"Crazy" Ed Kavanaugh

When you hear the name Eddie Kavanaugh around these parts you immediatly think "Wheel Stander". This young drag racer is famous throughout the Midwest for his awesome antics on the track behind the wheel of his beloved 55 Chevy Nomad. Every place he goes is a sell out and the first time you see him in person, you will know why.

The car was bought it brand new by his Dad. He drove it until the wheels fell off (literally) and then parked it in his old garage in Chicago. For years this glorious machine sat undisturbed until the day Ed caught the "go-fast" fever. He convinced his Dad to let him have the car and soon he turned this once timid grocery-getter into a fire-breathing, wheel standing, eye-popping show car.

The body used is a 1/32nd Scale Gunze Sangyo kit. I used only the body and the front glass and chrome. Rear glass is tinted lexan strips cut to fit and glued in place. Decals were actually from a 56 Chevy 1/24 kit along with the "Crazy Ed" decals coming from a re-released Model King Impala. The Engine blower is 1/64 Muscle Machines. The interior is from a Carrera NASCAR and is complete. I added a small strip of card stock in the back to fill the gap and hot glued in place. Paint is Wal-Mart gloss black with 1 coat of Future to seal.

I decided it needed wheelie bars but was not sure what I would use. It was my 11 year old son Anthony who came to the rescue. He asked what I was doing and then headed over to his old toy box. He brought back a Micro Machines "Fatboy" diecast car. PERFECT!

I took the body off and the axles just pop out. I cut this wire and now had to enlarge the hole in the wheel to fit my piano wire. I did this by placing a drill bit in a small vise and twisting it on.

The car chassis was built using K&S brass rectangle tubing and regular brass rod. This is my first attempt at building my own chassis and luckily all seemed to line out nicely. The rear end is all Slot-it with the wheels coming from an old Slot-it Porsche. The inserts came from a Revell Snap-tite 55 Chevy kit.

The front axle and wheels are Artin Stockers. Not the wheels I had planned, but they will work until my new wheels come in. The rear tires are from K&D and were originally for the old SCX dragsters. Mark Thomas was the first to discover them and had Kevin make up a batch. After seeing Mark's awesome HEMI UNDER GLASS project, I simply used his idea and it worked out perfect. Thanks Mark!

The rear bushings are brass from NINCO. They straddle the brass tube rail perfectly. All I needed to do was solder these in place. I chose this way so that the rear of the car would be raised to give it the look I wanted. The last thing I added was some exhaust coming down the bottom using Plastruct tubing.

STAND ON IT ED!!!!!!

-Harry