[KensRedZed]

Gunze Sangyo made a number of quality static kits many years ago. They are discontinued now, but still available on EBay at reasonable prices.

In my opinion. The Fairlane 500 might be the ugliest that they offer in that era. But the quality of the kit is outstanding. I had to give it a try.

The real car was not very popular either. Poor sales reflected that fact.

   
   
   
   
   

The roof came in 5-parts. Front flip-down section. Main mid section. 2 x chrome rear window post extentions. And the rear glass. It was deigned as a hardtop that folded into the trunk (as seen on the box). Cool option for 1959. Not so fun to convert to a slot car. 

   

The aluminum chassis. This is powered by a Slot.It 25k motor in a modified NSR sidewinder pod.

   
   
   
   
   

The back seat had to be modified a bit for the motor to fit.

   
   
   
   

The Dollar Store had some interesting toys. This truck had a flashing red light and only cost $1. The speaker was removed.

   

The flashing assembly which consisted of 3-batteries, a card, bulb, and button weighed 5-grams.

   

A trip back to the Dollar Store for the smallest button batteries they had. A small piece of Evergreen styrene tubing with three small batteries inside. And the weight of the assembly went from 5-grams to 2-grams.

   
   

We have a cherry on top that actually works!

   

Driver and related details added. The inserts in the aluminum wheels were made from the original plastic wheels. It's hard to find a car with more chrome than this one. Enough to sink a small ship.

   
   
   
   
   

Thank you very kindly for looking.

Ken

[JasonB]

Nice work Ken. 

I take it you've glued the NSR pod to your aluminium chassis?

[KensRedZed]

Thank you very kindly, Jason.

The pod was lightly glued onto the front section while mounted to a brass chassis jig. Then removed, drilled and tapped for flat head screws. You can see the screw heads from the top view of the pod. The screws prevent the pod from being dislodged by a bad accident.

Using a chassis jig during the epoxy stage is the only way to keep the axles square to each other.

   

[JasonB]

Ah yes, so you've cut threads in the chassis to attach the pod, I see it now. Should have seen it earlier.

But what is the advantage of that approach over your usual method with an inline of just gluing it in? Just the bad accident dislodging?

[KensRedZed]

Jason. Thank you very kindly for asking.

Having the rear axle only supported by the pod creates a weak spot where the pod and chassis meet. The installation of the screws make it rock solid. It also allows a change of motor without the risk of removing the pod from the chassis by mistake.