# 1963 Spirit of America Salt Flat Streamliner in Basswood



## ClearHooter (Nov 28, 2004)

Yes.... After carving 10 cars out of white pine. I finally reached out to a friend of mine who really is a carver. And his suggestion for carving stock was Basswood. "Doesn't matter if it is 'large mouth' or 'small mouth.'" I have to agree with his advice. It's a bit softer than white pine. But the grain is clear. Nonexistent. SO... The Church of MILLIPUT has joined denominations with The Church of BASSWOOD.

The next project will be a try at the 1963 Salt Flat Streamliner "Spirit of America." I'm wanting to make it a comparable size to the LLEDO model of the "Spirit of America, SONIC 1." According to Wiki the SoA was 44' 10". they also said the same of the SONIC 1. I found that a little unbelievable. Further reference stated the SONIC1 was 35 ' even. So after doing the math this should be about right for the length of the SoA car.

If anyone has further info on the dimensions of these two cars PLEASE let me know now. NOT AFTER I'M FINISHED.... Thank you.


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## ClearHooter (Nov 28, 2004)

Got the basic shape of the fuselage. Going to have to add a MILLIPUT "topper" to the canopy. It will probably be sawed off and some form of interior installed. I was also considering opening the engine compartment. I'd need some semblance of a jet engine were I to take that consideration any further.


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## ClearHooter (Nov 28, 2004)

The pieces have been cut. Now they have to be slotted to fit wheel assemblies. And drilled to open up the side tunnels .And accommodate an engine ?


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

It is reaally amazing how those shapes are hidden inside a fish. I mean a piece of wood.


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## ClearHooter (Nov 28, 2004)

No pun intended. Here's the mach-up..... Well maybe a little pun.... Like a little more than half a pun. 407.447mph.


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## ClearHooter (Nov 28, 2004)

I'm glad I used the small mouthed Basswood..... 😁


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

I remember back about 50 years ago? Craig Breedlove came to Portland with his Spirit of America II I think it was. I was walking to Mall 205 through a smaller strip mall when he was at the smaller one and I was just in time to see his car being rolled out of the semi trailer.


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## ClearHooter (Nov 28, 2004)

Bonneville is one of those things on my bucket list. Breedlove is one of those people I'd like to meet. Like Jim Hall, probably will never get the chance. But It'd sure be cool.


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## ClearHooter (Nov 28, 2004)

For good or bad I decided to do an aluminum foil wrap. Need to do some more burnishing on the foil. Probably will use decals for the blue nose and trim. The slotted disc wheels will fit. Saw a photo of SONIC 1 with Breedlove standing next to it. In comparing it to SoA photo with him standing next to it, it actually looks about right, as far as size goes. I understand why HW's hasn't come out with an SoA car. At 44+ feet this sucker really is huge. It scaled out at around 5.75". SONIC 1 comes in just under 4.5" .I'm not sure what scale that equates to but even at 1/64th'ish scale that's probably over 3". Will probably form the canopy this evening. Should start on the decals Monday


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## ClearHooter (Nov 28, 2004)

Got a new refrigerator Monday. We put in a new floor to go under it yesterday.. Finally got the canopy made today. This is the third attempt. Got the decal sheets ready to print. Going to have to use clear and white sheets. I'm not fond of clear decal film. But cutting out SPIRIT of AMERICA would be impossible. I'm still not 100% happy with the aluminum foil wrap. I'll probably redo that as it's starting to take a beating. At that time I'll spray it aluminum and see what that looks like. Then I could use all white decal paper. That's how much I don't like the clear stuff. So there's quite a bit more to do to this before it's ready for the Salt Flats.


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## ClearHooter (Nov 28, 2004)

Printer's out of ink so it'll be next week before I can put the finishing touches on this one. But it's almost done


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## ClearHooter (Nov 28, 2004)

Finally got enough ink to finish up the SoA Streamliner. Came out OK.... Me thinks.


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## Russ31073 (Jul 8, 2020)

Super cool! I always loved those old salt flats cars. That'll be a fun piece to have on the shelf.


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## ClearHooter (Nov 28, 2004)

That's one of those things on my short bucket list is to go to the Daytona Rolex 24 and Bonneville during Speed Week. Probably won't make it this August. That's the thing about a bucket list. Keeps getting kicked down the road.


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