bobss396

Gas welding gives you the hand-eye coordination that spills over into other forms of welding.

I learned how to arc weld in HS. I did just about everyone's welding that had to be right. In auto school, I took a formal course in arc and gas welding. I used to trade doing mandatory welding projects for pitchers of beer at the campus bar. I guaranteed then at least a B for a grade. Gas welding came in handy with the stock cars for putting roofs back on after the roll cage was in. I did a lot of brazing too. At work, we did a lot of waveguide RF work. Anything from low-frequency large stainless steel material stock to small high-frequency coil silver stock. Flanges were heavier brass investment castings, commercial choke flanges too. Some of the stainless tubing we slit to install custom-made chokes. They got put together using silver solder, soft solder using a small torch, some were done on hot plates. We also did large systems from aluminum stock, those were all jigged and pinned then set out for dip brazing. With almost anything we did, they required the flanges to be machined after.

Those are great looking mods. I'd like to do one of the Len Bohler #3 cars, the decals are available.

I use black bead cord from Model Shipways. The part number is MS1210 and measures .020".

IIRC that car was the 1986 Daytona 500 winner. Well done.

That came out great. I have a love-hate relationship with these kits and cannot let well-enough alone. Worst aspects of the kit are the roll cage, the headers and their relation to the side cars. The coilovers are rudimentary as well. I made up a roll cage plate, so I can scratch build one without much pain. On the Vega and Pinto, I add a little to the header tubes so they clear the body better. I make my own coilover shocks. The latest Pinto I have going I added disc brakes to it.

I have a book somewhere about him. Quite a influential icon.

A buddy of mine owns a large machine shop, he started using circuit board drills on very small holes in aluminum. He was able to hold a +/- .001" location tolerance easily. We used to make our own PC boards at work, that was outsourced, that is where my drills came from.

There was always something going onto the trash at work. I have more drills and end mills than I can use in a lifetime. We did retrofits and got permission to take the old hardware home. Real high end exotic stuff. Expired shelf life items too. All good to use on the cars.

There was nothing in the kit to locate the cab to the chassis, I can imagine some little kid building this. Now I can mount the cab and bed where they need to be. The push bumper was modified after I shot some primer on it.

Liking the black wheels...

This makes me want to dig my '66 out again. I switched from the SBC to a VCG resins BBC Pro Charger engine along with a NASCAR front chassis stub. Headers were the next stumbling block. I have some 3D printed ones I have to try on it next.

I have 2 pin vises with drill sizes I use all the time, one is .029" and the other is .037". The smaller I use for spark plug holes, the bigger I use to install 1/32" pins in things. I have another set up to handle anything from .040" to .068" and .070" to .110" on the other end. The little 3-jaw chucks are handy, I could use another one. I picked up a slew of small carbide circuit-board drills when we were closing out a machine shop at work, they were heading to the dumpster. I have anything between .025" to .070", they are either new or re-sharps. They last a long time, but are fragile and can break easily. They have a 1/8" shank so I best use them with just that. They work great under power in the Bridgeport. I never have to spot a hole before I drill it.

"Root Cause Analysis". There... I said it. This should be performed after an event like this and should be quite revealing if implemented by the book. Yeah, it can be the long way home and a good QC manager can pull it off.

This is called an "inspection escape". Some repair activities have a checklist that go with them. Most of the time checklists happen after someone gets caught with their pants down. All of these repair shops fall under FAA scrutiny. So by now they know exactly who worked on the door, unless the shop is that far out of control, they dummy up everything and this time the results were tragic.

I just did this one on a tow truck project. The leftovers are pretty stout, not fragile at all.

Got more done on it today. Made the front bumper and grille. Opened up the kit grille. Have not squirted much primer except for the chassis. Which will be box stock. Everything has locating tabs, have to do some for the front bumper next. I have wheels and tires on order.

I picked up the snow plow kit at my model meeting and jumped into it. I had gotten some Revell tow truck parts on eBay. So far the wrecker back is close to being complete. I need to do a major bench clean up and will post more later. Everything is pinned with .047" brass rod or 0-80 socket head screws.

$19.99 is pretty steep still. I got a bunch before Xmas at $12 per, and then a 10% off on top of that. I have a good supply of AWB Chevy II kits, I should go back to see what else they have. It is a 25 mile journey each way.

I had a '66 Riviera promo as a kid. No idea where it came from, this was close to the OG annual kit issue. I have kit bashed the new '66 kit, used almost everything from it on other projects. The interior went in an (unfinished) '49 resin Mercury, the engine into a '40 Ford. I'll call it probably the best-detailed nail head available.

The batteries are dead. I used to dispose of them at work easily. I have to find another place to drop them off. Sambuca is good stuff especially in coffee in the evenings. I have a pretty well stocked bar at all times. Mainly gin, vodka, Jim Beam, tequila, no wine.

I use the 3/32" tubing too. I did use floral wire inside it for a long time. I'll have to try it with 3/64" brass rod or aluminum if I can find it, possibly welding wire?

I have been using the venerable Revell Midnite Cowboy kit for the wrecker backs. IMO quite accurate and good detail. It would be nice to have a complete tow truck kit. I'm not too crazy about the resin/3D printed ones that are available.

It takes a real man to cut up a 60+ year old kit, well done.

I have to get one of these bad boys. I used to have a 1:1 1965 C30 panel truck, my dad had a 1969 C10 panel truck he used for his furniture business.