Wip:kyle Busch's '06 "cars" Kellogg's Monte Carlo

[gasdriverca]

Incredible just Incredible!!!

[gtziaf]

Nice!

[hakkfan]

Wow! Thank you very much for the comments guys!!

I've only been using my airbrush to blow away metal shavings lately, but I need to get going on some paint! But in the mean time.....

I haven't had any large blocks of time to sit and build so I just do bits here and there. Last night was engine plate night. I'm getting more and more comfortable with the steps needed to do things like this. Still not perfect, but you should see my other attempts! LOL Anyway, I kinda jacked up the slots on the one side, I think my bit was going bad on me, but that area will be covered by the power steering set-up anyway. You can see I also sanded the front of the engine a bit to make sure this will mount as flat as possible. Now I can detail this piece a bit, get the water pump mounted, and start adding pulleys and belts.







I need to run brake lines but before I do that I need master cylinders. I made up this plate that will glue right to the firewall. The bottles are machined resin, the caps are brass soaked in blacken•it, and the lower parts are crimp tubes. This whole unit is now ready to be installed, and then I can start plumbing.





One area I'm always trying to improve is the front suspension. Ever since the great Mopar truck no tie rod debacle, I've made it a point to really try hard on the front end!

So, here's what I did last night. I thought the sway bar arms could really be done better. I have used PE before and it looked OK, but the shape was wrong. On my Kahne car I used some scratch built plastic ones that had the right shape, but looked dull. So on this one I thought all day at work about how I could machine some and went home and tried it out. I held a piece of aluminum stock in a mill vice, mounted on my rotary table. Then I marked out the general shape I wanted and trued up the square sides. then I could rotate the stock 20 degrees and do the other sides as well as the front edge with the slight cut out. I made my cuts deep enough I could get two at once from the same piece of metal. Next I drilled the holes and then parted them off with a cutting wheel.

Here's how the look cleaned up, and you can see the stock with the shape of one still on there. I made two fake sway bar ends from brass and blackened them and topped the arms off with some Pro Tech .030 PE nuts. They will hang a little lower when they are mounted for good, but I wanted to give them a quick test fit to see how they were going to look. Mission accomplished!











There's really even more that could be done to them. Lightening slots, lightening holes, both. Once it's chucked up you can do anything you want to it. I just wanted a plain set to see if I could do it, but the next set might look a bit tricker!

Thanks for looking and all the great comments. I'm having a blast!!

ClayK

[robrex]

I'm always super impressed by your work Clay! Very motivating..
What is the 'the great Mopar truck no tie rod debacle'?

[hakkfan]

Originally Posted by robrex

I'm always super impressed by your work Clay! Very motivating..
What is the 'the great Mopar truck no tie rod debacle'?

Thank you very much! That means a lot coming from you.

The Mopar truck thing was kind of a joke. I built it back in 2004 and it did really well almost every where I entered it. But I had to come clean and admit I had left off the tie rods off of the front end! I had run out of time before the first contest I took it to, and nobody had ever caught it. So since then I make damn sure I've got my front ends in order!

Here's the truck, and as you can see.........whoops. No tie rods!



Clay

[Twowheelsrule]

I always love to see your ground breaking work! I also appreciate the effort you have went to showing us how it is done!


What brand of mill and lathe are you using? Can you show us a picture of it or them?


Thanks,
TW

[sportracer02]

WOW !!!

You show your scratchbuilding skill on different materials - plastic, alu, resin, I really enjoy your WIP

[tuned.by.twenty]

This makes real cars look like under-detailed models.

[da_ashman]

Looks like the paint on the body is done, are we gonna get to see that, or is it a surprise? Amazing build, another for the Magazines!!!

[flhansen]

Hi

I don't understand why this is only a fourstar thread. It should be beyond 6 stars...?

Max star rating 5 from me!

Flemming

[sportracer02]

Originally Posted by flhansen

Hi

I don't understand why this is only a fourstar thread. It should be beyond 6 stars...?

Max star rating 5 from me!

Flemming

... it is my opinion, but here it seems, that not the model gets the rating but maybe personal factors or ratings from those, who give a low rating, are envious, because they will never reach this level ????

2 solutions: the possibility of rating should be banned or it should be visible, WHO gave which rating, how many stars.

[rollover]

WOW Clay! Great job just does'nt say enough. I think building a 1:1 car would be a no brainer for you after creating such small details.

[hakkfan]

Thanks for all the great comments and support guys. I really appreciate it!

I've been spending most of my little free time practicing at the metal shaving processors, but took a break and got back to some actual building.

After looking at my sad steering shaft I had in there, I attempted to make a new one with my first shot at machining scale u-joint knuckles. I made two, and they both worked! Now I just gotta make two more to come off of the steering box. A little RB motion stainless steel tubing, and some Pro Tech PE bolts and I was much happier.





Getting back to the steering, I machined a new center link from aluminum, and detailed it with Scale Hardware and RB Motion bolts. The little pitman arms there are DM #5 hard line with the ends smashed. I still need to paint the other one black, just haven't done that yet. The center link was installed and given a light was of Tamiya clear yellow heavily thinned. Tie rods are from RB and I added the double pinch colors on each one as well. Something new for me anyway. Once those were in I could add my sway bar arms and linkages. I also added my master cylinder plate.









And although they won't go on this car, here's my latest obsession. Machine brake rotors. Yummmmm...... ;D





Next up will be front springs, brake lines, shocks and the front and rear suspensions will be pretty well buttoned up.

Thanks for looking!

Clay

[mike@af]

Clay, I really like your attention to detail with the steering linkage. I plan on machining my own U-joints for my steering linkage as well. Great work!

[hakkfan]

Originally Posted by GTmike400

Clay, I really like your attention to detail with the steering linkage. I plan on machining my own U-joints for my steering linkage as well. Great work!

Thanks dude. Longest I've ever held my breath machining those things! LOL