In a recent post about my last trip to Aladdin’s Cave, I mentioned that one of the original T-jets I acquired on that trip was destined for the numbered sports car racing fleet which, by definition, means it would be giving up its Aurora “Tuff Ones” chassis for an Auto World Ultra G. That transformation is complete, but it would not have been possible without utilizing a trick I learned a while ago with polystyrene tubing. I made a big deal about this here, describing how I had finally found a way to successfully repair a badly broken screw post, something that I previous thought would be very difficult if not impossible. Having learned that trick, I decided to apply it here for a different reason: not because a screw post was broken, but because it was too short.
In one of my early posts discussing converting Aurora Cigar Box cars into T-jets, I mentioned that I had purchased a Mangusta “Speedline” freewheeler on the cheap in hopes of mounting it on a chassis, since I wanted this cool looking car in my racing fleet. When I discovered that the front screw post was too short, I made the mistake of assuming that the short post was the result of a structural change made to the body to accommodate the die cast chassis, and that the original Thunderjet version of the body would have a longer front screw post. Once I finally acquired one, however, I discovered that was wrong; the front post was the same length on a body that was originally built to be a slot car. The original Aurora chassis fit on it, but just barely, with the front wheels being so far up into the body that they nearly scraped the sides of the inner fenders. This also gave the car a “raked” look which may look good on some cars but which I thought was unappealing on what was supposed to be an Italian GT: the real car didn’t look like that.
So, I wondered if it was possible for me to extend the post with a piece of that same tubing I fixed my Riviera with. It wouldn’t be easy: I would have to cut a piece barely ¼” long without collapsing it and while making the cut as close to square as possible. I achieved that with patience, using light pressure on a very sharp razor knife and rolling the tubbing as I cut it so as not to crimp it. Luckily I was able to prevent the tiny piece from popping halfway across the room when the cut finally went through, and although it needed a little shaping against an emery board, it came out very well.
The next challenge was turning the screw into a piece so tiny I couldn’t grip it with my finders. That was achieved with a small pair of needlenose pliers with, again, very light pressure, and slowly working it down onto the front screw. Once it seated, I did a test fit to make sure I liked the stance, and I did! With about 3 threads sticking up out of the top of my tubing, I put super glue on the front post of the body and assembled the car, which went together perfectly. An hour to dry and I was able to remove the screw just fine, leaving the post in place: SUCCESS!
I love it when a plan comes together. I love it when a car comes together too! And as you can see, its looks awesome! Mounted on a light brown chassis with a set of gold and silver Vincent wheels of a style I haven’t used anywhere else, this chassis was once under my dark green ’70 Oldsmobile 442 before that car migrated out to The Road Crew. Its fast-very fast. And as the Mangusta is small and light while surprisingly being a long wheelbase car, it handles very well too…just like the high performance Italian GT it is! I used one of the last racing numbers still available and added a red stripe to the front and a couple of euro-style adverts. Unfortunately these are not amongst my higher quality decals and may not stand the test of time but since I could only use them on a white body because of their cloudy background, I thought I’d take the opportunity to put some European product names on a European car.
After successfully assembling this one, I got a bonus: what ever happened that Speedline Cigar Box body? Turns out I’d thrown it into my junk pile. It took me a bit of digging to find it and the window insert from it, but once I did I dug out another old chassis. This was a blue one which was not a good performer but was fitted with a set of beautiful Cromadora wheels from Vincent, so I decided to cut another tiny piece of tubing and went through the whole process again just to see if I could.
I could!
This pinkish chrome car will not likely not become a permanent member of the racing fleet but for now I’m leaving it assembled just for fun. I’ll probably eventually want those wheels for something else, but you never know! Regardless, I’m happy to have figured out a way to both repair and customize the screw posts so I can make things like this not only work, but look like they were meant to work.
Built between 1967 and ’71 (when it was succeeded by the Pantera), The Ford small block-powered DeTomaso Mangusta is, IMHO, the best looking mid-engined car ever made. I’m surprised it took this long for me to finally add this car to my fleet, but it seemed like every time I tried to get one it went for too high a price. With only 400 copies ever made worldwide, the T-Jet variant’s rarity is just another reflection of the real thing! Sooo…now I need a driver and a nickname….
This is a lot of very clever work to see an issue, devise a solution, and then create it. This is great that you could get her where she needed to be. This may be a solution for other model as well. Patience can be a hard pill to swallow, for me at least, but it looks like it paid off here. The detail of the decals really adds a lot to the model and it’s amazing what a difference some updates like that can make.