Another Mopar Off My Bucket List - Barracuda Fastback
I've been somewhat absent from FABO this week. I needed to spend time with trimming hedges, mowing, raking, cleaning off the driveway, etc, etc... I don't know if it improved my neighbor's property values but the lack of tools & parts in front of my house was probably appreciated.
Preparation for Halloween is still going on. This year we'll be running 5 projectors tied to 5 computers. I've been scouring eBay for bargains so we could afford to pull it off. So far I've managed to keep the cost down but I did have problems with a used laptop I purchased. They sent a slower one than advertised and the LCD screen was cracked. I've sent it back and am awaiting a refund. Some of the locals have already been asking what I've got planned for this year. I think they'll be entertained by what they'll see.
A few weeks ago Sedanman posted a 1/32- 1/24 scale Carrera racetrack for sale here on FABO. I debated getting it because I've seen a similar one pop up for sale the past few years at a swap meet that's coming up next weekend. As cool as I always thought it was I'd always passed on it but dreamt of having it. I don't know if it'll be back for sale this year but decided to go ahead and buy the one Sedanman had advertised here anyway. This thing is WAY COOL!! It's got 32' of track but I wish it had about another 60' so I could run some longer straightaways. I set it up in the basement on the floor for now to test it out. Most of it works perfect. I did have to solder one wire in one of the controllers, the lap counter isn't working yet, and the two 1/24 scale cars need attention. My only complaint is that there weren't any Mopars. I may have to add to the stable that came with it.
I ta;led Teresa into giving it a try and she liked it almost as well as I did. I always had HO scale tracks when I was young and loved them but the cars always looked like a blur when they moved so fast. This larger scale seems 10X better.
I did manage to replace my lug nuts on the front of the funnycar. Now I can roll it around without the wheels wobbling.
The good news is that the cage is in. The bad news is that I need to modify the body hinges AGAIN. After re-measuring for head clearance we found that the top of my helmet was going to be even with the top of the bars. Things are tight where height is concerned now but it works. If I have to raise the rear of the body further than what looks good (too much rake) I can compensate by mounting the rear end higher in the chassis to bring it back down. The bottom of my seat is about 3/4" above the driveshaft loop. I'll probably bring it down on top of it and put a solid plate between the two.
Compared to modern funnycar cages this looks pretty bare but it's not much different than some of those used back in the day. I may add a few more bars before I'm done and I'll gusset some of these.
I still need to finish fabricating a mount for the steering gear and then I'll be ready to start on the aluminum interior.
I had the driveway cleared off for a couple of days but now the Charger & funnycar are back in front of the house. I need to get some more work done on them before October 1st when they need to go away for the Halloween season. I've come to realize that I'm a slob by nature when I'm working on a project. I really need to keep the mess down to a minimum for awhile.
I've been somewhat absent from FABO this week. I needed to spend time with trimming hedges, mowing, raking, cleaning off the driveway, etc, etc... I don't know if it improved my neighbor's property values but the lack of tools & parts in front of my house was probably appreciated.
Preparation for Halloween is still going on. This year we'll be running 5 projectors tied to 5 computers. I've been scouring eBay for bargains so we could afford to pull it off. So far I've managed to keep the cost down but I did have problems with a used laptop I purchased. They sent a slower one than advertised and the LCD screen was cracked. I've sent it back and am awaiting a refund. Some of the locals have already been asking what I've got planned for this year. I think they'll be entertained by what they'll see.
A few weeks ago Sedanman posted a 1/32- 1/24 scale Carrera racetrack for sale here on FABO. I debated getting it because I've seen a similar one pop up for sale the past few years at a swap meet that's coming up next weekend. As cool as I always thought it was I'd always passed on it but dreamt of having it. I don't know if it'll be back for sale this year but decided to go ahead and buy the one Sedanman had advertised here anyway. This thing is WAY COOL!! It's got 32' of track but I wish it had about another 60' so I could run some longer straightaways. I set it up in the basement on the floor for now to test it out. Most of it works perfect. I did have to solder one wire in one of the controllers, the lap counter isn't working yet, and the two 1/24 scale cars need attention. My only complaint is that there weren't any Mopars. I may have to add to the stable that came with it.
I ta;led Teresa into giving it a try and she liked it almost as well as I did. I always had HO scale tracks when I was young and loved them but the cars always looked like a blur when they moved so fast. This larger scale seems 10X better.
I did manage to replace my lug nuts on the front of the funnycar. Now I can roll it around without the wheels wobbling.
The good news is that the cage is in. The bad news is that I need to modify the body hinges AGAIN. After re-measuring for head clearance we found that the top of my helmet was going to be even with the top of the bars. Things are tight where height is concerned now but it works. If I have to raise the rear of the body further than what looks good (too much rake) I can compensate by mounting the rear end higher in the chassis to bring it back down. The bottom of my seat is about 3/4" above the driveshaft loop. I'll probably bring it down on top of it and put a solid plate between the two.
Compared to modern funnycar cages this looks pretty bare but it's not much different than some of those used back in the day. I may add a few more bars before I'm done and I'll gusset some of these.
I still need to finish fabricating a mount for the steering gear and then I'll be ready to start on the aluminum interior.
I had the driveway cleared off for a couple of days but now the Charger & funnycar are back in front of the house. I need to get some more work done on them before October 1st when they need to go away for the Halloween season. I've come to realize that I'm a slob by nature when I'm working on a project. I really need to keep the mess down to a minimum for awhile.