This week in Model Murdering

[Bill Hall]

Many thanx guys...yer always too kind!

Well Randy,

The crown gear conversion came about more out of need than anything. The idea actually was a mutation of another one of my fixes...putting the stock AFX crown in the early skeeeeeeeeeeeeezer xtracs and shutting them the heck up.

In the spirit of why the hell not, I tried it on skeeeeezer four gears as well. The unforseen or overlooked up shot was that it picked up the top end on the wheeeeeezier specialty tire and wheel set up. The factory no doubt upped the crown tooth count to accomodate the dragster tires and sold the specialty tire a bit short. They always ran out of breath early. With the stock crown on a specialty ya really wouldnt notice the shortfall on most home sets, but on a true back chute (like yers) ole Stirling Moss had to get out and push about 2/3 of the way through. While you have the blue drag arm in the "Grandy", another great set up is the 6 ohm standard AFX arm installed in the later magna traction four gear chassis

I knew the crown conversion was gonna work well on yer track!

Sorry I neglected to include/return the original crispy bumper in your packy...duh

[XracerHO]

Amazing Grand Am with a finish better than mint shown by the GM mechanic's reflection in both, the hood & the trunk! Also, Bill, one Sweet - rat rod just amazing.
..RL

[bobhch]

Model Murdering Rocks this week and weeks to come...I love this place!

Bob...rusty rods and Blue AFX plastic Grand Ams Rule...zilla

[Hilltop Raceway]

Originally Posted by slotcarman12078

That's a cool Hot Rod. I likes the multi sanded primer colors. That looks like a 1:1 ride RM

[Bill Hall]

Here's the beginnings of a black box project that popped into my head. I began with well ridden Tyco HPX2 chassis and narrowed the rear wheels. The tires are PVT tuffones that have been scissored in half, trued, and then mounted with black RTV silicone to keep them put.





The front set up is an old independent rig. The chassis holes were reamed a tad and the carrier tube was beat in. The aluminum wheels were dehubbed and regular old t-jet ribbed tires were skinnied on.





Snipped some scrap out of an old controller housing for mounts. If you look up a pic you can see it lurking in the standard Tyco mounts.

[Bill Hall]

The scrap tabs are mounted in the chassis and relief cuts are made in the correct locations. Then the whole mess is pushed into a Dash Sled and glued in.



The front axle struts are easily busted out with your thumbs and the screw post can be removed with a quick snip of the nippers.



The Tyco chassis mounts the body quite a bit lower so a few curls had to be pared away behind the front fender lip...just a smidgen!



FYI: Here's a crude tracing on my table that would indicate that the sled has some pinch in the mid-section. Fortunately the ABS has tons of flex.



Seen here in overlay with another sled body, you can see that it does push the rockers out a wee bit, but not so much that it weirds the body line out.

[Bill Hall]

The final product is pretty convincing sitting still and absolutely killer on the track. The stock Lakes pipes arent even in consideration given the velocity this thing travels at. I'll probably take a page out of CJ's book and go with some epoxy mounted polished aluminum pipes.



Sits nice and low. I like the way the ribbed t-jet skinnies kinda mimic the old pie crust tires of the bygone era. Wish I could get them in a white wall.



In this shot you can just make out the poochey rockers...but if ya didnt know any better...



At this angle it's plenty obvious that some pipes are needed to conceal the portions of the Tyco chassis that upset the skirt line.



We'll have to poke a coupla frenched tail lights in her cheeks. Her tail is almost draggin' the dirt! Juuuuuuust right!



Clyde and Jethro are a good team!

[kiwidave]

Awesome Bill. Love the wheel set up. Narrow rears with silicones, great idea. Being a Tyco guy I wish I could have 440 powered my green sled. Great pics also!

[CJ53]

Bill,,
Nice sled,,,
instead of whitewalls.. how about just some baby moons in them front wheels.. or full covers.. ???
I'm sure you know the Aluminum tubing is kinda finicky when ya go to twistin on it... soooooo here is an idea. .. not sure how it works.. havn't went back to the bench to check it out.. but .. I'm thinking large paper clips.. already chrome,, and a shot of black sharpie on the tip will effect the hollow exhaust coated interior of the pipe..
Aluminum tubing would be great if you want a bevel cut sidepipe.. but for a turnout I think I would consider the paper clip route..
Might give it a shot tomorrow and see how it comes out on one of mine..
Just a thought...
CJ

[XracerHO]

Bill, Awesome Sled - GREAT idea and excellent execution!! Got another project. ... RL

[videojimmy]

great idea Bill

[slotcarman12078]

Sweeeeeeeeeeeet!!!! Ballistic missile that it is!! Weird Jack Whitewalls and a couple 4 or 5 mm Cadillac Pat's hub caps might be the answer to the front wheel situation. I am anxious to get back to my bench, but still hurting a bit from my coffee episode yesterday. Maybe tomorrow..

[Bill Hall]

K-Dub: You KNOW I tried to pack the 440 in there...AND it is possible with butchery. I was trying to minimize the modifications in an attempt to keep the conversion reasonably simple.

Ceej: I was having waaaaay to much fun slashing and gashing to get involved with details and minucia. Pipes, tail lights, wheel covers, dual antennas, lions, tigers and bears are just superfulous distractions when the chips are flying. My primary mission was to get the thing on the track and lapping consistently.

Ujoe: Hope ya get the kinks worked out! I have an adhesive chrome film for wheel covers. I had Jack's white walls on her but they fell short on profile (no touchee the trackee!) and lacked the crisp ribs that I like anyway. The best look goin' was the old Tyco S rim with the spinner...but they were a hair tight and would have required o-rings to pull it off.

Thanx for all the props and ideas guys!

[coach61]

coolish Billiam.. but then again I expect nothing less.. Yest always get more.. your a genius...

[Bill Hall]

Originally Posted by coach61

coolish Billiam.. but then again I expect nothing less.. Yest always get more.. your a genius...

Naaaaaaaw... schucks Coachey, 3 points above a parsnip maybe...with a tail wind of course.