Post by Oldtimer on Nov 23, 2017 8:42:12 GMT -8
Inspired by JC's Barracuda project, thought I would share one of my customs with you folks. Remember I work exclusively in 1/18 scale diecast.
This was my inspiration. I found a set of decals from a Canadian dirt car driver from decades ago. Coincidentally, my grandfather and father were both Ray Forte', with my grandfather actually being born there. I am pretty sure this is not my grandfather's car, but having become a racer later in my life, it's nice to dream.
Started out with my acquisition of just the body from one of these.
Donor chassis was from a Racing Champions Nascar stock car Monte Carlo.
Had to do quite a bit of work to open up the front and rear wheel wells (created a template, and then drilled holes around the stock wheel openings, and then ground away with a Dremel.
Also had to stretch the bottom of the body to fit over the chassis rails, which required removal of quite a bit of diecast metal (on the original model, the metal of the front and rear extends out to where you see the door.
With all the body prep completed, it was time to strip the old paint and dry fit the body onto the chassis.
The original hood had a snorkel-type hood scoop (which just doesn't work on a dirt track), which I replaced with a more appropriate, and reverse-facing low profile version.
Plugged all the holes in the hood with JB Weld, as well as also "welding" the doors shut, primed and painted.
Hood and trunk lid open, and are held in place with micro-magnets.
Put a fuel cell in the trunk, along with the battery (hard to see from this angle, but in the right rear for weight distribution).
I'll clean up a few more details, closing up the firewall, and running some fuel lines and battery cables. Will also remove some of the non-essential plastic stalks (which you see in the trunk above, and imposing on the radiator below.
GMP makes driver "plugs" for their series of 1/18 scale winged sprinters and vintage sprinters, so I've got one and mocked it up in the seat.
Model is currently off to have the decals placed, and hopefully I'll get the final assembly done soon.
