Honda

9093 Views 68 Replies 11 Participants Last post by Ecurie Martini, Jun 19, 2004

JohnP

Discussion Starter · May 19, 2004 (Edited by Moderator)

A few months back I picked up a rather sorry looking Airfix-MRRC Honda F1 with a view to renovating it - never thought I'd actually get around to doing it of course. Well, that's forums for you I suppose!

I began by stripping it down to it's component parts and giving it a general clean up:

Quite a few parts were missing: one mirror, suspension detail, drivers head and the underside of the nose. The nose was a bit of a curiosity in itself as it appeared to have a slight "V" indent and was a little short compared to my Model Cars plans. Maybe it ran like this somewhere or maybe I just had more missing from the car than I first thought?

Anyway, I set about correcting it as follows:

Armed with a tube of Chip & Dent filler and aluminium car repair mesh I made a small bridge to the underside of the nose:

This was held in place using Araldite Rapid.

After a quick fill (not one of howmet's snack breaks I might add), I lengthened the nose by gluing on a small piece of plasticard,

sanded it to shape and then hollowed it out by drilling a few small holes, finishing off the inside with a small Minicraft grinder.

Next I added more mesh and filler to cover the steering mechanism and rear motor mount cut-outs and ground out the inside of the shell to give as much room for the motor as possible:

Still more work to do but now on with the chassis...

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howmet tx

· #5 · May 20, 2004

I did a similar job on the Eagle and BRM, JP- and I have the Matra shell still lurking in my bits box...

Wouldn't it be great to get all these F1s lined up on a grid together sometime?
60s F1 Proxy anyone?

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howmet tx

· #45 · Jun 8, 2004

Excellent, JP. Love the trick with the mirrors! I'm beginning to wish I could stop building cars and spend some time to pretty up my track instead. These gorgeous F1s certainly deserve a fine setting like yours.
Trouble is it's hot enough to roast a bison up in the loft right now.

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howmet tx

· #64 · Jun 19, 2004

I got a Slot-it V12 in my Classic Ferrari shell- a snug fit but no cheating necessary. The long shaft on the V12 means the motor can fit well forward in the widest part of the bodywork. The problem was making a rear axle bracket. Quite a tricky bit of bending. But it goes like a rocket. Chris Amon does feel the heat a little though and it's been raced so hard it's showing it's age now.
The only Classic shell I have which won't accept an S can is the Lotus 43. That's my next Beardog mini-can-didate.
When I 've finished off this flaming Xylon, that is. And picked the bits of rotting bison pelt out of my hair.

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howmet tx

· #67 · Jun 19, 2004

Thanks John- I think the Beardog is as good as a 13UO anyway, and being lower it will allow me to get a bit more of the blessed Jim Clark in the cockpit. I also have a 'hot' HO motor which will do the job. But I agree, the Lotus is one of my favourite Classic shells, and I've been staring at it for years working out how to do it justice. It will definitely have to be the Watkins Glen winner.
It's certainly going to have castor steering- I love that. Going off the idea of a layshaft and sidewinder gears though as I think a small Sonic set will do fine... unless you can find that photo, Grah!
Next challenge is the guide- it has to be small to fit under the nose, and there's not much room for lead wires to flex around. So whether to go for a pin, as I've been advised by other Forum members, or stick with the cut-down MRRC I used in the M7A is the question.

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