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1/16th Gordie Bonin BubbleUp Trans Am Funnycar


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2 hours ago, dragcarz said:

Just beautiful! One of my favorites from back in the day.

Thank you Roger, mine too.  Back then Gordie and Ron had a very strong following, nice people backed up by a strong performance.  Even today the nostalgia BubbleUp car is still popular with the crowds and Nathan has been doing the car proud and upholding Gordies legacy in the drivers seat.

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Ian, that's gotta be satisfying seeing that monster poking thru the hood like that......and it's oh so snug but perfect.  I had to go back a few pages to get caught up but the chassis work is sharp as well.   Nice build!   cheers, tim

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/3/2024 at 2:05 PM, Codi said:

Ian, that's gotta be satisfying seeing that monster poking thru the hood like that......and it's oh so snug but perfect.  I had to go back a few pages to get caught up but the chassis work is sharp as well.   Nice build!   cheers, tim

Thanks Tim, yes it can be a struggle to get everything all going the same direction on this kind of project as I'm sure you are well aware.

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The BubbleUp car is marching towards completion of the chassis and driveline, Plumbing of the engine is progressing, wiring for the coil is in place as well as steam lines to the headers ( which are also permanently attached) coil mount has been added to the chassis. Which is just about ready for final cleanup and color.  

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Big step forward on the BubbleUp Car chassis. All the holes are drilled and all the brackets are attached. Chassis was washed twice with dish soap, then wiped down with lacquar thinner and paper towels, the every joint and seam was scrubbed with Q tips and thinners till they came back out white. Compressed air dried,tubes blown out tack clothed. Ready for paint, thinish coat of self etching grey primer sprayed from all directions, hung to dry and will now sit for a day to harden. Then sanding any issues that remain and a final coat of primer and then spray the color (Tamiya Dark Iron)

 

 

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Edited by Ian McLaren
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For the first time, as far as I can tell the late 70s Al Swindahl funny car chassis has been built in model form. I just completed applying the paint (Tamiya Dark Iron) to the fully scratch built brass chassis. As these chassis were not very plentiful reference photos and information were a huge challenge to piece togther a working drawing to base the model on. The break through came from Bryan Hodges (RIP) when he sent me the photos that I needed to make this project possible. From the way the driveline and other pieces fit and clear everything I believe I am quite close to the correct dimensions. With everthing I have build to date, getting to this point on this chassis is the high point of my modeling endevors. The challenge now is to finish the rest of the car to the same standard

 

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Daniel Himmel .

On 9/22/2024 at 11:52 PM, Straightliner59 said:

I got a kick out of the ground clamp, too! That Swindahl chassis really is unique-looking. I'm going to guess that you're correct, in that nobody else has built one, in scale. It's a thing of beauty, my friend!

Thank you so much Daniel, in reply to your comments on another site , yes he was most noted for Top Fuel cars, and the funnycars from what I am told were mostly NHRA Division Six and Seven cars. Due to the distances involved only a few competed nationally which lead to the lack of documentation. As to the uniqueness of the chassis , I can't wait to unveil the front axle and suspension which is where the Swindahl influence is most apparent.

Edited by Ian McLaren
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