(FINAL UPDATED 9/23/18) Sprint car build, central Pa dream team #6918

[Bob P.]

I'm going to attempt a replica build of the 69K sprint car and hauler.
The 69K is referred to as the dream team in central Pa. The team is made up of three National sprint car hall of fame members, Car owner Don Kreitz, crew chief Davey Brown, who is 84 Years young and driver Lance Dewease. Davey also builds the engines for the team.. Davey has been turning wrenches on race cars for over sixty years.This is the third year for Lance Dewease as the driver.

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That's Davey at the right front of the car making some adjustments.
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The Hauler.
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I'll be using an SWS chassis for this build. I had the privilege of meeting Justin several months ago. I was able to view some of his modern sprint car chassis and body panels he manufactures and sells. The quality of his products are excellent.
You can view his products here. https://www.swschassis.com/

Some of you, who have built sprint cars using the Revell / Monogram kits or SWS products may have a different and better way of building these than I do. I will try to keep you up to date on this build, with a how I did it, not a how to.

SWS chassis on the left, kit chassis on the right.
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SWS chassis.

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Hood, nose and roll cage side panel from SWS, lower side body panel by me.
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Hood, nose,roll cage and upper side panel by SWS, lower side panel and engine area by me.
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I hope you enjoy following along on this build. Any advise or suggestions will be welcomed.

Bob

[john2]

   I am sure you will do an excellent job, Bob.  I am not much into sprints, but I think the hauler is fantastic. 

[Dirtman]

That's quite  an undertaking. I know we all know you are the one capable of getting it done. Looking forward to seeing the finished product!!!

Rett

[TonyK]

Wow. You got me all excited about the SWS chassis site as I've never heard of it. I could spend some $$$ there but all the options have got me confused. Don't really know what I need to check.

[Bob P.]

Tony,

If you go to the SWS web site, click on contact. His email address is up on the right top of the page.
I think the best approach is to email Justin a picture of the car you want to build.
Then he can pick the best match for the chassis and body panels you will need. He had to make a new mold, for the right side panel, for the 69K build. He usually responds to emails promptly.

Bob

[Bob P.]

I finished a few more steps last evening.

I soaked all the suspension parts in what used to be Wesley's white wall cleaner to remove the chrome finish.
I soak them overnight and then brush the chrome off with a soft tooth brush.

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I purchased this product at dollar general. It seems to work a little slower than the old Wesley's product.

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[Bob P.]

I installed locating pins for the front and rear torsion bars, radius rods and top shock mounts this morning.
I stripped the plastic off of the small diameter plastic coated wire and used the wire for the pins. The wire is .7MM diameter.

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[GWSTEXAS]

This is going to be a really special project. Many thanks to Justin for making modern sprint car models possible. Using his parts does require a good bit of additional stuff, some of which is in the old Monogram kit and some of which is available from after-market suppliers. But when it's all put together with a little scratch building, some incredible results are possible. I'm excited to watch this one develop!
Best,
Gary

[Bob P.]

I'll give you a little information on the graphic and developing the decals for this project.

I'm working with Greg Holland on the project VSRN on this forum.

I went to Williams grove speedway several weeks ago. I purchased a pit pass and went to the pits and took close up pictures of all the graphics on the car. I took about 22 photo's total. The crew was very understanding in allowing me to interfere a little with there work being done. I was there early, shortly after they arrived at the track.

I sent all the pictures to Greg for him to use in designing the decals. The decals will include all the graphics and all the contingency decals on the car.

Below is just an example of the close up pictures I provided to Greg.

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Below is a sample of some of the decals Greg has designed for this project.

I know Greg has put a lot of time and effort into this project. I hope I can complete the build
at a quality level that will showcase the outstanding decals he will be providing.

I mailed all of the body panels and the two wings to Greg, for him to use, for sizing the decals.
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Bob

[MarkJ]

Wow, Bob. That is one beautiful sprint car. I cant way to see this one finished. Its going to be awesome.

[vsrn]

The pictures Bob took were ideal for making a set of decals this complex.
Not only were there pictures of everything that was needed, most of them were as "head-on" as possible, and well lighted. In addition, the pictures from his phone were very big files, which let me enlarge them to get all of the fine detail.

We really lucked out when Bob spotted a spare Top wing, next to the hauler. Normally, it's impossible to get a good clear picture of the top of the wing, when it's mounted on the car.

We've already done some work on matching the paint colors.

Now that I have the wings and body panels, the fun is just beginning.
Most of the drawing is done. Now I "just" need to do final scaling to fit, and to split the decals for the different body panels.

Like Bob said, it's been a lot of work so far, and there's a lot more to do, but I'm sure that we can pull this off.

But I may need a nap after it's all over !

vsrn

[Bob P.]

I posted a little update below.

Tires and wheels painted and ready. Tire decals by Greg Holland.
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Engine installed. These old air cleaners are obsolite but will not be seen.
Fuel injection lines installed, small oil tank built and installed, no plug wires used on this build, very hard to see after body panels  and headers are installed.
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The chassis is positioned on a small fixture, I built, to hold the chassis in place, for installing the front and rear suspension.
This step has been a challenge for me in the past, I hope this helps the process.
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[Bob P.]

Small update on this project.

I got the body panels and wings back from Greg Holland yesterday. I mailed them to Greg to use for sizing the decals.
Decals should arrive in the mail Monday.

Picture below of the painted panels. Light blue outside and flat black on the inside.

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Krylon paint used for the light blue.
This paint sprayed very nice and the finish is good.

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Top and front wing panels shown. I used a combination of kit wing panels, and the right side panel is from SWS, that I cut the angle on the lower front. I also flattened the top center wing section and scaled it to 60 X 60, the current rules. The front wing middle section is from SWS with scratch made sides.

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Bob

[Bob P.]

Thanks everyone for your comments. If anyone has suggestions or comments to improve this project please feel free to add them.

Bob

[Bob P.]

Well, I received the decals from Greg on Friday.

As mentioned previously, I mailed all the panels to Greg for him to size the decals, to fit the panels.
The fit is almost perfect.

Here's an update on installing the decals.
The white layer needs to be applied first.

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After the white has dried then apply the color layer.

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Sorry for the dark picture quality.
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I've also been working on the photo etched seat belts.
I might be getting too old for this close work with these small pieces.

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Here's my seat I purchased from SWS.

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Thanks for looking, I'm really enjoying this build so far.

Bob