Chopped '31 Ford Tudor Dry Lakes Car - Done! w/ Final Photos
Jul 12, 2022 11:44:01 GMT -8
Chris K. Hale likes this
Post by Bernard Kron on Jul 12, 2022 11:44:01 GMT -8
Sometimes when you do a largely scratch built and kit bashed project you have to go a pretty long way into the build before you know if it will actually work out. That’s certainly the case here. I’ve wanted to do a chopped ’31 Ford sedan from the venerable Revellogram ‘29/’31/RPU Sedan kits for quite a while. Those kits are important parts kits for me and as a result I have plenty of spare bodies lying around. A few years ago I started to chop a sedan but landed up wiping out a fair amount of the window and beltline molding during sanding and cleanup.
This time I was more careful and the idea I have is to do a late 50’s/early 60’s dry lakes care, a period of time when these cars were becoming increasingly sophisticated while still preserving much of the traditional hot rod look of the mid-50’s. Safety was emerging as a major consideration as 200+ MPH speeds became more accessible to some of the lower performance categories. By the late 50’s, too, welded tubular frame construction was beginning to dominate competition machinery of all sorts, not just Grand Prix and sports cars, but circle track and straight line racing as well. So this is a ’31 sedan with a 3 ½ scale inch chop, lightweight space frame and a Putin blown V8. An attempt to push the decidedly “barn door” aerodynamics of the Model A sedan past the magic double century mark.
The chassis is scratch built from .080 (2 scale inch diameter) styrene rod. The suspension, front and rear, is adapted from the Revell ’32 Ford street rod kits and the motor is cobbled together from parts box leftovers including a Plymouth 426 Wedge block and heads from the Revell Tony Nancy double dragster kits and the Potvin blower rig from the Revell 283 Chevy parts packs. It all just barely fits in this relatively diminutive sedan. The engine cover is Revell Deuce in origin.
Below are initial mockup photos, the whole shebang barely held together with white glue. Now that I know it will work it’s time to get real about finishing things out and adding some believable detail.
Thanx for lookin’,
B.
This time I was more careful and the idea I have is to do a late 50’s/early 60’s dry lakes care, a period of time when these cars were becoming increasingly sophisticated while still preserving much of the traditional hot rod look of the mid-50’s. Safety was emerging as a major consideration as 200+ MPH speeds became more accessible to some of the lower performance categories. By the late 50’s, too, welded tubular frame construction was beginning to dominate competition machinery of all sorts, not just Grand Prix and sports cars, but circle track and straight line racing as well. So this is a ’31 sedan with a 3 ½ scale inch chop, lightweight space frame and a Putin blown V8. An attempt to push the decidedly “barn door” aerodynamics of the Model A sedan past the magic double century mark.
The chassis is scratch built from .080 (2 scale inch diameter) styrene rod. The suspension, front and rear, is adapted from the Revell ’32 Ford street rod kits and the motor is cobbled together from parts box leftovers including a Plymouth 426 Wedge block and heads from the Revell Tony Nancy double dragster kits and the Potvin blower rig from the Revell 283 Chevy parts packs. It all just barely fits in this relatively diminutive sedan. The engine cover is Revell Deuce in origin.
Below are initial mockup photos, the whole shebang barely held together with white glue. Now that I know it will work it’s time to get real about finishing things out and adding some believable detail.
Thanx for lookin’,
B.
Thanks Joel. Much appreciated.