Codi Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Really taking her shape now Bill. It's a stunning car to say the least. Cheers, Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthehobbyguy Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Nice work. Great to see all of the great work going into this. Looking forward to seeing more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogfish_7 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Some awesome building going on here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 I do believe our buddy Bill may actually finish this one ! Keep er' goin' Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnbuzzed Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 And here I thought it was going to be styrene with filler to shape and mold- silly me! With all the thought and effort you've been putting into this, it should be killer when it's done. Keep it going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Coming together Bill, nice progress.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted February 28, 2015 Author Share Posted February 28, 2015 (edited) Again, thanks to everyone who's commented for your interest and encouragement. Started to do the plug wires, as she's getting a Vertex mag and I need to see where the wires can run and clear all the pulleys, carbs, etc. These Revell heads are nice, but it's a bugger to drill them for wires. Careful careful. While I was looking at the heads, I decided I'd really like to have the heads themselves done in an as-cast aluminum finish and the rocker covers done in a polished finish. Problem: the heads and valve rocker covers are molded in one piece on these Revell units. I don't want to mask little fiddly stuff like that and get poor color separation. Hmmm. Solution: cut the rocker covers off, and make new separate heads. That will make it easy to relocate the water outlets to the center of the heads too, which I'd prefer as this car has a water tank in the tail. So, here's one rocker cover liberated from the rest of the head and squared-up on the bottom surface. New head getting there. Second one going together from styrene stock bits. This will also let me clean up a couple of things I don't like about these heads. Though they're really very nice, for this car, I want just a bit better (without buying the beautiful R&M parts). [/u The Revell heads don't fit the flathead block exactly right, and with the Vertex mag in front, plus the water pumps and pulleys, everything is a little tight. My new heads will fit more correctly. Edited February 28, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Lacy Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Bill, this project is ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! One of the best looking and best proportioned lakes roadsters in scale I've ever seen. Years ago I did similar with the Revell ARDUN heads. I managed to separate the valve covers from the head portion by scribing with the back of a #11 blade just under the valve cover lip. Hosted on Fotki End result: Hosted on Fotki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted March 1, 2015 Author Share Posted March 1, 2015 Bill, this project is ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! One of the best looking and best proportioned lakes roadsters in scale I've ever seen. Thanks Dennis. Coming from a guy who builds the real deal on the left coast, that means a lot. Your Ardun mod looks great. Did you do the top-shift mod on the gearbox too? I don't recall seeing one in a kit. I spent most of yesterday researching Ardun installations...specifically angle-drives for the Vertex / Scintilla magneto (which will have to clear the water pump belts, kinda tricky), and early post-war blower and FI parts. I was originally intending to go with 8, 1-barrel carbs on this, but the linkage would be a nightmare and slow the build even more. Then started thinking about an early GMC 3-71 blower setup, but to be right, it would take a multiple V-belt drive, and that would require machining pulleys...again, too much sideways time. Stu Hilborn's mechanical fuel injection did exist at this time, but probably wasn't available as an Ardun bolt-on. Still, guys in those days weren't shy about fabricating and even casting their own parts, so it's entirely possible that, in the time period this model represents, some enterprising rodder / pattern maker could have cast up a set of injector bodies for an Ardun, and used Hilborn guts. It's important to me to make the car historically possible (something that COULD have been built with then-current and available parts and technology). The Hilborn setup vastly simplifies the throttle linkage, will clear the hood with no bubble (not knowing what induction setup I was going to use prevented finishing the hood), and makes the belt / pulley question a non-issue. The Hilborn setup also will work nicely with the center coolant ports I want to use on the heads, which could be an important factor in a lakes car. The last trick was finding a pair of parts-box bits with the right port-spacing to work on the Ardun...which I did, some old log manifolds from something unknown that I'll rework into presentable Hilborn injector bodies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyrichard Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 awsome !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill_67 Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 This is a very cool build, and that motor gonna look good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exesivefire Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 I think my favorite part of your builds is my personal learning while watching you take the time to make sure it's possible for this to exist in 1:1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Lacy Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Thanks Dennis. Coming from a guy who builds the real deal on the left coast, that means a lot. Your Ardun mod looks great. Did you do the top-shift mod on the gearbox too? I don't recall seeing one in a kit. I spent most of yesterday researching Ardun installations...specifically angle-drives for the Vertex / Scintilla magneto (which will have to clear the water pump belts, kinda tricky), and early post-war blower and FI parts. I was originally intending to go with 8, 1-barrel carbs on this, but the linkage would be a nightmare and slow the build even more. Then started thinking about an early GMC 3-71 blower setup, but to be right, it would take a multiple V-belt drive, and that would require machining pulleys...again, too much sideways time. Stu Hilborn's mechanical fuel injection did exist at this time, but probably wasn't available as an Ardun bolt-on. Still, guys in those days weren't shy about fabricating and even casting their own parts, so it's entirely possible that, in the time period this model represents, some enterprising rodder / pattern maker could have cast up a set of injector bodies for an Ardun, and used Hilborn guts. It's important to me to make the car historically possible (something that COULD have been built with then-current and available parts and technology). The Hilborn setup vastly simplifies the throttle linkage, will clear the hood with no bubble (not knowing what induction setup I was going to use prevented finishing the hood), and makes the belt / pulley question a non-issue. The Hilborn setup also will work nicely with the center coolant ports I want to use on the heads, which could be an important factor in a lakes car. The last trick was finding a pair of parts-box bits with the right port-spacing to work on the Ardun...which I did, some old log manifolds from something unknown that I'll rework into presentable Hilborn injector bodies. I believe on the transmission I used the tower portion from the Revell '29/'31 Model A kits as it's a separate part. Not really correct for a V8 trans, but it got the job done. I have seen pictures of a Hilborn injected ARDUN in a dragster but that was later 50's or early 60's. I am sure if the interest was there for an ARDUN setup Hilborn would have accommodated it in the 40's or early 50's. Especially considering how accessible pattern makers and foundries were back then. They probably could have whipped one up on short order and used existing guts from an OHV setup. The ARDUN / Hilborn setup I saw also had the fuel pump mounted where the generator normally sits and was belt driven. Nice and tidy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 First shot here shows the level forward section of the bellypan, and the raked rear portion. Idea is to generate a little downforce on the tail to improve traction at high speeds. To my knowledge, nothing like this was tried back then, but there's absolutely nothing that would have prevented someone thinking of it. Final shapes coming together, and the car closing on its final overall appearance. Stock AMT '29 roadster in the background is the basis. High rear 3/4 view shows helmet fairing and rear of tonneau very close to final shapes. Front 3/4 view also shows slightly reshaped nose for cleaner lines. First snap-in windshield experiment worked as planned, so final tweeking and a re-cut of the clear material will have that dialed in too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gasser59 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Stellar stuff Bill. I really am liking where this is headed. That stance is perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyrichard Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 stunning ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne swayze Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Beautifully balanced car! You're doing a great job Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthehobbyguy Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Nice work. Design and craftsmanship are outstanding. Looking forward to seeing this painted. Any thoughts on color? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Coming along nicely Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Looking great Bill... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty Dave Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 So good! Reminds me of Steve Moal's 1:1 roadster designs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterNNL Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Sterling progress 'ol chap......carry on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted March 26, 2015 Author Share Posted March 26, 2015 (edited) Reworked the helmet fairing, lower, more rounded in back. Also fitted the headers this side, cut the hood for them, and relocated the front 4-link to clear. Pretty tight up in front, but everything would clear enough to work. Reworked the nose profile and curvature as well. Maybe not much different to some eyes, but much, much better to mine. EDIT: But now I see a little bump in the curve that crept in due to the different hardnesses of the plastic and the bondo. Gotta fix that. Man, these big photos really show stuff it's easy to miss otherwise. Edited March 26, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Wow! Very, very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne swayze Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Dirtydave is actually quite right. Your build really has the "Steve Moal" vibe going on! And to my eye, that's HUGE!! No wonder I like your work... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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