Blown03SVT

Where will the releases be? The web site only does the releases by month...

I saw your build thread for this model. What a great result. Research and patience paid huge dividends

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder (beer holder?). Larger than stock is great up to a limit. I am old enough to remember when 17" wheels were high tech and expensive. They were all the rage in the late 80's early 90's on sport trucks and pony cars. Now they are just run of the mill. To me the pro touring style evolved from trying to take an older car and give it modern handling, braking and ammenties. As with anything, some believe excess is better. Some of the cars that are built by the likes of Foose, Strope, Trepainer... some of them are an all out winners with that. They look, work and sit just right. Others examples are cartooninsh or clownish has Harry coined. Bigger wheels do not equate to better handling. They equal more rotational mass. Harder to stop, harder to accelerate and turn. Also the shorter side wall gives less flex which tightens up the intial handling feel at the expense of ride quality and predictability at the max of tire adheshion. Ponder this for a moment... real race cars (indy, formula 1, nascar, scca) have side walls that would equal what is essentially a 50 or 60 series sidewall aspect ratio. That side wall flex is desireable as it gives you warning that you are cornering at the limits which usually results in some form of under steer. With a super low profile the tire doesn't have the give, and they literally snap away from traction at the limit. So the +1, +2 (ex: 15"to 16" or 15" to 17") sizing works as a fair compromise of ride, handling and looks. But going from 15" to 22" is not logical from a actual working stand point. It's for looks. Same as the euro tuner stance, flush, oni demon camber, bagged mini trucks, lifted 4x4's and pro street. Form -vs- Function

Very hard to get decent coverage in aerosol form. wants to pool around edges and panels lines no matter how finely it is misted on. Most likely wouldn't be an issue if decanted and shot through an airbrush.

Maybe Vinyl Nation has the white wall decals? I cannot go look at the site right now. It's blocked on my NMCI computer at work for some reason.

That looks pretty good. I used to be big into 3rd Gen F-bodies and an LT1 was a common swap before the LS engines became so plentiful. Thank for the memories

Microballoons sounds pretty promising. For years I have done all my seam and sink mark filling with green putty. I need to check Tower Hobbies to see if the have MicroBalloons.

MPC/ AMT made the IROC and T/A GTA kits. I collected quite a few of them over the years when I was into F-bodies. Revell also had a 83--84 Camaro Z28 .but I cannot for the life of me recall many details of the kit right now as I started it years ago and it ended up back in the box for interests going else where.

GeeBee mentioned PoorBoys SSR2 for the fine scratches... someone likes thier 1:1 swirl and scratch free as well. I find that Most of the compunds and polishes for automotive paints are a little too aggressive for most enamels. Notice, Geoff was spraying laquer which dries harder than most enamels. For enamels Mequires Scratch X or Plastic X would be sufficent enough to knock down the haze left over from the polishing process and leave that nice gloss. Now how much farther you want to go is up to you. I recently shot black Testors enamel cleared with old school Testors enamel clear (it's what I had stashed on hand). The softness of the paint refused to polish up where there was no micro marring. I ended up hitting it with some glaze (Prima Amigo if it matters) to add that final pop and fill the micro marring. FYI, a true automotive glaze in refinishing is koalin clay based so it can fill scratches.

In regards to the baking soda and the CA glue... does the soda react with the glue somehow or is the fine powder a binder for the glue to thicken it and fill? Could you substitute and use something like talcum powder with the same results?

Okay, I am intrigued by this product and it's effectiveness. I can see it being possibly being useful for minor fills and seam correction, such as engine block halves or seat halves. Maybe even being used as a spot filler for say... errant marks left behind after panel scribing for deepening door lines. I know there are two types. Which would be the best all around to have on the workbench? How well does it finish down? What paint products react adversely with it? And lastly, where would be the best place to source it? Thank in advance!

The kit will not have the Trans Am decals most likely due to licensing issues with GM just the same as the 78 T/A does not have them either. The kit does build up pretty nice with some inaccuracies. The engine looks a little small for a 400 c.i. motor in comparison to the one in the 78 T/A and the 67 Firebirds.

One of my favorite kits of all time. I am sort of under the assumption that the P/S 66 Nova and the Stock SS are different tools. I have built both and I know that MCG has a really nice photo etch fret for this kit as well. I might have to pick this up.

Hmmm... my Zona saw, Calipers, Pin vise and bits, Scribers, X-Acto blades, various adhesives, good brushes, tooth picks, cotton swabs, paper towels, masking tape, work bench and comfy chair... and my Nook with Pandora playing

Lifted front or rear would be easy enough just manipulating the ride height with styrene blocks for raised shackles under the leaf springs or taller springs on the rear control arms. The front could be lifted by redrilling the spindle below the kit mounting hole or raising with scrap styrene. Three wheel would be a bit tougher. I would imagine having to cut away the front control arms and pinning them to allow them to articulate up and down and having the coils in the rear taller on side than the other. Possibly even wieghting one rear corner to get the car to pose in three wheel position.

Sometimes issues like that can be saved by a polishing kit and a load of your time. When using aerosols I always do a test spray to make sure the can is going to spray right. I learned from an instance just as you described here. And I did salvage the paint job after a ton of cutting buffing and poilishing. What made it even worse in my case was the color was black which shows every little tiny flaw.

with a black wash they look sort of like tru-spokes to me.

why is that?

Yet more proof that even if it can be done, sometimes it should'nt be done.

back windows, wing windows, quarter windows for the rear pretty much the ones you mentioned except backlight..

As an previous owner of several 3rd gen F-body this warms my heart. Phenominal paint and construction. As the other posters mentioned, it looks like it could be photo's of the 1:1

With the popularity of the V Dubs on the stance and tuner scene now would be a good time to make a little more $$ from old molds.

Glad to hear it worked out for ya

Let go, probably not, to keep the edges from lifting while handling during assembly actually sounds like an alright idea though. I never cleared over it because I have always heard not too. I never really questioned why other than maybe the clear yellowing which could be mitigated by using a good clear

I would like to speculate that it will look better than that rendering. I know the design has to grow and evolve as retro is faddish and after a while passe', but I think the car should retain some of the DNA and design lineage like those that went before it. To be fair though the S-197 2010 redesign took some getting used too. Ford needs this one to be a grand slam like the 2005 car was, and they need to leave the doors open for modification and personalization as the Mustang is one of the most popular platforms for gear heads.