StevenGuthmiller

Same here. Sometimes I get deep into working on something and don't take a look at my reference photos. Once I view them together, I realize that I need to do some more work. I think that I now have the steering wheel a little closer to what I envisioned. I wanted to keep these parts separate so that I could do the steering wheel itself black, the horn buttons chrome with some Alclad, and then the center cap black again. It was more work this way, but it'll save me from having to try to paint or foil the silver portions after painting. I'll just have to fashion a horn ring out of wire to add at final assembly. Steve

They're all yours. Steve

Almost certain that those are '60 Imperial Hubcaps. I just traded off a set a little while ago, so I can't do a comparison, but I would be willing to bet. Steve

I’ll have to check out those Scale Motor Sports bolts and washers. I’ve been using Grandt Line washers for my antenna bases, but I have to paint those. Steve

Ooooo, look at all of these cool NASCAR and modified stocker kits!! (that are everywhere and nobody wants them) Steve

I'll have to consider this. They are re-roofing a Catholic church just down the street from us. I could pick up a whole dumpster full of used shingles if I wanted. Steve

There is a technique that I use that helps keep those long pieces of molding as straight as an arrow. It involves placing a piece of foil over the trim, burnishing down the edges and then laying thin pieces of blue painters tape with the edges straightened with a straight edge along the sides of the trim. The tape gives the blade something to ride against as you cut giving you nice straight cuts and the blue color of the tape gives a contrast between the blade and the tape which makes it considerably easier to see what you’re doing. To see a basic tutorial on what I’m talking about, see my tutorial under the pinned topics in the “Tips, Tricks and Tutorials” section under the heading, “Wheel Arch Molding Foiling Tutorial”. This technique has taken a great deal of frustration out of the foiling operation for me. ? Steve

I watched the second video and it really wasn't much more impressive than the first. Of all of the models revealed, there were only a handful that were something worth sharing. In one box, there was an SMP 1961 Impala convertible, a '68 Toronado and an MPC '66 Charger. In another there was a bunch of X-EL mid 50s Oldsmobiles and Plymouths, and a box that was labeled as a built '64 Lemans, (which they never opened) In a third box, a half dozen Johan Javelins, which was kind of cool. The rest of it I would probably put out on the garage sale tables. Steve

I suspect that the majority of responses that you'll get will be to use one of the degreasers/ cleaners such as Purple Power, Simple Green or Super Clean. Either that or Easy Off oven cleaner, Isopropyl alcohol, or brake fluid. Here are a few pros and cons of each. Brake fluid will remove pretty much any thing, but as mentioned, it can do some weird things to the plastic, it can be very slow acting, and it's difficult to dispose of when it's useful life is over. I haven't used brake fluid in many years just because of some of these aspects. I haven't had much luck using alcohol. At least no more than any of the others listed above. I have a '65 Olds interior painted flat black that was soaked in alcohol to try to remove the paint. I forgot that it was in there, and it wound up soaking for well over a month.........the alcohol did nothing. Easy off oven cleaner is a good option. It will remove many different types of paint. But the fumes are highly caustic, and it's a one time shot kind of deal. You can't reuse it. You'll get the best results putting the parts in a plastic bag, spraying with easy off and then sealing the bag to soak. So it works pretty well, but it's not very user friendly or economical. Wear gloves, and probably some sort of breathing protection when using it. The fumes are very strong and it's very hard on your skin. The degreaser/ cleaners such as Purple Power, Simple Green and Super Clean are some of best options in this list in my opinion, but it's also my opinion that if you're going to use one of them, do yourself a favor and get the best......Super Clean. Purple Power and many of the other knock offs absolutely do not have the same concentration of the working ingredients as Super Clean. By the way, the key ingredient in these cleaners, as well as others such as Easy Off oven cleaner, is lye, so it is necessary to wear gloves when working with it. The pros of using Super Clean over some other options are that it can be used over and over again, there are really no fumes to speak of, ( although you still will want to avoid breathing it in for too long as with any chemical) and it is biodegradable. Although I would still recommend disposing of it properly, as once it's no longer usable, it will contain a lot of paint residue. Keep in mind that most all of these options have their limitations and will not work in every circumstance. In the case of the degreasing cleaners, such as Super Clean or easy off, success will often depend a great deal on the type of paint that you are stripping, and in some cases, even more dependent on the primer that you are using. In the case of lacquer paints, these cleaners will have little affect for the most part on the paint itself, but if the right primer is used, it will work quite well. As long as the cleaner is able to get to the primer itself, the solution will dissolve the primer, causing the paint to slough off in sheets. A good practice is to scratch the surface of the paint in several areas down to the primer to allow the solution to work it's way under the paint to begin to loosen it. Be patient and leave the parts in the Super Clean for an extended period of time, and the paint should come off cleanly. There may be some remaining primer once the paint has been removed, but this is generally quite easy to remove with a little alcohol or even alcohol wipes. I have had very good results removing multiple layers of automotive type lacquers with Super Clean using the methods described, but as I said, the primer is the key in these instances. I use a combination of Testors lacquer primer and Duplicolor automotive primers and they are susceptible to these types of cleaners. As a side note, cleaners such as Super Clean or Easy Off will have no ill affects whatsoever on the plastic as can be the case with some other chemicals used for stripping paint. I have soaked parts in Super Clean for weeks with no affect on the plastic at all. I have heard that people have good results with products such as ELO, but I have not used it myself, so I will leave it for others to comment on. Steve

It looks great Bob! The only thing that I may have tried to do in addition would have been to sand the edges at a pretty good taper before adding the snaps to create a thinner edge, but that said, it looks pretty darn nice to me! Steve

Even the Johan kits, while nice to have and semi rare, were nothing to get quite so excited about. Now if they come across a couple of boxes of Johan flat box kits from the mid ‘60s?.......well now we’re talking. ? Steve

I watched this entire video, and my thought was that either the seller kept the really great, rare stuff for himself, or they haven’t come across it yet. I was a little amused that when they finally found a box of really cool stuff, it was the second to the last box that they opened, and they just kind of skipped over it with little comment except for the fact that they had never heard of SMP!! ? Steve

Very likely. The seat would likely need to be widened. Another prime example of how these kinds of mods can snowball. Steve

It depends on the interior. On my most recent ‘68 Coronet project, there was a considerable taper on the lower part of the dash. While it wouldn’t have affected the fit very much, it would have been aesthetically unappealing. Luckily in this particular instance, the dash from a different kit proved to be a better option anyway, so I was able to avoid monkeying with it. Anyway, my only point was that very often, modifications can demand further modifications in other areas and to just be aware of what you might be diving into. Steve

Very true. Just remember that every modification, like those mentioned above, is likely to require more modification in other areas in order for everything to fit correctly. as examples, deepening the floor is most likely to require further door panel mods, and standing the door panels up straight will very likely require that the dash be widened to fit. Just things that need to be considered when these kinds of changes are being made. Steve

This question can be difficult to answer because as with most everything, each one is a little different. Most of the time I just hack them up with a Dremel tool because in most cases, there's not a lot I want to save anyway. Very often, I wind up scratch building or replacing a good portion of the parts anyway, so The only things that I generally worry about keeping intact are the seat upholstery patterns, and as much of the door panel pattern as possible. In the case of an interior with the front seats molded in, there is very likely going to be some considerable reconstruction necessary because the seat is usually at least partially molded right into the door panel. This is going to require reworking the sides of the seats, and at least part of the door panel. I can only speak for myself, but another aspect to consider with the door panels is the removal of the convertible top mechanism wells if you're building a hard top. I don't see much point in cutting apart an interior for better detailing if these are going to be left intact, and if you are going to remove them, there will likely be some considerable modifications to the door panel involved. Re-assembly methods can depend a lot on the modifications that you are doing as well. I have reassembled with pins, cleats and just gluing the side panels back onto the sides of the floor. With all of that said, just get in there and have fun! Once you get started on blowing apart these old interiors and reworking them, it's very hard to go back to using them the way they came from the kit. I enjoy this process a great deal! Steve

Very cool!! Steve

I know what you mean. I liked the Carol Burnett show many years ago, but something makes me think that it wouldn’t hold the same charm today. I remember thinking that the movie “The Valley of Gwangi” was a technological marvel when I was a kid, but after getting a chance to see it again more recently, I realized that it really wasn’t all that great. Steve

Benny Hill I can live without, but I did enjoy Mr. Bean! Steve

Ugh, The Golden Girls!!? Every time that show comes on I want to throw something at the television!! I think a large part of that hatred might be due to Maude! I never could take that woman! But even without her I couldn't watch it. Steve

Sounds like a perfect reason to stay away from 2K clear altogether. Thank you! That's all that I needed to hear. Steve

Unfortunately, I don’t have a ‘71 Charger to raid. I’ll probably just make one. I enjoy that kind of thing anyway. ? I’ve already gone back to the steering wheel. After comparing it more closely to the real thing, the spokes are too tapered and need straightening and the center cap needs a little down sizing. ? Steve

Another item to work out was the steering wheel. My original thought was to do the optional wooden "sports wheel", but after giving some thought, I decided that this car, with the buddy seat and the automatic on the column, would have been just as likely to have the standard steering wheel, so I went to work trying to replicate it. I started with the steering wheel from the original MPC Coronet kit, ground off the center cap and ground out a section of each spoke. Then I cut the horn button section from some sheet styrene and worked it to shape, followed by configuring a center cap. It appears that it will be relatively close once I add a horn ring. The next task promises to be a fun one. I need to scratch build a steering column with the automatic transmission lever and indicator. I'm likely going to add a column mounted tach as well. Steve

I was one of those weirdos that loved Monty Python too, and Fawlty Towers was a hoot! It was one of my dad's favorite shows. I guess most anything with John Cleese in it was pretty good. Steve

I've never been a fan of TV dramas at all, and there are very few sitcoms that I'll watch, especially in the past 20 years. If I had to pick one "favorite" television show, it would have been "All in the Family". Other than that, I enjoy some of the "reality" police shows like "Cops", and I enjoyed "Live PD" until A&E caved in to the woke crowd and cancelled it. I guess it's no longer acceptable to see what law enforcement does on a day to day basis. Lord knows we wouldn't want to "trigger" anybody. Other than that, I enjoy a good documentary when you can actually find a good one, and the remainder of my TV time is spent watching the occasional "crime documentary" on ID or HLN. Steve