I started this model about 16 months ago using the 1/12th Tamiya kit as a starting point.
The body has been heavily reworked and kit engine was discarded.
This shows some of the additional shimming, filling, fitting and reshaping.
YES!!! I love 1/12 scale kits. Why did you discard the kit’s engine?
That was always one of my favorite racing body styles of all time. It will be fun to see what you do with it.
Thanks for the memories, I’d all but forgotten about Lola.
I’m making a better one.
Proper double hung hinges for the also reworked engine cover were fabricated from brass, stainless steel and styrene.
Beautiful work on this.
Back in the mid 60’s I got to ride in one of these.
A red one with a Chevy engine.
Colin Chapman sent it to the U.S., and a friend of John Brunson the owner of Lancer Compnay, a slot car manufacturer, had a connection, and an Italian sportscar driver drove it out on the freeway to Lancer company in San Bernardino, and gave several of us a CRAZY RIDE in it.
He was actually roadblocked on the way out by police and a helicopter, but talked his way out of a ticket or jail time by giving everyone a ride - TRUE STORY
Man could that car handle and corner - SCARY.
We pulled next to a 1956 Ford while in town, and I was looking at the center of the door. They are LOW.
Beautiful work.
I’ll continue following along.
I don’t want to hijack your thread, and to switch from your coupe to the spyder, but can one of you help me with any recognition factors between the T-70 Spider Mk I and Mk II and Mk III?
Thanks,
Rick
No worries Rick. I’m really more familiar with the coupes than the spyders. But an easy tell between a MkIII and MkIIIB is the larger headlights on the latter if that helps. And there have been a lot of modifications on many of them later in life so it can get blurry.
These are the gas struts for the doors.
Upper hinges, acid cut brass.
The strut bodies are brass, the shafts are stainless steel.
The lower hinges are machined aluminum.
Closed. They compress well.
Open. They slide smoothly and provide just enough friction to keep the door open.
Following this build! Nice work so far
After doing the more shimming, shaping and fitting work to the now hinged engine cover, I reworked the rear spoiler(s).
You are definately bringing some mad skills to the table on this forum. This is one of the prettiest shapes ever done for racing. I am watching with great interest.
BK
The kit engine is a Small Block Chevy, but it doesn’t quite look right on its own and it builds up differently than a “normal” American kit. (Both issues probably due to it being designed to house an electric motor.) Plus the heads were molded to the block halves and the rear of the block is a separate piece creating interesting seams.
I borrowed the 302 engine parts from a Monogram '69 Z/28 Camaro kit and made molds then cast resin copies. When it’s done it will be a stroked and bored and somewhat updated 385 c.i. (like in one of my real cars).
I cut off the oil filter, bellhousing & engine mounts from the oil pan, and the transmission & bellhousing from the block halves as well as the fuel pump from the front of the block. The timing tab was also removed from the timing cover and the bolts (round bumps) were cut off and holes drilled in their place.
The rear of the block didn’t look bad when it had a bellhousing molded to it, (and was going to be hidden by a firewall), but it turns out it is not at all symmetrical. Since the rear of this engine will be very exposed when in the car I had to address it. I added 0.020 sheet styrene and reworked it.
The resin heads I cast have been reworked by removing all the molded on “bolts” (more round bumps) and drilling out for the aluminum replacements I’ll machine. The spark plug holes have been relocated to their proper locations too. The exhaust ports have been hogged out and the holes for the accessory mounting brackets added.
(The white head is the stock Camaro one.)
I started working over the Z/28 water pump I copied in resin, but I realized it wasn’t the best choice for this application let alone an accurate piece even for what it is supposed to represent. The shorter Corvette pump with the oversized bearing was more appropriate even though in the end it will hardly be visible, and it will buy me more space since the engine I’m using is longer than the kit provided one.
The Tamiya water pump actually was closer looking to the short style even though it didn’t measure out or and has some “interesting” details.
Here’s the Lola kit part.
Having a real pump at my feet made it a lot easier to modify the part into a more accurate rendition. It still needs the mounting hardware and heater hose fitting to be machined and the sand cast texture to be added.
I also started reworking the harmonic balancer. I shaved it down to a proper 8" diameter and installed a brass sleeve. I also cut the timing mark into it.
I machined a billet aluminum water pump pulley and matching crank pulley.
Both loosely sitting on the engine.
And at the other end of the engine…
I designed a correct Lola bellhousing in SolidWorks and had Fraxional 3D print it.
It aligns to the block with two dowel pins like the real ones.
Since the exhaust port spacing on my heads is different on than the Tamiya parts I had to modify the rear of the inboard tubes to meet the collectors.
I used the header flanges I designed in SolidWorks and were printed by Fraxional and fitted the tubes to them and the heads.
Removable front engine cover for the interior.
Since the engine I’m building is larger than the kit provided item, and I’m using a dual belt pulley set-up, I had to make room for the water pump pulley.
Before:
After:
I had Fraxional grow me a second bellhousing after I reengineered the center section where the transmission mounts to it. (Very easy to deal with this 3D printing service.)
Like elsewhere throughout this project, magnets are used to hold these sub-assemblies together.
Rear hub carriers. Step one, remove the brake calipers.
Reworked and assembled rear hub carriers. Brass tubing was added for the hinge points and open holes.
Front spindles. Step one, remove the brake calipers.
Front upper control arms as they come in the kit.
New fittings and bushings for the front pivot points. Machined aluminum & brass with steel reinforcements.
Both arms with upgraded front bushings and adjusters.
And new fittings for the rear pivot points, same construction as the front ones.
Upper control arms dry fitted.
These are the tie-rod ends with adjusters for toe. Brass and aluminum loosely assembled.
I acid treated them instead of using paint.
The work you are doing here is mind blowing. I’d love to see how you machine those aluminum parts.
BK