Ben Brown

Here is a very interesting post on the Grassroots Motorsports forum about this, although they didn't specifically discuss the RPM Act at the SEMA meeting: Discussions with CARB and the EPA on the future of performance parts The original poster is a well-known Miata performance expert and author, who works for the premier Miata aftermarket company. There are other knowledgeable forum members commenting in the thread, too. I found it very educational. The bottom line is that we can thank the knuckleheads with their coal roller bro-dozers for the added enforcement. The Feds are mainly going to be going after aftermarket companies that sell "off road" (wink wink) emissions defeating parts and cat delete kits and they won't be messing with racers. I guess I won't me getting a stand-alone ECU for my Miata after all. ? Even though they say they're not going after true race cars, I do think they still need something on the books to protect racers from the occasional overzealous Fed. During my aviation career, I occasionally ran across FAA inspectors who seemed more interested in taking somebody down to satisfy some kind of ego thing (like Bob Hoover getting grounded) than ensuring safety. I'm sure there are probably a few like that at EPA, since they employ humans there, too. Ben

Thanks for the tips! Ben

Thanks for the heads-up! I haven't got that far on mine, ye. Ben

I've had my eye on decals for the dark blue Walkenhorst/Playstation car. Both Slotfabrik and SK Decals make them. What I'd really like to build is the #96 Turner Motorsports IMSA car in yellow and blue. Ben

Looks great! I built this kit a year or so. Getting those decals to lay down around the rear wheel wells and side sills was... interesting. I'm looking forward to their Audi kit, too! Now, if only they'd release a Lamborghini Huracan GT3. Ben

I still have a long way to go on mine! Ben

Beautiful! I'm building that kit with the MSM Pilot decals right now. It's a fun kit! Ben

Model Car World has a T70 Mecom Blue (6003). It's about halfway down the page, under Lola: LINK Ben

Thanks for the encouragement! I'll eventually get around to tackling this one. I'm using my limited skills with Inkscape to draw up the decals for Yesteryear Motorsports' X180R "Eleanor," as well as a couple of other future auto and aviation projects. I think becoming more proficient with that program is more difficult than modifying the plastic. ? Cheers! Ben

Thanks! Ben

Hi Dann, I just went through this entire thread. Thanks for posting! I have the Sport kit as well as the regular Turbo kit, and I had the (probably misguided) plan to bash them into something that resembled an X180R race car. After reading about your issues, I'm a little afraid to try to tackle this one straight out of the box! Maybe someday, after I stock up on beer and aspirin, I'll have a go at it. Ben (the new guy)

Hi All, I recently discovered this forum and thought I'd sign up. Some of you may know me from a couple of the other modeling forums. I spent 50 years building airplanes and recently got into building cars, too. My car modeling interests run more towards modern GT race cars, plus I have a few kits in my stash that fall into the topic of "Street cars Ben has lusted over but will probably never own," such as 1st Gen RX-7, 2nd Gen MR2, 1st Gen Miata, and 3rd Gen Camaro. I'm currently finishing up a Fujimi McLaren F1 GTR. I just have to make some seat belts, mate the body to the chassis, and add a few other odds and ends. Ben