TarheelRick

Living a lesson learned. My Pinto is not quite as bad as this Cougar, but I am coming across more issues. Right now, other than a fuel issue, I am having some 'paranormal' problems with my headlights and underdash wiring. Largest problem is still trying to locate a good windshield. I believe it was cracked in transit, but the guy that delivered it said it was that way when he picked it up. Conversation with the auction company denies it - he said, they said; and I have to pay for it, if I can find one. Thoughts now are to set aside an amount of money to have someone go through it completely, refurbish the interior, refresh the drivetrain, update the braking/suspension and simply accept the fact I bought a lemon.

Extremely nice work. Great rebuild of a toy into a believable model. The scene tells a story very well.

Without a doubt this is IMHO the best representation of a lakester ever built. I can sit here for hours just marveling over the intricacy of the wiring.plumbing. That chassis work alone is a work of art. Any and all accolades you receive for this build will be well deserved. In one post you mentioned an Allison powered build coming; has that one been one done or is it in construction?

Some very innovative creations. Really enjoyed looking through them.

Makes them go faster!

Very nice looking street cruiser. Should be able to get the groceries in a hurry with those three deuces. Like that paint also.

Really enjoying watching this build come together. If this kit is anything like the "Flower Power" kit, you probably scraped off enough flash to cast another body. Anyway, your choice of colors and the way you added them is excellent. Not really too keen on the cambered look, but as you said that is pretty much the look of the day. Also really impressed with your 3D printing and lathe work. Keep those updates coming.

Indeed, a beautiful Beetle. Makes me think I may want to ditch my Pinto and see if I can find another Beetle to replace it.

Hope you can find the decals that is one wicked Demon (is that a redundant statement?).

The link appears in your signature block and it does go to a Japanese website.

Beautiful build, really like that color.

The 40 Ford is also my favorite real car. I am 75 and the first kit I ever built was a AMT Trophy Series 40 Ford Coupe and I have not built a 40 Ford since. Now to your build, to put it simply - amazing. That color just grabs you those 5 spokes just scream "street rod". Absolutely beautiful.

I just bought one this past Sunday. I don't really care for the body, no offense to Carl Casper, but the chassis will work nicely for an early gas/coupe I have in plans. The engine and front-drive blower are fairly lackluster. Fair price for a good chassis, wheels, and tires. Forgot to mention the included show floor base, vampire, headless ghoul, and flying bat.

When you are looking 75 years old in the face, then you peruse the basement wall of shelves full of unbuilt kits, you finally realize it is time to do something about it. So you diligently search the forums for upcoming swapmeet/shows in your area, you pack four or five boxes of models, reserve a table and head off to reduce your stock. After returning home you are so pleased that one and a half of the boxes are empty and your inventory has decreased. BUT, then you realize four kits in one of the boxes were not there when you left the house and are indeed purchases you made at the swapmeet. So much for scaling back. I am addicted to polystyrene and am not actively seeking rehabilitation.

I have been building since 1959 and have enjoyed the polystyrene addiction immensely. That being said I do have three resin bodies waiting to be placed on styrene chassis and I have s selection of Texas 3D parts for my Revell VW, plus another selection of 3d engines waiting their turn to be implanted into their respective styrene kits. I have discovered it is more cost-efficient to buy a quality 3d printed Ford SOHC than to purchase one of the many kits with that particular engine. Many of those are bleak at best, plus there is the leftover incomplete kit with no engine. As said earlier "parts are parts". If I can find a steel front roll-pan for my Pinto - great, but if not I will settle for a fiberglass replica.

Those are some excellent paintings, each one tells its own story.

Attended the Mid-Carolina Swapmeet today, besides selling off several oddball kits that I would never build I brought these home.

Beautiful collection of Wood Brothers cars. Really like Tiny Lund's '63, that especially is the era I became engrossed in NASCAR (not so much now). All are beautiful, also like the Virginia Tech machine, one of the few Woods cars that is not red and white.

As the others have said this is a most excellent build, really love your choice of color. That seat is what caught my attention most, what did you use to cover it with? It looks so much like a 1:1 custom interior. Many thanks for sharing this one.

Beautiful build, really crisp decal work. I just recently acquired the Heller 1/43 scale version of this car, appears to be at least 95% complete.

Mark I really enjoy your tenacity working on this seat. It may not look like you want, but to me it does look a bit more comfortable than the stock one. Keep up the great detail work you do on all your builds.

I think one of the first things about TIG that impressed me most was no need to wear leather sleeves/jackets. You could weld in normal clothing. That being said I did learn very early on that it is not advisable to TIG weld for a couple of hours while wearing a short sleeve shirt. Major burn to the skin, but lesson learned.

Welcome to the forum from another Western NC resident. I live in the beautiful postal area called Hamptonville, about 30 miles west of Winston-Salem. Post some builds and let us see what you are doing.

Absolutely correct. When I graduated high-school (got kicked out is more accurate)I attended a local Technical School's welding course. It was an attempt to avoid the 'draft' as long as possible. The first quarter was spent exclusively on gas welding techniques, the remaining three quarters were divided equally with arc, MIG, and TIG. However, our instructor would occasionally sneak in a project which required gas-welding to complete. Overall I enjoyed TIG most, especially while welding in the USAF. One project that I enjoyed most was while I was stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. It was a civilian project involving building a flying replica of the original Wright-B flyer. They needed some brackets welded and I had the opportunity to do those. From my understanding the replica actually flew; not sure whatever happened to it.

Beautiful build of an iconic racer. I had a chance to talk with his daughter a few years back, very pleasant lady just as her dad was. Really like the "hauler" hanging off the front bumper.