Jon Cole

Thanks, Albert! I always appreciate you letting us in on the SoCal car scene! It's the middle of Winter, and more white stuff is in the forcast. I want warmth and palm trees! BTW, what WAS that under the hood of the red Pro Street Challenger? I think it was the next to last page. -Jon from New England-

POW! RIGHT OUT OF THE PARK! Now that's a home run build! The spacing between colors is so... perfect! HowYaDoThat????

Thanks folks. I appreciate all the replies, and they were helpful. I used a center punch tapped with a small hammer, after first using an X-Acto knife to shave out the inside lip of the aluminum tube. It worked perfectly. Spyder

I want to make some velocity stacks, and I need to know how to make the tops flair out just a bit. Can anyone help me on this? I don't have enough time to order some from the aftermarket. Thanks. Spyder

Clay, if you feel the need for the rules to be posted, why not ask the board moderator to do so? Taking this upon yourself... makes you sound like you are "above" the rest of us. Hopefully, this entire thread should be reposted by the management of the board, thus earning the respect it requires, rather than grandstanding. No disrespect meant to anyone. Nuff said. Jon

What I learned the hard way- when you grab a roll of solder to make your first metal exhaust, MAKE SURE it doesn’t say “Acid-core†anywhere on the package! The photos below show what happens. Corrosion builds up, just like on a car battery terminal. Any ideas on how to fix? If I could clean it, I’m thinking of sealing it with clear lacquer. I hope to avoid harming the paint on the nearby body. I think I attached the part to the muffler with a two-part epoxy. Thanks!

G-man; Nice Ford you built. Wish you had told me it was such a junk of a kit, then I wouldn't have gone and built this JUNK of a model. Model builders work a kit to make it the best they can. Being the only '40 Ford I have ever built, I cannot compare it to others, but with some stubborn determination, I was able to build it. Am I supposed to be embarrassed of it because it is, as said, a "junk" kit? It may be "junk" to some, but... I am still proud of what I built. My 2¢ worth, minus inflation. -Jon C-

''Freak Show'' A '61 Chrysler-'64 Chevy pickup-'57 Chrysler sandwich with a little bit of everything else thrown in

Here is another interesting car I have... like the box shows, it's a Wix Filters promotional die-cast, 1/24 or 1/25 scale. This one is currently packed away. Does it deserve to be displayed? Needs a little detailing like on the headers etc. Thanks for looking! -Jon-

You can't help but love the Hirohata Merc by Danbury Mint!

I really like the Presidential Limo's (1/24, IIRC) by Yat Ming. This is the only one I have photographed so far. This is the "LBJ" car, which was the re-bodied Kennedy car that the White House recieved approx. six months after Kennedy's assisination. It was reportedly painted in the same blue as Kennedy's limo, and President Johnson wouldn't accept it. He made them paint it black. I also made new flags on my computer, using address labels, and inserting heavy duty aluminum foil in between the two sides. That way, they can be bent and folded. No matter what I did to the ones out of the box, they just looked to stiff, like cardboard. Thanks for looking.

Really, REALLY fantastic work! You have talent!

My other hobby... seriously, would be reading these message boards about model cars! I hardly even look in the magazines that I still have subscriptions for. Most anything I want I can find on-line. The down side is I take a lot of ###### from my model buddies because I don't build too many models a year. I guess I was "raised" on the former Hobby Heaven board, and will always be partial to the Spotlight Hobbies board that replaced it. I am glad I have found this one (MCMF); lots of good stuff here! I have heard of other boards, such as Scale Auto's, but two boards keep me busy.

I just bought a new type of glue @ Michael's... ...because I remember someone highly recommended it. "Crafter's Pick" Ultimate water-based super glue. Has anyone out there used this glue? How is it? Can it be used on windows without damaging anything? Also looked at the Testors bottle paints, something I rarely bother to do. I was surprised to find they had a black called "Rubber" (#1183). You can never have too many shades of black. Also got two different shades of what I refer to as "taillight red", #1152 Met. Red Rouge Met., and #1529 Red M.F. (metal flake?) Rouge Met. Thanks for any advise. -Jon-

For me, the big issue is the actual cost of the kits. Like everything else, it keeps going up. But the difference between a kit, vs. food, gasoline, clothing, paying the utilities, etc. is that model kits are NOT a necessity. It's a hobby. And with over 1000+ kits in my house overtaking every last bit of free space, it's getting easier to walk away than buy a kit. A good example- Testors new Charger Police car kit. Pre-painted metal body, lots of well detailed plastic parts, and all new lightbars (yes- that is plural) never before done in scale. So why are they trying to rape our wallets for approx. $35 bucks?!!! That's just plain 'out of my league'. And then to add insult to injury, after we feed our sickness and buy that overpriced kit, I'll bet within a year it will be issued in plastic kit form, for less $$$. Problem is, there is no guarantee that will happen. So if I REALLY want it, do I buy it now? Don't forget, kits now are produced in numbers to satisfy pre-orders. I someone mis-judges a kits popularity, then a lot of us miss out on a kit we were hoping to get. It's happened to me before. When we must decide between food, gasoline, or hobby stuff, well... the model kits tend to go back on the store shelf. And I don't have enough vices in my life left to phase out! My one big remaining vice is... buying kits! And I already have more than I can ever hope to build. And I am lucky if I can build two kits per year. I rarely bother with old kits. There is too many new and wonderful kits coming out. Funny... I just realized that at this rate, the new kits will soon be as expensive as the old kits! Go figure! -Jon-

I'll be there... always have been, always will be. Looking forward to meeting some of you, maybe for the first time, maybe again. I'll be the one running around like a chicken with it's head cut off... not knowing for sure where I'm headed next, but in a ###### hurry to get there!!! -Jon Cole-

I haven't been to a MassCar Show in years, as I grew tired of waiting sometimes literally all afternoon waiting for the judges to wrap it up. But MassCar holds special memories for me. It was either the first or second contest I ever went to, and probably the first I ever actually entered. And I took home some hardware that day, and I was hooked. MassCar was the only contest I won a "Best of" trophy at (Best Finish) I think in '91, for a Buick Grand National. Man, my noggin' had a ego swelling so big, it's amazing I fit out the door that day! I really should go this year... a twentieth anniversary doesn't come along that often! So congratulations to the good gang at MassCar! You guys rock! -Jon Cole-

Well I just did a headliner on a '40 Ford with 3/4" masking tape. I really didn't do as good a job as I should have. This method works better if you use 2" wide masking tape (real masking tape, not that blue or green stuff) and on a later-model flat style roof. For example, on a sixtees or seventees Ford, GM, or Mopar, you may get the entire headliner and C pillars with one piece. A Beetle has a "bowl" shape like the '40 Ford. Of course, you can always add paint and flocking to applied masking tape.

OK, usually I throw out a photo and see if you can guess what it is. In this case, I have no idea what it is! Anyone?

Ford Escort Mk 1, Twin Cam, probably around 1968 to 1970, rally/historic racing series

"Beatnik '55 Ford Bubbletop" CORRECT. Another one...

Thank You! Thank You! I'd like to thank my friends at Wrecked Exotics dot com! Without finding the original photo, I wouldn't be here accepting this award! Which way to the free eats?

Just a wild guess.... 1992 Toyota Celica that crashed into a Ford F-350 head on at a combined speed of 90 mph. Am I close?

OK, you may or may not have seen this one before.