StevenGuthmiller

I'm smokin' ribs! Steve

The only reason that I suggest flat paint is because it lays down nicer with virtually no chance of orange peel. It's basically like spraying colored primer. The Testors clear lacquer will also lay down flat. Just trying to insure success for a novice........if he's interested at all. I don't know about anyone else, but I remember, (a hundred years ago) that one of my biggest problems with Testors gloss enamel was orange peel. Of course back when I still used Testors gloss enamel, I don't think the airbrush had been invented yet! Steve

Thanks much everyone!! Steve

If you don't have "disposable income", and you apparently are going to use straight Testors enamel, I don't know why you went through all of these contortions. You should have just used Testors enamel spray bombs! Would have saved you a boat load of time, money and aggravation! Here, let's see if this sinks in. Mix Testors flat enamel, (you can mix any color you want) about 50/50 with lacquer thinner. (should be the consistency of milk) Prime the body with one of Testors lacquer primers, (gray or white) (spray can) Spray on the color in several light coats. (air brush) Finish by clear coating with one of Testors clear lacquers. (spray can) There! It doesn't get any simpler than that, and you're using all Testors products. Steve

Finally! Something meaningful!! Steve

Then go with Testors! You can spray Testors enamel thinned with enamel thinner on ANY plastic all day long! It's never going to hurt the plastic! I don't know why you keep bringing Don Yost or Andy X into the conversation if you're just going to use Testors enamel thinned with enamel thinner. That's not a METHOD, that's just painting with enamel, the same way most of us did it when we were 12! Honestly, if your whole philosophy on painting boils down to wanting to use straight Testors enamels sprayed over bare plastic, I don't know what all of the questions are about. If that's your plan, just do it! Every person on this forum is very likely to have a different method for painting, and if you had a specific question once you were actually into the process of painting, you might get a cogent answer. But when your question is, "how do I paint", you're going to get answers that are as vague as the question. You apparently have a plan, it's time to execute it! Steve

Another suggestion completed. Thanks Bob and David! Steve

Steve

Absolutely John. Of course, all suggestions are welcome, but I had made the manifold/header decision some time ago. Steve

I've been thinking about that since David G. brought it up a few posts back. It's something that would be simple to do, and why not? I've already gone a lot farther than I planned on this chassis anyway! Steve

Why don't you ask Don Yost, or Andy X? Apparently you are hanging your hat on what these gentlemen tell you anyway. Where better to get advice than from the horses mouth? If the video that you watched was worth it's salt, it should have addressed all of your concerns. If not, it was hardly worth the time.....or you're not listening. Seriously, I think that your spending way too much time that you should be spending in the trenches gaining personal experience, watching videos and then asking too many questions about what you were supposed to have learned by watching them. I consider myself a pretty fair modeler. I've watched almost zero videos in my 50 years in the hobby. I learned by doing, which ultimately is how you're going to learn as well, no matter how many videos you watch. Get into the shop and do something! Steve

I could have saved you a little work Roger, if you would have been interested in building a convertible instead. Have a pretty nice convertible body and hood! Steve

Another quick little detail that I was thinking of a couple of days ago was to open up all of the holes on the frame and K-frame. Something very simple to do that I thought would add a little interest to the chassis. Steve

Thanks Bob! I guess sometimes it takes someone to give us a little "nudge". Steve

Eureka! I think I have it! Thanks again to everyone that continues to contribute their expertise during the course of this project. As you can see from this particular example, I'm always open to suggestions, and very often, those of you that contribute, will often save my bacon! Thanks again Bill, for getting me thinking about it again. Sometimes that's all that's required to help me get back to the bench to try another approach. Steve

I didn't want to use the headers in any case, because I wanted it to be stock. I decided to sit down for a few minutes and take another look at the exhaust, and all that I can say is that I guess sometimes a fresh perspective can make the difference. I'm not sure how, but somehow I managed to find just enough clearance to re-route the exhaust....for the third time! I don't know, but apparently sometimes a person gets a preconceived notion of how something is going to work, or not going to work, and the blinders go on. It might of had something to do with the fact that on the first attempt, I began working from the exhaust pipe towards the manifold and bending the rod from that perspective. It just didn't seem to be working. This time, I started from the manifold and worked back. Regardless, I think I have it! Just a little more refining, filling and sanding and it should look a little less like a bowl of spaghetti. Steve

I'm just glad to see that someone was paying attention! The GTX looks terrific! For someone who's only been building since March, I'd say that you've got a pretty good handle on things, and an obvious natural talent. Keep up the good work my friend! Knock 'em dead!! Steve

Thanks guys. I think that the biggest issue in this circumstance was that the engines in the '68 Charger kit gave you 2 options. The 440, or the Hemi. But in the case of the Hemi, the kit was designed to be used with the headers provided in the kit. While I used a large majority of the parts for the Hemi from the kit, the exhaust manifolds had to be taken from another kit. Well, any time you start using parts from another kit, you're upsetting the apple cart, and there's never any guarantee that things are going to fit as they should going forward from there. Anyway, I'm going to take a second look at this situation and see if there is anything that I might have missed on the first run that would allow a correction, but I'm pretty certain that I'm stuck. I'm always willing to take another shot, and I want Bill to know that I absolutely value all input during the course of a build. Steve

Hi Ryan! Welcome to the forum! I just have to ask how you did the plug wire boots? They look very familiar. Steve

By the way, I decided to rework the front torque boxes as well. Steve

I wish that I could have Bill, but sometimes you have to go with the flow and do what's possible. With the combination of the automatic transmission pan and items like the kick down linkage and dip stick tube, there was no room to route them on the inside of the torsion bars. It would have worked on the passenger side, but on the driver side, the exhaust manifold is positioned directly above the torsion bar due to the kick out around the starter. That fact coupled with the clearance of the other items mentioned, made it nearly impossible to route the exhaust on the inside. If you look at the photos that you posted above, you can see that the exhaust manifolds, on both sides, are positioned completely inside of the torsion bars. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way on this model. So, as can sometimes be the case with 1/25th scale vs. 1:1, some "artistic license" has to be employed periodically. I'm just glad that I was able to get the exhaust connected up somehow. Steve

I think that I've finally gotten the exhaust dialed in. You were right Bob, a big PITA! Steve

Yeah, I spent quite a bit of time on them yesterday, but I think I about have it now. Just some filling and sanding and they should fit pretty close to perfect. But you're right, clearances are really tight, so it was a lot of trial and error trying to get things to fit correctly. Steve

Nothing wrong with minivans per say. It's just the "old fogy" stigma that comes along with them. It's kind of funny how you can very often predict what kind of person will be driving a particular type of car before you ever see them. 90% of the time when I see a big Buick, Cadillac or Lincoln sedan it's a senior citizen driving it. There are more than one reason why this seems to be the case more often then not, but I always remember what my father used to say about old people in big cars. "They can't drive anymore, so they're protecting themselves by wrapping as much steel around their *ss as possible"! Steve

Thanks Steve! I still have some time to make a decision about some 8 track tapes, or as I thought about a while back, I might see if I can come up with a tape case to throw in the back seat. Yeah, I'm pretty much over the whole emoji thing. If people want to use them on my posts, more power to them, but from now on, I'm ignoring them until the mods start identifying the people who are using them, otherwise, short of a simple "like" they really don't have any value. I sent a message to one of the mods today to make the suggestion that they begin identifying the posters. That's the only solution to adding any validity to them. Otherwise, they're nothing more than an opportunity for some to try to make waves. Like I told Dave in my message today, can you imagine the chaos if members were allowed to make anonymous comments? An emoticon "IS" a comment. Anyway, if people want to piss around with that stuff, let 'em. I'm going back to my shop to do something productive. Steve