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With the fun I am having with the Hurst Olds, I decided I needed a running mate to go with it - but with a twist!
This one is going to be a gasser designed to pull wheelies!
(yeah, yeah, I know that's not going to be the fastest way down the track - but it ought to be a riot to run! :D )

Starting point for the build is an AMT '40 Willys Coupe kit:




Body straight out of the kit:




One of the things that was a nice surprise is that the wheels that come with the kit are designed and come with 1/16" steel axles and the supplied rear wheels also fit nicely as an insert into the Pro-Track wheels/tires I intend to use! Adding -312 size o-rings to the supplied front wheels puts together the following look:




Construction of the chassis has started, and I am trying something a bit different... I plan to keep the guide flag and wheelie bars as one portion of the chassis and the motor/wheels/etc as a second part of the chassis, with the pivot point between the two being a sleeve over the rear axle tubes. (plan to arrest the rise height via spring)
It may not work the way I am hoping - but figured it might make for a more controllable tune-able set up than a normal drop arm set-up...

Shot of the rear half of the main chassis soldered up and the pivot sleeves slid over the axle tubes:




A quick mock up of the sub assembly under the rear half of the body to see how the tire protrusion is going to look...
;)




More updates to follow!
:banana-dance:

This should be interesting.
Good ol' iso-fulcrum design to the rescue!

Now ya gotta have the Hemi Under Glass and the Lil Red Wagon to run with them. :music-rockout:

When it rears up, does it go "woop-woop-woop-woop-woop, nyaaaaa" ?

I have the companion kit, the 3 stooges '40 Ford Panel truck.

That is going to be a cool build!!

The Olds is Great!, I'll be following your wheelie Gasser build. I'm thinking the same way for the chassis' as I gather up to build a pair of wheelies out of Deal's Go-Mad Nomads.

Paul

Well check this out! Nice choice!

No three stooges sound effects coming from the build - but I did make some more progress on the main section of the chassis tonight!
:D

Box tubing frame rails added:




Front leaf springs made from brass strip cut down to approximately 1/8" wide and formed around a touch-up paint can:




"Springs" mounted!






Wheels and tires put on to check the look / stance.... :D

Todd
What time does the excitement kick off on Wednesday nights

Rick,
We normally start the action with HO racing on the custom routed 4-lane HO track at 7pm - progressing through stock t-jet, super stock, Wizzard Thunderstorm and Tyco 440x2 box stock classes and then have been moving over to the drag track after that - between 8:30 and 9:00 depending on how many racers we have in the HO action.
Makes for a fun filled night!
:banana-dance:

Awsome Model Looking Good! Where are those O-ring front tires from?

Thank you sir!

Not being a fan of the unrealistic look of the normal o-rings that come with the front "skinny wheels", I did some digging and found that -312 o-rings make for a nice alternative as they have the same ID dimension - but have a notably larger 3/16" cross section.
I picked up a bag of 50 of them from the local hydraulic shop - but they are also readily available online as well.
Hope that helps! :D

Thanks that helps looking forward to seeing the Willy's finished

Im really enjoying this build. Keep it up!

Bonus is you could use that included Whoopie Cushion for some extra boost when installed on the car! Nothing like a big block Whoopie Cushion under the hood :)

Very cool project, have FUN with it!
Notice on the model kit box art - "Curley" is wearing old school googles... and NO helmet!
Thanks for the photos, and... Enjoy! Ernie :>)

TT...that is looking soooooo sweet!!! Probably my most favorite type of car of all time "Willys"!! Looking forward to more progress!!