Talladega Suspension Buildup  

1.  I typically buildup the suspension on these Polar Lights kits prior to painting the chassis.  Doing so allows you to get stronger glue joints and makes for a much sturdier finished model from my experience.  After painting the chassis you can quickly detail the misc pieces that need to be a different color.  Also note that the suspension in the following photos is being attached to a chassis that is a different color than the car's roll cage.  If the chassis and cage were the same color then the completed cage would be glued to the chassis pan already.  We'll start by attaching the upper A-arms to the frame.

2.  Glue on the rear end cooler.  One thing to note at this point is that I do not use the drive shaft hoop that is supplied in the Polar Lights kits.  It is too small to fit over the drive shaft so it is pretty much worthless.  If you want one, you'll need to find a larger one from another kit or scratch build one yourself.

3.  Back up front we can attach the lower front suspension.  Be careful to keep this aligned correctly as the glue is setting up.
 

4. Let the glue set up a little on the lower front suspension then gently install the king pins.  In doing so you will need to push against the lower suspension as you fit the king pin in to the upper A-arm.  As long as the glue is set up a little you can safely do this without everything falling off the frame.  Make sure both king pins are positioned the same way.  I always build my cars with the front wheels going straight but if you want to pose them to the left or right this is the time to do it.  Once everything is set hit it with some liquid cement on the upper A-arms....

5.  and flip the chassis over and hit the lower suspension and king pin joints with liquid cement as well.

6.  Install the steering linkage - make sure to keep it centered.

7.  Drop the transmission mount in place and hit it with some liquid cement.

8.  Now we can move to the rear suspension.  Get you rear differential halves, both leaf springs, and the differential support bar ready..

9. Start by gluing the rear differential halves together..

10. Start on 1 side and glue the leaf spring to the rear differential.  Then slide the one end of the differential support into its opening.  I have found it easier to do this initial assembly with regular tube glue.  Once we have it together and ready to attach to the chassis I'll hit the glue joints with some liquid cement.

11.  Attach the other leaf spring.  Don't worry about it now looking perfectly true at this point.  When we install it on the chassis everything will square up as the glue isn't completely dry at that time.

12.  Attach our assembled rear end to the chassis.

13.  Add the shackles to the rear of the leaf springs.

14.  Glue the gas tank in place.  This and the rear end cooler could easily be left off and painted ahead of time if you like.  Then simply glue on after the chassis is painted.

15.  At some point along the way I like to get the wheel halves glued together.  That way I can get them primed and painted if they are the same color as the chassis or cage.

Your chassis is ready for paint.  While those pieces are off in the spray booth you can start working on the interior.
Click here to go to the Interior page.

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