WIP: 1970 Penske Javelin T/A

Lots of you may remember I built the 1970 Challenger that Sam Posey drove for Dodge in the brief 1 year history of Trans AM racing. I sold that model to Ken Epsman the owner of the Posey car that is restored and raced today in the Historic Trans Am series. Ken also commisioned me to build another car he owned, the Penske Javelin in full Penske Red white and blue colors in the picture below.

http://images15.fotki.com/v261/photos/3/335511/3072221/WC031348-vi.jpg


He sent me the old George Follmer Johan Javelin kit and a set of Cady decals and I got to work after a full 2 years off from the Challenger. Below is pics of the body completely painted and clear coated. All the colors were carefully masked off and painted on. I used AC Delco GM blue, Base White and the same Red I painted my Miller Buick I took to Atlanta. Then it has 3 coats of clear on that. I hope to have this one rolling along fairly soon.

http://images15.fotki.com/v228/photos/3/335511/3072193/DSCF1759-vi.jpg
http://images15.fotki.com/v267/photos/3/335511/3072193/DSCF1760-vi.jpg
http://images15.fotki.com/v261/photos/3/335511/3072193/DSCF1761-vi.jpg

That thing looks very menacing! And the model's taking shape quite well too :)

Wow Dave, what a clean and sweet paint job !!!

Roberto

so cool to see a Javelin here. looks really sweet. cant wait to see this one done.

Oh.... this is going to be a treat to watch. I'm looking forward to seeing this come along. I love the vintage race cars.

Wow, a Javelin! Cool, and very nice paintwork! I look forward to more progress.

Wow Dave. Paint job looks great. I will be watching this closely as I have 2 of these to do. Love the late 60's early 70's racing.
Mal

Looks awesome. Can you tell me what clear that is? Thanks.

Beautiful job on the paint. That could be 1:1 for all it's perfection!

Posey is an awesome gentleman and the Javelins were awesome as well!

Keep up the great work on this one!

Bill

God damn I am loving this, can't wait to see the finished product!

Dang, just when you think things can't get any better, you start another project!!:sunglasse

Reminds me, I need to go by my local store to see if they still have that Boss 302 lying around. Looks great man. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

I am new here and I dont want to step on any toes, with that said, that's not a 1970 Penske Javelin T/A. The picture looks like a Roy Woods ARA car, circa 1972, Penske cars had the blue continue down the door about half way, both on the 1970 style Javelin, and the 71-72 style as well. another thing I noticed is the transitions are suppose to be straight, not pointed. The 71-72 Javelins had a 'Sculptured' roof, that kinda looked like T-Tops, and the color transition from red to white folllowed that roof line.

I have'nt figured out how to post pictures yet, but if you go to AMX-perience.com they have a pretty good reference.
http://www.amx-perience.com/Trans-AmRacing.htm

I am a little fuzzy on how this paint scheme went on the 73-74 cars, they had the more traditional smooth/flat style roof.

Finally, the nose stripe was more like a wide version of the 67 Chevy Camaro 'Bumble bee' stripe, but shaped like a 'T', outlined with a pinstripe.

Beautiful paint work though, if historic accuracy isn't important:uhoh:

I am new here and I dont want to step on any toes, with that said, that's not a 1970 Penske Javelin T/A. The picture looks like a Roy Woods ARA car, circa 1972, Penske cars had the blue continue down the door about half way, both on the 1970 style Javelin, and the 71-72 style as well. another thing I noticed is the transitions are suppose to be straight, not pointed. The 71-72 Javelins had a 'Sculptured' roof, that kinda looked like T-Tops, and the color transition from red to white folllowed that roof line.

I have'nt figured out how to post pictures yet, but if you go to AMX-perience.com they have a pretty good reference.
http://www.amx-perience.com/Trans-AmRacing.htm

I am a little fuzzy on how this paint scheme went on the 73-74 cars, they had the more traditional smooth/flat style roof.

Finally, the nose stripe was more like a wide version of the 67 Chevy Camaro 'Bumble bee' stripe, but shaped like a 'T', outlined with a pinstripe.

Beautiful paint work though, if historic accuracy isn't important:uhoh:

Well you did with that last quote. get your facts completely straight before you post......


This is directly from the owner of the car today. Ken Epsman. He is the one I am building it for...

In 1970 Penske built a total of 3 javelins....the first one was used at Daytona and laguna seca...this was a
development car. then penske built the other two which were driven by Donohue and revson for the remainder
of the 1970 season. As you might recall, the Javelin had an engine oiling problem early in the season and blew motor
after motor. Halfway through the season they solved the oiling problem. In the meantime penske went to the Trans Am
officals and lobbied to make dry sump oiling systems legal for the 1971 season...and was successful. So they used the
first Javelin built as the "mock up" car...(Penske/Donahue refered to it as the junkbox car).. So in 1971 Penske gave the
two remaining 1970 javelins to Roy Woods to run in 1971...with all of the 1972 updates...and built 1 car for Donohue to run....
with the understanding that if Donohue crashed his car , he could take one or both of the identical woods cars. Needless to
say, the car were flawless and absolutely outclassed all of the other cars in 1971. ( by the way the woods cars were painted yellow).
Afetr 1971 Penske left trans am racing and gave the AMC sponsorship to Roy Woods...In 1972 Roy Woods javelins won the championship
again. Javelin in 1970 lost the championship by 1 point....if they had solved the engine oiling problem 1 race sooner, Javelin
would have won the 1970 championship also.
Another point....after the 1969 season, Penske sold the 1969 championship camaro to Roy Woods...Roy also painted that car
yellow...as were his Can Am cars....

Needless to say it is a ROy Woods sponsored car.... BUT it was built as all 3 of them were by penske. The paint job is penske. That is why my thread reads Penske. I believe Ken's car is restored as it was in 1972 when Roy Woods had possesion of them But lets not forget these cars did originate as Penske built machines. Maybe RWR totally redid them AFTER Penske gave the AMC sponsorship and the cars to Woods, but they WERE Penske originated cars.
Here is another quote from Ken:

My info came from Jerry Schwarz....he rebodied the cars...he also worked for Shelby
then became roy woods crew chief...also from a penske crew member..."Woody" Woodward...
he looked under my car and noticed a removable cross member under the oil pan....said he
put that on the car in 1970 because they were having to pull the engine each time they wanted to try
a different pan so he added the removable cross member...and he used to sit in the car while Mark
Donohue drove around the race track to watch the oil pressure guage to see what changes to the
oil pan worked....remember the car had no pasenger seat...Tony A is a great guy however he was
the driver not the mechanic.

And......

do you see any small stripe outlining the large stripe on this hood?? that is the car as it is restored today and the one I am building. I know the paint job is not EXACT... but at the time I painted the car I could not find a pic of the blue transition to the white because the hood is in the way of all the shots... regardless, I really dont knowwhat your point was with this thread. Maybe you could show me your build so I can see your "historically accurate" version of the paint job....

http://images15.fotki.com/v261/photos/3/335511/3072221/WC031348-vi.jpg


DaveT

My opinion: the paintjob is superb.
I can't wait to see some progress.

Good luck

Denman

Well you did with that last quote. get your facts completely straight before you post......


This is directly from the owner of the car today. Ken Epsman. He is the one I am building it for...

In 1970 Penske built a total of 3 javelins....the first one was used at Daytona and laguna seca...this was a
development car. then penske built the other two which were driven by Donohue and revson for the remainder
of the 1970 season. As you might recall, the Javelin had an engine oiling problem early in the season and blew motor
after motor. Halfway through the season they solved the oiling problem. In the meantime penske went to the Trans Am
officals and lobbied to make dry sump oiling systems legal for the 1971 season...and was successful. So they used the
first Javelin built as the "mock up" car...(Penske/Donahue refered to it as the junkbox car).. So in 1971 Penske gave the
two remaining 1970 javelins to Roy Woods to run in 1971...with all of the 1972 updates...and built 1 car for Donohue to run....
with the understanding that if Donohue crashed his car , he could take one or both of the identical woods cars. Needless to
say, the car were flawless and absolutely outclassed all of the other cars in 1971. ( by the way the woods cars were painted yellow).
Afetr 1971 Penske left trans am racing and gave the AMC sponsorship to Roy Woods...In 1972 Roy Woods javelins won the championship
again. Javelin in 1970 lost the championship by 1 point....if they had solved the engine oiling problem 1 race sooner, Javelin
would have won the 1970 championship also.
Another point....after the 1969 season, Penske sold the 1969 championship camaro to Roy Woods...Roy also painted that car
yellow...as were his Can Am cars....

Needless to say it is a ROy Woods sponsored car.... BUT it was built as all 3 of them were by penske. The paint job is penske. That is why my thread reads Penske. I believe Ken's car is restored as it was in 1972 when Roy Woods had possesion of them But lets not forget these cars did originate as Penske built machines. Maybe RWR totally redid them AFTER Penske gave the AMC sponsorship and the cars to Woods, but they WERE Penske originated cars.
Here is another quote from Ken:

My info came from Jerry Schwarz....he rebodied the cars...he also worked for Shelby
then became roy woods crew chief...also from a penske crew member..."Woody" Woodward...
he looked under my car and noticed a removable cross member under the oil pan....said he
put that on the car in 1970 because they were having to pull the engine each time they wanted to try
a different pan so he added the removable cross member...and he used to sit in the car while Mark
Donohue drove around the race track to watch the oil pressure guage to see what changes to the
oil pan worked....remember the car had no pasenger seat...Tony A is a great guy however he was
the driver not the mechanic.

And......

do you see any small stripe outlining the large stripe on this hood?? that is the car as it is restored today and the one I am building. I know the paint job is not EXACT... but at the time I painted the car I could not find a pic of the blue transition to the white because the hood is in the way of all the shots... regardless, I really dont knowwhat your point was with this thread. Maybe you could show me your build so I can see your "historically accurate" version of the paint job....

http://images15.fotki.com/v261/photos/3/335511/3072221/WC031348-vi.jpg


DaveT


RGBJavelin was correct in part. The Javelin/AMX body changed in 73 to remove the raised "T" section on the roof. Johan modified the tool to reflect the change on the real car. The original issue of the Penske T/A Javelin had the raised portion as did the Roy Woods cars. The reissues of the Johan kit used the modified tooling so the body is incorrect. The paint break line did follow the raised portion of the roof so the part line across the roof should be straight not angled forward. Of course this is true of the car as raced. I have no knowledge of how the car appears now in restored form. These things were modified so many times during their racing lives, it would be difficult and expensive to get it 100% authentic.

This is not to criticize your build as it is beautiful, as are the other models you have posted here. No one but an AMX or vintage Trans Am freak is going to know anyway and the car will be fantastic when done, no doubt.

Killer.
I love unique builds.
The paint looks fantastic.
I am one of those guys who just thinks it looks trick.
My friend Dave builds replica Desert racers and gives them away to the drivers like Roger Mears,and Robby Gordon,Rob Mcachrean,some even pay up to $500 for one and they are never exact.
They just appreciate them and think they are sweet,rather than picking them apart.
My 2 cents.
Great job skyline.
Doug R

Killer.
I love unique builds.
The paint looks fantastic.
I am one of those guys who just thinks it looks trick.
My friend Dave builds replica Desert racers and gives them away to the drivers like Roger Mears,and Robby Gordon,Rob Mcachrean,some even pay up to $500 for one and they are never exact.
They just appreciate them and think they are sweet,rather than picking them apart.
My 2 cents.
Great job skyline.
Doug R
exactly, well said and im still looking forward to seeing this beauty complete.

exactly, well said and im still looking forward to seeing this beauty complete.


Thanks both of you and all who LIKE the progress so far... its not "historically accurate":disappoin but the owner of the 1:1 car has not said a word and he is the one that really matters....

Thanks again......

DaveT

Great paintwork :)

a beautiful looking car and you did a very goog job of building it.

Sorry i ment the paintjob,superb.

Decided to get a little more done on this one....... The engine bay leaves little to be desired on these johan kits... The only thing there was in the engine bay of this car was the firewall and wheels well arches.. THATS IT!

Here is the 1:1 cars engine bay.As you can see, this T/A car had a dry sump oiling system like a Nascar.
http://images15.fotki.com/v262/photos/3/335511/3072221/WC031716-vi.jpg

And here is mine. I added the shock towers, rollbars, Oil tank in the firewall, and front sheet plastic in front of the wheel wells. I will add shocks after I scratchbuild the tops and paint them red like the real deal. The engine was test fitted for the pics as well. Thid car will have a full complement of Braided line and fittings.

http://images17.fotki.com/v294/photos/3/335511/3435148/P1010016-vi.jpg
http://images17.fotki.com/v296/photos/3/335511/3435148/P1010019-vi.jpg

the engine bay looks great and cant wait to see it all wired and plumbed. it's good to see you are back with this.

It is starting to come together. Glad you are still posting updates for this Dave.

Thanks man

Well with some bikes out of the way (dont worry there is more of them coming soon) I decided to get back on this build.

I decided the Johan pulleys and belts neededto be ditched in place of some new ones. The crankshaft pulley is from a turned aluminum Detailmaster set. The upper water pump pulley is made with 3 sizes of tubing I did myself. The steering and alternator pulleys are the brass ends of guitar strings. I painted them all up using alclad aluminum. Then I used some PE bits and pieces to make the pulley faces on the accessory pulleys. The distributor was modified to accept wire and boots.

http://images16.fotki.com/v288/photos/3/335511/3435148/P1010020-vi.jpg

Here is the engine put in the car for a test fit. Yes it clears the hood, I checked. :wink:

http://images16.fotki.com/v300/photos/3/335511/3435148/P1010021-vi.jpg
http://images16.fotki.com/v298/photos/3/335511/3435148/P1010022-vi.jpg

Tomorrow nite I will add some braided line and hardware.

DaveT

Looking GREAT Dave!

Hey Dave, can I send all my engines for you to build?:rofl: :rofl:

Thanks guys....

Got more done tonight. I added some "candy" to the engine. I am not going for a completely accurate oiling system in the car. Just 4-5 main oil lines. The ones in the rear that are hanging out will go the tank on the firewall.

http://images17.fotki.com/v313/photos/3/335511/3435148/P1010023-vi.jpg

You can see below I added an external scratchbuilt fram oil filter with lines going to it. I also added a photoetched radiator cap after I detail painted it. The line coming out of the valve cover will hook up to the oil tank as well.

http://images16.fotki.com/v300/photos/3/335511/3435148/P1010024-vi.jpg

I also cleaned up the kit headers and painted them with various alclads.... no solder headers on this one... it has NO I Mean NO suspension detail so why bother??

http://images17.fotki.com/v311/photos/3/335511/3435148/P1010026-vi.jpg

DaveT

Hey Dave, can I send all my engines for you to build?:rofl: :rofl:

sure!!!! :iceslolan

That looks very unique and interesting; don´t know why I missed this up to now. The Paint job is very well executed and the engine seems to be at the same level.

Personally, I don´t know about the history of this car and "T"-shapes, etc. But it´s the builder that matters. Every model is a replica to begin with. Besides the philosophical fact, that there is no "absolute" or "100%" out there, a replica is a replice meaning that it can´t be a 100 percent. :evillol:

So, SkylineFan, don´t let them bug you, this build is just awesome. :smokin:

This is looking great! Very nice paint, and I'm liking the detail work on the engine/bay. Keep it up!

the bay is really great. I have those guitar string ends but I never thought of using them as pulleys. thanks for the tip. I have 2 johan kits and you're right about the suspensions. they are pretty bare. the engine bays arent that great either so yours is really an accomplishment. everything is looking extra good here.

Thanks guys. I appreciate it....

DaveT

Slowly but surely the engine bay is filling up. I added the strut bar, upper radiator braided assembly, coil to the bar, and steeing lines. Again here is a few pics of the test fit. Obviously all the lines hanging out will be attatched once I complete the interior and moubt the body for good because the radiator is attatched to the body, and the rear oil tank lines cannot be installed because the oil tank I scratchbuilt is attached to the interior tub front firewall.. .but it is coming together....

http://images16.fotki.com/v303/photos/3/335511/3435148/P1010027-vi.jpg
http://images1.fotki.com/v314/photos/3/335511/3435148/P1010029-vi.jpg

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Thanks guys.... I am seeing the end of this one soon..... Below is the interior. I added a Detailmaster dash guage set, Steering wheel, scratchbuilt control box on the center console, a Nascar shifter, and fire exstinguisher. I also added scratchbuilt seatbelts and buckles.....

http://images15.fotki.com/v266/photos/3/335511/3499996/P1010030-vi.jpg
http://images17.fotki.com/v312/photos/3/335511/3499996/P1010031-vi.jpg
http://images17.fotki.com/v311/photos/3/335511/3499996/P1010033-vi.jpg

After the interior was completed, I realized all it would take would be cleaning up the kit windows and installing them and I could get the car subassemblies together for good... so I did that.... and here she is just about done excpet for front and rear grill and talite assembles and minor engine detail and wiring......

http://images14.fotki.com/v257/photos/3/335511/3500004/P1010034-vi.jpg
http://images1.fotki.com/v310/photos/3/335511/3500004/P1010035-vi.jpg
http://images17.fotki.com/v312/photos/3/335511/3500004/P1010036-vi.jpg
http://images16.fotki.com/v299/photos/3/335511/3500004/P1010037-vi.jpg
http://images16.fotki.com/v288/photos/3/335511/3500004/P1010038-vi.jpg
]http://images17.fotki.com/v309/photos/3/335511/3500004/P1010039-vi.jpg

Dave that is really looking nice. Could see that in my garage.

How cool is this subject???!!! Killer work mate!

This has been a fantastic "history' lesson!:sunglasse Your workmanship is always top-notch and never fails to disappoint! Keep up the superb building!!:sunglasse

Thanks guys,
One last update before I finish this build up.

The engine is complete!! I added the carb and aircleaner assembly. The air cleaner I robbed out of one of my Shelby GT-350R parts kits, and I also glued down the back engine bars. Finally I took some thin metal and made a shroud to cover up the awful gap in front of the radiator. Johan kit or not, the added detail I think paid off to step up the realism in the engine bay!

http://images16.fotki.com/v288/photos/3/335511/3500004/P1010004-vi.jpg
http://images16.fotki.com/v282/photos/3/335511/3500004/P1010005-vi.jpg

ANd the hood closes flat!!! Also added the front grill assembly after blacking out the porper areas of the front grill.

http://images1.fotki.com/v310/photos/3/335511/3500004/P1010001-vi.jpg


I also finished up the rear of the car with the tailite and cover as well as the rear bumper.

http://images16.fotki.com/v289/photos/3/335511/3500004/P1010002-vi.jpg

Below are a few full body shots. I need to add aluminum tubing for exhaust, hood pins, windshield clips and rear window bracing as well as some contingency decals and then I can call this one done!!!

http://images1.fotki.com/v314/photos/3/335511/3500004/P1010007-vi.jpg
http://images16.fotki.com/v300/photos/3/335511/3500004/P1010003-vi.jpg

DaveT

what an amazing model. how did you make the bead roll in the piece of metal you used for covering the gap in front of the rad? I'll say you certainly stepped up the realism of the engine bay! wow.

what an amazing model. how did you make the bead roll in the piece of metal you used for covering the gap in front of the rad? I'll say you certainly stepped up the realism of the engine bay! wow.

Thank you!!

Its real simple..... the metal I use it very soft and thin. I simply turn the piece upside down and with a ruler and ball point pen press into the metal and make the beads... it comes out perfect every time.

DaveT

thanks for the great tip. that feature always comes up in my builds but I didnt know how to accomplish it, now I thinking my next model will have a full "tin" interior. thanks again.

Lookin great Dave! I always enjoy your builds, and I can count on learning something new every time!

Making me remeber why I love old school muscle.

Magnificent!!!
What's there not to love!