1949 Resin Merc

[zbuckster]

Well this thing has a history already and it isn't even built. It seems that I am the 4TH owner of this body. The body was given to ProModWrench by a friend of his, he gave it to HighVeloscity57, then when Bernie quit the hobby I bought all his stuff and ended up with it. So it has been from Alabama to Canada to Washington.

I got an email from Chris the other day asking me to consider building the car. I had already been thinking about it. Had it out of the box, found center on the wheel wells and figured it needed a wheelbase of 4 11/16 inches. maybe 4 9/16 if I do it different.

The problem with the car is whoever cast the resin body did it wrong. The drivers side is higher than the passenger side in the rear by the wing. The wheel wells are not sitting right to build a Pro Mod. (even though it is marked 49 Merc ProMod Body) Anyway I spent some time on it an decided it can be saved. It maybe butt ugly but it can be saved. So here we go.

I am not going to build a ProMod out of it. It would take more work than I am willing to spend (probably the reason it has never been built by anyone). I am thinking about a fast drag car. Something that could run a number of classes and then still Nostalgia Race if you wanted to. Super/Comp, Super/Gas, Super Pro and maybe Top Nostalgia (7.99 and faster).

That's the story (and I am sticking to it) and what I am going to try to do. Other than that I don't have a clue what I will do next with it.

Here are the pictures of the start and the car in primer for the first time.

I am not sure who made the body but here it is.



I used a piece of .065" styrene to fill the hole at the top of the spoiler.



Broken Cowl



I added .020 worth of styrene to the back of the hood to fill in the gap.



This is what it looks like now.







So this where we are at with it now. Some more body work to do and need to find a chassis. I think maybe one of the new Ross Gibson engines.
Color will be House of Kolor Candy Root Beer. The body trim will stay and be BMFed, same with door handles. Just a fast door car that's what we are after.

See you next update. Thanks for looking. All questions and comments are welcome.

[68chevy]

Look like you got your work cut out for you.

[whtchevy]

Will be watching.....Wow !

[zbuckster]

Thanks for all the input guys. I had a Christine I got at a swap meet for 3 bucks.



Thought it might give me what I wanted but half the chassis is gone. So up into the attic I went and found this one stashed away.



And since it is a Ford product it should have a Ford engine. So Iam will try to put this in it.



I trimmed 5/32 of an inch off the back of the floor pan and got the slick almost center into the wheel well.



Now I am going to get the front suspension mocked up so I can see where the wheel and tire hit the wheel well. Now the question is

To Scoop




Or not To Scope



I am going to get the front end done tomorrow to see how it looks. I need to move the rear tire back about 1/8TH inch. I want to know about the front before I do. I may have to lengthen the frame rails.

Thanks for looking in. All comments and questions are welcome.

[whtchevy]

You have to prime it that red juststicks out to much to tell if it should be there.

[z24dude]

Scoop it.

[zbuckster]

I want to include some input from another site. Maybe it will help everyone know where I am headed with this.

Clay to the best of knowledge there is only one Merc like this running in Pro Mod. That was 4 or 5 years ago. The cars were still going 6.20's on a good pass. Now it's 5.80. Any way ESPN was interviewing the owner. He was very proud of the fact that it was the only Merc and only all steel car running in Pro Mod. I haven't been able to turn up in pictures yet. I can't remember the guys name. Maybe when Chris sees this post he will know. He crews a Pro Mod car.

My plans for the car are a set of wheelie bars and a drag chute. Maybe dual chutes have to see what looks like what. I have thought of a set of taillights but don't know yet. I am going to open an AMT kit and look at what it can kick in.

Same up front. kinda a funny opening for a grille. I had thought maybe some wire mesh of some type. Then again maybe the AMT kit can ante up a grille that will work.

Maybe license plates that say "SCREAM". Not sure about that either. I have a particle Christine kit. I looked at the wheel well centers on the two bodies and they are close. I have a donor kit but need to find it. Maybe one of the Revell Street Burner 55 or 57 Chevy kit could give up a chassis. Looking into that also. This is the fun part of the build. Looking for this and that. Trying to find the stuff that works. You are a builder, you know what I am talking about. :lol: :lol: :lol:

After I built a resemblance of King's Daytona Charger, I was looking around and found this.



Seems like when I learned that after the Daytona had crashed and burned, King was associated with this one.

I thought the car was named "Mohican Sun" (didn't know that was a sponsor) and that hindered me in searching out more info for a while.
I did get some more fotos they are somewhere in my PC. And l
learned it is named "Iron man", or something like that. Rocco name rings a bell, so maybe we're talking the same car.

If I ever get another Merc body, this would be a neat way to go with it.

2¢ rom Geezer

OK, Looked around and found the few fotos I have. I'll throw them up here in case there's something y'all can use. It's called "Dark Horse", and yeah, has Rocca on the windows.









Thanks Clay. The back end of Rocca's car is way different. I don't know that I could replicate that or not. I would have to cut off the back half and graft on another, then build a wing. The Dark Horse car is the one I saw on ESPN2. It was the all metal car. I messed with it last night and have a chassis about half done. The back half. I am going to work on the front half today and then post a pic or two.

[whtchevy]

Now that is going to work .....Mountain motor all the way.

[prumus99]

Gonna be killer!

[zbuckster]

Thanks for the input guys. Seems everyone thought to scoop was the answer and I agree. Sooooooooooooooo. Here it is.

made a template of the scoop base. Then marked the cut line.



Some sanding, CA glue and putty we have this.



Here is a look at the finished scoop in place.



I wanted to breakup the big flat back end. I found center then scratched a box and mounted twin drag chutes in it.



NHRA says that a bracket car must have at least one tail light for night drags. I will do something with a light just not sure what. 2 ideas I had were 57 Chevy with the chrome spear going up. The other was a single light ,like a center brake light on a newer car, toward the top of the wing. Just some thing to break it up a little more. Any ideas?

Since I still had two unanswered questions Will the wheel base work and will the engine fit? I decided to put the engine together. If it won't fit I will put it into something down the line. Here is the Ross Gibson kit all washed and ready for work. I wash these twice. First in warm water with a couple drops of dish washing soap, then with a Bleach mix. about 25% bleach and 75% water. It seems to clean them up enough for primer to stick.



After 2 days of sanding and filing and drilling and well you understand I have this.



The basic engine block is 5 pieces. They are far from flat or square when you start.



The best tool I have found for working with them is a mirror with a piece of 400 grit wet and dry sand paper taped to it.



This gives you a flat surface to sand the pieces on. Also a home made center punch. I use a piece of spruce, drill a .025 hole in it. Then I can cut the head off a straight pen stick it in. Also handy for applying small dabs of paint or glue.



The reason you need them is. The engine has a dry sump oil system. Ross Gibson has cast a small dimple into the parts that need to be drilled for wires and hoses but the dimples are not always in the center. This resin is very brittle and if you aren't careful you will break it. Then you got a 20 dollar engine kit to throw in the scrap yard.

Anyway the block looks like the engine will fit. Might be able to use the kit headers and might end up building them either way it's a go.

As for the wheelbase?



Yep it's a quarter inch short. Well 7/32" . So it's off to the chassis shop to stretch it out.



Thanks for following along. Any Question or comments are welcome.

[Gary Kulchock]

Very nice work. You put a lot of thought into this build. ;D

[whtchevy]

I want to try a Ross engine but just afraid I would distroy it....looks like it is coming together nicely, just chip away at it and it will come together.

[zbuckster]

Thanks for looking in. And a big thanks for the comments. Believe it or not they make the build go smoother.

Don't be afraid of the Ross Gibson engine kits. I have built several of them. It opens the door for a bunch of engines that we wouldn't normally have. There is another source for engines Nagasaki Resin in Australia. I have one of his "Doomsday Hemis" that I plan to put into a car soon.

When I last posted The car was enough together to know the wheelbase is to short. It was 7/32" short which in scale is 5.6 inches. So I made everything longer and, you guessed it it was too long. So then I shorten things up and yes it was too short. More is better, so if a little bit is perfect then a little bit more will be more perfect. Right? Any way here are some pics to catch you up on all that.

So here it is too long.





Too short.



So after I hit the happy medium on all that it was time to put the engine together enough to see if it will fit. You guessed it, won't fit.



It needs to move back quite a bit to get it to fit right.



I was going to start hacking at the floor boards but decided to see how a tranny swap would work out. They are both 3 speed Lenco's, both have a scatter shield. Here is the difference.



The difference in the frame is this much.





This put the engine back to where it should be. and was a much easier way to go.



I got the roll cage all cleaned up and painted. Have the dash location figured out. Then started on the NOS bottles and batteries. Thought I could start the detail on them while the glue is setting on the frame.





So what's next? The first thing to build some engine mounts for the side of the block to rest on. Then the front bars will have to be changed to fit around the engine. I am going to try to scratch some front shocks and using real springs again. I have a few shift kit springs left. I need to finish the engine also before the bars are made. So most of the work will be on the front end.

Thanks for looking in. As always all comments and questions are welcome. See ya in a couple days.

[zbuckster]

Thanks for looking in and telling me what you think.

Man what a week. My wife is still in the hospital but coming home today. I haven't had a lot of build time in the last week but got some done.

I started out by putting as much of the motor together as I could. All that is left is the detail. This gives me an idea of how big it will be.



I went looking for headers. The headers from the Christine kit were perfect. The exhaust ports all lined up and they fit. Man that was easy.



I had to cut the center bar out of the front end. This will be replaced later when I see what kind of room I have. Then I hung the kit front struts on it. They just look hokey.



So using some aluminum tubing in different sizes, a shift kit spring, some blue anodized craft wire and some Dulpi-color red and blue anodized paint I made a set of these.



That got the front end looking like this.



I hate to say it but I may have to make another set of these. The front end may sit to low. If I do they will be just like this but the spindle will be lower.

Here is were we are at.



I was playing with the white gel pen to see what the tires would look like. Now I will go back to the rear suspension and build a set of coilover's for it. Then I will be able to set the ride height on the car. This might take a week or so. I am waiting for Sue to call me now. I will bring her home from the hospital and then I should have a little more build time. I will still be taking care of her but at least she will be home.

So until the next update thanks for looking in. All comments and questions are welcome. See you soon.

[zbuckster]

I had some questions about the 815 inch Ford motor. Like where does the upper radiator hose go? How is the fuel system plumbed? How is the dry sump plumbed? So I Googled it. I came up with this.

The fuel diagram is from Barry Grant's site.



Also found these 2 photos of the engine.





At another site there was quite a read about the engine. The early engine had a 3 stage dry sump system. The thought was it left to much oil in the engine and caused drag, so they went to a 5 stage system. If you look at the first engine picture you will see 5 hoses on the sump pump. This is the latest system. The Ross Gibson engine has the 3 stage system. I am not going to change it just thought it was interesting. At 10,000 RPM there is less than a quart of oil in the engine. With the 3 stage system there was almost 2 quarts of oil in the engine. That blows me away. 10,000 RPM and one quart of oil.

OK I am back to work just wanted to share. Thanks for looking in

I can't believe it's been a week already since my last update. First of all thanks for the comments guys.

Sue is right on track with her recovery. She had all her staples taken out yesterday, that seemed to help her alot. Thanks for caring.

I have got some done. Not much but some. I guess where I am at with this car is I don't have a clear picture of how it will be so I am working on this end then the other end. Then I stare at it for awhile.

I did get the back half done. Then I worked on the rear tires a little.

I cut the kit shocks off the 4 -link and drilled the 4-link mounts with a .025 drill bit. It was easy and looks a ton better.





When it was put together it looks like this.





The drive line is 3/32 aluminum tubing and the kit u-joints.



With a set of slicks on , it looks like this.





Got the Dash board done. Not finished but it is cut and fitted to the body and glued to the floor boards.



Here is the teaser to keep you coming back.



I have been thinking about the fuel system and how I will do it. I have been thinking about adding a set of NOS nozzles (like a direct injection system) and adding a set of fuel injectors to richen the engine when the spray comes on. Plus have the regulator fuel line going to the carbs. I know that is a ton of plumbing. I don't want the engine to look to busy ,but I do want it to be different. I am going to try to mock up what I am thinking about and take some pictures to post. That will keep me off the street and out of trouble.

Thanks for looking in. All comments and questions are welcome.

I almost forgot, wheels and tires. I will add a gold bead lock to the rears later.

[dan]

Wow what a project,it won't be but ugly when it's done.

[zbuckster]

Thanks to everyone for the comments and input. So were we stand is "Can a competition look to busy" OK I cave in. I decided to go for it. I still wanted the engine to be realistic in appearance and theory. I spent some time thinking about it and finally came up with a plan. The engine will have carburetor's but will also have a direct injection NOS system. When the NOS hits you have to have a way to richen the gas supply or the engine will lean out and pop thought the top. So I added a gas direct injection system to fatten things up when the spray hits. I could have used the Ross Gibson Carbs as throttle bodies and not ran fuel to them, but the busier the better, so here we go.

Here is the intake with the plumbing for the carbs.



Then using craft beads and craft wire I made up two sets on injectors. The red ones will be for gas and the blue for NOS.

I know that both sets have red anodized wire for a center but that's the only color I had in 22 guage and that's what I needed for the hole in the wire crimp. When they are installed on the intake the wire will not show anyway.



Also needed some type of fuel distribution block. This is my 4TH and final design.



Here it is added to the intake with the carbs plumbed into it. The injection lines haven't been added yet.



Then I added the throttle linkage. This should make the intake complete.



The gas injectors added.



Then NOS injectors added.



Between the heads is a Flex hose that keeps water in both sides on the engine. Like a balance tube. I made 3 of them before I settled on this one.



The upper radiator hose comes off the passenger side head and goes to the radiator. At first I didn't understand this. I thought why not hook direct to the center on the balance tube. Now I understand. There is no room to do it. Here is everything put together you will see what I mean.





The fuel rails for the gas injectors will come forward and hook into the fuel block. The NOS rails will go toward the rear on the engine. I will make a block to tie them together and then run a braided line to it from the bottles and regulator. Then hole in the middle of the fuel block will be for the fuel line that comes from the fuel pump.

I also got the spark plug wires made up. I know that nobody makes Orange plug wires but what to added contrast to the engine. So Orange wires, Red boots and Blue anodized wire looms. Here are the plug wires.



The view from the front of the engine doesn't really show how tight things are. Maybe this view from the rear will give you a better idea on how the fuel rails will go. If not stay tuned till my next update. The engine will be finished by then. I hope.



I can't believe it took me a week to get this far. I am going to wax and polish my 4 cars to enter into the Puyallup Elks Show on Sunday. I want the Realm to be well represented.

Thanks for the comments again, they are always welcome. I will be back in a week with a finished engine. I hope. LOL.

[fireguy14]

Fenominal!

[whtchevy]

Hey it's your build ;Dyou use any color wire you want

[prumus99]

I'm loving this build! engine is looking great! I think I'm gonna have to try building myself a pro mod or a AA/gasser soon! keep up the great work!

[zbuckster]

Thanks for the comments guys, they are always welcome. This is the first of the new generation of Ross Gibson Engines I have built. I think it rocks. Everything you need and good detail also. It's hard for them to be 100% accurate because that technology changes weekly, but they give you an excellent example to start with.

I had a pretty busy week for a retired guy and then spent some of the time waiting on things to show up in the mail. I wanted to plumb the dry sump oil system but didn't have the right stuff. The Ross Gibson engine comes with some .035 braided line for the dry sump but it is way to stiff and to big to get the job done. It was so stiff it would crack the resin where you had drilled when you tried to bend it. I found some .024 braided line at Shipwreck Beads. It's about a 140 mile round trip for me to drive so decided to have it mailed to me. I ordered it Monday and it got here Thursday. So there was the week.

When I left off I had the fuel injector nozzles in place. Here is a pic of the fuel rails in place plus the intake plenum in place. The fuel lines are all plumbed to the fuel block. On the back of the engine where the NOS rails go, I have left a fitting that the braided line from the regulator will hook into.





Then I added the spark plug wires. Also scratched a small MSD Coil like they have.



Then added all the plumbing for the dry sump.





And that is it for this week. Now that that is all done I can move on to the chassis for awhile. By this time next week the engine will be all done and the body will be ready for paint I hope. I am going to use some .020 wire and run a bead inside each window. That way I can have a lip to attach the windows to. .020 in 1/25 scale is .500 so that would be like a half inch lip all the way around the windows. I want to get that done before paint so it will be body color.

So that's my plan for the next week. We will see how much gets done. Thanks for looking in. All comments and questions are welcome.

[whtchevy]

the engine is looking so sweeeet.

[68chevy]

Wow you are doing a fantastic job this is going to be one awesome build. The Ross Gibson engine is outstanding can’t wait to see more.

[zbuckster]

Back again. I want to start out by thanking you guys for looking in and taking the time to comment.

Max, man I am glad you finally showed up. I think I got one here might blow dust on the windshield of that Camaro of yours. Unless you tip the can on that thing I don't think you can catch me. 8)

When I last updated, over a week ago, my goal was to have the engine done and the body in color by today. I feel like one out of two ain't bad. I did get the engine all finished, except for the touch up at the end of it all. You guys know how that is.

Here is a picture of the engine beside the reference picture I downloaded.



I scratched a small coil and added it. Also the cover on the distributor is scratched. I tried to write MSD on them but could not get it right. Couldn't find a decal small enough so plain red it is.



After it was installed into the frame for a test fit the red flag ran up. The dry sump hoses are going to be to long. I tried to get them loose from the resin pan to shorten them but no way. I didn't want to break any of the resin and then have to do repair. I decided to use some .007 " craft wire to tie them up to the frame rail when the time comes. This will give you an idea of what I am talking about.



I will call it good on the engine now. Man that Ross Gibson engine was a kit in it's self. I should write a review. So now on to the body. I want to set the glass into the car. I want it to look like a street car. Who ever made the body left no lip to work with. What I have decided to do is use .020" craft wire to build a frame into the window openings. In scale that is .500 or half an inch all the way around. Here is where that program is at.



So until next time that's where I am at. I hope to have a bigger update by next week. We'll see how this window frame thing goes.

Thanks for looking in. All comments and question are always welcome.

[zbuckster]

Man it has been 2 weeks since my last update. Where does the time go.

Thanks for the kind words everyone. Max I think it's a drivers race. Your blown Camaro is gonna make 2200 to 2400 HP. This motor makes 1600 to 1800 on gas. Add a 500 HP NOS shot and we got us a drag race. What do you think Chris?

Chris it makes sense for the upper hose to be between the heads for equal cooling. But in the picture on the real engine. "D" is termed "Upper Radiator Hose" It comes off the left head. It will have an upper hose that much is for sure. Where it will come from remains to be seen.

Since the last update I had a minor set back. I dropped the frame. It broke into 4 pieces. Breaking where I add added the extension pieces to it. I knew I should have pinned the joints. So it was into the CSC to remove the paint. Then I drilled the joints and pinned each one with .020 craft wire. So that got me back to where I was. I got all the wire bent and glued into the windows for the glass.



My idea to support the body is to have the front part on th body sit on the dashboard and the rear will rest on some pegs I glue into the rear body. Sticking straight down. That way I can set the ride height by removing material from the bottom. So I added this scratch firewall to the body.





Then when I was fitting it to the floorboard it hit me. "You can't set the body ride height until you know the chassis ride height." So I started putting the chassis together. While I was doing that I added the brake lines from the master cylinder to the calipers. The rear wheels had no calipers just rotors. I scratched up a couple and put them in. Nothing fancy you can barely see them when it is all together. Also made some fittings for the lines and flex hoses to go to. The fittings are .030" hex styrene. The brake lines are .012" craft wire. The flex hoses are .015 braided craft wire.

The fittings



Front half



back half.



scratched caliper and lines on rear end.



Back half is put on with 5 minute epoxy. The whole frame is put together with epoxy.



Added the Lenco and the drive line.



Then I added the engine.



Then the floorboards.



That brings us up to date. Now I will fit the front bars that I had to cut out. Steering, struts, etc. The I will have it at a ride height so I can get the body to fit the chassis. I thought I would have this in paint 2 weeks ago. Man was I wrong. Building these things is a lot of work. LOL.

See you in a week or so. All comments and questions are welcome.

[ewaskew]

That is a very nice build.
Great detail work.
Earl

[whtchevy]

I have to say Buck this engine is just BLOWING me away, Your line detail is really clean .

[zbuckster]

TaDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's been a week and I am back again. I want to say thanks to those that looked in on this build. And thanks to those that commented. The comments really make these long builds more fun. You don't feel like you're alone in the world.

Max I know what you mean about the engine. The whole new series of Ross Gibson engines are far better than the last group. I have a couple of the "Chemi" and blown new Hemi's also. I plan on a couple Pro Mods using them. More on that latter.

Well like I said there were no set backs this week. It all went really smooth. The chassis is now a roller. I started by fitting the front done bars so that I could recheck the wheelbase and then Epoxy everything together. Also wanted to get the radiator and radiator hoses on so that I could fit the front bars. Added the bars I took out earlier also.













So now I could put the body on it and set the ride height. I cut the firewall to let the front end come down more.
This picture will show you how I plan to do it. There will be a small box build that goes back into the interior. That box will rest on the dashboard.



This picture shows how much more I need to come down. It also shows the amount of engine set back.



And last but not least with the hood on. I think I will bring the front end down about 3/32" at least a 1/16.



So there you go. That's where we are at. My goal for next week is to get the body finally fitted and the ride height set. Maybe even some color on the body. I feel like I got a lot done the last 2 weeks, the rest should be all down hill.

Thanks for looking in comments and questions are always welcome.

[intimidator]

This is gonna be AWESOME!

[zbuckster]

Thanks guys. This is my first experience with a resin body. I am thinking I will do more.