Jo-Han Ford Pinto Funny Car

[W-409]

This kit has the Mickey Thompson designed rear axle that is a combination of a Ford Quick Change rear axle and a two speed planetary "gearbox" designed all in one. Even though I'm not building this as Mickey's Pinto, I'm going with that axle anyway. 

The halves of the center section and the axle was all glued together first, then I smoothed out the seam between the halves with a little putty. Center section was painted with "Chrome silver" from spray can, axles are Humbrol's Metallic 56. I added some black wash to add some depth to the parts. For some reason it looks really "heavy" on the pictures, it's much more subtle when looking in person.

 

Frame was also clear coated with Mipa two part clear coat shot through an airbrush.

And the assembly has started, rear axle is mounted to the frame.

 

[Sledsel]

The size of that rear axle looks extreme and many have questioned it but it is correct. You did a great job detailing it. 

[W-409]

Thank You Andy, I appreciate the kind words!

I was also wondering about the rear axle at first, but a quick search in Google told me what it actually is. This is the thing I love about these old kits, they often have some obscure speed parts in them that most people of today have never seen.

 

Next up was the front axle. Axle, radius rods and tie rod all had quite heavy mold seams on them so the first step was to strip chrome plating off. Then I sanded all of the mold lines and other imperfections smooth and also had to fill a couple of ejector pin marks with putty on the front axle.

After that the parts were painted with primer and "chrome plated" with Revell's Chrome Spray. It makes an incredible chrome effect, but it doesn't like very much handling. I let the parts dry for a couple of days and then assembled them carefully. Front springs were black washed with Tamiya's Panel Line Accent Color.

 

Next I will need to finish the wheels and tires to get this on four wheels...

[W-409]

After prepping some parts for paint, I was able to paint inner wheels for front and rear, together with some blower parts for the engine. They're airbrushed with Alclad Magnesium on top of Alclad's Grey Primer & Microfiller.

Then it was time to put this thing on four wheels. On front everything was easy, just glue the inner wheels on place, install the wheels and tires and they were instantly sitting correctly on the axle. Rear was quite tricky however, rear brake fitment to rear wheel and to the axle was not that great. But after some fiddling I was able to get the rear tires sit properly so I glued them on place as well. Now that it's on four wheels, it's a lot easier to handle and the chrome plating will less likely be rubbed off from the front axle parts when handling the chassis.

 

[Bainford]

Nice clean work. This is going to be cool.

[Straightliner59]

Looking great, Niko! I really like your use of color, on the differential assembly. Well done!

[Zippi]

Looking good there Kilo.  That Alclad Magnesium looks the part on those wheels.

[dragcarz]

Beautiful work!

[W-409]

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the kind words.

Then it was time to continue working with the engine so that I can install it between the frame rails in the near future. Blower was installed and I gave that a light black wash too in order to try to make it look a bit more realistic. The magneto that comes with this kit, has molded in spark plug boots on the cap. But it would have been impossible to drill holes for plug wires on them, so I cut the spark plug boots away. New spark plug boots are by Pro Tech and plug wire is by Scale Productions (I think). They're not flawless, but I guess they never are.

 

[W-409]

After looking at some reference pictures, it looks like the Mickey Thompson Pinto has a tachometer drive taken from the crankshaft with a belt. Never seen one before, but I decided to fabricate a similar setup for my model. It's not really seen that well on the finished build, but it's there anyway.

The actual tachometer drive piece is built from two pieces of plastic rod. Really tricky to fabricate such a small parts, but in the end I was able to make it. Belt pulley is from my parts box, but I had to drill a bigger hole on it so that it goes properly on place. Mount is a photo etch part by Detail Master and the fitting on bottom where tachometer cable will be connected, is hex-shaped plastic rod. Belt is paper that I painted flat black.

It's not flawless, but it's pretty much hidden once the engine goes between the frame rails so I think it'll do its' job.

On another side of the engine I got the oil filter done. It's just orange from a spray can, a decal from Ted's Modeling Marketplace sheet and clearcoat on top.

 

Still some detail work to do before I can install the engine...

[Force]

On 11/12/2024 at 9:29 PM, W-409 said:

After looking at some reference pictures, it looks like the Mickey Thompson Pinto has a tachometer drive taken from the crankshaft with a belt.

I just looked at some of my pictures of Mickey Thompson cars and it looks like you're right, I have never noticed that before.
This is for sure doable if you have the gearing right, the tachometer is probably a regula mechanical wire driven piece meant to be driven by the distributor and it's the drive itself that's different.
I have never seen one myself until now but you can see it in these pictures I've found on internet so credit goes to the original photographers.

[W-409]

13 hours ago, Force said:

I just looked at some of my pictures of Mickey Thompson cars and it looks like you're right, I have never noticed that before.
This is for sure doable if you have the gearing right, the tachometer is probably a regula mechanical wire driven piece meant to be driven by the distributor and it's the drive itself that's different.
I have never seen one myself until now but you can see it in these pictures I've found on internet so credit goes to the original photographers.

Yep, the drive itself is probably the only thing that is different than what we're used to see on these mechanical tachometers. I've also never seen one of those things anywhere, but like you said, it probably worked fine with the right gearing.

 

Next I thought it's time to install the engine between the frame rails. There's still bunch of engine work to do, but I think all the rest can be done while the engine is mounted. Rear engine plate had some ejector pin marks that needed to be filled with putty. After sanding and primer, the plate was painted with "Chrome Silver" from a spray can.

Bellhousing was airbrushed with Alclad Pale Burnt Metal. The color is exactly what I was looking for. Then I added a slight black wash around the mounting bolts.

Before the engine installation, I glued blower belt and pulleys and a fuel pump to the engine. Then on first test fit, I noticed that the engine doesn't sit straight on the frame, passenger's side valve cover was a lot lower than driver's side one. After a while figuring out what's wrong, I thought the best way to fix it would probably be adding a little material to passenger's side engine mount. A couple of pieces of sheet styrene cut to shape, carefully sanded smooth and painted with silver, did the job. Now engine sits properly on the frame. Bellhousing and driveshaft cover were also installed.

 

[dragsterguy]

Looking good. These Johan FC's are surprisingly accurate though I don't care for the transaxle, it was what M/T built into the car.

Doing great!

[Straightliner59]

Very nice work, Niko! That tach drive is definitely unique!

[gtx6970]

On 11/16/2024 at 1:39 AM, Force said:

I just looked at some of my pictures of Mickey Thompson cars and it looks like you're right, I have never noticed that before.
This is for sure doable if you have the gearing right, the tachometer is probably a regula mechanical wire driven piece meant to be driven by the distributor and it's the drive itself that's different.
I have never seen one myself until now but you can see it in these pictures I've found on internet so credit goes to the original photographers.

THAT is A KILLER photo 

[BK9300]

Great fabrication work - very precise!