When you look at these cars on the track, you notice they don't look like the car you drove up in. They are slab-sided, slant fronted, dirt nosed, fiberglass roofed, windowless race cars. Unlike NASCAR, they don't even look like "Stock Cars".

The first thing I did was remove the glass, the plastic pins are melted slightly over the clear piece to hold it in place. Once this is scaped away, I still couldn't get it out, til I noticed the chasis attachments were in the way. I gently pried the body open and popped the glass out. Next, I sanded the sides flatish, the new styrene sides will be glued to what's left. I also sanded down the rear spoiler and bumper, and sanded down the roof.

Next I cut out a paper template that I'll use to cut out the styrene sides. Now the scarry stuff starts, if I mess up, I'll have to start over. I wanted to keep the nose, but also get that slanted front. The first cut was at a 45 degree angle, just above the lights, keep the nose. Then I cut across the hood, at about the top of the wheel wells, this will probably get tossed and replaced with styrene, save it for now.

When you look close at these cars, the roof is not stock either. The "A" and "B" pillars are straight fabricated metal, the back section looks normal on some. On others, the passenger side of the roof is missing, and it's all skewed looking, with a covering only over the driver. This one will have the full roof, but it will simulate the flat fiberglass roof. The trunk is also flat with a large spoiler supported by "fins" on the sides. Also on closer inspection, the interior is mostly covered and only a cockpit for the driver is open. So I decided to cut the roof off too, and then I cut the front half (in front of the "B" pillar) off.

The next step will be creating the new pieces from flat styrene. I will need a new roof, "A" pillars, and two sides, a hood and trunk and a piece that covers the interior, except where the cockpit goes. First the sides, and then glue them on straight so I can size the other parts. I think, since I removed the roof, I can make one piece that can go from the trunk all the way to the nose. The roof will be a small piece that will be glued to the original roof section and then glued on the new body. Thin square styrene sections will become the new "A" pillars, and I'm sure I'll have to use some filler for the roof. The nose also has agressive fender flares that stop where I cut the hood. All these pieces and possibly more will be cut and this page updated soon.

Sorry, I got into a building spurt and the camera wasn't around. I cut the sides and then held them together with a couple of those heayduty clips to shape them the same. I lined up the wheelwells and then glued the styrene pieces onto the body. I wanted to make sure there was a good bond before I continued; while I was waiting I added filler between the body and styrene around the wheelwells and rocker panels underneath. The next day I cut a long piece that would fit between the sides, and cut out a rectangular section for the cockpit (I had problems with positioning it, better planning next time!). I also cut out a piece for the backend, and glued that to the sides and the sanded down rear bumper. I used small rectangular scraps to glue to the bottom front edge of the roof section and nose piece since I was going to add styrene flush with those. Finally I cut a piece for the roof and glued it to the support scrap, and after setting up, added filler to that seam. I layed the long piece across the top, flush with the back end and glued the sides, back, and, from the inside; to bond to the top of the body. I didn't worry about the front end at this point. Next it was time to work on the nose, the pictures I was working from showed a marked slant in the hood at about the top of the front wheelwell. I ended up cutting the piece in front of the wheel well off when I added the slant to the side pieces, and lightly creased the top piece to follow the slant. Then I glued the top (hood) to the sides so I could judge where to put the nose. All I had to do then was make a straight cut there, glue it to the scrap tab on the nose, and use filler on the seam. After more test postioning of parts, I decided the roof didn't look right, the cockpit was too long or the roof was too short. I opted for lengthening the roof by cutting the middle section of roof from the windshield posts and gluing that to the front of what I had. Another scrap tab and more filler in the seam and I was satisfied. Next, I built the inside of the cockpit, the driver side is straight down, but the other side starts mid way where the passenger would sit and slants towards the driver. I cut the front and driver side pieces to fit and jigged them in place for a good square right angle. I already had the angle for the other side cut on the front piece, and when it was set I glued it to the bottom of the top piece. The edge for the slanted side was sanded to fit better against the top, and with the help of the front angle, it was glued from the bottom too. Finally another small piece was glued across the back of the cockpit, and a larger piece was glued to form the bottom of the cockpit. As I was going, I would test fit the body to the chassis to make sure the motor wouldn't rub against the bottom of the cockpit. A little more filler around some edges, and along the roof edges to give it more depth and hide the tabs that hold the pieces together.

Here you can see the scraps holding the roof pieces so the top surfaces will be flush. I had to add filler to the seams, but it came out pretty good. You can see in the picture of the primered roof, that I still have a little way to go to make them even. It's hard to see until you get a coat of primer on it. The driver and a seat is also in the picture along with several examples of "air cleaners". The one on the left was the runner tab, I'm glad I found the "speakers"! For this model I will use one cut fairly thin, so only the "top" will be sticking out of the hood. The one that is already cut and shaped will be used on the Open Wheeled Modified that has the carb and air cleaner sticking up out of the hood, you can see the carb "shaped" out of the thickness of the plastic. Next step will be fabricating the rollbar. After looking at several HotWheels and NASCAR collectables, I decided to make my own. The HotWheels were too thick looking, and the NASCAR ones were only the sides and didn't include the cross members. Once that is done, I can shoot the first couple of coats of primer. I'll mask the area where I'll glue the driver, but I won't put him in until I have the primer coats sanded smooth.

Hang on and stay tuned, more updates to come.

Slotcar Home - running on the floor for now
Sebring - the real thing and my track
Daytona - use up the left over track and banked turns
GatorNationals - fast & straight - built from scratch
Building Custom HO Race Cars - in 1:64 scale
Build an Open Wheel Modified - in 1:64 scale
Build a Sling Shot - classic dragster in 1:64 scale
Haul it to the Track - see what I just discovered

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