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I think your analysis of painting over chrome is a good one. Plus, modernized painting methods where nearly everything that is painted is also primed to further promote paint adhesion. If I remember correctly, a lot of it began in the pages of SAE, where the chrome was being removed from kit parts to paint, baring the plastic's details and not for adhesion purposes. Much of the Alclad and the other chrome paints that followed gained acceptance because they replicated chrome in scale better than vacuum chroming and two the chrome paints allowed the surface details to show better than through the "chrome plating".

I’ve never tried this, but it might work better than masking and using bleach, purple power, oven cleaner, brake fluid d any other concoctions some use to strip chrome I would be concerned about whatever is used to strip off the chrome to replace under any latex type liquid mask. My idea would be to use a rather heavy coat of latex and or tape mask. Next use something like a Paasche Air Eraser to blast the chrome off the plastic. I have shot Baking Soda through my air eraser and it is a much milder abrasive than the media Paasche sells i just remembered when I worked for Boeing, I saw guys doing what is called Chem-Milling, where they use a rubber like masking fluid, (think plastidip the tool handle rubbery dip that sets up like soft rubber). The rubbery mask would hold the acid that the part was dunked in, leaving a stepped edge like it had been milled away. Plastidip might work to preserve the chrome but it might’ve difficult to remove. Might be more trouble than it’s worth…. Good luck and hopefully it gets someone thinking of some other processes they’ve seen.

Are you referring to the clear watch crystal cement or the thicker white polymer glue, I’m not home right now so I cannot do pictures of either. Not certain what the watch crystal cement is, but appears to be some sort of air cure resin, which I think is waterproof, so I’m not sure what to use. Wouldn’t hurt to ask a jeweler about how they break it loose. Maybe a soak in ultrasonic cleaner hoping the cavitation breaks the bond. For the canopy cement, probably soak it in water see if it breaks down and breaks loose, it wouldn’t hurt to run through a soak in an ultrasonic cleaner, hopefully that might make it break loose.

My usual methodology on two tone/color bodies is to work light to dark, like Steve said "it's easier to cover silver with black..." If you shoot the lighter color over the darker, I think you are setting yourself up for bleed through. I've never experienced bleed through issues when going light to dark; being that the light color is silver, you might not encounter any sort of issue, then again, you might.

Same here Steve, I remember trying to replace a 1/12 scale ‘57 Chevy, with flat material, it just wouldn’t stretch around enough to make both curvy ends line up, it would make one but not the other I’d get it in and glued and it would just suck right back it again and again! (Most exasperating!) I finally ended up creating a buck out of the old windshield, balsa and bondo, then vacuforming a new windshield with the same material. The original break did “bleed” through to the inside f the windshield, which I ended up polishing and finally dipping in Future. I could tell where the defect was but no one else did, sooo I guess it worked out after all. The car now belongs to someone else, I look every time I see the model, it’s still stable and doesn’t show. Thats pretty thick, 1/32 = 1 / 32 = 003125 say 0.030 thick, the stuff that Revell used to use for their flat windshields was 0.010 thick, I never measured the camera film a lot of us used to use for windshield material but it felt like it was thinner than the Revell stuff. (Anyone have any exposed camera film they can measure?) Although back when I was vacuforming aircraft canopies we didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to what the exact material was. First it had to be clear, then thin enough (0.010 in - 0.020 in) to heat and form quickly so I’m sure we used a whole lot of stuff that wasn’t supposed o work, but did! LoL!! BTW - 0.010 in - 0.020 in white Evergreen sheet styrene vacuforms into a really nice Hobby Stocker hood, providing a realistic droop like an old hood with all its internal bracing removed, trunk and door skins too…

Not necessarily, it helps enamels when your polishing them out helps not to burn through as easily as it does what it says hardens the enamel a bit over un-hardened enamels. Enamels tend to run a little softer than say a lacquer based paint, there are some that believe hardener adds to the luster of the paint. I’m not so certain about that though, because I normally polish to even out orange peel no matter how shallow. I’ve used enamel hardener with sign paint to get it to cure out quicker, so that’s probably it’s main advantage.

Guess I'm late to this one, but I'll chime in anyway. I love my Starrett Machinists Pin Vise set of five varying sized pin vises so you can have all five of them set up with a different diameter drill bit. Comes in handy when you are drilling a pilot hole then drilling up to size, you just set up the appropriate vise and bits and drill away! I've seen cheaper Machinists Pin Vises on eVilbay for a lot cheaper than the Starrett's but the threading on the chucks is not as smooth. My set belonged to my grandfather who got them sometime in the thirties, they look and perform exactly like the newer Starrett Pin Vises do.

That's what I thought too, one time I ordered some enamel paint from Mike at MCW and forgot the hardener. So, I ordered it off of eBay hours later from whomever was selling MCW paint there. Both orders arrived in the same box with a refund on shipping on the MCW order! For what it's worth, Mike /MCW combines shipping on eBay so the shipping ends up a decent deal if you order more than one jar of paint. I believe that MCW charges that much for shipping because they require extra materials to secure the jars in the box to keep them from breaking. I always order enough for several projects from both MCW and Scale Finishes, so I've never really been bummed over the shipping. Both MCW and Scale Finishes might also be getting hit with some Haz-Mat fees as well, which certainly would jack up the price of postage. I don't have a box from either around right now, but I remember the tape used to seal the boxes had some sort of Haz-Mat wording on it.

For one thing the 1948 cut off was set by the early NSRA parameters, if I remember correctly because 1949 marked the "Shoe Box" era with the blended fenders versus the detachable from almost any pre-48 body. Pretty sure that's oversimplifying it. NSRA also declared that post 1949 classified it as a "Street Machine". I pretty much lurk over at the HAMB too, unless you are one who invests time in extended build threads and endless discussions of your build, justifying every nut bolt and widget, you won't be accepted into the "Good Ol' Boys Network". So, I get about as much out of the HAMB by lurking as participating, I really like the vintage drag racing as in restored race cars and the restored Hot Rods RRR - I don't recall you being run off TRAK, most of everything that I've seen you build fits in with our build parameters, pre-1969 and Muscle Cars excluded. There can be some attitude over there too regarding what parts, wheels, engines should be allowed or not. Of late things have been loosening up over there, but we are in no way snobbish to the point of HAMB, (when politics of building enter into things it just becomes a lot less fun). Not to mention that I've always enjoyed your builds and generally learn a bit from each of them.

I have done this before, it's quite interesting what you can do with a file and a small machinist vise. First chuck the tubing in a vise to the desired cut depth, then file it down to the top of the vise jaws. The end result is a parallel depth of cut with little if any need for additional dressing with either a file or sanding stick.

Good catch on the at by the way, it did use some sort of torsion bar set up to hold the front end up (it sort of looks like a dragster type set up). Not sure if they are VW torsion leaves or not. He could have used some of the dragster type torsion bars. I would tend to think that the torsion bars were something that had been modified for use on the car. wouldn't think that it was something that Steve Scott designed and built, unless by trial and error as the spring rates of the torsion springs is kind of over most people's heads to figure out.

That really wasn't the point was it, it is the observation that the Uncertain T was pretty polarizing wherever it is discussed, (not just the HAMB, I've hung around there long enough to get it with them - its historical but in no way Traditional).

Good Grief, can't believe the sniveling and whining about the Uncertain T being found. Guess I hadn't considered just how polarizing the Uncertain T is to a lot of people. Just a read through some of the comments on the HAMB in just this one thread, there are others too with an equal number of haters and those who appreciate the Uncertain T for what it is and was when it first hit the Show Circuit. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-uncertain-t-saga-and-some-facts.1309769/

Likely the reason your metalics are not coming out shiny as you want them to is that they are using some sort of acrylic based lacquer or other acrylic based paint which requires a Clear Coat to bring out their shine. If we were talking non-metalic paints, then you could probably polish it out and then apply a good coat of wax to really bring out that luxurious shine. You didn't mention a paint type or brand, so most of this will be guesswork from all of us until you offer specifics. Everything in the Automotive Paint world is going to environmentally friendly formulation, which means that the Hobby Paints normally follow suit soon after. Unfortunately, most of the pearls, metalics and other flip-flop type paint aren't using real pearls or "metal" as the metalflake, they use a polyester or plastic "chromed" flake, think craft glitter only a lot smaller. So, if you try to polish out the un-cleared "metalflake" you end up cutting a lot of the shiny part off of the flake ending up with a whole lot of clear, white or other base-colored plasticky bits in the color-tinted-clear-coat which look like contamination to the paint or worse. So, to get metalics to get the shine if they don't when they're dry, you'll need to spray on some sort of clear coat which can then be leveled and polished out. Here is an example of what the flake material looks like without the base and tinting, looks like a bag of really finely ground glitter. Metalflake Example from eBay To use the loose flake, you need to come up with some sort of flake duster / buster to spray the flake onto a wet clear. Then spray clear over the flake multiple times to build up enough to level and shoot a final couple of clear coats on top of that, then color sand and polish to bring up to a high sheen. Just a bit of FYI if you really want to get into the whole flake scene - Little Daddy Roth (Ed Roth's son, Dennis) makes a large Bass boat to Low-Rider fine sized flakes in a rattle can, appropriately named "Little Daddy Roth's Rattle Bombs" which usually are a mid-coat over a black, white, silver, gold... base coat. Then the flake is Rattle Bombed over the base and cleared with normally a 2K catalyzed clear. Here's an example of the Little Daddy Roth Rattle Bomb in Gaitor Aid Green Rattle Bomb I've used the Rattle Bombs on a few non-model related projects that came out really amazing - without the cost of a flake duster/buster or any other stuff needed to lay loose flake. So, either that helped you some of just confused you to death, hope it helped!

It's a shame that Car Craft and Rod & Custom magazines are no longer around, it would have been cool to see the articles they might have run on the "discovery". Car Craft could have ran a spread beginning with their first segueing to the present Uncertain T, the story behind its discovery, then being displayed at the Grand National Roadster Show, following up with Galpin having it restored... Yep, that big box is pretty cool, too bad they didn't make it big enough for the "Actual Size" Uncertain T to have come out of it!

Uncertain T Discovered a Holy Grail Watched this "Autopian" YouTube video this morning, it has better close shots of the car, still doesn't get up close and personal with the interior other than the diamond tuft roof panel to match the seats. Shows some carpet on the floor, maybe it had black carpet up the walls, hopefully the same diamond tufting up the walls to the interior roof? Makes me interested to actually see how the original construction was carried out, as well as the overall fit and finish of the interior. The guy that sold the Uncertain T to Galpin has had the car for the entire time after purchasing it from Steve Scott, this video indicates that its location has changed just about every time that a searcher got close to it. The backstory is almost as interesting as the car itself.

The old Go-To method of using some sort of styrene rod to plug the hole has always worked here. I've always used either Evergreen Styrene Rod or stretched sprue to fill those types of holes, I think it goes clear back to the Model Car Science Magazine days where maybe Don Emmons or one of their other contributors demonstrated it in a sidebar to another article. It has also been discussed in both Fine Scale Modeler and SAE as a method to close up holes in styrene and resin. Here's how I normally close up a hole in a styrene part. - 1. Brush liquid glue into the hole. 2. Insert Styrene Rod or Stretched Sprue into hole(s). 3. Allow glue to set. 4. Trim excess flush to the top and bottom surfaces with either an X-Acto knife or sprue cutter - (the flusher the cut off the less overall sanding will need to be done), sand, fill with appropriate filler, sand again, prime, paint... Most of the time very little, if any filler will be needed, if it is required a tiny dab of thick CA glue on top of the filled hole should suffice.

Hey Joe, Welcome aboard! Where in Washington are you located? I'm in Kitsap Co. There are a few others here from the "Rust-Belt" as well.

I was kind of wondering the same, Steve Scott is likely in his eighties, maybe early eighties, that doesn't count out anyone who is motivated to do something from accomplishing their goal. Though not entirely impossible, it might limit securing finances ect. though, which would be a great part in such an undertaking. The Uncertain T is a big deal, it's a significant part of Hot Rod History, it was big enough deal then that NHRA showcased it at the '61 / '62'ish Nationals (in Pomona if I remember correctly). What I was pointing out in regard to build quality is that the U' T really can't be judged by today's standards per se'. There have been huge leaps in welding technology from the 60's until now. Where nearly anyone can grab a TIG welder in a few hours, under the shield of inert gas lay a stack of shiny dimes a mile long with little training or years of practice. That was far from the case welding aluminum back in the early 60's, especially outside an aerospace clean room. (The average guy didn't even know which aluminum alloys were and were not weldable.) So, if Steve Scott did to the welding of the aluminum frame, that in itself is a pretty big deal! If you take a realistic look at the U' T's suspension, you will realize what I was referring to, while it looks amazingly cool, it might not exactly be drivable. Plenty of the show cars of that era were also undriveable, they still look cool, they just aren't drivers. Just look at about all of "Big Daddy" Ed Roth's creations. Even some of Barris' cars were impractical to the point that they may have had difficulties maneuvering a city street, due to extreme lowering and lack of any way to raise them enough to drive... That was just the way some Show Cars were then (and still are), hence the "All Show and No Go" phrase bandied around as a huge slam back then. In an era where performance counted a lot more than looks Show Cars were akin to what the term "Trailer Queen" was to the Fairgrounds Circuit in the 90's, where more respect was given to drivers... Fit and finish, I saw the Uncertain T in its original color at the Portland Roadster Show, (can't remember if it came to Seattle), it had lots of bling, but the crowd never got close enough to really see what the interior finish was like, even in the Car Craft article most of what you saw was black besides the seats and steering wheel. So, I was really wondering just how finished the interior really was? (As are others I've talked to about it over the years.) In the early 60's a whole lot of car shows were "window dressing" giving the illusion to something that maybe wasn't. Sorry if you took my post for ranking on the accomplishment of Steve Scott when he was an 18- or 19-year-old kid. The fact that this car has held and still holds so many of our attentions for so many years after, pretty much sums it up as the Grand Slam that it was and is!

Typically try to use some sort of prying instrument like Ron showed in his post, just make sure whatever you use has a radiused end to it as it is less likely to break both the bodywork and the glass or whatever else you are trying to pry loose. It takes a little pressure but not like prying something loose with a crowbar! Some of those plastic automotive interior levers and pry tools might work pretty well too.

I'm totally with you on that one, doesn't matter what distributor you use if the other end of the wires is hanging around all messy and everything. Now, I have been known to drill the plug wire hole clear through the head into the block, then sorta push or pull the wire in or out to adjust it so it sits just right. Lazy, maybe, easier by a mile, OH Yeah! LoL!!

I have used the good old Purple Pond (Castrol Superclean/Simple Green) method once or twice to remove paint from resin with little or no effect. I watch it and when it the paint is starting to lift then I use a popsicle stick to very lightly scrape the major layers off the part, then switch to a toothbrush until the coating has been removed completely. I also use Simple Green and Superclean to soak the resin in to remove the mold release, so it's a pretty safe method in my book. I believe the real key here is not to soak the resin parts in anything too long, or long enough to experience any adverse effects of the material you are using to release the paint from the surface of the part.

Part of the Uncertain T's mystique if you want to call it that, is the U'T was among the first "well Engineered" Show Cars of its time. Although, if one looks at it from today's Engineering principals it might not be as stellar as it once seemed. Given that the rear end is practically a solid mounted unit, along with short wheelbase and torsion bar front suspension probably all add up to one stiff ride. Most if not all of the pictures that I recall seeing of the U'T are either stationary or only slightly moving, I don't remember ever seeing any pictures of the car at speed on any type of roadway, especially at highway speeds on an LA Freeway. So, that makes me really wonder just how drivable the car really was... The other thing about the original car and articles I've read in Car Craft (and others I can't recall off the top of my head), there never really were any pictures of the fit and finish of the overall car, especially the interior. Sure, they showed the two fiberglass bucket seats, dashboard and a steering wheel and column, but never much more than that. So, what was the fit and finish of the interior, was it just painted black or was there ever any upholstery on the inside, walls and top, etc... Given the quality of welding and that a whole lot of the aluminum welding outside of the aircraft industry was pretty primitive in the early sixties, one has to wonder how great the welding quality was, especially if it were pulled off by an 18- or 19-year-old kid, aspiring to be a mechanical Engineer someday. Glad that Galpin Ford has the car rather now than Mr. Scott as Galpin will take the time and get it right, whatever that was in the first place. Be interesting to hear what Steve Scott has to say the first time he breaks wind about the newly found Uncertain T. I'm really hoping that this is one of those finds that doesn't burst a whole lot of our bubbles, especially those of us who have waited and waited for so long to see this "iconic" Show Rod to see the light of day... all I can say is I hope it was worth the wait! It's really a shame Pat Ganahl wasn't here to see this one get found, this is one of the Lost Hot Rods that eluded him.

For both Lacquer and Two-Part Spot Putties and Glazes I use the following types of either self made or store bought putty tools. (I'm cheap, I guess,) I use old credit cards and gift cards, you can cut them to almost any shape needed to blend, they are flexible so you can push all the air out. White business and index cards work too, stay away from the colored ones as they tend to transfer the color to the putty, I've never had it bleed through but am always worried it will. Small straight Oil Painter's putty knives work well for blending large/wider areas, for me it has to be a really thin, narrow straight blade 2 to 3-1/2 inches long X 1/4" + wide works as long as they are really flexible.

My local Hobby Town USA said the same thing about the Humbrol enamel paints, they thought that it was a lead issue, I know for a fact that U.S. environmental has not allowed any enamel paints containing lead since sometime in the mid to late 80's. So, I would think it would be the volatile solvents that they are worried about. I still dabble in signwriting and pin striping, after they took the lead out of the One-Shot sign paints, then it was all about the volatile solvents causing holes in everything. Hobby Lobby - has been alternating between Tamiya and Mr. Putty white lacquer-based putties, liquid cements same. I switched back to the Red Bondo Brand Lacquer spot putty a while ago when Hobby Lobby started getting the Mr. Putty stuff in as it isn't as good as the Tamiya stuff. Milliput putty has been alternating between the white and green. No explanations you go in one week to find one product and the next it's been replaced by another...