Post by Bernard Kron on Dec 28, 2022 11:27:33 GMT -5
One of the members on the Model car Magazine board started a community build in recognition of The Race of Gentlemen (TROG) California Drag Racing event in Riverside California at the Flabob Airstrip which ran on December 9-10. The community build extends through to the end of 2023 and has attracted a lot of interest. This is my first entry of what I hope will be several projects across the next year focusing on the various aspects of The Race Of Gentlemen events as they have evolved over the years. This first one acknowledges the original Spirit of Wildwood, the funky, no holds barred, old car and motorcycle beach racing in Wildwood NJ. I’m not by nature a replica car builder but this car, the Sea-N-Sun Motel ‘29 Ford phaeton from the 2016 Wildood TROG has always appealed to me. It caught the eye of several photographers, so if you’ve done a web search on TROG events chances are you’ve encountered it.
I don’t know much about it or its entrant, but the Sea-N-Sun is a real motel in Wildwood, N.J. right next to the amusement park and the beach where TROG runs its event. It’s got a mildly hopped up 4-banger and is otherwise pretty much just a stripped down stock A-Bone.
For my donor car I’m using a Monogram 30 Ford Phaeton gluebomb I got off of eBay, so it won’t be a strict replica since it’s a ’30 instead of a ’29. The seller tried to be informative about the condition of the car but when I got it it turned out to be far worse than the pictures showed. The body is actually from the original issue Model A Phaeton from 1961. The chassis, however was an AMT ’32 Ford piece,, chopped up, crammed under the body and generally useless, as were most of the other parts. So I had to take a deep dive into my parts stash to get this thing started.
Here’s a composite of the decal art and the eBay photo of the donor car.
The deep dive resulted in a complete chassis and motor from the Monogram ’30 Ford Coupe re-issue from a few years back. The front wheels and tires are from an AMT ’34 Ford 5-window coupe. The rear tires are my favorite period bias ply rear tires for these early hot rods, Herb Deeks truck tires, and their mounted to Revell ’32 Ford Tudor Kelsey Hayes wire wheels, stripped of their chrome and narrowed to fit. The motor, as on the original, is in a mild state of tune. While the stock style carburetion can just be glimpsed in the few photos of the 1:1 that are out there, I took the liberty to guess at the top side of the motor, which is invisible on the photos. I installed a Riley F-head from the Revell ‘’30 Ford Sedan “Rat Rod” kits. The rear seat is the original Monogram Phaeton rear seat which had served as the front seat on the gluebomb (!). The front seat was cobbled together from an AMT ’32 Ford Phaeton rear seat (got that?).
And here are a couple of the mockups of progress so far. The photos show the parts held together entirely by gravity and masking tape (no glue…).
The body decals need to be applied and then it will be time for final assembly. I’m hoping to get it done before the New Year.
Thanx for lookin’ and here’s hoping you all are a having a Happy Holiday Season,
B.
I don’t know much about it or its entrant, but the Sea-N-Sun is a real motel in Wildwood, N.J. right next to the amusement park and the beach where TROG runs its event. It’s got a mildly hopped up 4-banger and is otherwise pretty much just a stripped down stock A-Bone.
For my donor car I’m using a Monogram 30 Ford Phaeton gluebomb I got off of eBay, so it won’t be a strict replica since it’s a ’30 instead of a ’29. The seller tried to be informative about the condition of the car but when I got it it turned out to be far worse than the pictures showed. The body is actually from the original issue Model A Phaeton from 1961. The chassis, however was an AMT ’32 Ford piece,, chopped up, crammed under the body and generally useless, as were most of the other parts. So I had to take a deep dive into my parts stash to get this thing started.
Here’s a composite of the decal art and the eBay photo of the donor car.
The deep dive resulted in a complete chassis and motor from the Monogram ’30 Ford Coupe re-issue from a few years back. The front wheels and tires are from an AMT ’34 Ford 5-window coupe. The rear tires are my favorite period bias ply rear tires for these early hot rods, Herb Deeks truck tires, and their mounted to Revell ’32 Ford Tudor Kelsey Hayes wire wheels, stripped of their chrome and narrowed to fit. The motor, as on the original, is in a mild state of tune. While the stock style carburetion can just be glimpsed in the few photos of the 1:1 that are out there, I took the liberty to guess at the top side of the motor, which is invisible on the photos. I installed a Riley F-head from the Revell ‘’30 Ford Sedan “Rat Rod” kits. The rear seat is the original Monogram Phaeton rear seat which had served as the front seat on the gluebomb (!). The front seat was cobbled together from an AMT ’32 Ford Phaeton rear seat (got that?).
And here are a couple of the mockups of progress so far. The photos show the parts held together entirely by gravity and masking tape (no glue…).
The body decals need to be applied and then it will be time for final assembly. I’m hoping to get it done before the New Year.
Thanx for lookin’ and here’s hoping you all are a having a Happy Holiday Season,
B.
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