89AKurt

I have some gears in my stash, this is a great idea!

rat rod hauler

Some of you are way too tidy and organized! I'm usually good at not losing parts, despite the black hole an inch away on all sides. I'm using a homemade wood jig for the first time. I'm also using the hot-wire more, instead of a swap or blade.

It has made a HUGE difference! Thank you for looking! Today was a marathon, it was sort of bad weather to go for a mountain bike ride (that's my excuse and sticking with it). First off was the most major cut, using the hot-wire, against the steel ruler. If I ever want to do weld lines, this could be doable. Porsche Baja bug: Cut a 5 mm strip from Indy body, all gluing was super glue and baking soda. I made a block for the back end before I cut it off, glued to the base. To give it a chance to set up completely, I modified the dash, by putting the Indy gauge cluster in, used the top part of the body for the support, radio antenna tube for the column, parts box steering wheel (Italeri Ferrari California). Next step was filling in the wheel wells. Happened to have appropriate shapes, but cut larger and then Dremeled down. Next was making the flares. I decided to keep with the Porsche trademark Turbo style, starting with the Indy sidepod shape, then using smaller pieces all roughly glued together. Then I ground out close to the tire diameter. I have not modified the front suspension yet, but know how much it will be narrowed. Just thick flat body parts used, and some of the cowling along the top of the front arch. The front needed to be dropped, to prevent taking off at speed. Really wanted a big radiator opening. I used up small pieces to fabricate, lots o superglue and baking soda used. Shaped with the Dremel, filed, some sanding. This is the last time I saw one of the light lenses, the body sort of dropped on the floor, and that ticked me off when I realized had not saved them before moving the body. You can see I modified the interior so there is legroom. Wing is very temporarily tacked on, the support is going to be slightly longer, and of course level the plane. The pop-off valve will show through the grill, and you can see the turbo really good. This reminds me of the Moslier, a really ugly but very fast car.

, no he's on

Tho this is a to-each-his-own subject, I will admit that I admire anyone who can pull off these paint jobs in scale! It's takes discipline and patience to do this well. I wouldn't want to worry about some idiot letting a shopping cart hit it, or a fire, destroying how many weeks worth of labor? Love the colors, that Corvette purple is eye candy. I'm happy to pull off a simple two tone paint job.

~yawn~ Another day on planet Earth. When that generation of Camaro/Firebird came out, thought they were an improvement, but never wanted one. The plastic bumpers tend to melt in Arizona, look like BLAH after getting baked. Now that is news! A Bentley and a 20s Bugatti, now that's sad.

Breathing nitrous with

I *had to* work on this today, I'm a a roll with building lately, the creative juices are flowing. This is the first time I have made a jig, I know real car builders use them. Found some scrap wood, screwed a smaller piece of plywood for the ground clearance dimension, then I drilled two holes in the pan (will be filled when done) and screwed down. Then I glued the engine down enough so it wouldn't move, but could still pry off later. I cut apart the suspension, glued back together with Testors cement and Flex-i-file liquid cement. I also got rid of the molded on shock/spring units, used cheap lighter valves that I scrounged, with some modification, and made the bottom mount. I also added some parts box pieces for Hollywood detail. The brake disks are from a Fujimi, extra parts, the hub is off-cut from the 904 body. Cut off the wing support, and drilled holes. Also lowered the plenum. Started the body, cut off the bottom and repositioned. Using pins reminds me of building balsa wood airplanes as a kid. I glued blocks at the front, will do for the rear after lengthening the body.

with titanium reinforcement 300 pages, good job guys!

I'm just weird, admit it. Thanks! They are an inspiration for this project, since they are pushing the envelope on resto-rods. I can't either, putting aside other things I *should* do, since I'm in obsession/possessed mode. Dann is also an inspiration to me. This morning was thinking of sliding door windows, and adding oil pan drain plug with a hole in the pan (like what the Modena has).

That's nifty! I'm more interested in the GTO you're working on! I've seen others have jigs, for when they have tube frame chassis and suspensions to make, thinking of making one out of wood for my Indy. Yours has style.

I'm liking the front flares. The rear flares, may need to be wider than that, and it's growing on me the more I look. The ducktail is not happening, have the wing. Now I see the door latch is something to also add, and the tow hook. Two wipers, instead of one molded onto the windshield. One interesting thing regarding the Porsche badge, the Indy kit art shows the nose badge, but the decals do not have it! I sketched over an illustration to see how the front should look, will stick the round turn signals out, move the rectangular lights outward, so I can maximize radiator opening. Thinking of an air diverter in the roof trailing edge. The Indy mirrors would look better than those.

Thought it would be a good idea to draw on paper, good thing to do. For starters, the engine without modification, is same height as the deck surface. I can cut down the intake stacks, and slim off the bottom standoff locator "pins", will also turn the plenum around, and make a bigger turbo-plenum pipe. I also noticed the rear suspension moves the hubs backward from the driveshaft at transmission point, so when I rework the A-arms, that will be fixed. I also moved the front track centerline forward a little, the fender will get flared slightly. The engine bonnet will get sliced and diced, extend only about 3 mm, but will also widen the rear end about 4 mm each side while trying to save the PORSCHE script, then will need to transition flare to the front. Undecided about adding more air intakes, will make the B-pillar ones bigger for sure. The lower body sides will get cut off, then rotate the bottom outward, keeping the same piece which will need to be lengthened or made into an intake. The front will get the air dam treatment, can't have a tiny opening and uplift shape, plus the radiator(s) or oil cooler will go there. The grill over the engine will be much larger, with screen or photo-etch. Will open the rear for more grill. I will make part of the interior tub part of the body in the rear window area, that is lame on the kit. Making the air filter with pipe, and exhaust with big muffler, should be easy enough. I know it's going to look stretched out, especially with the wing hanging off the back.

A little too well, literally sits on the belly. Will have to tweak the suspension to raise it. I couldn't leave this alone, *had to* start it, so I could think about what needs to be done. First sub-assembly was the engine/transmission. First hack was to hot-wire the body nose so the suspension could be tacked together. The engine/trans and turbo halves are permanently glued, everything else is barely tacked. Found some parts in my stash box from another Porsche kit, since the wheels have lug holes. Needed a steering wheel too. Found some rectangle light lenses and door panels. The Indy gauge cluster should work in the 904 dash pod. First thing to look at is the wheelbase. The tires stick far out, so need to do flares, perhaps 911 Turbo style. I may shorten the suspension arms, since it needs to tweaked anyway. The Indy fuel filler will look nice in that hole. The kit does not have steerable wheels, that is more important to me, than being able to roll (off the table and shatter). I want to use the Speedway wing. This is about how the longer wheelbase looks. I could stretch the body where the mold parting line runs behind the grill, or better yet add to the front of the engine bonnet, or a combination. That tiny air scoop is getting reworked! The pop-off valve is the highest, and farthest forward projection on the engine, will have to relocate to the rear of the plenum. You can see the front of the engine is against the seat backs. Will definitely extend the footwell! The angle of the wing support is almost the same as the body rear, I'm expecting to separate it and make it swing back on the rear bolts, and have something like a trailer hitch pin to lock in place, because the engine bonnet needs to open. Will also need to make an air intake with filter, and exhaust with a muffler, and plumb the waste gate exhaust into that. I have salvaged parts that will make nice spring/shocks to use. Looking at how to fill the wheel wells. I'm now thinking the chassis does not need to be shortened, will move the engine forward instead. Have lots of body parts to make wheel wells. Now I'm looking at the width. The Mauser gauge is a really handy tool to have. The width of the 904 body at the top of the lower belt line matches the Indy tunnel, I should try to keep the quirky lip but need to flare out for modern ground effect skirt. There, officially started this project!

You just have to rub it in.... CONGRATULATIONS for doing so well! I had to finesse and finish my Mongrel entry, so totally understand.

campaign rally, featuring

Here is the Common Kit category, and Ferraris I liked. Again, Teresi's Berlin Buick is not included out of spite, but I already took pictures, and you will see it in every magazine anyway. But I did take pictures of that goofy looking VW some guy dreamed up.

I posted on Fakebook some photos. I have already taken pictures of John Teresi's awesome models when he was at Desert Scale, I don't care to duplicate effort, same with other models that deserved awards. I also choose what trips my trigger. So these are just a fraction of the entries.

You know how eBay sends you emails to lure you in..... saw this and thought "it better be free shipping!" The Enthusiast Series 356s are running around $88 on up.

Hope it's okay that I stole my only award photo.

Thank you.

Wow.... I take back what I've been saying about 3D printed parts! Did Ferrari use these Webers?

Holy ________, that's a hero build if there ever was one! Will there be a nitro incense pot nearby when displayed?

Had to look again to evaluate.... it would be better to cut off and glue some parts together. The biggest issue is where to put the radiators, I should have copied the fans I just used on the Mongrel. Wheelbase needs to be adjusted, the rear wheels are too far forward on the 904, the first dimension to set is the wheel line to front of engine against the cockpit. About 3/4" will need to be cut from the chassis. Thinking the speedway wing should be kept, since the rocket bunny trend is to have wing mounts to go down and mount low, the transmission is perfect. Might as well have the front wings on it too. The 904 body sure is narrow! May need to widen the bottom, some sort of skirt ground effects. The suspension should be easy enough to make a narrower track. I also pulled out an old WIP, but this new project is still calling me, like I have an addiction or something.