"Nitro Jr." - Late 60's Junior Fueler

[Bernard Kron]

“Nitro Jr.” - Late 60’s Style Junior Fueler

Chassis & Drive Train, Interior Details:

AMT Digger ‘Cuda

Slicks & Rear Tires:

Revell Tony Nancy Double Dragster Kit

“Shorty” Style Body:

Altered States Models

Motor:

Block, heads, pan and accessory drive – Revell Skipper’s Critter; Hilborn Injectors – AMT Double Dragster; Detailed Hilborn injector pump – Altered Sates Models; Injector stacks – Parts By Parks; Magneto – Morgan Auto Detail; Scratch-built exhaust manifolds

Paint:

Body - Duplicolor Platinum Pearl Metallic with Duplicolor Metallic Maroon stripes; Chassis: Duplicolor Orange Mist Metallic; Interior – Testors Acryl British Crimson; “Nitro Jr.” Logo – Home made decal

As the front engine dragster reached its peak in the late 60’s the Top Eliminator ranks included the Junior Fueler, an ultra-light machine running fuel injected motors on heavy doses of nitromethane capable of running in the 7’s at speeds of over 200 mph and often weghing less than a 1,000 pounds. Junior Fuelers, when properly driven, would regularly beat blown big block AA fuel dragsters and were quite capable of taking home Top Eliminator honors.

Besides the allure of their underdog status and incredible efficiency, they were also among the prettiest cars of the era with clean, simple lines. As a result they were often featured at custom car shows where they would be decked out in fancy paint jobs and plenty of chrome.

This is my take on these cars as they existed in their final evolution at the end of the decade, with the extra long wheelbase of the period. The basis for the project was an AMT Digger ‘Cuda kit I picked up on clearance at my LHS. It offered up its chassis and running gear, although I substituted slicks and rear wheels from a Revell Tony Nancy Double Dragster kit, which are more correct. The pretty little resin “shorty” style body is courtesy of Altered States Models and is a beautifully executed casting. Altered States also supplied the finely detailed Hilborn fuel injector pump. A Revell Skipper’s Critter kit supplied most of the motor with fuel injectors from the AMT Double Dragster kit and injector stacks by Parts By Parks. I designed the “Nitro Jr.” logo in Photoshop and made my own decal.

The w.i.p. can be found here: http://www.modelcars...opic=47586&st=0

Thanx for lookin’,

B.

A few more pics:

[Sixx]

Cool!!!!!

[Rob Z]

That really turned out SWEET!!! The pain and engine detail is beautiful...

[brett]

fantastic job Bernard

[funhouse1]

LOVE that! Great job.

[Fuel Coupe]

Nice as usual

[Bernard Kron]

Thanx everyone!!! One of my first attempts at this cleaner, more detailed way of doing race cars, more like some of the great builders I admire on the MCM board.

[surfjunke]

Great job, Bernard! Looks really cool.

[krazyglu]

Wow amazing build...I love everything about it.

[W-409]

Nice to see Front Engine Dragster. This one looks real good. Engine detailing is really nice, and I like that driver's "cabin". Injector stacks are looking very realistic. One little minus comes from those front wheels, but I know that they are really tricky to make look good. I have to use them on my Dragsters also, 'cause I have no money to buy photo etch parts.

[Raul_Perez]

Very nice, Bernard!!

The whole thing looks GREAT!!

Later,

[Bernard Kron]

Once again, thanks so much everyone!

[bbowser]

Please add my compliments! Great job, love those diggers.

[Dr. Cranky]

Love it, great job!

[crazyjim]

I believe there was a fuel injected small block Chevy powered rail called Giant Killer that ruled that class.

[Bernard Kron]

Thanx again, guys!!!! :)

I believe there was a fuel injected small block Chevy powered rail called Giant Killer that ruled that class.

That was the Marsh-Steffey-Logghe car, from around 1965, the first Jr. Fueler to run in the 7’s. It weighed just over 1,000 lbs. on the line!

Edited September 21, 2011 by Bernard Kron