XR-6 (glue bomb restoration) Update 1/18/17

[lordairgtar]

I have a minty fresh double kit of the Tognotti T and the Wild Dream I want to undertake. My XR/6 is just a couple of glue bomb parts bags I want to do.

[alan barton]

Steve, good luck on your build. It is a very cool model and staggeringly accurate in most aspects. I missed the interior depth problem so I guess I will just have to get shorter drivers for it!

At the risk of sounding like the world's worst name dropper, a few years ago Tex visited Perth Western Australia to attend our annual hot rod show. Through a unexpected series of events he ended up staying at our home for several days - what an honour! I have a photo of him standing with me in my model room holding my finished kit in his hands. He also autographed my copy of the Hot Rod magazine that had it on the cover.

He told me some fascinating stories about building the car. At the risk of contradicting Tom (sorry mate!) he said the motor came from Hot Rod or Motor Trend magazine - it was sent to them for photographing and Chrysler didnt want it back. He also said the side draft Webbers came from Carroll Shelby himself - he had ordered a bulk quantity for his Cobras but the Italian factory sent side drafts instead of the necessary downdrafts.

He said the initial bodywork was done by a well-known Hollywood related kustom builder (you can work it out) but it was all in lead and horribly overweight. It was later given to another well known customizer who remade many of the panels in aluminium.

I asked him about the absence of the louvers in the nose of the car. He had no idea why they were left out as they were in the car right from the start. He said the colour was candy tangerine but my model is Testors candy red over silver becasue it matched the colours as I saw them on the magazine cover.

I dont know if this will help you with your belly pan/roll pan dilemna. I hated the idea of trying to cleanly glue candy apple painted panels together so I went about it this way.

The rear axle is virtually invisible on the finished model so instead of installing the kit part I simply installed a piece of appropriate sized Evergreen tubing. I cant remember exactly but I think I made some simple sheet plastic mounts to lock it in place.I seem to recall that I left the trailing arms and driveshaft out as well - trust me they are invisible. I then painted the chassis as an assembled unit.

I then glued the body together around the assembled chassis. It pays to leave the firewall/wiring panel off the interior for now and then I think I also shaved just enough off the top edges to allow the i interior tub to slide in an out after painting. Take some time to test fit this prior to painting. It was pretty tight but it didnt cause any damage .

I then made a paint stand out of a simple wooden plank with two uprights in the middle. The uprights had holes drilled in them to allow a piece of stiff wire to be fed through one upright, through the afore-mentioned tubing replacement for the rear axle and through the opposite upright. The car is now suspended securely like a trapeze artist.

At each end of the plank I drilled hole and fitted a vertical piece of coathanger wire. To paint the car it should be suspended horizontally the right way up with the underside of the nose carefully balanced on the vertical piece of coathanger wire. Next rotate the car 180 and check that it now rests upside down with the opposite piece of vertical coathanger wire supporting the inner surface of the engine bay belly pan.

I hope all this makes sense. After masking off the engine bay (I left it silver base coat) basically, you sit the car the right way up and apply your candy colour coat to all the visible surfaces. Give it a few minutes to tack up and then ever so gently swing the body up and over to rest upside down on the other end (inside the engine bay) and spray all the under surfaces. As you would know, trying to paint a candy colour evenly is a nightmare at the best of times, and more so with a full bellypan. This way the only separate panel you have to paint is the hood! It worked for me!

The only other challenge I recall was that the real car has a shaped aluminium trim running along the base of the windshield. I covered the bottom of the windshield with BMF and then marked a line about 1.5 mm up with a fine point marker. I then held my breath, prayed to the modelling gods and freehand cut on the line with a new blade. Ten seconds never felt so long but I got away with it without skidding across the windshield and it is the finishing touch in my eyes.

Hope that helps!

Alan

[RancheroSteve]

Alan - thanks for the history and detailed write-up. I haven't quite figured out the paint stand thing for this build yet - I'll get there soon.

Yes, I've realized that a lot of the chassis won't show when the model is finished (a shame really), but my thought is to do a moderate level detail job on it and at least take some reasonable photos of it before final assembly. Then at least I can prove it's under there!

I've noticed that the kit windshield isn't very accurate to begin with, so my idea is to make a new one from scratch - from a thinner gauge plastic and without the side wraparound - with the trim as a separate piece which could be foiled or painted with Alclad.

[alan barton]

My pleasure Steve, I'll have to go and check my build to see what I did with the windshield - it was about ten years ago.

Just a thought on the Parts Pack wheels - you couldn't go wrong using them for now and replacing them with the real thing if and when they turn up.

Cheers

Alan

[alan barton]

O.K., I just went and checked mine in the cabinet. Yep, I cut the side wrap arounds off. I also remembered that the only real fit problem I had with the entire model was the side pipes. They wanted to point everywhich way but level. I ended up drilling a tiny hole in the back of the pipes and supergluing a small pin into the pipe. A matching hole in the body and I was able to coerce it into place. I remember that it was quite teeth-gnashing at the time, what with a completed paint job and all!

I'll see if I can take a photo tomorrow if that would help.

Cheers

Alan.

[RancheroSteve]

Alright, I realize it's been a little while, but I got inspired to pick this one up again. The frame is now done (although I might change the color slightly) and the engine block is in primer:

I made a firewall hoop with braces and a mount for the master cylinder.

Also attached the rear suspension link mounts and the panhard bar mount to the chassis.

Lots and lots of test fitting and working out ways of getting everything to fit and key in together - I added some locating pins to the belly pan so that the frame doesn't slide back and forth.

[Mr. Metallic]

Nice to see someone build one of these up, even better that you're saving an old built-up. Now that you're back at it I'll be following along. I have an unbuilt one, and when Tim Boyd did his article a couple years ago I decided I need to build mine (still haven't though)

[Ace-Garageguy]

I always enjoy seeing a sleeping project get up and get going again. Looking good.  

[Mirada]

Get work! I love this kit, and just added a new topic about an older build I did of the whole 1927 T Double Kit. I don't think my building skills (or photo skills!) match yours, based on the excellent work you've shown so far, so I'm going to be watching your topic anxiously of more updates. 

[RancheroSteve]

Nice work there, Tom - and a good idea to build two versions of the XR-6.

I realize I'm going to be putting some detail into the chassis that won't be visible once the body is on (and I can't really think of a way to make it prototypically removable), but at least I'll have photos.

[vintagercr]

I will be watching with interest as I have 3 built ups I can restore

[stavanzer]

Re, the Slant Six Engine.

The late Bob Paeth told me the same the same story back in 2008, that Tom Geiger tells. Oddly he also included the detail about Chrysler not wanting it back, that Alan Barton mentions. I think there is a nugget of truth in here somewhere. Bob P. was telling the story gleefully, finding humor in the fact the same Real Engine served as a model for both Revell and AMT.

[Tom Geiger]

Part of the Bob Paeth story was that the engine was a door stop in Jim Keeler's office at Revell.  The story was that Tex came to visit Revell and saw it in Jim's office.  Both Bob and Tex are gone, but Keeler is an email away.  We should ask.  It's a shame that these stories will be lost to history as time goes on!

BTW, Alan Barton and I are old friends.  He and his wife spent a week with us here in Pennsylvania a few years ago.  Our wives laughed that we were "brothers from another mother" since we were so alike.   We went to a swap meet in New Jersey and we each came out of there with a Rambler wagon promo... without consulting each other!  

 

[RancheroSteve]

Thanks for the interest, guys. I've made a little more progress.

Most of the rear suspension was broken, missing, or melted from too much glue, so I am am doing a low-buck scratch build of what's needed. I made some coil-overs from pen springs, three different diameters of aluminum tubing, and straight pins. Suspension links were made from 1/16" aluminum tubing. I was able to save the center section of the rear end, and made new axle tubes and ends. I added a bracket for the Panhard bar (which I'll make later). The brackets for the four link came from the front end of an old Monogram "Snake" funny car that's in my junkyard.

Most of this (except part of the coil-overs) won't be seen on the finished model, so I'll be holding it all together with pins, rather than fancy bolts.

[Phildaupho]

Hey Steve - Very well done " low-buck scratch build ". Great looking coil-overs.

[mk11]

I was planning to use the Parts Pack wheels on my build - the originals have a bad case of tire melt damage. I haven't decided yet if the bolt issue is worth fixing; it's probably not a detail most people would notice or care too much about. It looks like the knock-offs are slightly different, to

If you haven't resolved the wheel issue, Steve, the wheels in the imc mustang ll look pretty close. I think I've got a spare set if needed.

 

mike

[RancheroSteve]

If you haven't resolved the wheel issue, Steve, the wheels in the imc mustang ll look pretty close.

Indeed they do - thanks for the tip, Mike!

I was planning on using the Parts Pack wheels (which I have), but I still need to decide what to do about the 4/5 bolt issue. I suspect I'll end up "re-drilling" as needed.

[RancheroSteve]

More progress: I re-painted the frame (more orange), painted the engine & trans, and installed it in the frame. I'll add all the remaining engine parts later, as it would have been difficult or impossible to get it in under the cowl framing if it had been fully assembled. I made a drive shaft and painted it and the rear end with Alclad.

After a few adjustments to my rear suspension parts, everything fit together!

Thanks for looking.

[Rider]

Looking real good, keep it up.

[RancheroSteve]

I'm dividing time between several builds, but I've made some progress. I've re-worked the front suspension and steering - added better spindles and tie rods - and combined everything into a single unit. Shot it with Alclad this morning and painted the steering boots flat black.

Here's the unit positioned on the frame:

Brakes are next.

[Davewilly]

Looking Pretty good!

[RancheroSteve]

Yeah,  I realize it been a while so I can't blame you if you've forgotten about this one, but I'm making progress! I taped the body parts together and got it painted:

Onward!

[alan barton]

Great to see this back on the forum, Steve.  I think most of us have some long standing UFOs so every time an old project returns to these pages it prompts us to get our own projects done!  Can't wait to see the finished item.

Cheers

Alan

[george 53]

Wow just noticed this! Seein the dates this rascal HAS been gestatin a while now, but it is lookin good! Gonna stay with it to see how it comes out, as I have a mint unbuilt kit an I'd like to use your tips to bjild it! Thanks!

 

[Foxer]

I'm cheering you on!

Always want but never did build this one.