# How To Build A T-Jet Dragster



## Joe65SkylarkGS

How bout it? Jim?

I'm looking for a detailed step by step to build a t-jet dragster.

Can you tell me what size tubing do you need for the rails up front? Whats the best method to attach?

Whats the best pick up shoe design?


----------



## waltgpierce

I don't know if the Mead Brothers top fuel bodies for T-jets are available anymore, but here is an example of how the look after they have been built:


http://www.slotmonsters.com/forum/topic1368.html


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

waltgpierce said:


> I don't know if the Mead Brothers top fuel bodies for T-jets are available anymore, but here is an example of how the look after they have been built:
> 
> 
> http://www.slotmonsters.com/forum/topic1368.html



I've seen that video over and over again. Just plain COOL!!!

They can be funny type too.


----------



## joegri

joe 65 just go for it!! make a dragster and make it yers you can do it !!!! you dont need no stinkin badges. waitin on pics c,mon man you got this .


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

joegri said:


> joe 65 just go for it!! make a dragster and make it yers you can do it !!!! you dont need no stinkin badges. waitin on pics c,mon man you got this .



Thanks for the vote of confidence Joe. I am going to bring a front axle with me to my local shop and try to line up an axle tube and some rails. I'll try something.


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

110 people looked but don't hve any info to offer?


----------



## clydeomite

Howdee Joe:
I just built a really simple front end extension for a Super III chassis . I made it out of a strip of 1/4 inch wide brass flat stock and soldered my axle tube up front where it needed to be. ( a long nose Mustang Lexan body) I mounted it by drilling a hole in the flat stock and drilling and tapping ahole in the chassis behind the guide pin. On a t- jet you could just drill the hole to mount off the body screw. and that should get you where you need to be. I would post pics of the chassis to clarify my ramblings but have problems doing that with my funky computer.
hope this helps Clyde-0-Mite


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

Do you have any pics Clyde??


----------



## clydeomite

Hey Joe PM sent Clyde-0-Mite


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

clydeomite said:


> Hey Joe PM sent Clyde-0-Mite



Thanks Jay I appreciate your time. 

Cool cars for sure.:thumbsup::thumbsup:


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

Come on guys, no info yet?

Whats up??

Jim


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

Awsome post and link from our very own Rolls. Thanks!!

http://www.slotcarillustrated.com/Articles/How_To/ho-rail-dragster-a300.html


----------



## Rolls

Thank pshoe64 for the content! :thumbsup: I just stumbled across it and thought of your post on building dragsters. Hope it helps!


----------



## fordcowboy

Try this http://www.psychoslots.com/index.cgi?board=gs If this dont help let me know fcb


----------



## pshoe64

*Rail Instruction + more*

Finally got my site up and partially restored. I placed the Rail design and a couple of other "how=to's". More to come...

https://sites.google.com/site/wrrspeedinc/home/slot-car-how-to

-Paul


----------



## NTxSlotCars

Cool stuff here. Next up for me is a drag strip.


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

Got my Drag Strip Shelf up finally!!!:thumbsup:


----------



## Reaper

Nice ! Out of the way and functional.


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

Reaper said:


> Nice ! Out of the way and functional.


Yea man I am getting excited. In the am I am going to hit the depot and get some material to mount a 10 inch deep shelf under the strip. Probably only 16 foot. No reason to go the whole 25 foot length. If I need it later I can always add.

Now back to building a dragster. I wonder if anyone ever built a 4 5 or 6 engine dragster?? Look at this.


----------



## Rolls

Awesome, Joe!! You're really bringing this dream to life! Sweet drag strip and killer dragsters to make runs all day long. :thumbsup::thumbsup:


----------



## Dragula

TV Tommy Ivo built a 4 engine Buick powered(i think) dragster early in the 60's.
christian


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

Dragula said:


> TV Tommy Ivo built a 4 engine Buick powered(i think) dragster early in the 60's.
> christian



Yes I know the Tommy Ivo Car. 4 Nailers. I am a Buick guy but was wondering if anyone made a slot car this way before???

I want to make my own Draster Body too, I have some styrene just no visionlol

Thanks Rolls. I been learning from some guys around here. They rub off!!!lol


----------



## Dragula

If you want to make the Ivo digger,maybe start withe the aurora t-jet indy body and whittle from there,just spitballin here.
Christian


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

Ok so slotto has inspired me to try something I never ever thougth i would do.... make a body???

So this is what I was staring at all night....waiting for some ideas to fill the space between my ears..


----------



## gonegonzo

Nice concept Joe . I'm looking forward to your progress .

We need more drag stuff to race on our AW drag strips.

gonzo


----------



## gonegonzo

Joe ,

What are you using for glue ?

Thx Gonzo


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

gonegonzo said:


> Joe ,
> 
> What are you using for glue ?
> 
> Thx Gonzo



Here's a few more we will be running. I will have to check on the exact glue. The hobby shop had a list of uses and I took the best suited for soft plastic and instant. It'a a CA type.

This GS is smoking!!!! Classic 5 slot mags!!!


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

gonegonzo said:


> Joe ,
> 
> What are you using for glue ?
> 
> Thx Gonzo


It's Maxi-Cure CA Extra Thick.


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

Here are a group I would love to run. I know there is a guy on feepay that mounts slimmy's under a few of these. And he only shows minimal views in his pics. 

Now this fine looking Buick that Bruce makes is gonna be a drag car when i'm done. An Aurora specialty chassis fits real nice.:dude:


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

This is a couple of the Resin Dude's rides, along with one I grabbed somewhere. Who can remember. But it was supposed to mount to a super g I think. But it's styling some pure Pancake Power now!!! Look at those big Meats out back!!!!!!


----------



## bobhch

pshoe64 said:


> Finally got my site up and partially restored. I placed the Rail design and a couple of other "how=to's". More to come...
> 
> https://sites.google.com/site/wrrspeedinc/home/slot-car-how-to
> 
> -Paul


Paul,

Hey I love the HOW TO on painting the red and white cork corner slide outs. I have a brush just like that and may end up painting my corners like that also. 

Bob...thanks for Sharon...zilla


----------



## pshoe64

Thanks BZ. I had to move the How To content to its own webpage. Ran out of space on the one it shared with some other stuff. It can now be found here: https://sites.google.com/site/speedinchowto/home

Sorry for the confusion guys. I didn't know I'd run out of space so fast.

-Paul


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

pshoe64 said:


> Thanks BZ. I had to move the How To content to its own webpage. Ran out of space on the one it shared with some other stuff. It can now be found here: https://sites.google.com/site/speedinchowto/home
> 
> Sorry for the confusion guys. I didn't know I'd run out of space so fast.
> 
> -Paul




Great stuff Paul thanks for sharing bro!!:thumbsup:


----------



## shocker36

Im actually working on a 4 wheel drive Ivo car in T-jet form I just need to get 4 resin nail head engines.

Brian 
Joliet IL


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

shocker36 said:


> Im actually working on a 4 wheel drive Ivo car in T-jet form I just need to get 4 resin nail head engines.
> 
> Brian
> Joliet IL


Wow Brian. Are you a Buick guy? There are a ton in IL.


----------



## shocker36

Nope just a Gear Head if it looks good and goes fast its fine with me. I can take just about any manufacture from any year and would like to have at least one car from there line up.
My top 3 are as follows.
1 Factory 5 Cobra (cant afford a real one)
2 66' Chevelle SS 396 375 hp my dad has one
3 Buick GN ( best sleeper car ever next to a 426 Valiant)


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

Cool the 66's were an unbelievablly cool year for most Muscle. The 396 is just the biggest bonus you could ask for in these mid-size A body bunch.

I also have an 87 GN and your so right because I can remember the first time I took it for a drive, after buying it cheap and putting another engine in, and not even driving it till after I got the new engine in, we were amazed how it really performed. They were faster than the vette of the same model year. They're called a freak of nature. My seats are definitly bent due to the constant pinning you back!!lol

I keep my 65 Skylark in my neighbors garage who has a green 67 GTO and mine is also green. 2 big green A bodies. Quite a sight.:thumbsup:


----------



## shocker36

My dad bought his at Nikki Chevrolet in the city (Chicago) drove it around for a few months then had it dyno tuned and the thing was putting out over 425 hp at the rear tires. They say the 66 with that engine combo was the fastest of all the Chevelles.


----------



## Rolls

Big GN fan here, too. I ordered one new and ran it for 11 years and 170,000 miles. Great car. With sequential port fuel injection, turbo and more torque than the transmission was really supposed to handle, I fully expected to have some trouble at some point down the road. Turns out I had exactly $120 of unscheduled maintenance (a coil pack) in its entire life. Finally sold it to Dennis Kirban in PA for almost half what it cost new. The low burble of the exhaust used to lull my firstborn to sleep when absolutely nothing else would.


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

shocker36 said:


> My dad bought his at Nikki Chevrolet in the city (Chicago) drove it around for a few months then had it dyno tuned and the thing was putting out over 425 hp at the rear tires. They say the 66 with that engine combo was the fastest of all the Chevelles.


Agreed. The 66 packed the most punch. Was it a 4 speed?



Rolls said:


> Big GN fan here, too. I ordered one new and ran it for 11 years and 170,000 miles. Great car. With sequential port fuel injection, turbo and more torque than the transmission was really supposed to handle, I fully expected to have some trouble at some point down the road. Turns out I had exactly $120 of unscheduled maintenance (a coil pack) in its entire life. Finally sold it to Dennis Kirban in PA for almost half what it cost new. The low burble of the exhaust used to lull my firstborn to sleep when absolutely nothing else would.




Thats some story there Rolls. :thumbsup: The trans is definitly the week link but if you got a good one, they held up pretty good. When I first got the engine in and drove it down my mom's side street, this was my garage for my whole life, it hit 2nd gear and sent the car sideways!!! Thats was it, I was hooked. I got this car real cheap in 92 or 93. The guy forgot to put the oil filler cap bacl on the engine and blew all the oil out of the crank case from the turbo pressure and seized a rod bearing. So I threw an engine in, never touching anything like this before, i'm a V 8 guy, and this car only has 59k on it. When I got in back then it had 53k. Great fun and dangerous car.

A ton of them wound up wrecked because people didn't know how to drive them in the rain or any other thing than dry pavement and you know as I do, when the turbo kicks in even so slightly the ass wants to come right around. Unless you know how to drive it. So it sits in a garage.:thumbsup:


----------



## Rolls

Joe65SkylarkGS said:


> A ton of them wound up wrecked because people didn't know how to drive them in the rain or any other thing than dry pavement and you know as I do, when the turbo kicks in even so slightly the ass wants to come right around.


You said it, Joe! Reminds me of a line that P.J. O'Rourke wrote in a review of the GN in the very first issue of the then new magazine _Automobile_.

"Just don't step on the gas when there's ice, snow, rain, sand, or a candy wrapper on the road, or you'll make like a street salmon for blocks." 

He's an entertaining writer. Two other excerpts:

"Power and looks, however, do not explain the Grand National's personality. It doesn't have a good personality, exactly. It doesn't have a bad personality. What it has is a lot of personality."

"The GN is not heir to the muscle cars, those stripped economy coupes jammed with raw engine. Instead, it's a descendant of the great luxury performance monstrosities, like the 4000-pound 1964 Buick Wildcat with 401 cubic inches of V-8. These cars could take Mom to the grocery store or you to an early grave at 130 mph. They were bigger, faster, badder, weirder than there was any possible need to be."


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

Rolls said:


> You said it, Joe! Reminds me of a line that P.J. O'Rourke wrote in a review of the GN in the very first issue of the then new magazine _Automobile_.
> 
> "Just don't step on the gas when there's ice, snow, rain, sand, or a candy wrapper on the road, or you'll make like a street salmon for blocks."
> 
> He's an entertaining writer. Two other excerpts:
> 
> "Power and looks, however, do not explain the Grand National's personality. It doesn't have a good personality, exactly. It doesn't have a bad personality. What it has is a lot of personality."
> 
> "The GN is not heir to the muscle cars, those stripped economy coupes jammed with raw engine. Instead, it's a descendant of the great luxury performance monstrosities, like the 4000-pound 1964 Buick Wildcat with 401 cubic inches of V-8. These cars could take Mom to the grocery store or you to an early grave at 130 mph. They were bigger, faster, badder, weirder than there was any possible need to be."



Now thats good stuff.:thumbsup: That first quote is sooo dead on!!!!


----------



## shocker36

Its an all original 4 speed hardtop car that is a real pale yellow with black interior. My friend builds Chevelles and he has a book that list all the Chevelles built and how they were optioned out and the combo my dad has is pretty rare. If any of you guys get Hot Rod Magazine my friends car was on the cover for the Power Tour issue its a 70 6.5l Duramax Diesel Chevelle that puts our about 1000 hp and 2000 ft lb of torque.


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

shocker36 said:


> Its an all original 4 speed hardtop car that is a real pale yellow with black interior. My friend builds Chevelles and he has a book that list all the Chevelles built and how they were optioned out and the combo my dad has is pretty rare.



I know that combo well. My moms first cousin, my 2nd cousin lives in SheepsHead Bay Brooklyn. In a building on the bay with an underground garage. Her mom, my great aunt bought new a 65 malibu in that color scheme. P.S. she drove it all the time and it was show room condition, her daily driver, and she worked part time at a family business on coney Island ave and parked it there for 35 plue years. The one day she parked it down the street and not in front of the store it was stolen. Had to have been shipped out of here because everyone knew her and the car. EVERYONE KNEW HER AND HER CAR. Sunsabitches!!!!

She is still heart broken.


----------



## joegri

joe 65 i sold buick and olds from 84 to 88 and i sold the most gns in new england and have driven more than 20 of them. each 1 was different. but the fastest was a gold no badging just a lil t type on the trunk and mfi turbo on the hood hump. by far the fastest gn i,ve ever stomped the gas on.keep the legend alive! come and get me we,ll go for a long road trip!!


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS

joegri said:


> joe 65 i sold buick and olds from 84 to 88 and i sold the most gns in new england and have driven more than 20 of them. each 1 was different. but the fastest was a gold no badging just a lil t type on the trunk and mfi turbo on the hood hump. by far the fastest gn i,ve ever stomped the gas on.keep the legend alive! come and get me we,ll go for a long road trip!!



You are correct. the dressed down less flashy t types were a little lighter. Not much but some. Aluminum bumper brackets, and the actual inserts of the main bumpers were aluminum and all. They really are a different driving experience.

I'll be there tomorrow!!!:wave:


----------

