Mooneyzs

Joe...those headers are going to look great man. I am trying to think back on the tutorial that Clay did on one of the tamiya motorcycles, it was an awesome tutorial...what if you did a wash with their black base and thining it with lacquor thinner. Not sire if that would worl better. But i would do what Bill suggested and try on a scrap piece to see if it gives yoi the resilt you want. Cant wait to see the up dates.

This is a totally cool build. Nice job on it. This is a totally cool build. Nice job on it.

This is going to be a totally cool build. Looking good so far. I will be following along.

I bet John Teresi, Art Laski, or Rom could tell you some good ones in the SoCal area.

Tyrone... awesome work man. I have to agee with John here you have these builds down. "Mr. Pro Mod" is fitting. Love your work

That is one sweet Funny Car body.... I am digging it!!

Mark thanks for the better explanation... I was gonna ask if a CAD program would be ok to draw up the art work from. I use SolidWorks to draw parts up now and print out, then glue to the material i am going to be cutting out. Do you find that it is cheaper to acid etch rather than photo etch?

Bill thank you my friend. You make the brass work look so easy i was actually consideing trying to make the butterfly wheel out of 3 pieces and soldering it together lol Steve... you are welcome. Gonna shoot you a PM

Jason ... nice work on this build. I am digging it and loving that cowl hood. Keep up the great work.

Very nice build Scott. this turned out great. I started this kit years ago myself and its still sitting in the box waiting for me to finish...maybe one of these days....lol Keep up the great work

Hey Steve.... sorry about not answering your question earlier. the hole size I drilled in the fuel shut off lever was with a #78 drill bit which is .016" in diameter. yes the sanding can be a pain on tube chassis but your right its worth it. SolidWorks is a 3D CAD program. I have an old 2005 version. I really want a new one but they are quite pricey. There is a couple of free ones out there I believe. I know of a 2D CAD program called Draft Sight which is a sister program to the main SolidWorks and you can download DraftSight for free. I have heard of a few other people that have downloaded Google Sketch up for a 3D program and I believe that one is free too. I have been using CAD programs since College but I think anyone would be able to use it after going thru some tutorials and learning the basics of it. may take a little bit to get up to speed but can be done. Hey Mike... thanks for the kind comments. I tried giving you a call today but didn't leave a message. was just wanting to catch up with ya.

Gary.... haha... Thanks man I really appreciate the kind words about this build. I have to tell you that I am very proud of this build so far and will be the best build I have done to date when completed. So I sorta worked on my Butterfly Steering Wheel Attempt #1 on and off for a few hours this evening and well it started out good but I was not happy with the outcome and didn't even try finishing it. I will have to start Attempt # 2 tomorrow night. The process I am doing works good, I just didn't get my cuts straight like I should have and aborted trying to save this piece and will attempt at another one. I would really like to get and try the micro marks photo etch do it at home set to try but little hesitant on it, Or I would like to learn how Mark (scale master) does his acid etch process. I think one of those two ways would be the best to get the part perfect. Anyway here is the process and how far I got tonight.... I started out again drawing the part in my Solidworks CAD program, printed the part and glued the template to my .010" thick brass sheet: Next I cut the part away from the sheet: Here is How far I got with the cutting out process. I took the back of my xacto knife with a straight edge to scribe a guide line in. then I took my razor saw and slowly sawed away the pieces. I wasn't happy with the center section as I wasn't able to get it completely straight like I wanted, so the reason I will be redoing the part: Then for Giggles I decided to bend the steering wheel into shape to see what it would look like: Its not that bad but I wasn't 100% happy with this first try. so I will go back and redo it again.

Bill... Holy Smokes Bud!! that chassis looks fantastic.... You sure have raised the bar my friend. Nice work. that is gorgeous!!

Tyrone.... Outstanding job on this build. It was a pleasure watching this one come together. and as Brad mentioned you sure have these builds down and can do them in your sleep. She sure is a beauty!!!!

Henry.... thanks man Tom.... Thank you, a few of the chassis joints I need to add some bondo to but pretty happy with them do far Hans... Thanks!! sorry to always keep the suspense up. I was going to start working on scratch building the butterfly steering wheel last night but then I didn't feel like sitting at my computer so I started on sanding the primer on the chassis to start to prep it for paint. And let me tell you what a pain in the butt that it is. I started using my flexi file where I could then I actually started cutting thin strips of sand paper to use to get in all of the cracks. I swear I sanded for a couple of hours and I am still not done. Besides that I need to still add a little bondo to a few areas and then it will be ready for one last primer coat. which then I will go back and sand one more time (Yes I am nuts to have to re-sand it again) before paint, but its the only way to tell if it will look good once painted. well gonna get to drawing up the steering wheel and then get back to sanding the chassis. Hope to have some pics up in a little bit for you.

Hey Greg... I use photobucket as well and I am going to hate switching to the new one. I did try it once and switched back to the old one. I may have to try your method. My biggest complaint with he new one is that it did not keep the pics in order in the folders I have set up. Maybe I need to give it another try but I really like how the old one is set up because I can move around it pretty quick. I have different folders for different builds that I keep my pics in and I have one build that I am up to page #24 on it. Hopefully the new one gets better

Hey Bruce... Thanks for taking the time to go thru all 87 pages. I am sure it took a while. Thanks for the Kind words. I just wanted to be able to share with every one how I am doing the build process and if helps anyone in the process that is great. So I have done a little more work today. Not done working on it for the night yet but I did get my fuel shut off lever drawn up in Solidworks and made it from aluminum sheet. Here is a few pics to show the process today.... I had first drawn up the lever in solidworks and then I started out by printing the drawing to scale. I cut it out of the paper and used a glue stick to hold it onto the aluminum so i cold cut it out: Here is what it looks like after I had sanded and filed to shape as well as getting the mounting holes drilled into it: Then I had to mock it up on the chassis and figure where it was going to mount and here is the location: Well.... back to the workbench right after I have some dinner...Stay tuned

Thanks Brad... at the moment they are the finished paint color

Thanks Aaron.... That was my plan. I just wish they didn't take so long...lol

Nice work Ira.... this is a beautiful model!!

This is a very nice build and it turned out beautiful. Great Job!!

Hey Bob... how's it going? You know I want to make it to the NNL's this year but I am not sure If I will be able to or not. But I know for sure I will bring it the following year since I will have it completed before then. I am shooting to have this done by the end of April at the moment. Ok guys not much of an update but I have worked bondo on the spark plug boots and reprimered and even shot a coat of black to see how they would look..... here is the results

Jeff... That Engine is Looking Killer Bud!!! Nice work man. Its great to see more progress on this build!!

Wow i am loving this build. It lools awesome in the satin black. Keep up the great work.

That is some beautiful work. Very clean engine and the paint is gorgeous too