I’m pretty sure the blue paint on mine is factory original...it a little chipped up but sure looks like nice “factory” paint to me. Mine also has a McCoy .60 engine, and I’m guessing McCoy wheels with proper tires. Often get to thinking I should probably sell it...as they are quite rare and therefore pricey! I’ve owned it for over 20 years...and still have it though...HaHaHa, as I know I’ll never find another one!
1946 post war Studebaker. Designed and built by Studebaker engineer living in South Bend Indiana, Orville Frazier. Little is known about these cars as only 10 units were ever cast. Orville assembled two of them and the rest were sold as kits. My car is one of those kits. When I bought the car it had a missing front suspension and Wayne Short cast and machined a front end for it. I know of three other examples and one of those is the top and bottom castings only. As you can see from the pictures it is a rear drive spur gear and is powered by a SuperCyke engine. A lot of detail in the electrical and gas delivery systems. I know its not the best looking car on my shelves but I am very pleased to have it. Ron
Post war home built prototype (1950?). Someone built this car using very simple tools and a lot of ingenuity. The frame is made of bar stock and put together with screws. No welding. The rear end is a modified Dooling F car and power comes from a Hornet engine. It has a carved wood top, and the electrics and gas supply are well thought out. Compare it to the prototype (same color) on page 18 of this thread it has similar construction. The car is well used and I'm sure the original owner had a lot of fun with it. Ron
I'm finally getting back to work on the Thimble Drome Champion. I've been doing some home improvements, and helping at a Nike missile site in Granite, Maryland, that's being fixed up for educational tours. Here is where I am with the dashboard and steering wheel.I drew the outline of the dash with Mastercam, then printed it to scale, taped the drawing to my engine turned stainless sheet, sheared it close to size, then filed and sanded to size,lost that one, made another, then found the first one. For the gauges, I found a photo on the interwcbs of a group I liked, copied it, then blacked out the odometer on the speedo, and the manufacturer's name, and added my own. I printed them, and made punches to cut them out.I'm going to make stainless bezels for them. The steering wheel is almost done, I just have to cut the spokes to length, end reassemble with Loc-tite.
Will restoring hurt the value, I have Thimble Drome Champion that I picked up at a yard sale in the '90s for $12, it had been roughly repainted years before, looks like a kid did this to his dad's ol' tether car. Car is complete but could use new tires, found some on line. Thanks guys in advance, Michael
Syncro Rocket that I've been working on. When I got it, the body was shaped, but unfinished. I built the grill, hood, exhaust, and installed the electrical components. I left the frame and suspension in the condition I received it in. Paint was done by me. I wanted it to look like it might have been done by a racer, back in the day, meaning I didn't want it "perfect". I'm not a great painter, so that worked out! All in all, I'm pleased with how it turned out.
1946 Papina Flat Tail. The first one hundred Papinas were magnesium both top and bottom while the later models had a plastic top and a magnesium bottom. Also, the first model was a flat tail design and the plastic top had a headrest. Only about a hundred of the metal flat tops were made before they went to the plastic making the original somewhat rare. Its reported that about 1,000 plastic cars were sold. The cars share most components other than the top and wheels (the wheels on the later models were simulated knock offs with an initial "P" in the center). Al Papina sold the kit for $27.50 and a complete assembled car with a Hornet engine ready to run for $47.50. A very nice design resembling a race car of that era. Ron
My first Dooling Frog. Picked it up at the MECOA swap meet in L.A. last weekend. Very original, and very "as run". I love it when they'd use old tin cans to fab up a fuel tank. Very cool. (Thanks Ron, for your advice on frogs earlier in this thread).
Hi Ron, curious as to the engine in the #61 car by Harry Lightfoot. Are you leaving the Alexander car as is? Does the H/S engine turn over? Thanks, Jim
Some inspiration to go down in your basement and build something! Just tilt the grill shell back a little. FYI: Start by acquiring the appropriate size wheels and tires, then scale the build to them!
Some good ideas if you might be thinking of building a homebuilt tether car: Just do a google search of: “Homebuilt tether car pictures“............ Click view all Have fun!
I finally finished the dash and steering wheel for my Thimble Drome Champion. I should have planned better, the steering wheel will have to be about a quarter inch larger diameter to look right. Oh well, I'll use this one on another car.
The parts of a gauge: stainless housing, print of gauge face, spacer made from .006 stainless shim, P lexiglas lens with small taper on outside diameter. I stack the parts in the housing, then put it in a piece of aluminum with a shallow hole bored to fit the diameter of the gauge, and a 1/8" through hole for the thread. a nut holds it in, and it goes in the lathe, where I run the o.d. of a bearing mounted on a block, and held at an angle in the tool holder, against the edge to bend it in.
Another one I completed...to the roller stage anyway, based “loosely”, on these 1939 plans from Model Craftsman Magazine.
As long as I had it down off the shelf, I decided to stain the frame and put a couple coats of brush on lacquer on it. Here is a pic with the body off, and a couple pics of some basic “display only“ type wheels. They consist of wood, (or whatever) centers, fender washers painted red (can use stainless), and some hardware store 3/8” rivets that are drilled out for the 1/4” spindles. The rivets are then peened over to assemble. The hole has to be re-drilled out after the peening.
The Jalopy Journal
