1928 Detroit Special over the line

[raceparke]

Hi,
I was able to obtain a Gary Doucette kit of this car from an eBay seller. In many ways it is his best effort. Directions are typically Gary, there’s lots of scope for, shall we say, improvisation, and it’s going to be a fun build. The front drive parts look very crisp.
However. There are no color references. Body, seats, dash are TBD. Mr. Google is reticent on the subject, only two or three B&W photos being disclosed.
Any thoughts or leads will be greatly appreciated.
Dan

[kyledehart5]

I have a few excellent period photos of this car in one of my books. If you are interested I can send them your way. Can’t help with the color aspect. But I can look through what I have. One book covers this car well

[raceparke]

Any info will be great!

[kyledehart5]

Oct 28, 2023 19:45:34 GMT -5 raceparke said:

Any info will be great!

sending you a PM

[kyledehart5]

It was the 1911-1939 Ludvigsen book. I have photos. Beautiful machine...

[raceparke]

Those pictures will be very helpful. Thanks.
Is that a dial on the steering wheel? Very interesting.
So, is it black? Some very dark color?
I’m assuming black wire wheels
Are suspensions offset slightly or is that perspective angles?
Thanks again
Dan

[kyledehart5]

Oct 29, 2023 7:21:34 GMT -5 raceparke said:

Those pictures will be very helpful. Thanks.
Is that a dial on the steering wheel? Very interesting.
So, is it black? Some very dark color?
I’m assuming black wire wheels
Are suspensions offset slightly or is that perspective angles?
Thanks again
Dan

Hey Dan, black with red numbers and white outlines. Black wire wheels according to this book. I’ll crack into it again here and see if I can tell if the suspension is offset or it’s just a photo angle.

[raceparke]

Thanks again for your persistent attention to these details.

[kyledehart5]

Oct 29, 2023 17:35:44 GMT -5 raceparke said:

Thanks again for your persistent attention to these details.

No problem. Pretty sure its totally square and not offset at all. Probably just the bends in the pages of the book coupled with the angel I photographed it. I flattened the pages out as much as I could on the floor and it seems pretty equal on both sides. I look forward to seeing this build!

[raceparke]

Thanks to those photos and basic color info, I’ll be able to proceed. Recent hand surgery and attendant PT will slow the process but there will be progress.

[kyledehart5]

Oct 30, 2023 7:30:47 GMT -5 raceparke said:

Thanks to those photos and basic color info, I’ll be able to proceed. Recent hand surgery and attendant PT will slow the process but there will be progress.

No problem! Very interesting car. Also that dial in the middle of the wheel is the tachometer. It appears there until Milton and Durant gave up on the Detroit special and sold the car to Harry Hartz. Hartz dismantled the car and had it rebuilt into the car Fred Frame won the ‘32 race in, you can see the iconic Detroit special differential in photos of the Frame car, albeit without saying Detroit special anymore. Then it proceeded to race all the way up until 1947, including some strong runs with Ted Horn. The speedway then purchased it and it was a part of the original museum exhibit. And it’s still regularly displayed. I just saw it a couple months ago.

[raceparke]

1930s airliner done, I’ll be getting back to this.

[kyledehart5]

Excellent. Very much Looking forward to it! I love this car.

[raceparke]

The kit seems more crisply molded tha some of Gary’s other kits, no doubt due to the efforts of these folks.



The front springs, spring mounts, hubs and friction shocks are very nice.





Lots of rear springs!




Typical Gary wire wheels

[raceparke]

I’m cutting back some of the frame in order to position the spring mounts.




There’s a rounded portion at the front that would interfere with the friction shock mount. I removed and will fill the body with a small piece of scrap.

[pntmachine]

This is great. Nice kit and great start.

[kyledehart5]

Alright. Off to an excellent start already. Can’t wait to see it come together.

[raceparke]

Filled the opening and rescribed the lower front of the hood. Some more finishing to do on that surface.

[kyledehart5]

I can already tell that this is going to be an extremely handy thread whenever I get around to building mine. Nice work.

[raceparke]

Snapped together the front suspension bits in order to adjust the position of everything.



Slid into place making sure the De Dion tube clears the front of the gear case.

[raceparke]

And glued







Pretty much all this will be black. De Dion rube and axles metal colored. Brake drums inset into the nose also metallic. Shock bodies gloss black, shock levers probably steel.

[kyledehart5]

You are continuing quickly along with this one. That all looks really nice. Extremely well done. I await the next update eagerly

[Calvin]

I love how you just get in there and just, build! No matter what the situation is, you get it done.

[raceparke]

An engine was included which was glued to the engine plate. The round object could be a centrifugal  supercharger, right?



Some shapes were added to represent the engine to front transaxle transition.



Not much will be seen but maybe better than a void.

[jj66]

A lot of good work here. Waiting for more updates.

[raceparke]

Thanks.
I just finished painting the wheels and body pieces. Tomorrow I’m shopping carrying packages with my wife so hope to have more progress Saturday. Paint will have hardened up somewhat by then. 

[kyledehart5]

Dec 7, 2023 16:46:53 GMT -5 raceparke said:

Thanks.
I just finished painting the wheels and body pieces. Tomorrow I’m shopping carrying packages with my wife so hope to have more progress Saturday. Paint will have hardened up somewhat by then. 

Ah yes. The all important package carrier job. Lol.

[INDY22IAM]

This is coming along very nicely.

[raceparke]

Package carrying finished! The mall, with faux Doris Day and wanna-be Nat King Cole songsters endlessly repeating the same lame old “holiday” tunes while red garbed “sales associates” line up to ask you if you want to sign up for their “bonus bucks” while ringing you up. . .
Christmas spirit indeed!



Meanwhile,

Painting continues on smaller bits. A question has arisen.

I have determined that this vehicle, designed by Tommy Milton and Van Rast, used a two-stage supercharger designed by Dr. Sanford Moss. I surmise that the corrugated pipe on the left side of the front hood feeds air from the front supercharger to one attached just behind it. One impeller feeding into the inlet of the other, multiplying the effect. The large stove pipe on top just behind the radiator cap feeds air to the first impeller.

The question is, what is that pipe on the right side? It looks to be hollow and to consist of two pipes connected by hose and clamps. That implies low pressure. That it’s on the intake side is a clue but I can’t figure out what the clue means.
Any and all ideas, no matter how loonie creative gratefully accepted.

[kyledehart5]

So, I think part of the reason for the interesting piping on the right side, is that they changed it last minute. The inlet piping was initially hard piped in a strange U shape in 1927 and when the car arrived in 1928. At some point during May of that year they shortened it up and moved it outside the body work, how it appears in the photos above. Here is a couple other photos, one of the original piping in 1928 and a side view of the new piping. Engine bay is too dark to see well but it looks to me like it just terminates into the intake manifold.