Dennis Lacy Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Hosted on Fotki Grabbed a couple copies of this new kit yesterday and dug into one as soon as I got home with them. Among discussions of this kit over in the review section the question came up as to whether this kit could be built in a 3rd style which is to use the Model A frame that is intended for the channeled option and build the car not channeled. Tim Boyd did some mock ups and discovered that it can easily be done so that's the path I decided to head down with my project. In order to build the car not channeled with the Model A frame the rear wheel wells for the hiboy/'32 frame version need to be trimmed straight across the bottom to accommodate the shape of the frame. I removed 3/32" from each side. Hosted on Fotki Unfortunately, I didn't get the body and frame taped together tight enough for this picture but the fit is nowhere near this sloppy. The angled front part of the cut actually follows the shape of the step in the floor so that is why there is a wedge shaped gap. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki So here is where I'm at after a couple of afternoon's of hackin' & wackin'. I grafted the front cross member and frame horns from a Revell '32 frame in place of the Model A pieces, Partly this was done to lower the front because the '32 cross member is flatter and I also wanted to mount a Moon auxiliary fuel tank from the Revell '32 5-Window. I also permanently attached the shock towers to the frame. The shocks were cut free and holes drilled into the bottoms of the towers to for the shock shafts to fit into. The rear axle was lowered 1/16". A Revell '32 grill shell was sectioned 1/8" and also dropped down another 1/8" so that it lines up with the cowl and the hood top from an AMT '29 Roadster fits right into place. The front tires are from the new kit, the rears are Revell M&H Racemaster's from the Orange Crate and the chrome reverse wheels are from Revell's '49 Custom Merc. The engine is going to be the kit Buick with the optional Hilborn fuel injection to tie in with the Moon tank for a "dual purpose" look. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Ambrose Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 I like this look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Lacy Posted September 7, 2015 Author Share Posted September 7, 2015 (edited) To adapt the front wheels I started by inserting a section of Evergreen rod into the existing holes in the axle for the kits wheel mounting pins. Hosted on Fotki The rod passes through the existing center holes in the brake plates and brake drums. I also removed the molded wheel studs from the faces of the drums. Hosted on Fotki I cut the raised ridge away from the center of the wheel and sanded away the chrome. The wheel has an existing center hole but it is not quite large enough for the rod to fit into it so I drilled it slightly bigger and a little deeper taking car not to go too deep and poke the drill bit out the other side. The Merc's chrome wheel backs were then sanded down until they were the correct thickness to fit the tire. At final assembly the rod and the face of the brake drum will become glue point for the wheel. Hosted on Fotki The complete assembly shows off the finned brake drums nicely and also mounts the wheel prototypically. That is to mean that on real cars that use these drums the wheels get pushed out and often create undesirable steering geometry in the process. That's the price for looking cool! Hosted on Fotki Edited September 7, 2015 by Dennis Lacy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike 51 Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 A 3 n ! kit! I still prefer the 32 frame and didn't really want to build a channeled car with my 2nd kit. The front end still seems a smidge high to me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Lacy Posted September 7, 2015 Author Share Posted September 7, 2015 A 3 n ! kit! I still prefer the 32 frame and didn't really want to build a channeled car with my 2nd kit. The front end still seems a smidge high to me?It's not just you. The car sits essentially flat at the moment. I'm probably going to thin down the spring 1/16th" or so to give it a little rake. The way the spring is rendered on this new front axle isn't really conducive to getting the front real low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike 51 Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 The axle from the 32 kit (with a much thinned spring) sits much lower but then you lose the I beam feature. I'll probably remove the spring and make a new thin n flater one. You used the front Xmember from the 32 but it didn't seem make any difference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Lacy Posted September 7, 2015 Author Share Posted September 7, 2015 The axle from the 32 kit (with a much thinned spring) sits much lower but then you lose the I beam feature. I'll probably remove the spring and make a new thin n flater one. You used the front Xmember from the 32 but it didn't seem make any difference?Oh no, it absolutely made a difference! If I hadn't done that the car would be sitting nose-up in the pictures above. I think it dropped down 3/32". Keep watching, I'm gonna be adding more pictures and descriptions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Lacy Posted September 7, 2015 Author Share Posted September 7, 2015 (edited) Here's some pictures showing the replaced front cross member and frame horns. The '32 cross member is essentially flat where as the Model A kit cross member dips down quite a bit. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki The other thing I realized is that the engine has two pairs of mounting slots in it's sides and the Model A frame (originally the channeled option) mounts the front of the engine lower to help with floor clearance. When using this frame not channeled it's necessary to raise the front of the engine but the molded mounts on the frame won't engage the lower slots on the engine so spacer blocks were added to the upper slots. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Edited September 7, 2015 by Dennis Lacy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Lacy Posted September 7, 2015 Author Share Posted September 7, 2015 The rear wheels were adapted in a similar manner. First, plastic rod glued into the existing holes in the ends of the axle. Hosted on Fotki In one of my parts bins I found some wheel mounting sleeves that fit perfectly inside the raised center rings the wheel. I glued them in place then shaved them down a bit. Hosted on Fotki The diameter of the sleeves is a perfect tight fit inside of the 5 molded wheels studs on the brake drum. Hosted on Fotki The brake drum fits down into the inner rim and stops against the short sleeves on the outer wheel.At final assembly the drums will be glued to the sleeve. Hosted on Fotki The brake drum can then be glued to the brake plate and to the rod that passes through it's center hole inside. Hosted on Fotki The early stages of a rolling chassis. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Coming together very nicely, Dennis. Looking good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Looking great Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spex84 Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Great process and engineering as always. Thanks for sharing the gritty details Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGL Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 This is looking good, I might have to go get that kit and give it a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Kron Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 A sophisticated, attentive approach to the challenge of achieving well-balanced proportions when using the thinner, less substantial Model-A frame rails for a highboy. The '29A highboy, with it's more old fashioned bodywork, is a whole other animal to the Deuce variety. Not an easy task! The Deuce frame horns help a lot, and the suspension work will prove critical to dialing in "The Look". For those of us into the Hot Rod tradition there's a lot to chew on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horsepower Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 One of the nicest versions I've seen of a 1:1 '29.A Highboy Roadster has to be the bright red one that is owned and built by Dennis Varney, it looks clean and simple, but close inspection reveals some real innovative details, like the front turn indicator lights that are built into the bobbed ends of the frame rails. There's a lot more, one tip as to how nice it is is the fact that it was picked as one of the top ten rods of all time by Boyd Coddington. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exesivefire Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Really good start, I'm glad these kits are a hit, I hope they keep coming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Lacy Posted September 8, 2015 Author Share Posted September 8, 2015 A sophisticated, attentive approach to the challenge of achieving well-balanced proportions when using the thinner, less substantial Model-A frame rails for a highboy. The '29A highboy, with it's more old fashioned bodywork, is a whole other animal to the Deuce variety. Not an easy task! The Deuce frame horns help a lot, and the suspension work will prove critical to dialing in "The Look". For those of us into the Hot Rod tradition there's a lot to chew on here.Thanks, B! When done right I'm a really big fan of 28/29 Roadster hiboys on the original A frame but it's not always easy to get them to look right. More often than not, they don't because the builder doesn't pay enough attention to proportion. What I'm doing here is attempting to make it look right and so far I'm happy with how it's looking. You'll understand this but I'm starting to see the car as something that would have been in the L.A. Roadster Club in, say, '64 or '65. Quite a few of the cars in that club at that time were dabbling in running "race" parts on the street (mechanical injection, slicks, etc.) and the cars weren't particularly low or slinky. The L.A.R.C. cars at the time had a signature look and feel. Tom McMullins' infamous '32 Roadster is a perfect example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Lacy Posted September 8, 2015 Author Share Posted September 8, 2015 This kit is a huge win for us hot rod builders but even with it's many, many strong points the more traditionally minded among us can't help but wish that Revell had designed it with a Halibrand quick change rear axle. It's just one of those parts that screams HOT ROD! Since this car is going to have a dual purpose appearance with the Moon tank, Hilborn injection and Bell steering wheel it only seemed right that it has a Halibrand axle hanging out back. I spent more time going through all of my parts deciding what to use for donors and settling on an approach than it actually took to do all of the work. I started with the extremely well rendered Halibrand QC center section found in Revell's Kurtis Midget kits and the axle tubes from Revell's old 29/31 Model A kits. Hosted on Fotki I cut away the molded partial axle bells from the QC and opened up the inside diameter of the hole so that the alignment flanges on the axle tubes would register inside. At first I thought that just the plating was flawed on the tubes but after sanding the paint away I found the plastic was damaged too so I replaced them with another pair of tubes. Hosted on Fotki I cut away the shock mounts from the kit axle and attached them to the new QC axle tubes. I really don't like the rear coil-overs in this new kit because they're really fat & ugly so I replaced them with the slimmer (and better detailed IMO) coil overs from Revell's '32 kit series. I also had to enlarge the slots in the kit ladder bars to fit the new, thicker axle tubes. Some of you may wonder why I didn't replace the coil overs all together with a Model A spring. I considered that but ultimately decided that I didn't want to alter the floor pan to fit with the necessary Model A rear cross member. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki And a couple of "up skirt" photos showing off the new Halibrand quick change. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki I also thinned down the front spring a little to give the car a very subtle forward rake. Exactly the look I'm going for so at this time the stance is set. Hosted on Fotki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike 51 Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 (edited) The front spring must have settled overnight . .(oops missed your caption). looks pretty good now,nice rubber rake, era correct. Edited September 8, 2015 by mike 51 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 The QC really makes an instant statement when the car is viewed from the rear. The skinnier springs are a nice touch too; this would be a very light car. I've used those fine old Revell axle tubes many times as well. Looking better and better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Lacy Posted September 8, 2015 Author Share Posted September 8, 2015 The QC really makes an instant statement when the car is viewed from the rear. The skinnier springs are a nice touch too; this would be a very light car. I've used those fine old Revell axle tubes many times as well. Looking better and better.Thanks for your comments, Bill. "Makes a statement" is what I'm going for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozono Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 nice job...... i can wait to see more pics...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3100 chevy Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH I'm having a hard time finding one of these in a local store and you guys are killing me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel886 Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 I like where you're going w/ this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustybill1960 Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 An absolute winner DennisFantastic work on this kitThank You for sharingLaterRuss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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