CLF Ardun powered competion roadster Update 11/20

[Bernard Kron]

This is my first W.I.P. posting on the DPMCC board. This project is for the Lions Dragstrip community build over on the MCM board. To date I've been modeling Old Skool and tyhis oners no exception! The long pole right now is that I need a Replicas & Miniatures Co. of Maryland Ardun head conversion kit (part no. DD-16) ASAP if I'm gonna get this baby done by the build deadline, 12/31! If anyone has one they can spare I'll gladly replace it the moment I receive mine from Norm!

Here's the scoop:



This is the Clarkson, Ledbetter and Friend Ardun powered competition roadster. I first saw it on page 102 of 50 Years of Rod & Custom. I've collected other information on it but it's a pretty obscure car.

Here's the CLF mill:


I'm using the body from the Tony Nancy comp roadster and the Ramchargers FED frame with the steering converted to external mount. I''ve got the bodywork started (the Tony Nancy kit comes with the body split down the middle which I hate ) but need to get the chassis built in order to finalize fabrication of the parachute shroud and a body extension forward of the fiberglas T shell.

BTW, I would give my first born for a clear copy of the logo on the cowl so I can make a decal!

Here are some more pics of this car. I think it's drop-dead gorgeous and only hope I can do it justice!









The first build pics should be posted in the next day or two.

Thanx for lookin',
B.

[Bernard Kron]

The Tony Nancy Competition Roadster body comes in three pieces, left and right main body halves and a turtle deck. I want to avoid visible seams and also needed to have a complete body for trial fit to the chassis so I glued all three pieces together with styrene reinforcement under the seam along the body halves to provide when I sand and fill the seams later.

The next step was to construct a chassis. The chassis on the 1:1 is a Woody Gilmore “flexi” frame so I thought I would use the Woody flexi frame in the MPC Ramchargers FED kit. The suspension and front of the frame looked almost identical to the CLF car. I built up the frame and then mocked up the body, making sure the bottom of the shell was aligned at the firewall with the bottom of the frame, just like on the CLF car.

Then I took a profile digital photo of the mockup using tires from the Tony Nancy kit. I noticed that the Ramchargers tires were considerably wider than those shown on the 1:1.

Here’s the original picture:


I then took the picture and stripped out everything but the car:


Lastly I laid in this shot over the original side view of the 1:1. I made sure to match the bottom of the bodies and the overall size of the body and tires. Here’s the result:


As you can see, starting rearward from the firewall area, the Ramchargers frame sits much lower than the frame Woody built for the CLF car. I suspect the driver sits much higher up in the CLF car and that the chassis kicks up at angle from the firewall. In addition the Ramchargers’ overall wheelbase is about 12-13” longer. And lastly the firewall on the Ramchargers car sits further back implying that the CLF car either was running an in-out box or had a length of driveshaft to sit the engine forward. The Ramchargers car was state of the art for its day and ran a slider clutch and no transmission.

The bottom line is that with next to no additional data on the CLF car I’m flying blind trying to figure out what’s happening underneath the bodywork. It would take massive butchering of the Ramchargers frame to come up with something that matched the side view picture of the CLF car.

I’ve decided to proceed according to my original plan by using the frames from the Tony Nancy double kit and build a tribute to the CLF car rather than an exact replica while trying to stay as close to it as possible but allowing for the limitations of the skills and materials I possess. Next step, combining the rear end of the Tony Nancy Roadster frame with parts of the Tony Nancy Dragster chassis to stretch the wheelbase out as close to the 1:1 as possible.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

[geezerman35]

Great car.
Heroic project.
Glad you could mellow out with a 'tribute' rather that an exact copy.
Hobby should be fun compared to stress inducing.

[Bernard Kron]

Nov 16, 2009 7:13:05 GMT -5 geezerman35 said:

Great car.
Heroic project.
Glad you could mellow out with a 'tribute' rather that an exact copy.
Hobby should be fun compared to stress inducing.

Thanx. Yeah, a man has to know his limitations. Those Woody Gilmore chassis are really pretty but I'm no rivet counter at heart and a stretched Tony Nancy frame will look just as nice. I've never been a replica builder and I guess I still won't be!

[Bernard Kron]

Jon Curren (Rockin’ Rodney Rat) on the TRaK board suggested some simple mods to the Ramchargers frame that would get it up inside the bodywork. I tried them and they worked great. They are remarkably subtle but very effective. I removed the stock axle mounting brackets and installed new ones of styrene sheet. The axle location is now immediately below where it was before, about one axle housing width lower, effectively raising the top of the frame up into the body. I then cut about two razor saw thicknesses out of the top tube at the firewall junction and carefully bent the frame to rejoin them. This angles the roll bar more vertically, aligns the rear end to the motor better, and reveals a bit more roll bar. Although you have to look hard to see any differences when comparing the two frames the chassis is now tucked up neatly inside the body with a nice amount of roll bar showing. So I’m back to using a Woody Gilmore frame.

Here’s some images explaining what I did. The circled area is where I made the cut:



Here’s a comparison of the stock Ramchargers frame and the modified one. The red outline in the bottom image is the modified frame laid over the stock one:


Here’s a shot of the Tony Nancy kit body mounted on the modified frame with the CLF engine, rear tire and front end images pasted in with Photoshop:


Now on to chassis assembly and bodywork.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

[virgmeister]

This is looking so cool!!! You are doing a fine job on this build. Keep it coming.

Virgil

[Bernard Kron]

We have plastic! The build is gradually exiting the virtual world. I’ve got the chassis and backend painted and assembled and most of the interior bits installed. I found an old set of resin Ardun heads in my stash (from another supplier and rougher than RepMin stuff) and began building up a RepMin block. Glad I did because setting and installing the rear end correctly was impossible without it. The block took a fair amount of cutting and trimming to fit. I also discovered that I needed to construct a small fairing in front of the body shell to cover the firewall and footwell area. I did that in sheet aluminum. It’s smaller than the 1:1 and not quite so visible.

Next step is to fool around with the front suspension and continue work on the Ardun. I also need to shorten the rear axle some to get the rear wheels and slicks from the Tony Nancy kit to set in closer to the frame. Tons of scratch building and kitbashing on this build. The MPC Ramchargers FED kit might be slightly underscale. Everything from other 1/25 kits all seem to be just a tiny bit large…

Here are some pics. The first one is the now traditional Photoshop mockup, this time consisting only of a front wheel and roll hoop pasted in to the actual, real body, engine and chassis! So far the stance and overall look are holding up pretty well. The other two shots are just to prove I am truly entering the world of plastic once and for all…

Thanx for lookin’
B.

[geezerman35]

Nice work !!!!!

[thecowlkid]

Looking Cool!

[kirbside]

That is going to be sweet!

[virgmeister]

Looking great!!! Keep up the good work!!

Virgil