ramchargers build

[dragcavy]

does anyone have any good photos of the aa dragster that MPC put out some time back for reference material. Also, Ive seen many scratch make their oown frames for dragsters, pro mods, etc. Can someone tell me as how you guys are going about a good fit between joints Are you creating a coping on the end or are u just letting the liqid cement melt the edge?

[High octane]

I was going to build the Ramchargers dragster myself until 1320 released a die-cast one which I was able to pickup.

[dragcarz]

These are fron July 1965 Rodding & Restyling Magazine.

[Scott Colmer]

Good luck on the Ramchargers build. I did one several years ago. I modified the existing chassis. Yes, you need to fish mouth the ends with a rat tail jewelers file. That and some liquid cement and you will have a good bond.

As you can see from Rogers pics, you will have to cut off the rear cowl to get the correct look. The art on the MPC box is of a long nose dragster. The car in the kit is actually of a shorter earlier version of their dragster. I wish I had found Roger's pics when I was doing my build. My pics are below, I really struggled with figuring out the rear of the car. Also note the injector scoop. Different from the kit. The kits moulded in front axel weights are also not on the real car.

Scott

Hosted on Fotki

Edited April 9, 2012 by Scott Colmer

[dragcavy]

wondering if there is anyone who would have a casting or spare of the 4 butterfly blower cap seen in the photos above. I believe you can find that blower cap from the johan olds 442 funny car kit.

[AZ Boy]

Comp Resin sells the Crower four butterfly injector.

[dragcavy]

well im hoping someone can help. Ive tried to reference photos and cant seem to find anything that can help. does anyone know how the fuel lines were run from the pump to the carbs in this early aa dragster?

[dragcarz]

_{Ok Guys be kind, I'm no artist...that said in 1965 fuel systems were very simple, it was'nt until the 'Surfers' that fuel systems got interesting. Ramchargers ran a Hilborn Injector and Pump. The Injector had 8 Nozzels, four each side. the Barrel valve/fuel block was mounted to the right side of the injector. the diagram is the injector from the bottom. The 1/8 inch I.D. black braided fuel lines would run from the fuel block to these 8 nozzels. 4 probably from the inside of the fuel block and 4 from the rear. The Main fuel line probably 3/8 inch I.D. would have ran from the front or the bottom of the fuel block. This line would have also been black braided line. The fuel line from to the inlet of the fuel pump would also have been 3/8 inch I.D. The fuel shutoff could have been on the front of the pump or placed between the pump and the fuel inlet. Confused??? I hope the diagrams help you can contact me directly if you want to.}

Edited April 20, 2012 by dragcarz

[dragcarz]

sorry forgot diagrams

[dragcavy]

thanks a bunch. This will get things movin now. Ive been thru about 50-75 photos of other cars from google to cracklefest videos and you never really get a idea since some are updated nostalgias and some ran a completely different setup.

[dragcavy]

here's a pic of some of the progress. It may not look like much but all the linkage has been remade, working on new exhaust from brass tubing, detailed motor(just waiting on blower cap, and scratched the front axle.

[dragcavy]

here is a better look at the pulleys i cast.

[dragcarz]

I love it...It looks great. how did you cast the pullys?

[dragcavy]

awhile back i purchased some pulleys milled from alumunium. Since these are good parts to have at any time i used Alumilite mold material then once cured use Smooth Cast resin. That stuff works great and has just the right curing time if you are like me and want a quality part in a short amount of time. The only word of caution is that the wall thickness is very thin so pulling the parts out is a little tedious. If you dont wait till fully dry or pull parts out on an angle it tends to distort the pulley especially the one that you see on the bottom of the motor.

[dragcarz]

I've had some wheels I've wanted to cast but not had the courage to tackle it as yet. I dont get a lot of build time either, didnt finish a model last year and only finished one the year before. My list of builds is really long. One other thing about the Ramcharger car... the stripes were candy red but the Lettering was regular red, so it you paint the red stripes candy and use decals for lettering the car will be pretty accurate, but it may look more uniform if decals are used for both stripes and lettering.

[dragcavy]

Casting wheels is a little more tedious since you will have to create a two part mold. I'm learning

as I go myself

Edited April 21, 2012 by dragcavy

[Scott Colmer]

Darren,

Looks like you are taking this full tilt. Great work so far. Some Photo etched front wheels are in order. You can get them from MAS or Herb Deeks. Here is a link to how they look. Keep going , you are doing great. I think you will better my efforts.

Scott

http://public.fotki.com/Scottcolmer/race_cars/front_end_ok.html

[dragcavy]

thanks scott, yea wheels are on order from MAS and just received cast parts from comp resins. Ive been kicking around the idea of a driver in the cocpit. Something to really tie it all together. There isnt as much going on in this build as far as detail just because things were less complex ie fuel system delivery and etc. Just a nice clean build of a nostalgia.

[dragcarz]

Darren, any progress this weekend ?

[dragcavy]

[dragcavy]

_{not a whole lot of progress but some. I managed to place comp resin 60's era driver into seat but need to rework the legs. right now they go directly into the pumpkin and if im not mistaken dont they run over the top if the diff axle shafts? The other photo show a dry fit of the motor with the scratch fuel pump in place. I had to open the front cowl just a little more to be able to fit that motor with the pump in there. I also received my wheels from MAS but am sad to say need to go back due to the outer rings that make up the rim had too high of a side wall. Im assured by terry that he will send a new pair. Otherwise just slow and steady. hope to have in primer by the weekend and some white. Also received the right 4 butterfly blower cap for the car so im in the process of running the fuel lines.}

Edited April 30, 2012 by dragcavy

[dragcarz]

Thanks for update..... yes drivers legs go over differential, the driver will add a lot to this build keep up the good work.

[dragcavy]

Ok im hoping someone can lead me into a direction now. I managed to get the car into primer then base coat gloss white so I could get the decals on. Well thats when things went south. I cut the stripes back as to not have any decaled edges that werent red just due to some discoloration once placed on the pure white body. the problem was when i applied the ramchargers decals to the sides as usual i use a setting solution. Things went down well with no problems. Added some solvaset to the decal and didnt seem to really permeate or soften the decal but i figures i give it some time. I came back 45 min later and around the lettering i had wrinkles that were quite noticable and despite any application of heat or further applications as well as burnishing the decals i could not "iron" them out. Its as if the paint underneath shrunk but really wasnt the paint. Well 2 hrs later and the body was stripped and in primer but have come to a delema that there is no decals aftermarket for this bodystyle. Ive thought of some ideas but really havent been able to come up with something that would work so im asking if anyone has any advise on what to do. Ive been thru the slixx decals but everything seems move oversized for this car.

[dragcavy]

Ok guys, thought id get you imput on this. After looking all over for anything that would work i came up with a "what if" design. I tried to keep it retro and used a slixx decal sheet from don schumachers plymouth cuda. I figured i keep it mopar and didnt want to have to disassemble the block to repaint it again. let me know what u guys think.

[dragcarz]

I havent been on here in a while, I have a set of Ramchargers decals you can have send me your address if your still interrested.