W-409 Posted July 21, 2011 Posted July 21, 2011 (edited) Starting a new project, but it's coming slowly... Bought The Jawbreaker Dragster, which has somekind of Sedan Body. It's cool looking, I think. It has Hemi engine with blower. The kit quality is Ok, but some parts have pretty much flash, and they need some cleaning. Also there are some need for putty in some places... Today I got engine halves together, but they need some filling and sanding before paint. Also must get building the frame. It's going to be very interesting build, but don't know, when it gets finished.... Some pictures about what's in the box can be found here: Photobucket album Edited July 26, 2011 by W-409
brett Posted July 21, 2011 Posted July 21, 2011 Niko, keep an eye out that your frame stays square,I've built a couple of these and know of quite a few more where as the build progress's the frame twists and you end up having a wheel in the air. I think its the steering (front assembly) that does it.
Tim Pentecost Posted July 22, 2011 Posted July 22, 2011 Niko, I believe that's based on the old Ramchargers kit. They just added a Bantam body on it. Kind of a crappy kit by todays standards. Like Brett says, pay attention for some warpage. TimP
W-409 Posted July 22, 2011 Author Posted July 22, 2011 Yes, must get it on four wheels, not tree (one in the air)... Hope this turns out good, and there's no that kind of mistakes, they are looking bad in Ok build... And yes, it might be based on the Ramchargers kit, I have that one too, and these have lots of same parts, and chrome tree seems to be just like Ramchargers'... That body will look cool on it's place, and that's why this is something different. Thanks for the comments, guys!
W-409 Posted July 25, 2011 Author Posted July 25, 2011 Some putty to inside the body. There were ugly ejector marks, so after sanding those might look good and more realistic. And Question!: I didn't get this point from the intructions, or any other. If I glue the body and its foor now to one piece, can I fit it on its place anymore, when the frame is completed? (Or being close completed) Hope that it's possible, otherwise it don't look good with that seam on the center of the body... Floor wasn't looking good either, so some putty there also... And the body ejector marks.
W-409 Posted July 26, 2011 Author Posted July 26, 2011 Some progress has been made, not too great, but I'm still making the progress. Sanded the putties smooth from inside the body parts, and floor. Now ready for primering them from this side, and then gluing those parts together should make some more sanding and filling, etc... Also engine block needed some putty, next step is sanding it smooth, and then some paint on it. Also the frame needs to be glued together.
brett Posted July 26, 2011 Posted July 26, 2011 (edited) I'm pretty sure you can glue it and fit it afterwards,its what I did with mine a few years ago Edited July 26, 2011 by brett
W-409 Posted July 27, 2011 Author Posted July 27, 2011 i think this kit's got the reputation for being the "ballbreaker" for a reason That's true :lol: ! Brett, thanks for the information, now I can glue them together without being worried about the final assembly. Your Dragster looks very good too, love the flames on it.
Old Coyote Posted July 27, 2011 Posted July 27, 2011 I preferred to use the Jawbreaker body on the Two Much chassis
W-409 Posted July 28, 2011 Author Posted July 28, 2011 Oh, that looks cool! The Two Much kit has a great chassis, but it's maybe bit too long for one engine, so I'll use them both. Otherwise only one engine would look good, but I don't want to shorten the frame. Your build is very nice, as always!
W-409 Posted August 15, 2011 Author Posted August 15, 2011 Frame glued together... It was really hard to get it fit, and it's bit warped. I'm going to give some heat to it, carefully and then it maybe starts to look better. This is something, I was bit afraid about.
6bblbird Posted August 15, 2011 Posted August 15, 2011 i think this kit's got the reputation for being the "ballbreaker" for a reason i'm curious too on the body and floor assembly as i'd rather build them as a unit and finish and paint them. i have some ideas for mine, just not the fire to do it yet. I almost forgot how much trouble this kit was to build! Seeing your photos just reminded me! The chassis was just horrible and took a lot of work and fudging to get it straight. Here is mine. Check out the name on the cowl! WF
W-409 Posted August 16, 2011 Author Posted August 16, 2011 Heh, the name of your dragster should fit much better to this. Great job overall with it. I'm going to add some heat to it and try to make it straight maybe today, tomorrow, or.... Well, soon anyway.
Greg Myers Posted August 20, 2011 Posted August 20, 2011 Hey, everybody, those were all very inspirational builds.
BigDaddy Posted November 3, 2011 Posted November 3, 2011 Hey guys.......this Jawbreaker kit is actually a re-release of the old MPC American Graffiti 2 John Milner dragster, from the mid-70's. Same exact kit. However, for this release they focused on the Fuel Coupe body rather than the FED. I would prefer the FED, as Ive built a few of the Milner kits. That kit even included parts for two engines, using the same basic block. Hemi heads and covers with the correct headers..... and as Milners 1:1 car was......a blown small block Chevy with correct SBC headers. The Jawbreaker kit is the exact same kit, minus the dragster shorty tailpiece body and SBC parts. Why the Milner kit included parts that we never saw in the movie, who knows......but they are all there. Full body, rear wing, fuel coupe body, interior tin, Hemi parts, etc. I would only imagine that they planned on some sort of alternate release by plugging the molds for the Milner parts. I dont believe there was ever an alternate release, however. The Milner kits, if you can find one, are rather rare and thus valuable today. Im sure licensing prohibits re-releasing the Milner kit. Paul LeMat has a hand in quite a bit that has to do with American Graffiti items. Still a neat kit, despite it's obvious shortcomings. Will build into a decent Fuel Coupe that represents the era, nicely. In my humble opinion, one can NEVER have enuff Front Engine Dragster kits to create some historic, and some fantasy race cars !!!!!!
Truck parts Posted November 4, 2011 Posted November 4, 2011 Guys , VERY nice job on your cars, I have one I'am going to rebuild someday, and thanks for the heads up on the fame.
High octane Posted November 4, 2011 Posted November 4, 2011 Thanks guys for posting your ball-buster dragsters as all of them look good. When I'll get to mine is anybody's guess.
Evil Appetite Posted November 4, 2011 Posted November 4, 2011 Niko, keep an eye out that your frame stays square,I've built a couple of these and know of quite a few more where as the build progress's the frame twists and you end up having a wheel in the air. I think its the steering (front assembly) that does it. Call it torque! hehe
W-409 Posted November 4, 2011 Author Posted November 4, 2011 Wow, interesting post by Joe! Great information. This project is waiting for busy builder. I'm having that '64 Corvette to finish today and then I'm trying to get Firebird FC ready. Maybe after them, I can continue this one (and some others too).
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