PACERS Fuel Altered, 1:16 brass, motor parts

[Joel_W]

Mike,
I'm just speechless after seeing those pictures of the front suspension. You could fool just about anyone into believing that you're building a true 1:1 scale replica. As I've said before, your soldering and finishing those joints are literally the best I've ever seen.

joel

[mickgee]

Ismael, this made me laugh...!

[mickgee]

@chris, I'm nuts about these leaf spring/coil overs, or other shocks setups on a hot rod.  Sensational, what an eyeful!

@ismael, funny photo, let me laugh a bit.  You're too kind tough, this is a copy cat build....but I love it.

@joel, a humbling comment.  But a ribbon on my chest I can't wear, randyditton is the king of soldering and scratch building brass (the Ford GT 40), Ken Foran an absolute pro in larger scales.  Utterly happy though with what's on the bench, without a doubt.  Truly a wonderful hobby we have here....

Mike..

[mickgee]

UPDATE; Dilemma.

The leaf spring setup now, all is well.  Attached the unit provisionally, all fits.  BUT, the ride height needs adjusting...no way, this is not an option!  The real car has 15" wheels with skinny tires.  I only have 16" wheels at hand, tires are good, just a bit too wide (I'll sand them down).  What to do?

1.  Raise the leaf spring bracket on the front crossbar.  This would let the front axle be higher;



2. Remove the top leaf, allowing for only 5 leaves.  This would also raise the axle;



3. Bend the leaves to be more straight.  No, not an option.

4. Solder the eyelet on the lower leaf, to the top of the leaf, instead of on the bottom as shown....



I think #4 is the best way.  The car maintains the original look,  the geometry can stay as is (it works and fits).  Minimal bracket re-soldering, not a big deal. 

Cheating?  Yes.  The tires are the problem, I don't know where to find nor have I seen 15" wheel/tires on a 1:16 car.  ANYONE know of an old 1:16 kit with normal sized street tires..meaning, not wide ones?

Mike..

[Joel_W]

Mike,
Looking at the leaf spring setup in the #4 option, and actually visualizing moving the eyelet to the top from the bottoms, seems to be the most sensible way to adjust the ride height.

joel

[mickgee]

Thanks Joel, meantime the eyelet has been attached to the top of the leaf.  Still, the effect is lacking.  I had a conversation with Scott Snizek, he also thought it would be better with still keeping the optics.

Major problem is the tire is just too tall.  Already made my mind up to make 12 spoke wheels, I'll have to make the tires also and don't have a good feeling.

Just ordered rubber washers very similar in the size needed, the tread though?  Time will tell, maybe someone will come up with a 15" narrow tire from a kit.

Mike..

[Joel_W]

Mike,
For the tires have you given any thought if you have access to a mini lath to turn your own? Not so sure how you can scale out rubber washers as the rubber must have a lot of give for compression.

joel

[Chris K. Hale]

I have some 15 in. tires from a 1/16 57 Corvette kit and also Cobra, Ferrari F40 ( too wide) but the 57 and 62 1/16 stock tires might be just the ticket! I will get out there in the shop in a bit and pull them, its going to be 120+ degrees by 4pm so no outside after Noon!! Lol.. Ridiculous ! Friday we hit 126 degrees and yesterday 122 degrees so Yeah its Warm out, good thing my shop is insulated and air conditioned ....Chris

[Chris K. Hale]

 OK Here are the tires from the 1/16 63 Corvette, the tires were missing from the 57 but I think they were wide white walls!. These are G70x15 Goodyear Polyglass GT they measure 1.66 in over all dia, .54 in width , tread is .47 in. and the wheel opening is 1.05 in... LMK if can use them .. If not I will search a bit more for some other tires I may have or not..LOL Chris

[mickgee]

Thanks for looking Chris!

The G70s are way too tall and wide.  At present, I have Revell FC tires, at 1.45", still too tall, tire opening, excluding rim is too wide at 0.9".  Perfect would be a tire with height overall at 1.35" max, opening at 0,92" max.  Tread width less than 0.30". 
 
I imagine this would be just standard and stock tire from a pre 70s car.  15" wheel at max.

This will be difficult.  I tried several things with the axle and spring setup, nothing works.  A dropped axle would do the trick though, just not for this car.

Mike..

[mickgee]

@chris....stop!  No more searching in the insanely hot garage...I found nylon O-rings.  I ordered from a big hydraulic shop in Berlin, through Ebay.  Nice and thick too, in an assortment of sizes.  These should get the job done, be here by Friday.
Mike..

[mickgee]

Concerning front tires, I'll be using these.  Right is the too tall and too wide Revell kit tire, left the proper scale sized nylon o-ring.  Found from a German industrial bearing manufacturing supplier.  I do believe these are to be found on Porsche cars.

The size is very close (0.2mm) to the real 15" wheel/tire size needed.





Meantime, rod ends are done, wishbone radius rods made up.  The leaf spring unit is done, the entire front end only needs tires and wheels.

The 12 spoke wheels will be a major endeavor, never done them before.

Mike..

[mickgee]

UPDATE:  Wow, more than a month now, waiting for parts, then being irritated at the poor resin aftermarket offerings. So sad.

Meantime though, an array of nylon, shore 70 hardness, O-ring tires have arrived.  Perfect scale, take your pick.  Cheap too, about a buck 40 per tire.

Better yet, after receiving useless resin 12 spoke wheels, I made my own in brass.

Here the newest photos from just yesterday.  First, a photo courtesy Scott Snizek, real car.  15" 12 spoke wheel;



Herein lies the problem.  No kit, no resin or 3d vendor offers 15", 12 spoke wheels, in scale 1:16!  So, get scale tires and make your own wheels.  Done;





Here, the second wheel, with the revised fabrication method.  A keeper! 



Here's the method used;

First off, get an aluminum pipe that has the correct scale inside diameter, for a 15" wheel, 23 mm is about right.  Using a copper or brass pipe/tube may cause problems, as the wheel rim has to be soldered closed.  A slip can let the wheel rim also be soldered to the pipe!  Not good.  Aluminum works best;



Next, shown here the outer, brass rim finished, along with the slotted and prepped inner rim that will hold the spokes;



Now, the inner rim can be press fit nicely into the outer rim.  Time to get some spokes on there.  First though, the hub/spacer for the two rims, along with the 1.4 mm brass tube for the spokes.  Use tubing! 



Solid rod needs more heat to solder and here the deal is 12 spokes, one hub, one 3mm tube,  2 x 4mm outer hub rings, and 24 solder joints for the spokes.  Tube!  Solders much easier and quicker.



Now, cleaned and excess ground off, the inner, spoked rim slides into the outer wheel rim.  No CA needed!



A couple of useful items, good to have a fairly exact plan to follow.  6 spokes at 360° = 60° per spoke.  The blue, silikon  rubber wheel is what I use to reduce and polish brass with, this case though, it keeps things in place.





The crooked spoke will be fixed.  Here the revised, new wheel.



I was getting very uneasy about the delays, all is well now.  Motor by the way, has also arrived.  A gorgeous 3d printed and flawless piece!

More soon...

Mike..

[Joel_W]

Mike,
The scratched 12 spoke wheels are amazing just like the rest of your build.

joel

[mickgee]

Thanks Joel, appreciated.

UPDATE:  Motor is in the works now.  This is a 3d printed 392 Hemi kit from 1320 MODEL PRODUCTS on FB only.  Excellent parts, the best I've seen.   A few changes though to better replicate the real car.

Here the motor block in chassis sitting level and centered;





Here the real car, photo by Scott Snizek.  I'll need a brass valley cover to match, done.  The exhaust pipes need good support so the same method used here as in the previous cars.  Thick tubes firmly secured and aligned;







Shown here are the flanges, plus holes prepped for brass freeze plugs after paint;



Now a new brass bar for the idler pulley, some blower and manifold hardware.  The blower front cover matches the real car.  I like to sleeve the bolt holes drilled into non-metal parts, allowing the bolts to sit nice and firm.











Still some small things to add, in the works.  Things are moving again nicely.

Mike..