Jim Strube 57 Chevy COMPLETED

[David Bogard]

This car had exhaust that ran straight up from the motor and up through the hood. Both #222 plastic rod and .062 solder fit nicely inside K&S #8101 aluminum tubing. After drilling out the exhaust I tried both the styrene rod and the solder and i liked the consistency and pliability of the solder better for this application.


Slipping the tube over the bent solder will work "okay" once painted, dirt "washed" and blended in but I wanted to try to bend my aluminum so that it looked like it was coming straight from the motor. Too sharp of a bend for my K&S tubing so I tabled it and I will get some of the new "soft bend" tubing and try that.


In the meantime I went ahead and got the balance of basic engine parts painted and glued in. I have many other little points on this project in which to tinker so the slight delay until I get a chance to fiddle with the new soft bend stuff is okay!

[David Bogard]

Quick update. I bought some of the new "easy bend" aluminum, brass and copper from K&S and tried some test bends on the copper (since it was the softest). That stuff will come in handy and it does indeed bend very easily. However, in tubular form it cannot be bent as sharply as I needed it for this application. In this scale you can't get enough stretch from the outer side of the bend to keep it from collapsing at such a tiny radius.

Still, I like the stuff and will be using it for various things down the road but just note; as malleable as it is, it is not a miracle piece of metal.

[Gary Davis]

Thanks for the up-date and INFO on the tubing David. It does sound like it would be useful in the shop...

[Brian Conn]

Quick update. I bought some of the new "easy bend" aluminum, brass and copper from K&S and tried some test bends on the copper (since it was the softest). That stuff will come in handy and it does indeed bend very easily. However, in tubular form it cannot be bent as sharply as I needed it for this application. In this scale you can't get enough stretch from the outer side of the bend to keep it from collapsing at such a tiny radius.

Still, I like the stuff and will be using it for various things down the road but just note; as malleable as it is, it is not a miracle piece of metal.

Any suggestions on what it would work with?  ....cages, nerf bars, etc...   Been wanting to try some of those easy bend metals from K&S , but unsure on what I would use it on.   

[David Bogard]

I can see lots of exhaust related uses from zoomies to certain under-vehicle exhaust works to collectors, turnout tubes and various things like that. Some injector tube applications (the stuff seems to flare easier), turbo-charger intakes, and just anywhere there is an obvious tube (open end seen or required) that would require stable and multiple bends. It's not a "must have" for the builder but a stick laying around will come in handy on certain applications.

[Marty W]

David, really good to see you back at it. Inspires me to finish up a couple of models laying around temporarily dormant!

[David Bogard]

Coming along. I've got the bumpers built, the hood shortened and opened up for the exhaust, the shocks made and temporarily set in place, and the motor wired up. Many details to go but it is shaping up to look like my reference photos.

[Gary Davis]

It's sure looking good David!! They sure made Heavy-duty rear bumpers back then didn't they. Keeps the other guy from messing things up back there.

[David Bogard]

It was likely a regional thing Gary. In Central Illinois the tracks are all 1/4 mile or even 1/5 mile; high banked clay ovals. That meant there was a lot of "persuasion" that went on back in the day. When so many cars showed up on Friday, Saturday and Sunday Nights, half of which were pretty evenly matched and were capable of winning, sometimes the difference was indeed how much nuanced nudging, blocking, shoving and scraping you did. Guys like Rett will tell you that these old cars were not delicate and they were made for tight quarters and trading paint with other cars!

By the way, one of the beauties of Peoria Speedway was that everything was inverted in all the heats, consi's and semi's/ standing start and three abreast. They even started the feature with the fast nine cars (hot heat cars) inverted until sometime in the mid-70's. Then they went to two abreast rolling starts (still inverted) and started drawing peas for the feature. The fast time driver would draw 1 of 10 peas and whatever number that was, that was how many they inverted. I liked it a lot as it made the fast guys work to get up front and also allowed for many different winners.

[Dirtman]

Your right David. In my area, we qualified, lined up fast car started last for ALL races. So, if you were fast timer and won the feature you really had to do some serious kind of driving. Best I ever did was fast time, won the heat, and second (2 or 3 times) in the feature. We did this 3 and 4 nights a week in southeastern Wisconsin. And I loved every minute of it!

Rett

[David Bogard]

The "up through the hood" exhaust are challenging me so I stopped working on them last night. I have generally found it better to walk away and come back fresh when some particular part of a build gets overly frustrating. Otherwise I tend to end up doing something I will regret!

And Rett, you are so right! Today we just line them up with the faster guys up front and then they run off and hide. The back half just slugs it out as best they can but unless you can start on "the pole" or in those first couple of rows your chances are slim. Invert them all! Make them race! Make 'em earn it!

[Dirtman]

Separates the men from the boys, that's for sure. Cost is pretty much was caused a lot of that! Coming from the last row usually used up some equipment. So, I can understand the way it is these days. Understand it, yes, like it, not so much!!!! lol

Rett

[sentsat71]

Tracks around North Central IA area run under IMCA with 4 classes of cars Modifieds, Sport mods, Stock Cars and Hobby stocks and Sport Compacts. One track even runs Cruisers. NO qualifying...just draw for starting positions....Hot laps consist of Green, White, Checkers.....

[David Bogard]

Pesky exhaust pipes are installed and motor is installed and plumbed. Shocks are now installed and completing the interior and tire/wheel combination is well underway. I have to pick my shots as the temps are crazy cold right now so my little garage bench area is too cold. I'll bring little items into the house and work on them from time to time.

Out plowing snow for hours (and will be much of this week) but I'll try to get a few photos up so you can see where this old Jim Strube Chevy is during its construction phase.

[David Bogard]