# Pure Rock Fury Workshops



## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

This is my garage thread...even though Im primarily a customizer, Ive never set up my own thread mostly because I couldn't quite think of a cool enough name. Yes, its a Clutch reference! 

Anyway, the way to kick it off, Ill submit the 'before' pics of my double barrel contest builds...

Im going the towtruck route, and these 3 are my candidates. Ive actually been planning a US-1 towtruck since I never did like that Peterbilt big rig wrecker towing the grossly out of scale firebird. Im leaning towards the chevy stepside but all 3 of these will likely be modded into towtrucks in the future:



And while its not necessarily a 'race car' by definition, this has been on my bench for some time. It will end up as a wacky hotrod in the vein of the horrorclix piloted hotrods I recently finished off. As for a chassis...just wait and see!


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Wee!! I like your victim choices for tow trucks!!! I never though using a US1 base for one in pick up style. Cool decision!! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

As far as the Vee Wee is concerned, I think it'll work out as a "drag car" and judging by the engine, so I'd enter it too!:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

If you think about it, the US-1 is the best choice for a towtruck...I plan on having something on that tow hook and the slower torque drivetrain is just what ya want.

The VW wont be a 'drag car'...more of a wild custom hotrod. Would that work for the contest or does it have to have some kind of racing livery/theme? If not, I have a plan B...but its not a race 'car'...


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

I agree on the US1 as a good candidate, not only because of the lower speeds, but because they have twice the pick up, so they make great track cleaners. I even went as far as tucking short strips of 1000 grit sand paper under the screw on shoe holder and let the truck really clean the rails fast. A couple laps and a quick swiffer wipe down and the track is good to go! L&J track here got dirty way too fast!!


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## Omega (Jan 14, 2000)

slotcarman12078 said:


> I agree on the US1 as a good candidate, not only because of the lower speeds, but because they have twice the pick up, so they make great track cleaners. I even went as far as tucking short strips of 1000 grit sand paper under the screw on shoe holder and let the truck really clean the rails fast. A couple laps and a quick swiffer wipe down and the track is good to go! L&J track here got dirty way too fast!!


Joe, that is a neat idea. Going have to make a track cleaner for myself now.

Dave


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

the track cleaner is a good idea!

And SCM, if you remember that HW Mig Rig I converted into a towtruck....I used an HP-7 chassis. Not a lot of bottom end torque and too tall gearing makes it a bit twitchy so you'll sling off the towed car pretty often. Although...that WOULD make an interesting way to race! 

A proper towtruck just seemed to fit the general flow of the US-1 sets, and I never could figure out why Tyco didn't mod the chevy stepside or the blazer instead of the Pete.


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

Eventually I want to tackle a project like this:

http://forums.hrja.org/showthread.php?13496-Macey-s-1955-CJ5-Tow-Truck

When I lived in NJ and visited back every summer Id see these CJ's fitted with a tow boom and often a plow rig also. The old school Jeeps got used for EVERYTHING back in the day, and gas stations/ shopping centers used them for combination snow plows and vehicle recovery.

Northern NJ has some pretty steep and windy mountain roads...Look how short the wheelbase is on a CJ-5. Having driven many WITHOUT a bloated mid '70s land barge strapped to the rear bumper I can only imagine how sketchy it would be dragging a huge car down one of those roads would really be....ultimate white knuckle E-ticket ride!


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Grunge,

Check KC's "Fubar Automotive" thread for his nifty model A tow truck. Granted it's an AFX build but it's super cool and inspring.


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

That rig is WAY badass....why do you say 'its an AFX' as if that's a bad thing?


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

I spent some time finishing up a few customs, and getting my towtruck started:



I bought this off of Ebay, and it was a solid gunmetal grey, with the top and all the details painted on. nice work, but it was pretty plain so I did some stripes. In the mid 80's, if you had a period CJ-7 in Renegade or Laredo trim, this is more or less the way it was happening in those days:





This lifeguard Jeep is several years old, but I just never had decals to finish it off, so I used some from the RRR fire/police set (city/state) and the rescue cross is from a WWII medic jeep decal set I got off ebay:



This is an AW '70 Challenger body adapted to a Tyco HP2 wearing RRR bullets. I used a diecast engine block for a nose weight, and cut out the hood to let it poke thru then decaled it up a bit. Its a semi-homage to the Kowalski Challenger from Vanishing Point but I more or less intended it as a 'hero' type of car to go with my recent monster driven cars. Kind of how the AFX 'ghost racer' set had the ghost car and a straight up race car.


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

For those who remember my RRR wheels thread, I had a 5-car project going involving something recognizeable. Well you saw the MP Army Jeep and the Sherrif's Blazer...so here's the lineup:



That's right, I made my own A-team set! 

















I was never really all that impressed with what Tyco originally did for the A-team set. Baracus' van was only a vague representation of the real one, hell its not even the right make! The logo is goofy, the stripe is all wrong (starts angling behind the door, not 3/4 down the van) and the little bits are missing. The MP cop car is just wonky. A police car wouldn't be a hot rodded drag car, and in the show they had to have demolished 100's of Army Jeeps. Face's vette was absent and so was the Jeep, and Tyco had the molds for both of these. The U-Turn chassis of the original made for some fun action, and all of mine could be used on them, but I opted for HP-7 chassis on all with RRR wheels on all but the semi rig.

BA's van uses parts cannibalized from the HotWheels A-team van--the (diecast) grille converts this Dodge to a GMC, adds the bull bar and the overhead lites. The van was never solid black, but rather gunmetal over black and I have the stripe at the right angle. The wheels are RRR 'factories' painted red which simulate the turbine wheels of the original. 

Face's Vette was a Tyco '84 vette with the chassis mounts removed and adapted to a short wheelbase HP-7 running chrome RRR Cobras.

The MP Jeep is a stylized version of the parade of Jeeps destroyed in the show. Rather than solid plain olive drab, I duded it up a bit with MP decals, a spice colored top and black RRR steelies.

The Sherriff's Blazer isn't based on any vehicle from the show but is an homage to the set car, in that its a blue/white vehicle with red lites and its a much more plausible addition. It has RRR sherriff decals and silver RRR T/A's

The Peterbilt stake truck is another more or less generic but plausible 'plot point' vehicle. This isn't 100% done, I have a modified dump bed painted and drying to mount the stakeside rig up to, so it can still tilt and dump the cargo if used on a US-1 chassis. I plan to use some biohazard decals on the crate and barrels to simulate some toxic waste.

After I got these done, I then remembered that in one episode, Face and Hannibal stole a Trans Am and got in a car chase. Ill have to find some pics and replicate those some time but for now, I love it when a plan comes together!


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

I like how this set's coming together!! Super cool job on the GMC conversion. It's close enough for me!  They all look great!! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## Bubba 123 (Sep 10, 2010)

grungerockjeepe said:


> For those who remember my RRR wheels thread, I had a 5-car project going involving something recognizeable. Well you saw the MP Army Jeep and the Sherrif's Blazer...so here's the lineup:
> That's right, I made my own A-team set!
> 
> 
> ...


all I can say Dude is....WOW!!!:thumbsup:

Bubba 123 :wave:


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

Thanks guys, hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I enjoyed building them!


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

I pity the fool .......


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

OH MANNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!! I can't decide which one i like the best!! :thumbsup:

Wes


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## bobwoodly (Aug 25, 2008)

You have to try lighting the cop cars, you will get hooked!


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

He he he!! Light 'em if you got 'em!! :lol:

Speaking of lighting, I did a crude test of those new boards I got, and with a rather large capacitor, it appears to work on a running chassis. This is only a preliminary test, and was not on something running on the track. It's tricky guessing how big of a cap you'll need, because even a simple tire or wheel change can make things better or worse. 

The cap's main use is to adjust for a choppy power flow to the board and LEDs. A set of lumpy tires, or a set of great true tires can make all the difference in the world. If I can make this board work reliably, I can move into more complex boards. Just to give you an idea, with the new nano LEDs, and this companies strobe board, I can put 3 individual LEDs inside an H0 scale strobe light and it will truly appear to be rotating! I can also stagger the LEDs differently in a 2nd strobe so they have a random effect. 

There's so much stuff I want to do, and experimentation for the most part is time consuming and unproductive in the financial end of things. Do overs waste time!! Man, do I miss my bench!!


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

If only I had the wiring/electronics/soldering skills!


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## TX Street Racer (May 8, 2004)

grungerockjeepe said:


> And while its not necessarily a 'race car' by definition, this has been on my bench for some time. It will end up as a wacky hotrod in the vein of the horrorclix piloted hotrods I recently finished off. As for a chassis...just wait and see!


Oh My God that's AWESOME :thumbsup: I love VW's ....can't wait to see what you do with this!


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

I finally finished off 3 more cars that tie in with my A-Team theme...almost. 

Hannibal and Face steal a black/gold transam in 'When you comin back, Range Rider'...so I decided that's an easy one to do. Its not just a standard black/gold tyco TA either. I stripped it and painted it the same metallic black as the van, then did the details according to how it was done up in the show. The 'almost' part is in that while I did finish the stock wheels in gold with a silver outer rim, I have a package coming from Vincent with the gold centered BBS type wheels, which match the real thing perfect:



I also did a couple generic 'bad guy' cars. The blue Monaco is modeled after one that shows up in the opening credits; its a decommissioned Hazzard County car adapted to a Tyco HP-7 (standard guts for my A-team series). And the bronze Satellite --and ex ultimate police car, stripped of the chrome bits-- isn't modeled after anything in particular. These big '70s sedans are often in some similar 'metallic poop' type of color so it just pulls duty as a generic bad guy car that could work with any chase.




When the T/A was stolen, it was to escape a pack of bad guys in generic 70s/80s sedans (led by Decker, I think). So this is a loose recreation of the chase:



I have plans for a puke green caprice, also de-copified but the weather is getting cold and damp. Not the best conditions for painting. That car when done will pull double duty as a 3rd thug car as well as a famous undercover cop car. Stay tuned!


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Excellent conversions!!! That Monaco looks great as a bad guy street car! :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

LOOKS GREAT!! :thumbsup:

Wes


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

...and THATS the difference when you add proper wheels! My package from Vincent came in and now this T/A is done, looking like Hannibal would be proud to use it as a getaway car:


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

Hey gRuNgE,

This is a real nice place you have here on HT. 

I am digging the way you immediately faded away from reality to
A-Team fantasy to bring back the good old days. 
Great work on all these cars!! A+ 

Love the Bug & will be back to see your Tow Truck Extravaganza.

oH your Yellow Lifegard Jeep is insaine wicked Cool!!  :roll: 

Bob...Insaine in the membrain, I'm insaine in the brain...zilla


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## Hilltop Raceway (Feb 12, 2006)

Nice touch with those wheels...:thumbsup::thumbsup: RM


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

Thanks guys! Bob, the towtruck pics are with SCM right now. Ive got the bug body painted and I have my chassis picked out...just haven't hashed out how Im gonna cram it all together. I still have one more that will pull double duty as an A-team bad guy car and another famous cop car. Just need to get it painted but Oregon winters are cold and damp....


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## XracerHO (Feb 6, 2008)

"A" for all the great A-team builds & the rims really finish the T/A! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: ..RL


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

And as promised, I finally finished a dual purpose car:

It works with my A-team stuff as a generic 80s sedan driven by some random dirtbag:




OR.....



Frank Drebin, Police Squad!!!!

When I was coming up with a few bad guy cars for my A-team set, I knew I wanted to do a puke green caprice, but couldn't put my finger on why I was hung on that combo...then I watched Naked Gun and remembered.

Of course, it started out as an AFX sherriff car painted Model Masters citrus green and adapted to a tyco HP-7 like the other A-teamers. Stock tyco wheels in black with silver trim simulate black steelies with trim rings and dog dish hubcaps. The red gumball (sourced from the post cap from an AFX 'stop police' accessory kit) attaches with a neo magnet just like the real thing. When I used the baking soda/superglue method of filling the holes in the roof, I imbedded the head of a nail in one. The lite stores on the motor can when its in thug car mode.


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## Hilltop Raceway (Feb 12, 2006)

Now that's cool!!! :thumbsup::thumbsup: Wheels look great on there, like the stick on light  ...RM


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Neat idea for the magnetic light!!! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

P.S. The naked Gun trilogy are up there with my top movies ever!!:tongue::wave:


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

:lol:hahhaaahahaha a car that can be driven by some dirtbag 
or it can be a police squad car with a magnetic light on top...COOL BEANS!! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Bob...remembering this neat light trick...zilla


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## XracerHO (Feb 6, 2008)

Frank Drebin, Police Car - very COOL & great idea for the magnetic light! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: ..RL


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

VERY COOL!! Keep them coming!! :thumbsup:

Wes


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