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Post by illeagle10 on May 31, 2020 15:41:01 GMT -5
While I have been fooling around with the engines for the 86/87 Rahal and Penske Marches that I already started, I couldn’t keep my hands off doing an actual 87 March. Of course doing an 87 March has also led to taking away time from doing my other Marches, but I just couldn’t resist! Besides I had already started two of the 87 500 winners, Unser(Indy) and Mears(Pocono), so why not add Andretti’s Michigan winner.
Fortunately an 87 March is close to an 86 March. So again, I will be using the 87 Cummins March 86c. At first I thought this would be a minor conversion that now has turned into a major conversion! There are many differences between the 86 and 87 Marches. As with 86 March the 87 Marches have many differences in and of themselves. There will be even more modifications to the body and cowl then on the three previous kits that I have going.
Some of the main differences between an 86 and 87 Marches are in the following areas. First is the roll hoop. The 87 March deleted the pyramid type of roll hoop and had a more standard roll hoop.
Second are the chines in front of the side pod entrances. Those are the little delta airfoil added just in front of the side pod, both top and bottom.
The big change on the 87 March was the area of the side pod just in front of the rear tire. Normally this would have an air foil known as “kick-ups” to help distribute the air over the rear tires. Now there is a very different type of “kick-up” that has a much broader area and has some compound curves on the top of the air foil. This will prove to be the hardest are to duplicate.
Finally is the rear cowling, the cowling is somewhat like on the Mears car that has a more flatter look to the rear of the cowling compared to the hump that was on the 86 Marches.
There are other differences with these cars and we will discuss them as we go along.
Jim
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Post by gks1964 on May 31, 2020 19:21:16 GMT -5
Watching with great interest! I didn't know all the differences. Good subject!!
Gerald
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Post by shunter on Jun 1, 2020 15:43:38 GMT -5
Great topic...look forward to seeing more of it.
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Post by illeagle10 on Jun 3, 2020 17:41:19 GMT -5
We begin by prepping the AMT Cummins March 86c by doing the basic things we did with the other kits in 86/87 WIP. Since the 87 March did not have the same type of kick-ups as the 86 March the first thing to do is to cut off the kick-ups on the 86 cowl and sand the areas smooth.  Also we need to remove the hump at the rear of the cowling as best we can. Top is the stock kit cowling, bottom is the 87 Cowling.  Next I removed the front suspension placing it aside for relocation later. Prior to gluing the upper and lower half together, you will also want to remove the tab that holds the kit bulkhead in place.  I then glued the upper and lower half of the body together and drilled locating holes where the suspension attaches to the tub.  Next is the bevel on the bottom part of the front of the tub on each side. The bevel runs along the bottom of the body starting at the front of the side pod and runs to the front lower suspension, tapering as it reaches the front lower suspension. This is not prevalent on the kit. So I took my handy dandy file and started filing away until I achieved the look I wanted. This was done on either side of the body.   Here is where I start adding some of Indycals 86 March upgrade parts. I added Michael’s under tray extension and made sure that Michael’s bulkhead fits properly.   You will also need to remove the kit bulkhead from the interior tub.  Now that we've pretty much prepped the tub of the car we can move on to the modifications. Stay tuned. Jim |
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Post by gks1964 on Jun 3, 2020 18:29:22 GMT -5
Great start, will be watching the progress!!
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Post by illeagle10 on Jun 12, 2020 19:16:09 GMT -5
We now begin the conversion from an 86 to an 87 March, we start by adding the side pod extensions! First the front part of the side pod. Using Evergreen plastic sheet .020 thick, I cut out two triangles approximately 3/8” by 3/8”. I then glued these pieces to each side of the body and side pod. Using your favorite putty, these are shaped into each side pod of the body. This is done only on the top for now for this car.  As you can see in the pictures, only the top is actually part of the side pod. The lower extension seems to be an add on.  We will get to the cowling next time. Jim |
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Post by gks1964 on Jun 12, 2020 19:58:24 GMT -5
Good stuff!! Watching with interest!!
Gerald
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Post by shunter on Jun 18, 2020 15:40:54 GMT -5
You nailed the side pod changes, looks good.
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Post by illeagle10 on Jul 30, 2020 14:49:49 GMT -5
Sorry to take so long to get back on this build and the others. June 12th I went for surgery to remove some Basil cell cancer from my face. So I wasn’t able to wear my respirator for some time. Then on July 4th I fell in a row boat and received 5 stitches in my right forearm. All I can say was that it was a picture of my gracefulness!! Now I’m waiting for the third thing to happen. Doesn’t trouble come in threes? I had wanted to try to get some things posted, but I just haven’t been in the mood. I have been feeling a little better lately and with the Indy 500 just around the corner it seemed to light a fire under my butt! Moving on to this build, I next took on the big challenge of the cowling! First is to cut the proper air outlets in the side pod of the cowling. Since the right side opening is larger than the left side I had to use Evergreen plastic sheet .020 to close up the opening and reshape it. On the left side I just had to reshape it. On Michael’s car the openings are on an angle with a larger part of the opening to the outside tapering down to the inside. Again this is only on this specific car. Each car has their own type of air outlets on the cowling. I believe that on Guerrero’s car he has the standard air outlets that are on the AMT kit.
As far as where the fuel vent hole and pop-off valve hole on the car are concerned, you really don’t need to move any of them. The AMT kit fuel vent hole is pretty much in the proper position. You will have to close the air jack vent hole and file a hole just in front of the pop-off valve hole for the air jack hole. Also, the rear of the cowling is a little more open compared to the Penske and Rahal cars that I am doing. Using my references you can see that I traced the lines of what I wanted to cut on the rear of the cowling. The holes and cutouts for the turbo are different for the Andretti car.
More to come!
Jim
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Post by shunter on Jul 30, 2020 15:59:00 GMT -5
Looking good Jim, great to hear you are in th3 mend as well. Wrap yourself in cotton wool and don’t move to avoid the third part...😁
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Post by gks1964 on Aug 1, 2020 8:16:33 GMT -5
Jim,
Wrap yourself in bubble wrap and sit real still!! The car is looking great!!
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Post by Dan Belcher on Aug 2, 2020 15:09:23 GMT -5
Solid reshaping work. Now take care of yourself so you can finish it! LOL
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Post by MikeB on Aug 2, 2020 16:57:58 GMT -5
Looking good Jim
Feel better bud
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Post by illeagle10 on Aug 13, 2020 19:14:10 GMT -5
Now to the part that mainly sets the 87 March apart from the 86 March. Using the cowling as a template and using Evergreen plastic sheet .020 I traced the side of the cowling onto the Evergreen plastic near the edges of the plastic for the cowling extensions. These extensions will go in the area where the “kick-ups” would be attached. Once I traced it on the Evergreen plastic, I used the cut out as a template making sure it fit the cowling. When that was done, I traced two more cowling extensions out on the Evergreen plastic. I then attached the extensions to the cowling. You most likely need to reinforce the extensions attachment area. I used a thin bead of superglue on the underside of the seam where the extension attaches to the cowling.  Stay tuned in! Jim |
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Post by gks1964 on Aug 13, 2020 20:13:43 GMT -5
This is getting really good!
Gerald
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