Rob Hall

A couple new kits and a bunch of older kits I’ve bought over the last couple of months.

https://mcwfinishes.com/shop/ols/products/pontiac-ohc-6-cyl-motor-125-scale

Beautiful build...my favorite era of Mercedes. I have this kit in my to-build stash.

I think there was a promo version, which is why they made the snap kit. Explorer was the top selling SUV at the time, so it made sense to make kits. AMT also made Blazers at the same time. Alas, the AMT kits were the facelifted versions, which wouldn’t be useful for doing a Bronco II.

The teal one could be a starting point for an '89-90 Bronco II...though the II had a much shorter wheelbase and was about 2 feet shorter in 1:1... Lindberg made a nice 1/20th 2dr Explorer Sport of that generation ('91-94 ish), same front clip and some interior parts as the '89-90 Bronco II, but the 2dr Explorer was about a foot longer than the Bronco II in 1:1. At one time, I had a 1:1 '88 Bronco II XLT, my brother had an '89 Bronco II XLT, a '97 Ranger and later an '08 Ranger and '97 Explorer 5dr XLT, my Dad had a '94 Ranger, my Mom a '96 Explorer Sport 2dr and my sister a '99 Explorer Eddie Bauer 5dr...

kit type/category: annual reissue (not the dreaded 'repop') modified reissue curbside new tool

Got a few inches of snow here outside Cleveland last evening and over night...my plow guy plowed the driveway about 3:30am. Supposed to snow more today and tonight, but got off pretty mildly compared to 20-30 miles from here up along I-90 and the North Coast heading towards Ashtabula and Erie..they got hit hard the last few days.

Sunny and 20F this morning, still no snow... 20-30 miles NE of me north of I-90 they got a lot of lake effect snow..

Speaking of Polaras, I recently bought a 3d printed '69 Polara 4dr recently, detailed w/ chassis, interior, engine, wheels and tires...from the Andrey Bezrony files--also available in 2dr ht, convertible and wagon. There is one of the 4dr sedans from printer Section 8 Hobbies on eBay currently, this is very nice, the one I bought. https://www.ebay.com/itm/186803773579?_skw=polara&itmmeta=01JDYS6MPG2RRN73CBSFMBZDC2&hash=item2b7e5f608b:g:JZUAAOSwC7tmvPq9

Looked out my kitchen window a few minutes ago and saw a buck deer come out of the woods and cross my yard then back into the woods…

I’ve read about WiFi color changing LED light strips for putting under the eaves and gutters, can have red/white/blue for July 4th, orange for Halloween, red/green/white for Xmas, etc. controlled via a phone app. Neat.

A couple of the houses across the street have some lights up, if it’s like last year, my neighbors on either side don’t put up lights. I usually don’t put anything up, and my house is set way back from the street and from each neighbor so usually no issues..

True... a 2016 likely wouldn't have any of the issues old cars had. (but potentially other issues). My '00 Jeep had a lot of electrical issues as it aged and got over 100k miles, but so far my '14 Jeep and '19 Cadillac have been trouble-free. It is funny how perception of what is 'old' changes relative to various points in time...I remember as a kid around 1980 it was common to see 5 to 10 year old cars worn out and rusty, but today 5 or 10 year old cars can still seem pretty new and usable...(obviously dependent on maintenance and upkeep).

Of course, it was a late model used car at that time.. like driving a 2016 now.

I used to read them as a kid and teenager. My late brother loved them. He bought a lot of stuff from them for his cars. Some of his cars he couldn’t resist putting a lot of stick on stuff on. Not as bad as that smart car, but a lot…

In the olden days, it would be someone went wild with a JC Whitney catalog..

Supposed to get more snow here on Friday.

‘69 Pontiac it looks like. Missing some of the shiny trim around the taillights.

I did drive my '87 Mustang GT about 100 miles home from the restoration shop last year. I did drive it many times on cross country, 2000+ mile trips back in the 90s, but it was a late model car then. Likewise, took many road trips w/ my folks as a kid in the 70s-80s with cars that were 5-15 years old at the time. Not sure I'd take my '87 on a 2000 mile road trip today, though it would probably be fine mechanically. As far as usuabilty, it doesn't have any cupholders or way to charge my phone currently. After doing road trips in my late model Cadillac, I don't think I'd want to go very far in an older car without all the modern conveniences..

Got a bunch of roundabouts/traffic circles here in NE Ohio...when I lived in AZ I remember seeing a lot of them up in Sedona..like 1/2 dozen of them in a few miles on one road...

I got two new furnaces and two new air conditioners installed for my new house back in April. The old ones were installed in '94 and '97 when the house was expanded and the installations weren't up to current local codes and the A/Cs were inefficient for a 3200 sq ft house. Was $25k to replace all 4. Now apparently my meter and main electrical panel are undersized for the power usage, need a new main panel, new 4 wire connection to the meter, etc... $10k. The joy of home ownership..

Had about 6 inches of snow last night, first snow of the season. Melting now. When the city snow plow truck came by, they clipped my mailbox..ripped it and the pole out of the ground on my tree lawn. Grrrr

The Cleveland suburb I lived in from '17-23 had a few of them, both unmarked detective cars and a couple w/ light bars and the dark gray on black markings. Replaced a few years ago w/ Explorers.

A guy I worked with about 10 years ago had a then-new Ford Raptor...had a falling out with his wife, she broke out all the windows.. then dumped a couple gallons of gasoline in the driver's seat and lit it up..

Or cheating spouse. I know someone whose wife did that to their truck.