Stacey David's Rat Roaster by : REVELL

[keyser]

Doesn’t seem much work to make this:

https://www.mecum.com/lots/FL0119-359622/1932-ford-mcmullen-roadster/

[tim boyd]

8 hours ago, Dennis Lacy said:

....  his roadster is an identity crisis.  

As Dennis said above, "...his roadster is an identity crisis." Couldn't agree more.  Not one of the many (at that time) hot rod mags featured his original 1/1 car to my knowledge.  Which is a pretty good sign of how it was viewed by most of the hot rod cognoscenti, Dennis and I included.  

Revell has long been looking at ways to repurpose their original tooling investment here.  I pitched converting it to the McMullen roadster as a hail Mary, but many issues, starting with where to go to get copyright approval, killed that idea before it ever got off the ground.  I think this version pictured above is a very nice resolution, and I predict it will sell well to scale hot rod enthusiasts....

TIM   

Edited April 11, 2022 by tim boyd

[Ace-Garageguy]

Looks great. I want some. 

Damm...it just never stops.   

[Fat Brian]

The Rat Roaster looks like a car designed for TV by a guy with a mullet. The improvements are very nice, if it still has the stacks with the air cleaners on top I'll get a couple more. 

[OldNYJim]

I'll be interested to see if they update that airbagged rear end - have we seen shots of the rear suspension yet?

[niteowl7710]

3 minutes ago, CabDriver said:

I'll be interested to see if they update that airbagged rear end - have we seen shots of the rear suspension yet?

Again the only new parts are the ones show on the CAD drawing. The windshield, interior parts and exhaust. Otherwise it's the same kit.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Looking forward to getting at least one of these. The new oarts look cool.

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

On 4/10/2022 at 2:34 PM, keyser said:

Doesn’t seem much work to make this:

https://www.mecum.com/lots/FL0119-359622/1932-ford-mcmullen-roadster/

It would be easier to start with the original 'Rat Roaster' version of the kit with the stock windshield and body with the mounting location divots for the windshield than the new rendition. -RRR

[Plowboy]

Has anyone noticed that the radius arm mounts on the McMullen roadster are chrome and bolted to the frame? 

[tim boyd]

13 hours ago, Plowboy said:

Has anyone noticed that the radius arm mounts on the McMullen roadster are chrome and bolted to the frame? 

Yep, one of the very distinctive features of the McMullen roadster.  But not so safe, and also, from what I've read (and my own view as well), that's the one thing many would change had they built the roadster themselves....

TIm 

[Ace-Garageguy]

On 4/12/2022 at 10:27 PM, tim boyd said:

 ...But not so safe...

Four, correctly-sized bolts in single-shear not safe? I'm curious as to the basis of reasoning here

Not the way I'd do it either, but with tight holes and adequate fasteners there's no safety issue I'm aware of...though I'd need the specifics on the fasteners to run the actual numbers.

Ungraded hardware-store bolts made of Chinesium could be a problem, but real grade 5 fasteners, assuming again they're correctly sized and installed, should be fine.

Granted, a single bolt in a loose hole, as illustrated below, could lead to failure...but that's not the obvious case in this car..

Edited April 15, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy

[tim boyd]

9 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Four, correctly-sized bolts in single-shear not safe? I'm curious as to the basis of reasoning here

Not the way I'd do it either, but with tight holes and adequate fasteners there's no safety issue I'm aware of...though I'd need the specifics on the fasteners to run the actual numbers.

Ungraded hardware-store bolts made of Chinesium could be a problem, but real grade 5 fasteners, assuming again they're correctly sized and installed, should be fine.

Granted, a single bolt in a loose hole, as illustrated below, could lead to failure...but that's not the obvious case in this car..

I'm not an engineer, so I defer to your expertise on this.  Still, I would personally take a steel welded frame bracket mounted radius rod connection (as on current quality rod builds) over a bolt-on bracket any day.  Keeping mind that Tom's car was constructed in the mid-late 1950's (at least the chassis part, if I am remembering correctly), the design would be accepted protocol for hot rods at the time, and there would not have been issues with Far East sourced hardware as you point out.  I do recall clearly that the bolt-on brackets, in both design and appearance, were at the time and remain today the least-liked part of the car as viewed by the hot rod cognoscenti.   TB