StevenGuthmiller

Yeah, I’ve thought about doing modifications such as this, but as with all things, one must know where to stop. A build could go on forever unless limitations are set. ? Steve

Personally, I feel more secure using my PayPal account than handing out my credit card info to every Tom, Dick and Harry on the web. My wife has had her credit card compromised at least 3 times in the past five years. Never had a single hacking issue of any kind using PayPal. I use it over a credit card whenever I can. Steve

The wife and I were actually quite impressed with the cleanliness of a city the size of Phoenix. I’ve been to many cities a fraction of the size that were absolute trash pits, and most comparably sized cities were usually even worse. Steve

We had a great time! Arizona is on our short list for retirement destinations. ? Steve

It was glorious! Steve

? Steve

Mine as well. I pretty much have to do everything under a lighted magnifier. Steve

I was going to suggest that. For long straight stretches of trim, it's almost a requirement that you have some sort of system to aid in keeping the cuts straight, unless you have hands as steady as a rock. Blue painters tape makes a great guide for foiling. You can apply the foil and then lay thin strips of tape along the sides of the trim. The blade can then ride along the edge of the tape as a guide, and the blue color of the tape adds contrast between the shiny foil and blade to make it easier to see what you're doing. I do all of my foiling using this method and it makes things a whole lot easier, and now all of my trim is absolutely straight. Steve

I just looked at the Johan one as well, but just like the Revell piece, it won't fit under the hood. The rise is too high. Adding the Fireball carbs apparently adds enough height to the engine assembly that with the carbs and air cleaner added, the hood will not close correctly. I guess this is one of those circumstances where accuracy will have to suffer a little bit somewhere in order for things to fit properly. Steve

I've begun take the same attitude when re-working interior door panels. As an example, my current '68 Coronet has had the majority of the door panels completely scratch built. I at first was concerned about getting them as close to exact as possible, but then your philosophy came into consideration. They don't have to be exact. There's no possible way to view both door panels at the same time once they're in the model. Steve

Thanks Mike! Here you can see the results of thinning the belts. All of the belts have been thinned except for the lower, (long) portion of the alternator belt for comparison. I don't think that I want to try to go much thinner for strength reasons. Steve

I haven't yet finished thinning the belts, but they're not too terrible on the Revell '68 Charger part as is, so they don't require too much thinning. I will be doing a little work with the alternator and power steering pump brackets as well. I didn't really thin the intake manifold flange. That would require quite a bit of work on the intake, and/or repositioning of the heads. What I meant by "trimming" was cutting back the edges and corners to fit the contours of the block and heads better. I don't know if you can see the difference or not in these photos. Steve

No problem Ed. No pressure from my end. Steve

No real updates of substance John. Just working on refining and making a few engine parts. Thinning belts, trimming the intake manifold around the edges, scratch building an oil filter........that sort of stuff. The interior is not holding things up at all. I have plenty to do without it. Steve

Isn't it funny how different operations are perceived by different people. I look forward to the foil work. It's one of the most relaxing and rewarding parts for me. Steve

Most recently, the most involved portion of the build for me has been interior work. I've been spending a great deal of time rebuilding old annual interiors basically from the ground up. Overall though, I would say my "most involved" part of the build is the general engineering portion. With the kinds of models that I build, there is a considerable amount of engineering required to get chassis, engine bay and engine swaps to fit together properly with old kit bodies and revamped interiors. The vast majority of the work on my projects is done long before any paint flies. Steve

Thursday night, it was more pulled pork sandwiches with baked beans with sausage and smoked pork. Steve

On Thursday Morning, just looking for something to occupy some time, I decided to throw some jerky into the smoker. Steve

I haven't posted here for a while, but I do have some photos from our recent vacation to show. On the night before we flew out, we stopped at Chevy's by the Mall of America in Bloomington Minnesota and ordered far more "Mixed Grille" fajitas than we could ever eat. Once in the Phoenix area, we made a trip to the small copper mining town of Jerome Arizona, where we had a nice lunch of pulled pork sandwiches and beans at "Bobby D's BBQ". On our last night in the Phoenix area, we were directed by a friend to a very nice restaurant called "St Francis". Very good service and terrific food. I had "Thai Style Mussels" and "Grits Stuffed Shrimp" from the appetizer menu for my meal, and my wife had "Seared Scallops with Risotto". Delicious! Steve

We were right up by the stage where the cars exited the block and in the staging area. The only place that was off limits to the "common people" was the bidding floor. Steve

We needed a vacation, so we flew down to Phoenix and spent some time running around in the desert. The auction was just a nice bonus. Steve