iamsuperdan

By the EPA's description, my old autocross VW Passat would become illegal. Coilover suspension, Eibach swaybars, Borla exhaust including high flow catalytic convertors, removed AC, added large turbocharger, Porsche brakes & wheels. Even though I retained all emissions equipment (on purpose, hence the high flow cats) and tightened up the handling and improved the braking system, this car would still be deemed unsafe. As required by our insurance industry, the car passed all government mechanical and safety inspections before it could be insured or registered. But EPA would say illegal. The only thing I might consider unsafe or potentially illegal would be bumper height. I dialled the coilovers almost as low as I could, but in about 10 minutes could have the car at stock height or taller. If I wanted. Would 6 inches of added height make a huge difference anyway? Look at these trucks I'm parked between. Six inches of height would still casue major problems if I was t-boned. Or if I rear-ended one. What could be interesting is seeing how this affects amatuer racing in Canada. EPA regulations do not apply in Canada, therefore, if this bill passes, I could see a lot of race shops move into southern Canada, and I could see a lot more racing going on here. Race series moving out of the Pacific northwest, crosssing the border, and seeing racing in lower mainland BC or in southern Ontario really pick up.

As i understand it, in most cases the airbag just replaces the coil spring. I'm sure it can get far more complex than that, but on most of the bagged cars you see, that's what's been done. I think a bigger issue than donks are the guys improperly lifting the 4X4 trucks. I don't know how many lifted Rams and Fords and GMs I see around here with massive lift blocks and nothing else done. Huge tires and or wheels and stock brakes. Dangerous. Would love to see some regulations similar to those in Europe. Would put these hack shops out of business, and would help to solve the problem of the backyard bozo.

Have a look at this pic. Can you show me on this modern air bag suspension, how the suspension isn't actually connected to the car? You may be just as out of date with your knowledge of air ride. Lowering a car, improving suspension geometry, an adding larger brakes will most often make the car handle better and stop better. No matter how a donk is built, the larger wheels are raising the center of gravity. Regardless of how the suspension is built, the car sits higher than intended. And rarely have I seen a donk with upgraded brakes. The massive 26" and larger wheels/tires are a lot heavier than stock wheels, and by keeping the stock brake systems, you now have tiny brake pads and rotors trying to slow the rotation of something significantly heavier than they were intended to stop. Braking distances increase significantly, thus...not as safe. I'm all for aftermarket, as long as it's done correctly. I don't particularly like donks, or the japanese import scene, but if the cars are built right, then I can respect and appreciate the work and craftsmanship. If a car is built with a half-assed effort, then I can't get behind it, even if it looks awesome.

I'm just going to leave the pan as per the kit instructions. Wrong or right, I'm not that OCD about it. Took a small roadtrip for work yesterday, and spend most of the time thinking about the trailer and how I'm going to open the rear doors and fabricate hinges for it.

A bone stock passenger van is kind of weird. Definitely not a "cool" subject. But that's why I dig it. I don't want to build the same old same old. No disrespect to the muscle car fans, as I appreciate those as well, but I don't want to build the millionth version of a Charger or a Mustang. I like the stuff that stands out, that you don't see every day. I look at the build threads here, and I want to do something you just don't see everyday. I just hope my skills do some of my oddball stuff justice!

I don't know if I have anything weird per se, but I have some kits that aren't common. Heller 1/43 scale Leyland Princess 2000. Esci 1/24 Ford Transit - not particularly weird, but people find it strange that I want to build models of a pretty normal cargo van. Fujimi 1/24 Chev Astro van - as above.

I do as much detailing as my skills will allow. Still working on weathering ans scratchbuilding skills. I'm pretty confident with my flocking and interiors, but always trying to get better. For me, trying to hyper-detail is part of the fun. How close can I get it to looking accurate?

Dave Mirra was a little after my time. I was a BMX kid when guys like Eddie Fiola were still riding. Still, I knew who Dave was. Surprised me, he seemed to be pretty well rounded.

So didn't get much done on this over the weekend. Weather was too nice and we needed to take advantage! I did however get the body primed using the Tamiya white primer. Some quick sanding and filling if neccessary, and I may be able to get the body parts painted this week, which would be great. I painted the frame and axles using a semi-gloss engine paint, always had nice results with this stuff. And I got the second coat of blue down on the engine block. Here's a pic of it, with some VW Rabbit engines as a size comparison. I won't be stretching the frame on this one, as I kind of dig the stubby look. But I do have a second Prostar kit, so might try a stretch on that one. Or on the Lonestar kit.

Simply wow.

I need to remember your hinge design!

If I didn't know better, I'd swear that engine has real aluminum on it. The weathering is pretty much perfect.

Love that you went with the man pedal! That colour is so awesome in person. Sucks you guys require the front plate though.

I'm not sure if this will work, but I've attached the launch brochure here if anyone is interested. My International contact sent me a bunch of info yesterday. We'll probably end up with a couple of these. 18042 HX-DeckBuild-12pg.pdf

Although the import/tuners aren't my taste, your builds are fantastic! Love the garage diorama.

Wait, wait, wait...are you NOT painting it red?! I love that!

I've been trying to find that kit, but not from EBay where they're all more than I want to spend! The A-Team and Knight Rider. Two shows that totally remind me of my youth. Unfortunately, when you go back and watch them now, they don't quite hold up. Especially Knight Rider. Wow. Just wow.

Perfect! I've never heard of them before. Thanks.

I have questions for the truck guys around here. I want to convert one of my Meng F350s into an F550. Visually, this is going to require a dual rear wheel set up, wider front axle, wider fender flares up front, different wheels & tires. Among some other details. Have any of you done a similar conversion? If so, what have you used for dual rear wheels, axles front & rear, etc? I want something that looks fairly scale appropriate too. For example, the Moebius wheel & tire set, although great looking, would be far too large for this application. Any thoughts on parts to use? Thanks! Dan

It's also a Subaru BRZ.

I'll be honest...I'm surprised Scion lasted as long as it did. At least in Canada. Decent product, but never did find it's niche. Rebrand them all as Toyota and call it a day. It's what they should have done in the first place.

The melding of the two kits is perfect. Looks like it came that way. And the two cars almost match together perfectly. There's something about that front 3/4 shot (pic4) that just seems off to me, somehow. By no means is that a slight on your skills, it's just the Camaro and Mustang shapes and how they work together. Love the colour choice.

What an awesome old bug!

This was the obvious one for me. http://www.vevo.com/watch/rob-zombie/dragula/USIV20300562 Rob Zombie's Dragula.

Slow progress, but stuff's getting done. Frame and some of the hangers are looking good, got the axles mostly assembled, but still need sanding and smoothing before paint. Engine has first coat of paint done. I found Tamiya's X3 blue is pretty close to the Maxxforce blue. Maybe a little darker, but looks close enough for me. I have plenty of reference pics now, so it should turn out pretty good. One thing I noticed is that the instructions say to install the oil pan as I have. But every reference pic (see below for examples) of the real thing I've found has the pan on the other way around. For those who have built this one, are the instructions wrong? Will the engine still fit if I flip the pan around?