Projects Replica of the Ivo's Showboat dragster

I bought 4 matching M&H Racemaster Dragster cast resin tires online. When they arrived I discovered that they were too narrow by 1/4" otherwise fantastic castings with the tiniest lettering readable. Anyway I contacted the supplier and he indicated that the pattern was one that his father made back in the '60's. Anyway I decided to keep them sliced them down the middle by first making a guide cut around the centerline using the jeweler's saw for accuracy and then the miter saw. I then cut the two center filler parts using 1/8" plywood which I had on hand with the center hole matching the wheel center for indexing. They were all glued together the outer surface sanded, glazed and sanded a couple of times to get smooth surface. After that I added a 1/4" bass ring mating to the inside surface of the tire (sorry no picture) to further index and support the wheel. Once satisfied with the outer surface finish I painted the tires first with a light coat of black primer and then Rust-Oleum Camouflage #1916 Black which has the luster of real rubber. This shows the finished front wheel and tire.



Now back to car wiring.

 

Every time you post more completed work on this, I am more amazed. Noticing the finished front tires, the first thing I noticed was the finish of the rubber. Then the lug nuts... so small. I can't wait to see the wiring completed.

 

I had to do a similar operation on two Revel Big T whitewall slicks for my 1/8th scale Mysterion model. The slicks are nice representation of Inglewood recap slicks but are a scale 8" wide but Ed used 10" slicks. These are hollow viny instead of solid resin castings so I couldn't just cut and glue in a spacer. Also, Ed used narrow 6" Radir wheels on these tires so I had to keep the inner diameter narrow.

I slit the outer diameter of the tread with an Xacto knife. Then I cut a bunch of vinyl plastic tubing hunks long enough that when inserted into the opened tire it expanded the 1" tread to the required 1 1/4". Finally I got a tube of black urethane caulking from the hardware store and filed the void with that. Once the urethane had set for a couple weeks, I sanded the OD smooth on my 12" disk sander. The urethane has similar texture to the vinyl in the tire and the vinyl filler tubes keep the tires light weight while being flexible enough to keep the tire integrity. The two blacks are slightly different color so I will paint the tread with black primer to get it uniform and fill small defects. Very happy with the result.

 

Great way to get the job done. You may want to use the same paint I did for your final finish. One of the claims for the paint is that it also sticks to plastic.

 

Yep. Next trip to Home Depot!!

 

Ken....You Are Insane....ly Talented!!!

I built a lot of "detailed" model cars way back....This is many o' Ballparks away from that!

SUBSCRIBED!....& anticipating next post!!

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Nice work.

 

Moved onto the wiring which proved a little challenging. I also decided to add the gas lines as well. First I started with the center oil pressure lines using thin copper wire that was stretched to straighten. This was the most challenging since I wanted the lines to be one piece from the sender to the gauge. First I bent the wire 90 degrees and fed it up from the base of the vertical frame member and then to the gauge with a few bends and the from the base bend down the frame rail to the sending unit. Next came the wires from the outboard temperature gauges to their sending units using 24 gauge wire with the copper core pulled out to make the wire more flexible. Then came the kill switches which were routed from the distributors to the switches across the engines and down the braces. For this I used 50 lbs casting line for fishing. It has the right size and look for wire. Finally I polished a length of 1/16" aluminum tubing for the gas lines which were routed down from the fuel pumps to T connections and then to the gas tank adding these were to trickiest part with all the different lengths and working under the car to join lines. It all looks simple but trust me there were a few descriptive adjectives used to complete these lines. Next came the spark plug lines which were easy enough once I sorted out the firing order.













Next will be the final trimming and polishing of the velocity stacks.

 

Come on Ken, you've got to have at least one compression fitting splice in an oil pressure line someplace! Great job, hope all is good there with all of you.

 

Absolutely AMAZING

 

Amazing work! Tommy Ivo has to see this model. I hope he'll get you an autographed photo to display with the dragster. Awesome stuff. I would love to see any other HAMB correct models you have built. Please built more. Maybe a 1932 Ford or Model A coupe? Outstanding work.

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Here is one from the early days of racing a 1911 Model T board track racer. It is 1/8 scale a penny is by the engine for a sense of size. The engine functions by turning the hand crank, pistons go up and down geared to camshaft, valves open and close in scale through the transmission to the geared rear end turning the rear wheels. The hand brake works the rear brakes. It was this model that encouraged me to write the book “Model Building with Brass” available through Amazon.

 

Be sure to "DAB" a spot of white paint into the reliefs on the magneto cap to represent the firing order stickers that go there. Also you need to "TIME" the valve cover hold down wings to 12 and 6 o-clock, I just hate it when somebody does things "half -ass" because they are LAZY (just a joke people!!)

 

I will but that could be on of the last things, right now I am working on the front axle rework.

 

Does the fuel tank cap un-screw??? could put a drop of gas for the smell realism when you take the cap off

 

Those are very important reminders. An engine will NEVER run correctly if the hold down wings are not properly timed! Hahahahaha. I'm that way too!

Good looking build. It will be great times when you get to worry about these things!

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On the re-pop I did for IVO, I gapped all 32 sparkplugs and timed the wingnuts for the 4 non-running Nailhead engines

 

Great looking model. Just got a copy of your book yesterday. Fantastic eye candy! You are much more a purist than I am. I take advantage of Revell, Lindberg, and Monogram plastic parts when they are decently done.

 

Oh, and I am sure your resin tires are cast from a mold taken from a Monogram Big T.

 

Bruce, a couple of years I was invited by Sherline to show my models at the Model Engineering Show in Detroit and I would put a mirror under the engine to see the crankshaft with the oil pan removed. I would put a drop of oil on the mirror; in the trunk is a sound card of a model T engine starting up and running and shut off after 60 seconds. I really had fun with that holding the rear end up turning the hand crank and pressing the button under the trunk for the sound.

I received your book today, now that is quite a history of building a car. Thanks I will enjoy!

 

Just before doing the wiring I trimmed all the velocity stacks to get rid of their fat lips. To get them all even I made two fixtures for trimming and final polishing. The tubing was polished before forming the stacks but need the final polish using the Red Rouge for the high luster. When seated against the shoulder and filed for a uniform and realistic dimension. The pictures are self explanatory.

 

After getting all the wiring and gas lines installed and needing a break and a little self inspiration I added the wheels with tires to have a sneak peek of what is ahead. So here are some random pictures of the Showboat on the tires for the first time.
Next will come the fuel injection linkage with adjustable ends using hex bar and rod.

 

Gerald Wingrove would approve. Bravo.

 

If you didn't know better, you would swear it's the real thing!
Just plain spectacular!
KK

 

All I can say is WOW!!!

 

The fuel injection linkage to tie the four engines together required quite a few small parts to be fabricated, especially the rod arms. The parts were chrome plated in the groups as they were made. The 2mm hex bars (ordered from Germany) were drilled and tapped to receive the adjustable tie rod ends bolted to the tapped link arms and then plated. One can see the bends in the aluminum gas lines for clearance of the arms. I have to admit that I was fooled when making the gas lines for the rear engines in that in the photo it looks straight, however the bent loop is not seen. I had to remake that one line on both engines with the bent loop up to clear the hex bar link. Last was the 1/16" center tube with the link arm soldered to it and the 1/32" rod linking both engines went through it. The adjustable connector rod with both ends adjustable was connected to the throttle rod down between the engines that linked back to the pedal. Looks complicated but once understood was fairly simple to fabricate just a little time consuming with few tight tolerances.

 

Amazing! Please show us more.

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After polishing the exhaust pipes my order of felt pads arrived and I moved on to polishing the wheels. Again using the Red Rouge I carefully polished both the inside and outside. Dancing Bear Components did a fantastic job on the custom design of the wheels, but the polishing took them to the next level. I also converted the rear wheels to being attached with studs rather than the 0-80 bolts that was used while building. Next came the valve stems with a locating pin to fit into the 1/16" holes in the rims and painted black.

I have also ordered the 1/8" I.D. clear shrink tubing for the gas tank retaining spring. I also revised the artwork for the decals and have ordered them as well. In the meantime I have a wooden base in the works and ordered a glass display case.

I will take some random pictures of the build to date.

 

Here is a picture of the decal sheet artwork I created and have ordered. The yellow lettering is to be a gold dapple since engine turning this small is not available. Hopefully, it comes out the way I want it.

 

"Looks complicated but once understood was fairly simple to fabricate just a little time consuming with few tight tolerances".
Are you kidding me? That has got to be one of the biggest understatements of the century. I marvel at your work but seeing the tubing in relationship to the toothpick puts it all in perspective to me. Just mindboggling attention to detail. I can hardly wait to see what you have planned for the next project.