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The Attempt 1

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 The Attempt 1 Empty The Attempt 1

Post by Guest Fri 22 Mar 2013, 1:27 am

Yes another Mickey Thompson car. This is the Attempt 1, a little streamliner that was raced in several different classes and over several distances. You can follow this link to look if you would like to see. The Attempt 1 records are listed as Attempt and Tempest.

http://thompson-motorsports.com/records.html

I don't know how old this kit is. I know it came out before 1965. I know that because I built it as a kid before I went into the Army in 1965.

So starting with this version of the kit, I began the build.

 The Attempt 1 100_1713

This is not the original kit. It had a drag chute and trailer in it. Anyway So I posted this picture on the board at another site and almost immediately got an email. The person claimed to be Bob Paeth. Bob Paeth I thought Yea and I am Santa Clause. But it really was Bob.

He went on to tell me that this was the first kit that he worked on when he went to work for Revell. He also told me the kit was not accurate. The body had 2 bumps (look like scoops) that were not on the real car. Seems that the guy that made the mold was looking at a shadow and added the scoop, then thinking it was a V-8 he put a scoop on the other side. After Bob told me this I checked the reference photos at Thompson Motor Sports and guess what, NO SCOOPS. So the first thing I did was to remove them.

Here are a couple of pictures of the bumps.

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Then the other bomb shell. The box art car was just a shell with wheels and tires. Like a curbside deal. There is no way to get the body to fit the under pan like that. The box art car has the upper and lower puttied together.

Body parts in primer.

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Here you can see the bumps smoothed off.

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And then the problem of getting the top and bottom to fit together.

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This one shows the bumps gone.

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Well that will get us started on this one. Thanks for looking in all questions and comments are welcome.





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Post by Guest Fri 22 Mar 2013, 2:23 am

Thanks for looking in.

After getting the body as close to right ass I could I moved on to the engines and power train. Here is some stuff I found at Thompson Motor Sports about the Attempt 1.

Since the Attempt was built is has used many different engines. One of the most popular was his Tempest 4-cylinder engines, these engines were half of the old 389 Pontiac engine cut down the middle to make a slant 4-cylinder they were used it the early '60 Pontiac Tempest. Mickey had a 180 cubic inch which was a destroked Pontiac 4-cyl and was blown by a 4-71 "Jimmie". Using a 26 pound inlet bust and 25 % nitro fuel mix it set a standing mile record of 230 mph. Increasing the Nitro mix to 50%, the car run 163 mph in the quarter mile with an ET of 9.50 second.

In 1962 at March Air Force Base M/T set out to break the International FIA Class D record and the USAC Class B Closed Car categories (305-488 cubic inches) for the Standing and Flying Kilometer and Mile.

The Class D record Mickey Thompson had been trying to break for the last two years. M/T would use his tiny streamlined Attempt I record car which for 1962 M/T removed the 180 cubic inch 4 cylinder and replaced it with a destroked Pontiac V8 engine of 180 cubic inches with a front-mounted 4-71 GMC supercharger and fuel injection, putting out over 500 horsepower.

During his first attempt the supercharger ducting blew out through the body just before it reached the end of the first kilo. M/T and his crew went to work disassemble the body, blower and fuel injection unit. An opening was cut in the body to accommodate a spare engine-mounted 4-71 blower.

With the work underway on repairing and modifying the Attempt I Mickey decided to get the Pontiac sedan going on the National Standing Kilo and Mile stock car records. See Pontiac Catalina for information on his attempt at USAC Class B record.

After hours of frantic effort by the record-seeking crew, the little "Attempt I" record car was wheeled to the start of the measured kilo for the attempt at the 23-year-old record. With a burst of power the streamliner went through the kilometer to easily break the "down leg" of the record. Only the return run remained to be made within the hour.

But this was where M/T had failed before. After a quick pit stop at the far end, the car was ready for its all-out return.

Suspense? You Bet! And for good reason, for within 500 feet of the end of the kilo mark the rear wheels locked up, the car veered violently and the chute was popped in the final 200 feet. But break the record he did, chute and all, with a two-way average for the Standing Kilo of 112.088 mph breaking the old International record mark.

After building the Challenger 1 and the Showboat it felt good to do something with only 2 engines. I had plenty of Pontiac Blue engine paint left so I started with building the long blocks and paint.

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I know one picture would have been plenty here but I wanted to show the engine blocks for what they were. The Tempest 4 cylinder engines were a Pontiac 389 that had one bank cut off. That's 194.5 Cubic Inches. The engine had to be destroked to 180 Cubic Inches to make the class. So short stroke, long rod. This slows the piston down in the middle and lets you run some pretty radical cam shaft events. One of the engines had a 3-71 GMC blower on it and the other a 4-71 GMC blower.

A pair of Gold Ansen scatter Shields.

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As with any of Mickey's race cars this car did not have a lot of chrome on it. So all these parts went into the Bleach bath.

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Then using different Metalizer paints and some chrome I started putting the engines together.

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When the dust had settled they started to look like this.

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I tried an experiment on the blower belts. I made them using Friction Tape. It is like a cloth electrical tape. I can see where it will be a working plan just needs to be refined a little. It is like working with BMF. You have to have a sharp #11 blade in the knife to cut it. Otherwise it will fray.

With the engines that far along I did a mock up on the frame. If you think it looks like and old Dragmaster Chassis, that's because it is.

 The Attempt 1 100_1834

Well that's about it for now. I will be back soon with another up date. Thanks for looking in. All questions and comments are welcome.

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Post by Guest Fri 22 Mar 2013, 2:46 am

Hey everyone. Thanks for the comments. Time for another update on this one.

With the engines almost done it was time to move on to other things. I removed the chrome on the wheels and then painted them with a Metalizer. The tires are sanded.

 The Attempt 1 100_1835

I painted the body panels so they could be setting up while I messed with the rest of it.

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These two pictures show the gap in the body. I am not going to say it couldn't be fixed with some sanding, heating and bending. I am saying it's more work than I want to do. I have an idea on how to display it and that gap will never be seen.

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The frame cleaned up easily and is just flat black so that was a snap. Here is a mock up of the frame, under pan,engine, etc.

 The Attempt 1 100_1925

Looking at this photo got me to thinking. "If it was an aluminum body, would Mickey Thompson had painted the inside?" I mean it's a race car and paint is heavy. I thought "No Way". So I masked off the body and shot the inside with dull aluminum.

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I think that looks much better. I had to use some creative license there. All of the reference pictures I could find on this car show it with the body on. I have no idea of what the inside looks like.

That brings us to this one. I will be back later with another update.

 The Attempt 1 100_1927

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


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Post by Guest Fri 22 Mar 2013, 3:24 am

There really isn't all that much left to do. In reality this is a dragster with a sleek body on it. Oh and a 4 cylinder engine.

Here is the seat.

 The Attempt 1 100_1928

Here is the rear end. You can see I added brake lines to it. this is without the Butt guard.

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With Butt guard. I know I feel safer now don't you?

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Power train mock up.

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Like most dragster's the brakes are hand operated. I added the brake lines from the master cylinder down to the calipers.

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Here it is without the Butt guard.

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I know that when this is done that little detail will be hard to see, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Meaning build it your way. You never can tell when one of those little things will be the difference in a plaque and no plaque.

Time to add the body panels to the chassis.

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So after the glue set we are at this point.

 The Attempt 1 100_2127

Thanks for looking in guys and gals. All comments and questions are welcome. I am thinking one more up date and this one will be done.


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Post by Guest Fri 22 Mar 2013, 3:42 am

Yes, I am back again. :D Thanks foe looking in on this build.

When we quit we had a pretty much finished frame with body panels on it. So I added the front end and fuel tank. Hooked the fuel lines up to it.

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Rear wheels and slicks and we have a roller.

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Then added the belly pan.

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Then the decals were applied.

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Well there it is a done deal. I still didn't want to display the build with the body being so ill fitting, so I built a display base for it. I used a cheap plaque blank from Micheal's Crafts. Made some uprights from craft wood. I made three supports to lay the body on from styrene and then flocked over them to look like carpet. Also printed a little display telling about the car.

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When it was all done and put together it looked like this.

 The Attempt 1 100_2233

And that brings this one to a close. Thanks for the kind words to those that followed along. See you at the NMA.


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Post by Tumbler75 Fri 22 Mar 2013, 3:54 am

I remember seeing this one. Great work as usual Buck. stunning display too. Good way to hide the flaws of the kit too.
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Post by harron68 Mon 08 Apr 2013, 12:49 am

Perfect display, the result of research and hours of work. The extra effort pays off and that too belongs in magazines. Really fine workmanship and much enjoyed by me, thanks!

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Post by TECHMAN Sun 05 May 2013, 12:54 pm

8) 8) 8)

AWESOME JOB!!!!!!!!!! That car was always one of the ones that "caught my attention"...... M/T had always built some "interesting" stuff............ You sure did a FANTASTIC JOB on the replica!!!!!!!!

DJ

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Post by Guest Sat 22 Jun 2013, 7:39 pm

GREAT WIP and finished build, looks fantastic. I like how you displayed it.001

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Post by Guest Sun 23 Jun 2013, 2:45 am

Thanks guys.

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Post by Guest Mon 24 Jun 2013, 12:09 pm

001

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