Big Al 2 - Jim Lytles Allison powered 34 Ford Tudor

[alan barton]

Truth be known I started this project several decades ago, not long after the AMT 34 Tudor came out.  At the time I was very unhappy with the progress of my chop so it was put aside.  From time to time I reworked it a bit more but it went back in the box each time.  

Earlier this week I started to look at it again and dug out my original references.  Acclaimed Calgary modeller, Vern Sholtz built a replica of this car about thirty years ago but it was sent to a contest and never returned, a great shame considering the calibre of Vern's work.  He gave me copies of his reference material and since then I have found two more magazines and a thread on the H.A.M.B. that provide more information.  Although this car is very famous it was not around for long so there is not an endless supply of photos of it, especially in colour. My intention is to build it as accurately as possible but make educated guesses on the items that cannot be discerned from available photographs. 

The first photo is about where I left it a few years ago.  Yes, it is a ridiculous chop!  That's how it was.  I had thought the rear of the driver's compartment was opened through the roof but realised that was incorrect so that has now been corrected. The stock hood sides were removed and replaced with new smooth sides made from flat styrene. The original car had a one piece lift off fibreglass body, the very first one in drag racing and I will be replicating that a feature.  The door hinges and the firewall have to be removed as well. One change I would make if I was starting the car today would be to use the fender unit from an AMT 34 5 window coupe.  This is because the fenders are closer to the correct stock appearance than the skinny ones in the Tudor kit but I'm not going back now!

Cheers

Alan

 

[alan barton]

So after about a week of evenings it is starting to take shape.  The roof contours are a lot more refined now.  I glued a strip of Evergreen round rod onto the sides of the roof to begin reconstructing the roof gutter mouldings. I also cut the entire floor out of the 34 chassis as the original car used 34 Ford frame rails but with drastically narrowed crossmembers. There are three holes in the rear pan that need to be filled also.

[alan barton]

In between lots of puttying, sanding and priming I have been working on the frame.  The AMT Parts Pack Allison will obviously become the powerplant.  Thanks to Ace Garage Guy's comments I have removed the reduction box from the rear of the engine. I have also removed the frame horns in front of the crossmember and added small triangular shaped pieces of styrene to form up engine mounts for the Allison. The original car employed a humongous 14inch diameter by 17 inch klong torque tube to try and control the torque steer of this monster. After hinting in vain through my scraps box, my wife unearthed a Guterman's plastic thread spool that scaled out perfectly, right down to having a flange on one end! This was cut to size and fitted to the rear axle - I later removed it because it will be easier to glue it squarely to the engine if that is done first. I have also started to construct the very crude roll cage that Jim used to protect himself. As best I can tell from photos the front legs were joined to some sort of strong firewall rather than directly to the frame as you would expect - that will be tonight's job!

Cheers

Alan

[ColonelKrypton]

A very cool project.

I had previously only known about Jim Lytle's Quad Al, his four Allision powered Fiat.

Your postings prompted me to do a quick search which led me to an interesting article on the Motor Trend web site complete with some history and pictures of this truly innovative car. 

cheers, Graham 

[Mr. Metallic]

Looking good Alan. I'll be following closely.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Great old crazy car, cool project shaping up.  

[R. Thorne]

Guess you have seen the Brian Lohnes YouTube video that covers this car and the quad Allison vehicle.  I wish you the best of luck.

[alan barton]

No I hadn't but thanks, it is very helpful.  Sadly my elderly father is in hospital on his last legs so progress on this model has halted for a while.  Thanks to all who have showed an interest so far.

Cheers

Alan

[iBorg]

First off, I wish you the best with your father. When my Dad was dying there was so much I wanted to know and sadly much of that I still don't know. 

I look forward to seeing this model built as I've got a resin body that should really be built. That can wait. Time with your family will pass too quickly.

 

[styromaniac]

Great subject. Dont ever recall seeing a scale rendition. 

[Jimmy Wilson]

Great work on the body! I've got a resin version of this already chopped lurking somewhere in the "Hobby Room". I've also rat-holed away several Allison engines, probably enough to build this and the quad motored Fiat. I just can't see tying up that many of those engines in one model.

 

[alan barton]

On 1/16/2024 at 11:54 AM, styromaniac said:

Great subject. Dont ever recall seeing a scale rendition. 

QA good friend of mine, Vern Scholz from Calgary Alberta, build a ripper many years ago but sadly it was stolen at a contest and its whereabouts are unknown.  Like all of Vern's work it was a thing of beauty with exquisite detail.

[alan barton]

Have made a bit of progress recently and got colour on the other day - unfortunately there was some bodywork on the rear tank cover that simply wasn't good enough so that is getting corrected now.

Cheers

Alan

[R. Thorne]

Keep plugging away.  

[rustybill1960]

Super Awesome work here Sir! Have You any more?

[Tony Coomer]

Off to a great start. The body work is on point. Iv seen pictures of this car and had no idea the extent of how much work and technicality went into it. Looking forward to the finished results…

[SpeedShift]

On 2/5/2024 at 5:26 AM, alan barton said:

Have made a bit of progress recently and got colour on the other day - unfortunately there was some bodywork on the rear tank cover that simply wasn't good enough so that is getting corrected now.

Cheers

Alan

Looks great, did I miss what color and paint you used? 

Nice job.

[Stanward VonDiederichs]

You've done a real cool job on this 34 I'd like to see what it looks like finished that's going to be a showstopper. If you didn't know that was the very first one piece fiberglass body ever built the first one was a steal bodied one I have known about Jim since the 61 I read about him in Hot rod magazine here's what they wrote. See photos 

Edited March 28, 2024 by Stanward VonDiederichs
Top set of photos we're not supposed to be there

[Stanward VonDiederichs]

9 minutes ago, Stanward VonDiederichs said:

You've done a real cool job on this 34 I'd like to see what it looks like finished that's going to be a showstopper. If you didn't know that was the very first one piece fiberglass body ever built the first one was a steal bodied one I have known about Jim since the 61 I read about him in Hot rod magazine here's what they wrote. See photos sorry for the mess up

Sorry for the mess up sometimes the finger messes up

[alan barton]

Thanks everyone.  Have been a bit distracted lately but did get some colour on the chassis yesterday which revealed some flaws that I should have noticed so a bit of sanding and repainting before I have something to show.

On 3/28/2024 at 11:01 AM, Stanward VonDiederichs said:

You've done a real cool job on this 34 I'd like to see what it looks like finished that's going to be a showstopper. If you didn't know that was the very first one piece fiberglass body ever built the first one was a steal bodied one I have known about Jim since the 61 I read about him in Hot rod magazine here's what they wrote. See photos 

Stan, I am aware of th4 car but haven't looked at the photos in ages. I recently purchased a Drag City Castings chopped 32 window so you never know!  Would be very cool to have on the shelf.

 

On 3/24/2024 at 11:15 AM, SpeedShift said:

Looks great, did I miss what color and paint you used? 

Nice job.

Tamiya TS 51 Racing Blue. I suspect it is darker than the original car but there are so few colour photos of it, it is difficult to tell.  The original body that Jim restored for the GArlits museum is also darker than the photos I have.  Plus, I like the colour and I doubt whether anyone in Perth Western Australia ever saw the car to be able to tell me I am wrong!!!

Cheers

Alan

[Stanward VonDiederichs]

2 hours ago, alan barton said:

Thanks everyone.  Have been a bit distracted lately but did get some colour on the chassis yesterday which revealed some flaws that I should have noticed so a bit of sanding and repainting before I have something to show.

Stan, I am aware of th4 car but haven't looked at the photos in ages. I recently purchased a Drag City Castings chopped 32 window so you never know!  Would be very cool to have on the shelf.

 

Tamiya TS 51 Racing Blue. I suspect it is darker than the original car but there are so few colour photos of it, it is difficult to tell.  The original body that Jim restored for the GArlits museum is also darker than the photos I have.  Plus, I like the colour and I doubt whether anyone in Perth Western Australia ever saw the car to be able to tell me I am wrong!!!

Cheers

Alan

The color I remember it being is about the same color as the Stone, Woods and Cook car a light dark powder blue metallic it's an old '60s color.

[carsntrucks4you]

Excellent idea!

 

[Stanward VonDiederichs]

9 hours ago, carsntrucks4you said:

Excellent idea!

 

If you end up spraying it that color would you take a suggestion? Take the spray can and stick it under a hot water faucet and bring it up to baby bottle temperature then spray you might like the results.

[alan barton]

Thank you everyone for your kind comments and your patience.  The Big Al ll  is finally finished (sort of) but I will just put up a few more construction pics before putting it Under Glass.

I took a few liberties in regards to colour.  The paint is certainly darker than most of the period photos show. However, when I saw the restored body (on a street rod chassis) in the Don Garlits museum in 1992 I remembered it as being quite dark and I really liked it. The Tamiya dark blue pearl (I will check for the actual paint code shortly), is a neat colour that I thought suited the car.  I briefly considered respraying it a lighter shade to match period photos but in the end decided it was my model and my choice so I left it in the darker shade - not a hard car to repaint so who knows, that may change!

The actual Allison engine appears to be painted black in the photos I used. When I stripped the paint, however, I was blown away by the incredible detail throughout the model.  Words cant do it justice. I am going to go out on a limb and say it might well be the finest engine that AMT ever produced.  To hide it all under a coat of gloss black or even flat black just seemed sacrilegious, disrespectful to the skilled pattern makers that produced it. Instead, I used the last dregs of a hardware store green that evokes memories of military aircraft, a nod to the source of the engine. I love the look and the details really pop.

There was only one element left to paint and that was the chassis and to be honest, the original bright red looked a bit "clown car" to me so I used a maroon shade of red instead. even though the final colours are not authentic to Jim Lyttles race car, I think they look good on it.

 

Cheers

Alan

Edited January 11 by alan barton