Ace-Garageguy

I wonder if anybody's stuffed a coyote into a roadrunner yet. Beep beep.

Yeah...reminds me of something that happened on a real car back in the old days when we still used acrylic lacquer for repairs. No clear. A two-tone job, red and white. I pulled the tape off the red (shot last) and started color-sanding with water prior to polishing. Horror of horrors, the red "bled" into the white, even though it had been "dry" for a day, and tinted it a nice pink. Took a while to straighten that one out.

Thanks. That's probably a good idea. But never having worked with acrylics, water-based anyway, I don't know if I want to get into another learning curve just to get this one done. On the other hand, it might be the best way to avoid a real PITA if I get lifting and crazing again with "hot" paints. Hmmmm...definitely something to consider. I really appreciate your input.

I really appreciate your interest and comment, Don. Yeah, trying to build them so I could measure and scale-up to build a real car seems to be an obsession with me. It often leads me into problems that would be pretty easy to solve in full-scale, but because of the limited space available for hands and access in general in 1/24-1/25, it can take me a while to figure out what to do, or just to decide what to let slide. Frankly, I got in a little over my head on this one too...skill-wise. There are some things I wouldn't do now the way I did earlier, and a few things I got kinda stuck on. My further-refined skills and additional tools today give me enough...I think...to bring her on home without too much backtracking. Thanks again for your continued interest.

VERY nice. I LOVE the '55. We had an 88 convert when I was a kid, two-tone blue with a white top. Couldn't ever understand why the old man traded it on a Falcon. I've tried to track her down, but no go. I did manage to find the '63 convert my mother had, down in Texas, and dragged it back up here. Needs lotsa love, been sitting since the '80s.

Couldn't find a TC real quick, but here's a '33 MG J2 with a hot Ford V8 60... And a TD...

Exactly.

I've seen a V8-60 in an MG TC, with finned heads and all, and that was pretty cool. Looked right at home. Probably had about 100 HP with the heads, pipes, 2 carbs, etc., so about double the stock TC for not much more weight.

Yeah...well...putting a flathead in a Camaro makes no sense. It's a thermally inefficient engine, relatively fragile, low-revving, with expensive (these days) parts. Yeah, they're as cool as anything on the planet in period pieces. But you can get 3 times the power and reliability at 1/3 the cost with an old junkyard Chebby. On the other hand, a built flathead Ford in something like a '49 Chebby that came with a stovebolt 6 would definitely be a great swap. Just my personal opinion, fellers.

Yeah, and most of the clowns who talk that sort of...stuff 1) weren't around way back when, haven't done the heavy research it takes to be really familiar with it all otherwise, and generally have no idea what was the actual reality (car build styles were all over the board) and 2) probably couldn't build a car if their lives literally depended on it...especially not if they didn't have catalogs and truckloads of money. Yup.

I'm so confused. Is the Hemi shown above 1/24? From which kit? I musta missed something...

1/4" sheetrock over badly deteriorating plaster sounds a lot like slapping fiberglass and bondo over heavy rust on a car. Sure, I've seen it done hundreds of times (on cars), but it's just not a quality or permanent repair...though lotsa folks seem to think it is. 1/4" sheetrock, though "stiff", isn't structural, and depending on how well you're able to get it attached (the rock needs to be secured to stud-centers...and if the plaster is crumbling, lumpy, etc. this can be frustrating, and you can end up with ugly, wavy walls), you might be fine. Then again, as the plaster continues to deteriorate, it could conceivably move around enough to cause lumps and bulges and waves in the rock. Do you want to risk that? My 3rd-to-last house was in a historical part of town, built in the mid-1800s. I removed and replaced the crumbling plaster, reluctantly, with 1/2" sheetrock, one room at a time. The framing was remarkably square and straight. Hauled everything to the dump in my own pickup, so the disposal expense was minimal. Tearout isn't particularly difficult if you're not above working up a sweat. I had pros put up and tape the rock. Almost all the wiring was surface-mounted, as it was added well after the house was built. What was visible was replaced with modern equipment that looked like the original stuff, and everything hidden was brought up to code. I certainly don't claim to be a "pro" (and I'm not arguing with Steve, as he's obviously done a whole lot more wall work than I have), but I've done enough renovation to have a reasonably valid opinion. In general, I tend to favor removing any compromised material, whether rotted wood, crumbling plaster, bad roofing, or rusted steel, and replacing it with sound new stuff. The house I'm in now is a victim of every previous repair and "upgrade" done on the cheap. It's a disaster, everything I open up is worse than the last mess I fixed, and I've decided to terminate the renovation and move on. EDIT: Just FYI, not too long ago, there were some issues with bad offshore-made sheetrock. Odd, chemical smells, outgassing causing corrosion in wiring and connectors, etc. You might want to look into that before you make a material purchase.

That's a pretty cool thing. Liking that 4-carb setup. Really lusting after the real 3-carb rig too.

Thanks again for your interest. She's back on the bench again as of late last night. If I don't get too carried away with stuff I was considering (like working lights), I can most likely have her presentable for the ACME show here in November.