Dan Gurney's 1968 Indy500 Olsonite Eagle

[tatocorvette]

Hello,



First post after the presentation thread. 

I built this model back in 2008. To this date, I consider this one of the best models I've ever done.



Here is a link to the detailed progress thread in the MCM forum. Check it out to see what was done. 
www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/8018-dan-gurneys-68-indy-500-ride/


This 1/25 model of the 1968 Weslake powered Olsonite Eagle represents Dan Gurney's 1968 Indy 500 ride. It is based on the MPC Eagle model originally released in the late '60s. What was supposed to be a box stock build became an intense exercise in scratchbuilding. The kit was not bad but many parts were replaced with home made aluminum and brass parts. More details below the pictures.

I'll be the first one to admit the model may not 100% accurate, mainly because of lack of reference material at the time. I believe this is the configuration he used for qualifying in that race. Seatbelts were supposed to be black. I took an artistic license and did them in red so they would not be lost in the dark cockpit.

By the way, he finished 2nd in that race. The winner was Bobby Unser driving a turbo Offy powered Dan Gurney's AAR Eagle. Fourth place? Dan Gurney's teammate Denny Hulme driving what else? A Dan Gurney's AAR Eagle.  Gurney's AAR cars finished 1-2-4. Talk about dominance!



































MPC Eagle kit, 1/25. Reissued in the '90s


Cobra Colors paint


Mix and matched kit's decals and Fred Cady's (mostly whites)




Modifications:



- reworked body for better fit on the sides and top



- machined ignition module



- ignition wiring



- fuel plumbing



- machined cap for the quick change transaxle



- home made aluminum velocity stacks



- plumbed oil filter



- brass half shafts



- 3 piece machined shifter



- brass rear sway bar



- aluminum sheet gas tanks tops



- 6 parts each independent coilovers in brass steel wire and aluminum



- brake lines



- steel wire front sway bar links



- aluminum rear sway bar brackets



- aluminum upper rear coilovers pins



- steel rear sway bar links connected to lower arm



- solder headers



- machined aluminum tailpipes



- scratchbuilt seatbelts and hardware (I know the real ones are black, but I did them in dark red to add some color and contrast to the dark cockpit)



- brass roll bar



- machined dry sump oil tank cap



- aluminum gas tank caps



- aluminum rear wing with steel wire bracing



-... and many others I don't remember 




and some in progress pics:




Scratchbuilt stacks. I did like 10-12 to pick the best 8






Brass halfshafts



3 piece shifter




Most of the suspension was scratchbuilt from brass, aluminum and wire.





solder and aluminum headers





Hope you like it.



Thanks,

Ismael

[indy]

Great detail work. I love all the turned pieces. A Gurney Eagle build is always popular here. The finish is beautiful, too.

Thank you for sharing and I like all the pictures of the work that can get lost in just a finished build presentation.

I did lol a bit when I saw you used Corvette blue, because of course that is what you had handy.

Jordan

[IndyCarModels]

Very Nice

[harveythedog2]

Beauty!

[Gary Davis]

Great job Ismael. Ya can't beat an AAR Eagle…specially when it's done this well.

[Art Laski]

Nice job, Ismael!

[expatriate]

Ismael, did you build your own shocks for the rear? I found some commercially produced fronts but nothing that will work for the rear.
If so where did the coilover springs come from?

[tatocorvette]

Jan 10, 2022 1:32:41 GMT -5 expatriate said:

Ismael, did you build your own shocks for the rear? I found some commercially produced fronts but nothing that will work for the rear.
If so where did the coilover springs come from?

Hello,

  Sorry I did not see this before.   All shocks were scratchbuilt.  I machined the top and bottom, superglued brass tubing rings as mounting points.  The inner tube is a piece of tubing and the spring is just craft wire wrapped around something of the right size like a paint brush or a pen.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,
Ismael