jbwelda

using ebay as a price guide is not a bad idea. but you have to know some secrets and possibly you have to be a member to exploit those secrets. the secret i am alluding to is do NOT judge what a model will sell for before the auction is over. most action happens in the very last few minutes and prices can skyrocket. do an advanced search and find and check the box that says "completed listings only" (or something to that effect). then you will see what things really sold for. or not. which brings us to the case of "buy it now". basically ignore "buy it now" as in many cases its someone dreaming and not reflective of a true price. of course this does not hold true though if someone actually bought it for the "buy it now" price...that typically means, to me anyway, that it would have gone for more if the auction continued to a close normally instead of just getting bought for the asking price. one thing you didnt mention was ratio of "rare" kits to everyday ordinary kits in your stash. obviously the former is going to draw a lot more than the latter. that thing about spending the time on it is definately a problem, unless you want to be a packing and shipping clerk for the duration. so i feel ya there.

if you want to make sure this never happens again in the future, mix it with a Big T or Tub and turn it into a hot rod, then bring it back and let them see what youve done! naw seriously thats one big mama jama there, i would seriously think about either trading it off or giving it back to them to go to someone who can truly appreciate it. or has the room to store it in!

>I just picked up one, started building, and poor fit, lots of flash and ejector marks. instruction sheet, miss leading, at least >to me. installed the rear end 3 tims, as it keep breaking off. on the good side, nice motor, body, and front tires and >wheels. but in the end, those were the only parts that survied, after bouncing it off the wall ah its good to see that after 50 years, some things have not changed. the kit sure is a patience tester, thats for sure, and i did notice a lot of flash in the photo of the chrome...means stripping, cleaning up and rechroming for those obsessive enough. myself, it will probably go more to the rat rod look.

>I know a couple of guys that like to rough people up for fun sometimes its good to know people in low places.

me three!

dr cranky has got it right: people are fishing. nothing wrong with fishing...and you might be surprised what someone out in the middle of nowhere might be willing to pay to get it to his door versus us here who can just go down to the LHS.

yes you are totally handicapping yourself by excluding ebay. if you are looking to optimize income, ebay is the way. yeah its lame and yeah its a pain especially just starting out but i guarantee you you will get results there if you have anything other than recent issues or reissues. craigslist sadly has devolved into a ghetto yard sale situation with you as likely to get robbed or cheated as to get what you pay for. i know thats not literally true but sometimes it seems like it. trying to off them at yard sales or non-automotive swap meets is going to bring bottom dollar. 1:1 auto swaps might be better but again probably near bottom prices or they will just sit there in the sun. word of mouth in places like, say, here are likely to lead to a few sales though, so if you would kindly pm me your list with asking prices i would be glad to see whats available.

that boat and skyline kit are too much. man i want that too...if one comes up on the bay its gonna be war! notice its the "vacation kit"! more pics please! and that renault aint too shabby either. i wonder how it fits together out of the box?

i think 150k$ is a pretty fair asking price for a car with provenance like the orange krate. if i had the money i would consider it. the ad writer is obviously a bit not with it on several fronts, including that "arguably the best selling model in hot rodding history" part. the model hasnt even been in production over the years since its inception, has it? and sometimes when selling a car its best to separate yourself from the car as much as possible so when it wont start on monday morning, you dont go back saying "you said this and you said that". the car does speak for itself very well especially in the case of such an iconic rod. i wish i had the money. and the museum space to store it.

another vote for rally!

morris traveler? got a link to that? thanks!

nice headlight stands! man that is a very kool, very different looking build. love it! edit: oh i forgot to say: > 3 Minutes for the first one, and 2 hours 57 minutes and half a sheet BMF for the second. isnt that the way it always works out, the first of a pair is a breeze just to lead you down the path! excellent build there.

hey dave thanks for the word. looks like i better grab a 300 now if i want the race version, and i do.

thanks for pointing that out. these are the 2nd gen kits right? just the motors are worth 10$ each if you ask me.

the fact is, romell is right. and the air most days in the LA basin is way better than pretty much any major metro area on the east coast. it hurts to admit, but its true. it hurts because i hate all that regulation and no doubt about it, if there is something cali has, its regulations. one thing to remember though: its because of corporations taking things to and over the limit to increase profit that caused most of those regulations to be enacted in the first place. at least we got prop 215.

surely a company like mobieus doesnt let their products go unavailable to the general market? if the hudson is sold out, isnt another issue of it imminent? i would sure think so, i cant imagine producing 5000 or whatever of a new tool and then somehow relegating it to the collectors market. so i wouldnt worry about not being able to get something right now because just like the bus, if you miss one another will be coming in just a moment.

i personally would advise you not to drink any. probably dont want to seal up your whole bodys pores with it either, by, for instance, painting yourself gold. http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/goldfinger.asp youre welcome.

that turned out really nice, and i am amazed you can work that well in such a small scale.

nice looking build there novadose!

everything else looks nice, but that body and roof thing are inspired! this will be looking so slick when its done! and i think that roof chop (that i did not see when i posted my original comment) really did help it out...makes it much more integrated with the sectioned body. i am always in awe of this sort of work; i have a hard time envisioning the styling in advance. so i have to stick to assembling kits more or less!

i used the body once on a club project but never have attempted building it out of the box. its on my short list.

very nice, how did you lower the front end?

robert motor looks pretty good. those must be solex carbs there, aka "kadron"s? i ran those for awhile but eventually switched to good ole webers. nice motor there, really like the belt guard there and the extractor looks boss.

you know, there must be SOME kind of kooling system on especially modern dragsters. its true the motors only run full out for a few seconds but most approach the line fired up and probably sit there idling for more than a few seconds, then do their burnouts etc before the few seconds that really count. and they want that few seconds to be when the motor temp is optimum which seems to me to not be something they could control without kooling of some sort. what it would be remains a mystery to me i guess. i dont think its the wind passing over the heads etc while it is running but maybe...still, sitting and idling would build up heat real fast.

i no longer worry about those lower radiator hoses, way too little bang for the buck as it were. alternator brackets are another matter, cant have stuff floating in air. but valve stems: those are an occasional thing for me, all depends on how much detail is in the rest of the build and whether its going to be fairly easy to add them. but what i noticed most in that pic the OP posted of all the dragsters...the Jaguar XK120 parked behind them. wish i had bought one of those when they were still relatively cheap and underappreciated.