Mad Jack From Oz

Hi Finksters,

I don’t know if I will finish my Fang in time, so here are some shots of the progress as of today.
I have just bought my first digital camera, especially for this, so I hope they have come out OK.

The chassis was hand made from fine brass tubing and soldered together for a 1/25 scale model. The hair-springs were made from finer brass rod. The front axle and wheels are from the Outlaw kit, which was the closest to the actual track I could find. The front tires are custom bought (see my earlier posting as to parts sources)

The rear axle is detailed as an alloy unit and comes from my parts bin, as do the disk brakes and brake pedal. I scratch built the clutch housing and box. The other pedals and the steering were scratch 
built. The seat comes from my parts bin and I hand made the five point seat belts and buckles.

The rear wheels are my favorite Halibrands, which I have painted in dull alloy, as in the early photos. The tires are soft rubber “no brands” from my parts bin. 

The engine is a Hemi 392 Chrysler with dry sump and GMC 6-71 blower (again thanks parts bin). The Hilborn scoop and rocker covers come from a resin parts supplier. I am disappointed in the covers as they are not the correct finned box Mickey Thompsons but the ones with a chamfered front edge. This wasn't obvious on the web site where I bought them. I hope to replace these when I can find a source, but parts take up to three weeks to get here by airmail (something to do with the anti-terrorist security in US Mail). The blower belt is rubber and the pulleys and pumps are from the now famous bin.

The parachute has a link to the ring pull in the cockpit and the hand brake is connected to a master cylinder which is plumbed to the disk brakes.

I built the two tanks (oil and gas) out of scrap, based around the size of normal dragster tanks of the period. 

As Tim said, the zoomies were the worst. The closest I could get were in the Tony Schumacher “US Army” dragster, but these had to be separated and removed from the manifold, a new manifold made and the pipes repositioned onto it. I’m not totally happy with the pipes and they have yet to have their final flat white coat.

I haven’t fitted the last steering draglink or the front steering tie-rods yet, as they go on outside the lower body shell.

I am building the body out of Plastruct sheeting and I will post progress shots in the next day or so.

Hope you like it.

Mad Jack in Oz

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