bobthehobbyguy Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Nice work. Glad to see more progress. Looking forward to more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doggie427 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Inspiring work as always Bill. Love the attention to detail and proportion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Speed, mostly. The dry lakes like Muroc, El Mirage and the rest didn't have long enough runs to get some cars as fast as they'd potentially go. El Mirage is still in use (Muroc is now Edwards Air Force Base) and the acceleration run is less than 1.5 miles. Bonneville gives you 3-5 miles to get up to speed, so cars capable of over 200MPH are more comfortable there. It's a little more exclusive, so I understand, to do a 200MPH run at Mirage, as the shorter runup takes more power, and the dry mud surface is said to be not as "fast" as the salt at Bonneville either. Less available traction on dry mud than hard-packed salt, so you see the difficulties with a shorter acceleration distance. I've been all over the world and the Bonneville Salt Flats was one of the most interesting environments. First, since it's vast nothingness, you lose your sense of perspective, because there is nothing to compare for reference. The mountains you see in the back ground of the photos never changes size no matter how far out you walk so you can't tell if they are a mile away or 100 miles away. There were people out on the salt so far away that they were ants but they didn't seem to be anywhere near the mountain base. Vast! The salt surface is very hard, you can't break it with your shoe. It looks like ice, but not the least bit slippery. It has a roughness like unsmoothed concrete, and feels like those abrasive slip strips you find on outdoor stairways. It is salt, so it attracts condensate from the air, so there will be small holes every so often filled with water, and sometimes puddles on the surface. They will have to evaporate because they are not going to melt into the salt! Just a very cool place! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 As always, I thank everyone for your continued interest in this thing. It does help me to keep it going and not go spinning off on some other project. And yes Tom, I got much the same impression of Bonneville as you did. Very unearthly, and distance has no visual reference like we're used to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Awesome progress and work Bill.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyrichard Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 nice progress ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted February 14, 2015 Author Share Posted February 14, 2015 Opened the rear deck for access to the water tank. Some cars like this of the period didn't run radiators, choosing to block off the grille for cleaner aerodynamics (as will this car). Some kind of cooling system was still necessary, so the solution was to run a water tank somewhere, often in the rear, with the water pumps circulating cool water from the tank through the engine. Even Mickey Thompson's 406 MPH 4-engined LSR streamliner used this system. Made up a louvered decklid from a Revell 5-window '32 part. No, it doesn't fit. Had to change the curvature, widen it, and shorten it at the top and bottom. The bomber seat will show through the hole in the hard tonneau. Made a match for the other side of the rear bellypan. I'm really getting to like the overall look of this thing, and it's coming out pretty much exactly as I'd envisioned it in the beginning. The old Ford wheels from Joker and vintage AMT tires are perfect for the front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Nice to see you making headway on this. Please keep it going . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intmd8r Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 (edited) Agreed-this build is coming together nicely. As a builder, it's always nice to get to this stage because you can start to see the end of the tunnel. I also share your pain with that deck lid. Seems like it only fits the 32 5 window body. I made similar mods when I retrofited that deck lid on to a Revell 32 3 window body. Who knew that they weren't the same? Edited February 15, 2015 by Intmd8r Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne swayze Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Glad to see you're working on this Bill. It's looking great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted February 15, 2015 Author Share Posted February 15, 2015 (edited) I made similar mods when I retrofited that deck lid on to a Revell 32 3 window body. Who knew that they weren't the same? The 5-window deck fits the Revell '32 roadster body (just as it does in real-life) if you open the deck on it. Black part on right is one of my fiberglass copies. Edited February 15, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy D Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Hi Bill, Nice to see you still working this one !! Like how you have the body todate, lokk forward to more progress! Randy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 ... The 'ol IMC / Testors rollers look good Bill. Keep us posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthehobbyguy Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Looking good. Glqd to see you are mak7ng progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrKerry Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Great work Bill!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyrichard Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 awsome coming together awsome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted February 15, 2015 Author Share Posted February 15, 2015 Thanks again for all the interest. Still a long way to go, but it is nice to see the vague outlines of the finished project in the far off distant future... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intmd8r Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 The 5-window deck fits the Revell '32 roadster body (just as it does in real-life) if you open the deck on it. Black part on right is one of my fiberglass copies. ] What can I say - the one and only time I made this modification, the two bodies were not the same. Anyways, not trying to hijack your post - keep up the good work. Look forward to the finished product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted February 16, 2015 Author Share Posted February 16, 2015 What can I say - the one and only time I made this modification, the two bodies were not the same. Anyways, not trying to hijack your post - keep up the good work. Look forward to the finished product. You're absolutely right in what you said in post 111...the louvered deck from the 5-window won't fit a 3-window. But it does fit the roadster. I should have been more careful to clarify that. And thanks for your continuing interest in my mashed-up mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 (edited) There was a big ol' crack in the RH side of the body, and it kept opening up while working on the thing, even after repeated gluing. Very small-area butt joint, zero strength. No possible way it would stay stable during bodywork. Made a patch panel to go inside the lower body. I want this thing to look good inside too, and the visible top seam of the patch will simply represent a stitched-in patch on a real body shell...one that had been pulled, rusted off along the bottom on one side, out of the junkyard. This has to be fitted carefully to keep the close fit with the bellypan. The bellypan rear-section got reinforced inside to tie all the parts together. Yes, it looks grotty inside, but this is only the plug for a fiberglass copy that will be on the final model. Moving along nicely on the shaping. Made a new windscreen mockup to fit the revised cockpit opening, and re-contoured the helmet fairing to work with the revised shape. Also started scribing in the panel lines for the nose and hood. Tail view shows the fairing, raised to clear the louvers, and acceptable fit of the deck. I went too fast doing the rough cuts on the decklid side extensions and cost myself more time filling some deep scratches as a result. That's it for today. Thanks for looking in. Edited February 23, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pim Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 nice will you open up the bonnet on the engine for this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 (edited) nice will you open up the bonnet on the engine for this? Yes sir. I forgot to mention it. The nose, hood (bonnet) top and two side panels, plus the hard tonneau and the helmet fairing will all open and be removable, and the decklid will be hinged. What's shown for all of those parts are "plugs" that will have molds pulled from them, and .020"-thick fiberglass copies made for the final model. Edited February 23, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrKerry Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 kool beans!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Can-Con Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I don't know how I missed this build before but I just read through the whole thing and really enjoyed it and learned some new things too. BTW, I recognize the frame you started with, it's from the old MPC "switchers" '32 Ford kits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterNNL Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Progressing very nicely!Proportions appear to be right on the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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