R. Thorne

Get yourself one of these and place it near where you paint as it is difficult to gauge relative humidity accurately by guessing. Also, I don’t hook up my exhaust fan to the window until I am ready to paint.

Do you paint outside?

If the center hub is not bigger than .350”, this works good in conjunction with a pin or other device or tiny drill for the centering hole.

Finally, the Ammo by Mig tape on the lower section (not very sticky, but looks ok)

This picture better shows the difference (Hasegawa on the left).

Taking a break from wheels and tires and trying some chromy stuff. First, some pics of the Hasegawa mirror chrome. Definitely different to work with than BMF, but, also very shiny. I put it on one windshield post (passenger’s side), then BMF on the other (driver’s side). Excuse the roughness (poor prep of the windshield posts which shows the dinkleberries present). The pictures do not reveal the difference in shine as much as looking at the car in real life (probably the result of my poor photography).

Drilled out the axle stub holes from .075” to .093” in 2 or 3 increments to fit the Corvette kit stub diameter.

Nice work on, possibly, the hardest part to build on this car.

Sort of a ho hum day. The closest wheels (Alumastar, that is) i can find measure about .660” o.d. That means the I.d. of the tires i have in my parts box have to be opened up about .060”. Well, after scrounging around, I came up with a 5/8” (.625”) drum sander. By “drilling” it out, holding the tire with one hand and drilling with the other, a shaky proposition, and not one I recommend. Then, working the drum around the inner circumference of the tire (a tedious procedure with lots of measuring thrown in) we arrive at an I.d. of .660”. I am not thrilled with this procedure, as I would like to “make” about 15 of these for future Stocker projects. I am considering using 15 and 16mm sanding flaps. If anyone has any better, simpler, safer, etc., ideas , I am all ears. I also did some sanding on the sidewall of one tire to more closely approximate the racing front tires used on Stock and Super Stocks. They are smooth and have no side tread ribs. Oh, yeah, I did find in my cheapie Harbor Freight grinder a 3/8” drum sander that you walk around the circumference of the tire a little easier but, kinda slow going.

I like it a lot. This local Corvette competitor that I used to watch run is on my list to build.

Steve Magnante’s video of his build of this car might be of some assistance to you in your endeavors.

Thanks, I am considering something of that sort for the future, or perhaps this: might be a little easier?

Nice work and documentation.

Thanks, Roger. Got some wheels today that should do the job. The upcoming holiday may hold me up a bit, however. I will use the ones measuring about .660”.

Thanks, Roger. Waiting on some wheels I ordered from a couple different places. Seems like most front wheels of that style are designed to replicate a 17 or 18 inch wheel.

Thanks for your reply. My goal is to cut down on dust in this room as it also contains my spray booth. Found this on a recent “dig” in this forum that looks interesting.

Thanks for the responses. So, no one’s ever tried any kind of dedicated dust collectors. How about a “dust box”?

Thanks, guys, for posting this great news. I miss the daily junkyard stuff.

Just recently started working on some resin stuff and, being cognizant of the risk of the dust involved sanding etc., was wondering if anyone had any experience with the nail dust collector shown or any other type of dust reducer/vacuum?

Finished the front mount and made some end brackets.

Some more trans mods. Tried to drill some .015” holes for added pan bolt holes. Was going to super glue some wire in the holes, but, after busting 2 bits off in 2 separate holes, I broke the rest of the bit off in the third hole and called the broken bits “bolt heads”. Sometimes, a man’s got to know his limitations. I am planning to make a mold and cast some copies of this trans in the next week or so, so I didn’t want anything attached to the trans that would come loose easily during removal from the mold. Also drilled and installed a breather tube that will have an extension “hose” attached to it after casting. Filed flat, drilled hole, and attached short piece of styrene that will eventually be attached to the reinforcement rod pictured.

Thanks, Francis.

Well, it’s TH200 trans time. After some studying of the aftermarket transmissions I had available, I decided on the TH200-4R to modify. It looks more like a 200 now. Now, some finishing work, and come up with something to make bolt heads, then trans reinforcing rod, rerouted breather line necessary to keep fluid coming out of oem breather location. Maybe even a dipstick. Geez, I gotta stop somewhere.

One of my favorite kits.

Great question, Francis. My 37 Chevy c/gs build that I posted here was painted with the silver base and same red clear. Definitely a darker color, though still pretty.