cruz

These people meet behind a Lowe's near my house every Friday and it really gets packed with lots of good stuff to see, check it out guys!!!! http://public.fotki.com/MCRUZ1/lowes-cruise-06-20-2009/

Very cool man, love these little pocket rockets!!! Looks better without the decals!!

http://public.fotki.com/MCRUZ1/

<object id="flashWidget" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="265" height="159"><param name="movie" value="http://images.fotki.com/flash/widget_slideshow.swf" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000" /><param name="quality" value="best" /><param name="scale" value="noscale" /><param name="play" value="false" /><param name="loop" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="flashvars" value="dbxml=http%3A%2F%2Fpublic.fotki.com%2FMCRUZ1%2Flowes-cruise-06-20-2009%2F%3Fcmd%3DslideShowListPhotos%26private%3D0%26scode%3D95c58171161d18393e6f54f33875277d&ploop=enabled&stretching=false&fading=true&delay=5&bgcolor1=0x000000&bgcolor2=0x000000&StillWatching_ToContinuePressTheSpacebar=Still watching? To continue, click here please.&DontBotherMeAgain=Don't bother me again&PleaseWait=Please wait..." /></object>

<a href="http://public.fotki.com/MCRUZ1/lowes-cruise-06-20-2009/lowescruise6202009001.html"><img src="http://images32.fotki.com/v1065/photos/0/1307210/7663106/LowesCruise6202009001-vi.jpg" border="0"></a><a href="http://www.fotki.com" style="font-size:12px; font-family:Verdana; text-decoration:none;">Hosted on Fotki</a>

Perfection!!!!! Can't wait to see what else you have in mind for this!!!!

I have a battery operated dremel that I have not been able to find in any store after I purchased it, got it on sale for just 12 dollars and regret the fact that I didn't get a second one. What I like about it is that when the battery is draining it actually works better. You see, you have to keep in mind that while working with plastic the last thing on your mind is a rotary tool that goes too fast. You want to remove plastic, not burn it, the lower the rpm's, the better it will work. Remember, purchase the one w/ the lowest rpm's!!!!

I will decide on that later, have to see how much of the intercooler I have to cut down, right now is a little too large to just fit it in there so I will have to reshape it.....

Very cool!!!

Happy to see you are getting this digital camera picture posting science!!!! Great build my friend!!!

Hosted on Fotki Don't be fooled by this little engine, it has lots of parts to it which will make this a challenging build. I will have to do a lot of cutting and adding to ultimately try to make this thing work so please, wish me luck....

I want to be able to use as much of the original chassis as possible. The Grand National transmission was way too bulky which meant that I had to cut a lot of the original middle part of the chassis off for me to be able to integrate it. My biggest concern is making sure to have enough available space between the radiator and the front of the engine, this area will be housing most of the turbo and hose connections and accesories.. I managed to get a bit more space and will show this after I shoot a few more pictures later. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki A lot of the chrome parts on this engine had to be "Easy-Offed", these cars had a lot of non-shiny parts on the Turbo area and I intend to simulate them with various shades of Testor's Metalizer paints. Hosted on Fotki

Your idea sounds terrific my friend along with the others posted but I am more old school, a GN motor is quite the modern engine for my usual old school taste but thanks for the heads up!!!

At one time I was also thinking about picking one of those up myself but thought about the underbody coverage issue. Another thing I don't like about them is that once I spray a body, the last thing I want to do is just leave it there gathering all sorts of dust while drying which is the reason I prefer the hanger method.... Bob, what do you do with the dried paint on your stand? Do you clean it after every use or just let it collect paint after each painting session? I ask you this because at times, when I use the same hanger I get little chips of paint coming off the hanger when I don't clean it. Of course, to me is no big deal because all I have to do is replace the hanger w/ a new piece but of course, in your case it's an investment...

Looks good Nick but try taking that picture on the same sunny day but under a deck or something, the gloss will be more noticable when photographing it against the sunny background, something like this..... Hosted on Fotki Right now, the metal flakes are making it a little impossible to see the glossy surface. Try it for me okay!! Please!!! Please!! By the way, I love that Quattro, gots to get my paws on one.... Those body lines are sweet man, you have to get this one done man. Say hi to your pops and tell him that I regret teaching him how to polish, he is kicking my "trasero" every time we compete.

Looks cool man, can easily be a nice little project!!!

Nice picture, thanks, I can always use some reference!! Anybody else got more??? I will be eternally grateful for any help provided, specially if you guys know someone w/ the real car and can snap some pics!!!!!

Hosted on Fotki This is more or less what I am going for, found this nice photo on the Internet!!!

I envy you!!!! In a good way but I still envy you!!!

Thanks Tommy! I like your ideas also, the Chevy stripes are always a nice touch. I want to keep the last pair of rims and tires, I have always loved the look of the Weld Stars and with that metal rim they look even better. I still want the old school type of muscle look, you know, the "I take the car to work everyday but race it on the weekends" type of thing. I am still in between painting it yellow or orange, I have some Chevy stripes from a 69 Camaro I had laying around there but will have to cut them down and somehow work around adding them to this build. I am also seeing some nice Grand National decals on the GN kit's decal sheet that I may be adding to the Vega, sort of a "powered by Buick" or "GN" type of theme! By the way, after almost loosing my leg in that incident with Ariel years ago at the Liar's show, theres no reason to get better at this hobby than with that kind of inspiration!!

Went searching for some models up in my attic to help me with this project and found a few ideas on the way. Once I saw the Grand National engine, that pretty much sealed the deal for the project. The size is perfect either way you look at it. Looks a lot more to scale for this project so I have to thank Mike for his suggestion!! I am using the new Revell "donk" Grand National kit for this. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki I know, I know, it's a horrible site with them big as%# tires and rims but that's not why I'm using this kit!! Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Even the height is just perfect since the front rake will be pretty low, I don't want my oil pan hitting the speed bumps around the streets in my 'hood!! Hosted on Fotki I even like the fact that the engine will go nicely with the kit's engine bay and I still have the option to put a smaller transmission to make final installment much easier!! Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Here's a size comparison shot for visual purposes, pretty much this says it all, that Ross Gibson engine is quite big. The GN engine will look a lot "busier" once I add the rest of the parts to it. It's funny, the Ross Gibson engine uses the exact transmission found in this GN kit so now we know where they got it from!!!!

Come on bro!!! I have told you about this before and on top of that your pops is a master at this!!! Just bsing with you!!!!! Well for starters, you should have enough clear that you won't rub through. I always tell people that are doing this for the first time to try it on a spare body or hood in order not to mess up a work in progress build. Personally, depending on how rough the orange peel is I start with a 3200 grit sheet of sanding pad. This level will do the most work as it will take off the majority of the orange peel usually present on your paint after spraying but you also need to be careful not to rub through your clear. If the orange peel isn't rough you can start out with the 3600 and sometimes even the 4000. The pads start at 3200 and continue to 3600, 4000, 6000, 8000 and lastly to 12,000 which is your final pad. Not all glossy paints require a clear coat, this is always an option. Some of the available paints today have enough inherent gloss in them that you can opt on the alternatives to clear coating. I like the wet sanding method but my advice to the newcomers is to start out dry, it will be easier to monitor your progress this way. You will also find out that even the experts at times don't like the wet sanding method, it all depends on your taste once you master the process. One advantage to wet sanding is that the pads will last longer and your job will be quicker but if you don't monitor your progress closely you will undoubtley rub through your paints! It is not necessary to put much pressure on your pad when rubbing out your paints specially with the subsequent grades of pads, let the pad do its work, if necessary you can always go back to any level and go from there but you must not skip between pads for you will leave a lot of scratches on your finish. Each pad compliments the next by leveling the paint out. The ideal thing to do is practice and you will ultimately get it. One thing I will guarantee you is that once you master it you won't go back to just shooting paint on your models any more. There are still some people out there that occasionally tell me that this practice is a waste of time, but it's funny that the majority of those people that tell me that usually have about three cans of paint on their cars with no panel line or details present on their models. You can also opt to sand between coats, this will also help minimize the chances of dust particles being present on your final coats. When sanding between coats you don't need to go through each pad, just use a 4000 or 6000 for this or whichever one you prefer once you learn how to utilize them. Another thing I advice people and specially guys that are new to this is to learn to pace yourself, you get out what you put in. Painting can sometimes be a tedious process but you will agree with me that it is the first thing that attracts people to your models. Learn this phase of the scale automotive hobby and usually everything else relating to your builds will just fall into place.

Thanks George, very thoughtful of you. Let me see what I come up with at home because the guys are also suggesting a rotary engine which I have a few of and I know I also have a few other engines to look through to finally decide....

WOW!! Nice Marc, your'e not stealing threads here, your'e helping. Great idea and you used the actual kit chassis which is what I want to do! I will keep that in mind, I should have that engine in my spare kits or at the least something similar!! Nice job on your Vega!!!

Hosted on Fotki So as you guys can see this engine is no joke, it will however go just right with bigger bodied cars. It is beautiful and I will definetly use it in another project but I think I will be deciding on a different engine for this kit. Up to now, I will keep Mike's advice about the Grand National engine in the back of my head but please feel free to give me some ideas!! Thanks for taking your time and seeing my project fellas!!!