StevenGuthmiller

I don’t have any problem with EVs if that’s your bag, but I can tell you without equivocation, that whenever the government starts mandating something, you can bet your buttocks there’s gonna be a train wreck. Steve

And why? Because there's nobody with dirt under their finger nails making the decisions. Steve

And because it all lines up with "some people's" utopian vision of society. Steve

This has always been one of my biggest issues. A bunch of overly ambitious dopes with political science degrees and no real world experience "AT ALL", who's main ambition is a life long career and the desire to exercise power, gathering together in Washington and deciding everything for us, from how our health care system should function, to what world conflicts we should be involved in. Call me nuts, but I've always been a firm believer in the concept that if you need a problem solved, you go to the one with the experience to solve it. Not relying on some pin headed, self important, empty suit with a gargantuan ego and a colossal power complex, who thinks that they have all of the answers when they probably couldn't manage to construct a box of macaroni and cheese without messing it up. We would all be in much better shape if we could somehow manage to put the "REAL" smart people in charge, rather than the ones who just think that they're smarter than everyone else. Steve

Not only that, but a good portion of the materials needed to make the batteries, (namely Lithium and cobalt), come from other countries. Does anybody really know what kind of world supply we have of these minerals? Here we go again. Putting the cart before the horse with regard to available supply, not to mention once again relying on other countries for our energy. What could possibly go wrong? Steve

No doubt. The reason that the texture seams to be slowly fading is because the paint is continuing to cure and shrinking as it does. Enamels take FOREVER to cure completely, so I would feel safe in guessing that this was enamel. Steve

I just used flat white with just a tiny touch of tan and yellow, adding more of whatever was required until it looked about right. (I assume you mean the washer bottle) Steve

Love it!! ? Steve

This is one that I don’t have to worry about. I would never have even attempted it. Don’t like Adam Sandler, and Ben Stiller even less. Strike 2. ? Steve

I’m there. Steve

I appreciate the peculiarities of the Palmer ‘65 Olds, but although it’s not a Starfire, for an actual build subject, I think I’d stick with the AMT ‘65 88. Interesting subject though. Steve

Nothing earth shattering going on in the shop as of late. Just the tedious job of re-scribing all of the panel lines and trim and beginning the block sanding process. But, it's getting closer to being ready for some color. I'm ready for it. Steve

Ain't that the truth!! Steve

Sort of. The boots in this case are probably not exactly accurate, but they look better than just drilling a hole and installing a wire. I drilled a hole for the wire at an angle so that it would lay flatter to the valve cover and then just added a drop of epoxy to each wire where it was inserted. Then painted them black. As I said, not completely accurate, but I thought it looked good. Steve

I've had this problem as well. Best practice for me is to paint the parts separately for the first few coats, and then, once the underside of the hood and any inner fender well areas that require body color are fully painted, I'll tape the hood in place from the underside and give the body one or two more coats with the hood in place. This usually will eliminate any issues. Steve

Hi Daryl! Welcome to the forum! It will be terrific having you here to talk to, as well as on the Facebook groups. Always great to have other Mopar and vintage kit lovers on board! ? Steve

You're right about it not being up to us to determine, but my point is that not only is the styling of the vast majority of cars today, and stretching back all of the way to the late 70s, completely uninteresting and monotonous, but I can't imagine that the restoration of a modern car is going to be task that many are going to want to, or be able to undertake. The tangle of electronic equipment, the overwhelming dominance of plastic parts, etc, is going to make the restoration of a lot of these cars a nightmare on earth. In the end, my hunch is that 50 years from now, you're still going to see a lot of garages containing '69 Camaros, '67 Mustangs, '69 Roadrunners, '57 Chevies and '32 Fords, but you're probably not going to see many with shiny new, freshly restored Chevy Equinox's. By the way, You're correct about the station wagons and minivans being uncool at one point, and while old examples of station wagons are becoming much more popular today, mini vans are still about as uncool as you're ever going to get. I don't think you're going to see many people spending $40,000.00 to restore an '84 Dodge Caravan.......but I could be wrong. People do a lot of stupid things. It's my opinion that it's not so much the age of an item that determines how collectible it is, but more so the items individual appeal, or what it's time in history represents. Some things will fascinate and carry value forever, and some will not. Steve

And the OP’s original intent was to analyze new trends and to discuss our likes and dislikes of them. It appears that the true “get off of my lawn” curmudgeons are those that think the discussion isn’t pertinent, or to their liking, and therefore should be quashed. apparently “their lawn” is the entire board. ? Steve

And invariably, every time a discussion such as this arises, you always get people who don't want to participate in the conversation, piping up to slam the thread and make sure that everybody knows how stupid they think it is. For the life of me, I can't understand why, if the discussion is such a turn off, why get involved? I pass by conversations that I think are stupid or pointless all of the time because I don't find them particularly useful and I have no point of view to add. If your point of view is that you think the conversation is dumb, there's really no point in participating. It's not really all that hard. Steve

I've never attended either of these shows before, but being as we seem to be in such a "model show desert" in my area, I thought that I would throw them out there to possibly drum up a little interest around here. Likely to be pretty small shows, but if any of you are from the central Minnesota (including the Twin Cities) area, the more the merrier! Steve

There's a lot to be said about what you're putting the color on, isn't there. Put lip stick on a pig, and you just wind up with a pig with lip stick on it. Steve

We used to call this "trying to put lip stick on a pig". Steve

That's a dare that I'll never take. Steve

No accounting for taste I guess. The real test will be to see how many 2020 Hyundai Elantras are being restored 50 years from now. Steve

I agree. In my opinion, it gave the older cars, (especially muscle cars from the mid to late 60s an "all business" appeal. Granted, If you bought a new Roadrunner in '69 with dog dish caps, they were likely headed to the parts box very soon after the car got home, and I do agree that they've been a little over done in recent years, but I like them depending on the application. In some cases, there weren't a lot of factory options back then. For instance, the Hemi equipped Dodges in 1968 were either equipped with steelies and poverty caps, or the "Charger 15" caps". Those were your choices from the factory. Steve