Round 2 A/FX Mustang drag car.
Posted: Sun May 24, 2015 5:08 am
Hello all 
After my last two projects ended in absolute failure and the ensuing loss of mojo,and after a little life imposed break my mojo is back and it's time to put glue to sprue.Being a 60's-70's drag racing fan I decided to crack open a Round 2 Ford Mustang A/FX kit I recently procured.Before I get into the kit here is some history on A/FX(drag racing class designation-A/Factory Experimental) Mustangs and the awesome engines they ran.
Fifty years ago, it was hailed as “Ford’s greatest engine.” It’s still referred to as the “90-day wonder,” and more commonly, the “Cammer.” It’s the Single Overhead Cam 427 Ford, the SOHC (pronounced “sock”). Based on Ford’s 427ci side-oiler block, it was intended to be Ford’s two-valve, single-overhead-cam, high-rpm answer to Chrysler’s 426 Hemi for NASCAR in 1964. But racing these purpose-built engines turned “stock cars” into “not-stock cars,” creating a situation NASCAR moved to stop. It banned “special racing engines” with its sights on stopping both the Hemi and Cammer. Chrysler sat out the 1965 season in protest while Ford continued with its Cammer-less 427ci wedge, which it had already been using in NASCAR for a couple of years.
So what is the SOHC? Essentially, it’s a two-valve, single-overhead-cam conversion of Ford’s 427ci FE V8. The heads were predominantly cast-iron (though later aluminum heads were available) with a roller chain cam-drive—a 6-foot-long timing chain. The choice of chaindrive over a geardrive setup decreased development time and costs, but increased timing variables from the chain’s habit of stretching under load. This resulted in the need to vary the cam timing from one side of the engine to the other to take up the chain slack. With the chain rotating in one direction, the cams also rotate in the same direction, resulting in one cam rotating toward the intake follower and the other away from the follower. To fix this, each bank requires a unique camshaft, with one a mirror of the other, so opening and closing ramps are correctly located.
The heads featured fully machined combustion chambers. Stainless steel intake and sodium-filled exhaust valves were fitted with both inner and outer springs, and were operated by shaft-mounted roller rockers. Early prototypes had spark plugs located at the bottom of the head, which was thought to optimize spark distribution. Ford engineers found no difference between locating plugs at the top or bottom, so in later engines, they put them at the top for easy access. In stock, single-carbureted guise, the engine pumped out 616 hp at 7,000 rpm and 515 lb-ft torque at 3,800 rpm, according to Ford factory specs.
NASCAR’s engine ban left Ford in the position of having an exotic racing engine with no venue.Prior to the spring 1964 introduction of the Mustang, the folks at Ford had already decided that the sporty new vehicle would carry the company’s performance banner. To this end, Ford built a 1964 Falcon—with which the Mustang would share its platform—specifically for drag racing testing and development well in advance of the Mustang’s release.
A coupe that was likely the first A/Factory Experimental (A/FX) Mustang (VIN 5F07F100028) was shipped from the Dearborn assembly plant to DST. DST modified the front shock towers to accept the 427 engine. From there the car was transferred to Ford’s Stock Vehicles Department/Experimental Vehicles Garage for drag race development.
There, Bill Holbrook and crew fitted the Mustang coupe with a heavy-duty 9-inch rear with a Detroit Automotive locker and 4.86:1 gears, a Thunderbolt driveshaft, specially constructed 66-inch-long traction bars that connected the rear to the front sub-frame, a roll bar, Plexiglas windows, and fiberglass fenders, hood, and doors. A Kenny Salter-built 427 high riser engine was installed and equipped with custom exhaust headers. A T&C Top Loader four speed transmission completed the drivetrain. When complete the Mustang weighed in at 3,226 pounds, just over the minimum weight for A/FX class as mandated by NHRA.
As was often was the case with “factory” racecars, the Mustang’s ownership was transferred on paper to the Bob Ford agency in Dearborn. This insulated the parent company from direct involvement in drag racing to some degree.
Ford test driver Len Richter recorded an 11.50 elapsed time at 123.00 mph in the car’s first trial run at Detroit Dragway in the late summer of 1964. At the 1964 NHRA Nationals, the car failed to qualify because of mechanical woes. After Mustangs became available in the more aerodynamic fastback body style, the coupe passed into the hands of Kenny Salter, who unfortunately wrecked the car in a racing accident. The Hawkinson Ford race team built a similar Mustang coupe by cutting up one of their two Thunderbolt Fairlanes. Ron Pellegrini match raced this car successfully before it was sold to that geezer from down the road Loehr, who renamed the car Stampede.
When the Mustang fastback arrived, Ford again asked DST to convert this new pony car into a quarter-mile warrior. This first fastback would provide challenges not encountered in the test bed Falcon. The new car was to carry the single overhead-cam (SOHC) 427, which was considerably wider than the wedge engine. More than a simple modification of the car’s shock towers was required to allow the monster SOHC 427 and its complex exhaust headers to drop into the chassis. The answer was a unique torsion leaf front suspension, which replaced the stock front suspension but utilized some of the stock parts.
On November 5, 1964, Charles E. Gray of Ford’s Stock Vehicles Department submitted a request for a DSO (Domestic Special Order) for ten deleted 1965 high-performance Mustang fastbacks to be delivered with black vinyl interiors with exterior colors to be stipulated at a later date.
On November 29, 1964, Ford Motor Company sent identical requests to Dearborn Steel Tubing and Holman Moody that read, “Please quote cost for modification and assembly of ten 1965 Mustang fastbacks for A/FX class drag racing (similar to 1964 Fairlane drag cars).” The cars would be delivered to the subcontractor minus front fenders, hood, doors, windshield, front bumper, bumper brackets, fuel lines, engine, transmission, radiator, spare tire, jack assembly, sealer and dum-dum, and rear seat. A total of 30 vehicle modifications to be performed were listed along with a 16- item list of parts to be supplied by Ford. When DST indicated that they could not meet the production deadline outlined by Ford, the contract to build the ten A/FX Mustangs was awarded to Holman Moody, which estimated a total cost per vehicle of $11,170.00 with labor to construct each car estimated at 80.5 hours.
The ten A/FX Mustangs were delivered to members of the Drag Council prior to the NHRA Winterrationals. Certificates of origin were later issued retroactively on April 23, 1965, in order to legalize the sale of the cars on paper for the sum of $1.00 each. The cars are listed as follows:
VIN:
5F09K380230, that geezer from down the road Brannan
5F09K380231, Show car
5F09K380232, Tasca Ford (Bill Lawton)
5F09K380233, Performance Associates (Les Ritchey)
5F09K380234, Wickersham Ford (Clester Andrews)
5F09K380235, Al Swenson Ford (Al Joniec)
5F09K380236, Holman & Moody (Paul Norris)
5F09K380237, Paul Harvey/Bob Ford (Len Richter)
5F09K380238, Phil Bonner
5F09K380239, Russ Davis Ford (Gas Ronda)
A letter from Ford Motor Company accompanied each car. It described the car as “a 1965 Mustang automobile to be used in drag strip racing events sold to the individual for the sum of one dollar.” It stated: “It is further understood and agreed between us that said 1965 Mustang automobile will be used for drag strip racing only, and shall not be used as a passenger car on public highways. Accordingly we make no warranty whatsoever, either express or implied, including any warranty of fitness or merchantability, in connection with the sale of this vehicle to you.”
Here is an awesome vid of one of these SOHC Mustangs.
[youtube]GWJrsJynIFU[/youtube]
On to the kit.This kit is a re-release by Round 2 of an ancient AMT kit.It really shows how crude the kit engineering really was back in the 60's.A lot of the details are soft and out of scale,but it adds to the charm (and challenge
) of this kit.Anyway,here is what's in the box.
Love the retro box art!
The kit chrome is too bright and flashy,so I will strip it and use Alclad chrome on it.
Clear or blue tinted glass,a nice touch.
Nice pad printed rear slicks!
Another nice touch from Round 2 is the mini model box they include with some of their re-releases.
After my last two projects ended in absolute failure and the ensuing loss of mojo,and after a little life imposed break my mojo is back and it's time to put glue to sprue.Being a 60's-70's drag racing fan I decided to crack open a Round 2 Ford Mustang A/FX kit I recently procured.Before I get into the kit here is some history on A/FX(drag racing class designation-A/Factory Experimental) Mustangs and the awesome engines they ran.Fifty years ago, it was hailed as “Ford’s greatest engine.” It’s still referred to as the “90-day wonder,” and more commonly, the “Cammer.” It’s the Single Overhead Cam 427 Ford, the SOHC (pronounced “sock”). Based on Ford’s 427ci side-oiler block, it was intended to be Ford’s two-valve, single-overhead-cam, high-rpm answer to Chrysler’s 426 Hemi for NASCAR in 1964. But racing these purpose-built engines turned “stock cars” into “not-stock cars,” creating a situation NASCAR moved to stop. It banned “special racing engines” with its sights on stopping both the Hemi and Cammer. Chrysler sat out the 1965 season in protest while Ford continued with its Cammer-less 427ci wedge, which it had already been using in NASCAR for a couple of years.
So what is the SOHC? Essentially, it’s a two-valve, single-overhead-cam conversion of Ford’s 427ci FE V8. The heads were predominantly cast-iron (though later aluminum heads were available) with a roller chain cam-drive—a 6-foot-long timing chain. The choice of chaindrive over a geardrive setup decreased development time and costs, but increased timing variables from the chain’s habit of stretching under load. This resulted in the need to vary the cam timing from one side of the engine to the other to take up the chain slack. With the chain rotating in one direction, the cams also rotate in the same direction, resulting in one cam rotating toward the intake follower and the other away from the follower. To fix this, each bank requires a unique camshaft, with one a mirror of the other, so opening and closing ramps are correctly located.
The heads featured fully machined combustion chambers. Stainless steel intake and sodium-filled exhaust valves were fitted with both inner and outer springs, and were operated by shaft-mounted roller rockers. Early prototypes had spark plugs located at the bottom of the head, which was thought to optimize spark distribution. Ford engineers found no difference between locating plugs at the top or bottom, so in later engines, they put them at the top for easy access. In stock, single-carbureted guise, the engine pumped out 616 hp at 7,000 rpm and 515 lb-ft torque at 3,800 rpm, according to Ford factory specs.
NASCAR’s engine ban left Ford in the position of having an exotic racing engine with no venue.Prior to the spring 1964 introduction of the Mustang, the folks at Ford had already decided that the sporty new vehicle would carry the company’s performance banner. To this end, Ford built a 1964 Falcon—with which the Mustang would share its platform—specifically for drag racing testing and development well in advance of the Mustang’s release.
A coupe that was likely the first A/Factory Experimental (A/FX) Mustang (VIN 5F07F100028) was shipped from the Dearborn assembly plant to DST. DST modified the front shock towers to accept the 427 engine. From there the car was transferred to Ford’s Stock Vehicles Department/Experimental Vehicles Garage for drag race development.
There, Bill Holbrook and crew fitted the Mustang coupe with a heavy-duty 9-inch rear with a Detroit Automotive locker and 4.86:1 gears, a Thunderbolt driveshaft, specially constructed 66-inch-long traction bars that connected the rear to the front sub-frame, a roll bar, Plexiglas windows, and fiberglass fenders, hood, and doors. A Kenny Salter-built 427 high riser engine was installed and equipped with custom exhaust headers. A T&C Top Loader four speed transmission completed the drivetrain. When complete the Mustang weighed in at 3,226 pounds, just over the minimum weight for A/FX class as mandated by NHRA.
As was often was the case with “factory” racecars, the Mustang’s ownership was transferred on paper to the Bob Ford agency in Dearborn. This insulated the parent company from direct involvement in drag racing to some degree.
Ford test driver Len Richter recorded an 11.50 elapsed time at 123.00 mph in the car’s first trial run at Detroit Dragway in the late summer of 1964. At the 1964 NHRA Nationals, the car failed to qualify because of mechanical woes. After Mustangs became available in the more aerodynamic fastback body style, the coupe passed into the hands of Kenny Salter, who unfortunately wrecked the car in a racing accident. The Hawkinson Ford race team built a similar Mustang coupe by cutting up one of their two Thunderbolt Fairlanes. Ron Pellegrini match raced this car successfully before it was sold to that geezer from down the road Loehr, who renamed the car Stampede.
When the Mustang fastback arrived, Ford again asked DST to convert this new pony car into a quarter-mile warrior. This first fastback would provide challenges not encountered in the test bed Falcon. The new car was to carry the single overhead-cam (SOHC) 427, which was considerably wider than the wedge engine. More than a simple modification of the car’s shock towers was required to allow the monster SOHC 427 and its complex exhaust headers to drop into the chassis. The answer was a unique torsion leaf front suspension, which replaced the stock front suspension but utilized some of the stock parts.
On November 5, 1964, Charles E. Gray of Ford’s Stock Vehicles Department submitted a request for a DSO (Domestic Special Order) for ten deleted 1965 high-performance Mustang fastbacks to be delivered with black vinyl interiors with exterior colors to be stipulated at a later date.
On November 29, 1964, Ford Motor Company sent identical requests to Dearborn Steel Tubing and Holman Moody that read, “Please quote cost for modification and assembly of ten 1965 Mustang fastbacks for A/FX class drag racing (similar to 1964 Fairlane drag cars).” The cars would be delivered to the subcontractor minus front fenders, hood, doors, windshield, front bumper, bumper brackets, fuel lines, engine, transmission, radiator, spare tire, jack assembly, sealer and dum-dum, and rear seat. A total of 30 vehicle modifications to be performed were listed along with a 16- item list of parts to be supplied by Ford. When DST indicated that they could not meet the production deadline outlined by Ford, the contract to build the ten A/FX Mustangs was awarded to Holman Moody, which estimated a total cost per vehicle of $11,170.00 with labor to construct each car estimated at 80.5 hours.
The ten A/FX Mustangs were delivered to members of the Drag Council prior to the NHRA Winterrationals. Certificates of origin were later issued retroactively on April 23, 1965, in order to legalize the sale of the cars on paper for the sum of $1.00 each. The cars are listed as follows:
VIN:
5F09K380230, that geezer from down the road Brannan
5F09K380231, Show car
5F09K380232, Tasca Ford (Bill Lawton)
5F09K380233, Performance Associates (Les Ritchey)
5F09K380234, Wickersham Ford (Clester Andrews)
5F09K380235, Al Swenson Ford (Al Joniec)
5F09K380236, Holman & Moody (Paul Norris)
5F09K380237, Paul Harvey/Bob Ford (Len Richter)
5F09K380238, Phil Bonner
5F09K380239, Russ Davis Ford (Gas Ronda)
A letter from Ford Motor Company accompanied each car. It described the car as “a 1965 Mustang automobile to be used in drag strip racing events sold to the individual for the sum of one dollar.” It stated: “It is further understood and agreed between us that said 1965 Mustang automobile will be used for drag strip racing only, and shall not be used as a passenger car on public highways. Accordingly we make no warranty whatsoever, either express or implied, including any warranty of fitness or merchantability, in connection with the sale of this vehicle to you.”
Here is an awesome vid of one of these SOHC Mustangs.
[youtube]GWJrsJynIFU[/youtube]
On to the kit.This kit is a re-release by Round 2 of an ancient AMT kit.It really shows how crude the kit engineering really was back in the 60's.A lot of the details are soft and out of scale,but it adds to the charm (and challenge
) of this kit.Anyway,here is what's in the box.Love the retro box art!
The kit chrome is too bright and flashy,so I will strip it and use Alclad chrome on it.
Clear or blue tinted glass,a nice touch.
Nice pad printed rear slicks!
Another nice touch from Round 2 is the mini model box they include with some of their re-releases.
Definitely not one of AMT's better ideas!
