Also take note that these are the same valve covers used on the Cuda. The valve covers on the Monza are like the ones in your research photos. So the call will be yours to make, but I do not have the later covers and you will have to either create those on your own or keep searching for someone who does offer them. As for your interst in using the Donovan 417 for this build it would not be correct as Prudhomme never used this engine. As mentioned in an earlier posting the 417 incorporated the use of 392 heads and is configured like a 392 Hemi. The short block assembly was totally redesigned for fuel use only and offered the very first direct application engine for the fuel classes. The 426 offered a better pattern to follow though. All fuel motors today follow up on the later elephant 426 design. Mark Johnson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooneyzs Posted August 24, 2011 Author Share Posted August 24, 2011 Brad... Thanks for the link. I have checked it out before and there is some cool stuff on there. Mark... the only pictures that I was able to find online was some of the Restored Version and thats what I have been using as reference and building it like. and guess since i started on that path I should stay on that one. I really liked the pics you added here the Vega that Prudhomme drove, the decals are also different from what I have. I had no idea that it was restored different from how it was ran. You learn something new everyday. I really appreciate all of the help with this. really wish I was able to find more pictures than what I have but I am making them work for me and having to make some assumptions on a fw things. And no worries on the valve covers I was beginning to think that I was going to have to scratch build them or start out with some and just modify them since I haven't had any luck finding ones that match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooneyzs Posted August 24, 2011 Author Share Posted August 24, 2011 (edited) ok So I was able to do a little more on this tonight. Not much but worked on the Body pivot hinge's. I started out drawing them up in my CAD program, printed them 1:1 and cut them out. I then used white glue to and glued them to the plastic. Then proceed to cut them out. I originally started out with some evergreen styrene that was .25" wide by 0.060" thick and also had .25" wide by 0.040" thick. After I had cut the 0.060" out I decided to do a search on these body hinges... and there was limited information that I found. On one site I was able to find some hinges and it gave the thickness of 3/8". well with the two sizes I was using 0.060" in 1/16th scale is equal to 0.96" and 0.040" is equal to 0.64". and to get a the part to be 3/8" in scale, it would need to be a size of 0.0234. I am thinking that .020" may be a tad too small and flimsy. So now my Dilema is which thickness to go with. Scale wise using the 0.060" seems just too big and well the 0.040" is closer to being the correct size and think it will be strong enough. I decided to hold off on gluing them in place because I needed to think what I wanted to do as well as ask all of you which way you would go if it was you. Thanks  Here is an image of them glued to the styrene and one of them cut out:      Got both of the .060" thickness cut out, and the ones that aren't cut out are glued to the .040" thick material:      Here I have set my jig back up and was going to set it up so I could get both parts mounted the same. on the left hand side is the 0.060" thick piece and on the right I am holding a 0.040" thick piece. I keep thinking that the .060" is just a tad to big scale wise:  Edited July 23, 2017 by Mooneyzs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brett Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Not that I think anyone will take a ruler or calipers to it............ If you think the .040 is strong enough go with that, it will look to be more in scale. You are doing such a great job on this it would be a shame for you to make concessions on parts you're not happy with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interceptor Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 I would have to agree with Brett here. In viewing your pic's, the 0.40 looks more real (to scale). My 2 cents. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooneyzs Posted August 24, 2011 Author Share Posted August 24, 2011 Hey Brett & Mark.... Thanks, I appreciate your guy's input on this. The only reason I would want to use the .060" is that it is a little beefier (is that a word.... LOL) and the .040" will definitely be more in scale and look more real. Tonight I am planning on getting another set cut out and hopefully I will get them glued or bolted to the chassis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuel Coupe Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Sometimes you need to sacrifice form for function. You can either thin down the .060 piece to .050 or just go with the .040. If it were me I would go with the .040. I really need to look into a cad program, your scratch built pieces are fantastic.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthehobbyguy Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 What about using aluminum. You could keep it to scale and if you run bolts into the frame it should be string. Bobthehobbyguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooneyzs Posted August 24, 2011 Author Share Posted August 24, 2011 Shane I hear you about that. It looking.like.i will go woth the. 040" if i stick eith plastic. Bob, it never dawned on me. To make it out of thin aluminum or brass. I may have to see if i have sone laying around. Thanks for that idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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