Eighties Contest Entry: 1987 Gambler Sprint Car

[Sigmaman]

This car debuted in 1987 driven by the legendary Steve Kinser.It was a new design chassis with "highbars" that connected the top of the roll cage to the front of the car.This created a stiffer chassis and eliminated the tall,flexing,shock towers on the chassis.It wasn't the first highbar car,but its the one that changed sprint car chassis design forever.Lowbar style cars,are still built and raced by drivers who prefer that style
,but they are few and far between now.I'll be building the car in the pic,but in full race livery.Follow this link to see what I meanFINISHED!SammySwindell/Channellock sprintcar.56 kayers be paitient.

Here we go.This is a shot of all the parts I have ready so far.Because a lot of the parts on sprinters are basically the same I build my cars production line style.A lot of these parts were already done.

The only changes to the chassis are updating the shock mounts.

The bonnet is the biggest challenge on this build.I started with a stock Gambler highbar bonnet and removed the airbox.Then I lengthened the nose with sheet plastic.I added sheet plastic to the sides to strengthen the bonnet during all the work.I cut the injector cooling slot by drilling small holes in a rectagular shape then braking the scrap peice out.Then I filed it to shape.Next is the air box.The stock hood is there and will be painted as well just in case I run out of time to finish the correct one.I expect the mods to take up half the total time of the build.

[malscar]

Lovely work so far Tristan. Will be watching this closely to learn more about speedway cars.
Mal

[white97ex]

this is going to be pretty cool. I hope that I get some time to get to my wrangler car for the contest. It is looking doubtful though. GOOD LUCK!

[Shunter]

Nice start so far, looking forward to seeing more.

[RallyRaider]

Welcome to the contest Sigmaman. This will be a very interesting and unique entry.

[klutz_100]

Very unique subject
Will follow this with great interest

[Sigmaman]

Time to update this thread
Heres a pic of the chassis painted and the bonnet with the too tall scoop.


Heres a pic of the chassis after I modified it to make it more accurate.The changes are a combination of looking at the pic and an educated guess based on my knowledge of these cars.Some of the chassis is hidden by the body panels.The mods are in white plastic.I use Evergreen styrene for all my mods.I was looking at the pic of the car closely and noticed it was nothing like the model.
Oh well,two steps forward,one step back.

Heres two pics of the modified frame painted with the rear bumper and the fuel cell in primer.


More stuff.Some pics of the bonnet.First two are of the bonnet with the top removed and sat in a finished model to get the height of the top right.The slot in the bonnet is for the cooling of the injectors.


This photo is where the bonnets at at the moment with the new lower top.

Heres some pics of some of the parts I'm using.The disc brake is a resin item from The Parts Box. (www.thepartsbox.com)
Brembo four pot calipers aren't normally used on sprinters but it fitted
inside the wheel.I carved out the centre of the wheel with a hobby knife.

[WRCfan]

Damn thats a good start! I love the disc's in the front wheels of the sprintcar.
Will be keeping an eye on this one!!

Aaron

[klutz_100]

Really interesting to follow
What's the story with the autograph on the roof (please excuse the ignorance on my part )

[Sigmaman]

Originally Posted by klutz_100

Really interesting to follow
What's the story with the autograph on the roof (please excuse the ignorance on my part )

Tha driver of that car,Danny Smith,toured Australia some 20 years or more in a row.The car was owned by Bill Barrows,of Mt Gambier South Australia.He was quite a driver in his day.Danny drove for him in the '94,'95 World Series Sprint cars season here down under.I took the car on a speedway trip with me in the hope of getting him to sign it,and he did.

[Sigmaman]

Last saturday was ace.Listening to Yes at earsplitting volumes and building models.Pretty groovy I reckon,and very productive.Heres the results.




Firewall,steering box and oil tank fitted.Fitted some tiny gussets,the white shards of plastic toward the front of the frame,to mount the rear stands for the front wing.Couldn't find a pic of how it should be so took some creative licence.
A pic of the engine mocked up,detail painting started,and some pics of various parts in process.The bonnet is nearly ready for paint.The bonnet was the most distictive element on this car,along with its new chassis design.The bonnet had the obvious scoop for cool air,the slot midway down for cooling the injectors,and in an earlier prototype had a slot low in the nose to direct air to the radiator.this was found to be unessasary and eliminated.Despite my chassis mods the bonnet will be the standout difference between this and my other sprint car models.I made it from a kit bonnet with bits of sheet plastic and lots of bog to get its shape.

[RandyPng]

Wow, looks really different, very interesting!

[Sigmaman]

I ruptured a calf muscle last week. The good side is I can't walk much so I have to sit in the sun room and build models .Engine assembled and fitted to the chassis.Radiator and suspension parts detail painting started.




Starting on the wings next.Painting the body will wait until I've made some panels to fit aroun the front suspension.

[Sigmaman]

some more stuff done.The front and rear suspensions are hung.Probably my least favorite job on these things.Here the pics.

[klutz_100]

I'm really enjoying this build!
You are doing an awsome job and I'm learning new stuff