customline

Thanks, Barry, I'm going to put that solution on my short list. 🤓

Yeah, I think that's what happened, Len. I blamed it on lazy but getting away from it is a proven method. I just didn't plan it that way. I kept focusing on the pipes. But there was some lazy involved, the truth be known. 🥱

You may recall that I narrowed the rear axle housing in order to get the car lower. No?...well I did, and it caused some problems. This kit came with a non-ford engine that is set up with dual exhaust and tri-power. Not great but cool enough for my taste. I decided to run with it. Although most of the kit is marginal, I wanted to use as much of it as possible, and that includes the exhaust system. I discovered the tail pipes and the re-positioned springs and all that stuff wouldn't play well together. I let that little issue take root in my fertile(💩) gray matter and after a week it finally bloomed. This was the problem 👇 lp Too crowded. Nothing lining up right. 🤔 .....and then....one week later...😃 an easy solution! Who needs a spare tire? I have AAA! Oh...I guess I still need a spare tire...but not the well. After removing the gas tank, spare well, and trunk floor, I glued a piece of .020 sheet to the top-side to catch the actual floor and fashioned a floor with .030 to mate with the existing floor and hid the seam with some half-round. I patched the tank where the well was sawed off of it and glued it to the new floor. Yay! 🤓. I still had an alignment issue with the drive shaft so I modified the housing at the "pumpkin" to get the shaft centered. I added spacers to my shock mounts, too. The shocks will be re-located inboard of the tail pipes rather than the original mounting holes adjacent to the frame rails. That's it, thanks for sticking around! I still need to detail the spring mountings but it will just be totally uninteresting.

Dont look at me...I didn't say anything 😶

Not just that one, Lenny. 🤓

Yup. You did it👍. Now take the day off, Len. Have a Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃🏈

That is one bad boy, Greg. The manifold looks totally legit. Coming along great. The stovebolt was a great idea.

This looks like the darkness just before the dawn. You're a brave, brave lad, Mr. B., pushing the envelope. This is where the fun is 😄 !

Oooo....Lenny got a boo boo on his middle finger 😪🖕 Nice color, Len! Nice work on the hood thing. I've seen that on another kit I have, a '57 Chevy.....? Probably AMT 🤔.

This thing is a jewel, Dennis. Great work on the exhaust! Amazing 😛! Edit: I see you use ACME. Love that site. Perfect !

Hey, Len, what's the thinking on why the clear plastic parts turn cloudy and yellow like that? I realize the ones pictured above may be over a half-century old, but it happens only to some. Is it the specific type of material? Maybe environmental conditions? UV maybe? 🤔

You need to stay away from those shows, Bob. Get some help (I'll bet it was the voices, wasn't it? 🥴)

Ah ha! Can you believe that 💩? Why am I so surprised? They didn't think anyone would notice.

This should be cool, Bob, I'm following! 😀.....but you gotta lose the steering....the steering....device. Well... it's not a wheel, is it? 🥴.

Greg, what are you using to solder steel, silver?

I have the Strat that came in the Magnum but it's just a cheap Chinese copy 😉

Speak of the Devil....and who shows up? Nah, don't look away, Len, start another project. Listen to the voices 😈

Exactly 🤓. This kit has already served its intended purposes. Sort of 🥴

Thanks, David. See above. ☝

Thanks, Bob, I'm having fun with it but it's full of mistakes. The up-side is learning how not to do some things.

Today I was searching for I can't recall what when I ran across this set of porta-walls. Just what I needed. Spent the rest of the afternoon scraping plating. No need to paint the rims since the kit was molded in color 🙂. I added shock mounts to the narrowed rear axle. I would have done this even if I had not lowered it, due to way the kit was designed. It's as low as I can get it without going hydraulic. I may need a shim or two in the rear to level it. Skirts are on the table but flush ones, not the crappy kit skirts. And the kit engine will be used with a liberal application of Marine-Tex to seal up the leaky block ( ever have to do that? 🥴) I just love this kit.

Not yet, it isn't but I appreciate your kind words, Ken.

I'm glad you think so, Len, that's a relief. I was beginning to think this project was a total waste of time. I spent half of my afternoon today scraping plating from hub caps and beauty rings. Just wanted to liven things up a bit with Mr. Poop. Pretty cool, huh? Maybe Mr. Hanley would enjoy some easy work too....just for the holidays? Maybe I'll replace Mr. Poop with a picture of my dirty, clear coat peeling Ranger when it officially becomes a "historical vehicle" on 1/1/25.

Turns out I didn't need to. I shaved off the "mount" from the tyranny tail shaft and reduced the thickness of the cross member. That gave me a proper angle on the shaft. Problem is solved.

Finally got around to this again. I thought I would put this up just in case anyone was wondering if it was back in the box. It's not much and I'm not sure if it's actually better than nothing. You decide 🤓 I got it wet sanded and it its evident that some block sanding is needed on the roof but more important now is getting it up on all fours. This is where the kit lacks in proper detail but at least it's got the bare minimum for a full detail kit. I had to separate the axle housing from the springs, as I mentioned earlier. In order to "re-engineer" the rear suspension, I needed to "tack" everything together with tiny dabs of CA. This is an ongoing effort to get the ride height worked out and it's a very awkward process. I made lowering blocks and added little tabs at the rear anchor points of the springs. I narrowed the axle housing so the wheels moved up against the springs which needed slight relocating at the rear. I C'ed the frame basically for technical reasons but, really, I could just glue the axle to the frame like the Revell Model A kits and be done with it. It looks like I may need to raise the height of the tunnel (that'll be fun) or use a rubber drive shaft 🥴. The windshield correction and the restoration of the center peak over it is still in committee but it's not hopeful. It's a Kustom and as such, certain anomalies are allowed 😊. Besides, there's a 💩-load of body tweaking that needs to be done and well, there's the engine with a huge leak in the block and the front end needs to be lowered. I must say the chassis fits into the body quite well. Yay 😀 Thanks and feel free.