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MrObsessive

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Everything posted by MrObsessive

  1. Thanks for the pics Chris! This is one of my favorites........... I wonder if this is one of the original 52 racers............if it is, they've got rollin' real estate as they're worth BIG $$$$!! That SC Rambler you got pictured above was a little screamer...........it could outrun a stock AMX depending on the gearing! I saved all the Nova pics you posted.........those'll come in handy! Thanks!
  2. Nick the Astra was supposed to be an Ion replacement originally, even though it's an Opel............GM has all but ceded all models to Opel as they ran out of ideas for the original Saturn I guess. When I went to the local auto show there were a couple there, but I was put off by the high price (around $18,000) and the car didn't seem that "loaded" to me. I believe our weak dollar is the culprit behind the high price as they're shipped from Belgium. Word has it that it might be made in Mexico but who knows? Another disappointment is you can't get that cool looking windshield you can get in Europe.........The dealer tells me it's a "liability" issue for the US market. ( ??) One of the neatest features I've seen in a car in years, and the insurance nazis nixed it.
  3. Brian, I got an interesting RX-7 story for you........ Back in the late '80's when I had my '69 AMX, I was cruising around town one summer night after work (I worked at a hospital then on second shift). I was about to cross a bridge (Over the Susquehanna river) in town when a young girl comes up next to me in a first Gen. RX-7 ('79 maybe?). She was revving up the little rotary like she wanted a street match, so I was like "Yeah right!" Anyway, the light turns red and I left her immediately at the light (I had a 390 in my AMX).........after about a 1/4 mile over the bridge, here comes this RX-7 gaining on me! I had it floored it at that point------I don't know how fast we were going across that bridge (120 maybe?) but I could never get more than 2 car lengths ahead of that Mazda!! I won the street match at the end of the bridge, but I had a lot of respect for those tiny rotary's after that! Interestingly, the car didn't seem to be running out of steam so who knows how fast that thing could have gone had we not run out of road to the next red light! Of course today, you couldn't do that because there's so much traffic now...........plus I was in my late 20's then so I'd like to cut 'er loose every once in a while------but that little car really surprised me!
  4. Ahhh yes.............I can remember when they were ALL (save for Honda) rear wheel drive, and they were everywhere during the '70's-'80's. I once owned a '76 Toyota Corolla back in the early '80's and while it was not a fast car by any means, it was definitely tossable as it was RWD with a 4 spd. And I had plenty of legroom without the wheelwells sticking inside the footwells! Ahhh memories!...............
  5. I don't dislike FWD..................I'm just not crazy about the proportions on most of 'em. Must the front wheels be so close to the leading edge of the door making the front end so ungainly looking?? Hey if American designers could once upon a time do this gorgeous FWD design.............. Why are we now saddled with goofy proportions such as this??............. That Avenger could seriously use a good wheelbase alignment! I know styling is subjective..............I just hate the legroom cutting designs of a lot of FWD'rs today.
  6. Amen to that! Now mind you, I drive a FWD (Saturn Ion Coupe)-----but I really wish someone would take the bull by the horns and come out with a fun, affordable, small RWD car! I like the Saturn a lot.............though it makes me wonder what they could do with the Sky's RWD Kappa chassis as far as a fun sporty 2d or 4d model. I'm tired of the goofy, long front overhang styling of way too many FWD cars! Four cylinders notwithstanding, if it's got reasonable power, and has nice proportions/great styling, I'll buy it!
  7. I was wondering about that too Bob! That's the main reason I used different wheels and tires when I built mine as I couldn't stand the kit ones. Another thing that has always bugged me about the boxart models is that they sit up waaaaaaaaaaay too high!! It could stand to be lowered a good 2 or 3 scale inches or so to maybe negate the wheels and tires not quite up to 1:1/1:25 scale in size.
  8. Fellas, fellas, fellas................please don't go and break bulbs or some other such things for parts! You could injure yourself (Or someone else) just for a detail piece?? What I do for throttle detail springs is wrap the tiny strands from coax cable shielding around a #78 drill bit (or whatever looks in scale for what you're working on) and use that. Here's a pic of a Jag D-Type engine I built years ago doing just that for springs........... Here's a coupla more pics I dug up showing the uses for coax wire............look at the throttle return spring in the engine........... ........and a couple more showing how it can be used for brake cable shielding........ The brake cable shielding I used a larger dia. wire to wrap it around, but you get the idea............ You can go to your local Radio Shack (or what have you) and ask for a scrap piece, cut away the insulation and there you have it--------bunches of strands of in scale wire for springs. Wrap it carefully around a drill bit of your choice and you've got a nice spring. ..............And it's mostly for free with no injuries!
  9. Welcome! Your english is great------a lot better than some folks I know! I'm not much of a pro street fan, but that is a very nice and clean build!!
  10. Weeeellll.............I'm just playin' around with the idea right now. ;)I've got super small (I.D. 1/64th") diameter brass tubing and sheet to practice on. I haven't cut open any doors yet nor done any other body work. The '55 Ford has a brand new paint job since I had to redo it.................looks better to me now, especially the roof. But like Izzy, I'm ready to "break out of the mold" and try something different-------I haven't built a street rod before so I'll be askin' a number of questions when I get started on it.
  11. Yup George......you get the extra points! The 330 LMB's had wider tires in the rear than the standard GTO's so Ferrari simply cut out those squares and covered 'em to clear the tires. Y'know for those hard cornering moves? I like how they combined the front end of the Series I GTO but it had the back end of the then new 250 Lusso. (Another one I want someone to kit!) IIRC, they ran with 4 liter V-12's while the regular GTO's (save for a couple) ran with 3 liter's. I've got a ton of photos of that car, as I'd like to build a right hander if someone ever makes a decent kit of it.
  12. Hey, I was right! I LOVE this car! This is a 1963 Ferrari 330 LMB...........one of only 4 made. There was a 5th one, but it was actually a rebodied 250 GTO (no doubt previously crashed) as it was still on the shorter 250 GTO chassis. I hope with the recent spate of new vintage Ferrari kits..........someone will finally see fit to kit this one! Extra points for you guys if you can say why the car has those curious square bulges in the rear fenders. :D
  13. I say................It's gonna snow soon in Puerto Rico!! B) I gotta see you build this one Ismael.............It may push me to try BUILDING my '32 Ford I got not long ago instead of groking it. I must be interested in it as I recently got street rod tires from Norm-----and I've been practicing soldering a piano hinge for it. (Whoops!----Saying too much here.......) Keep us posted!
  14. Ditto that with Saturn! My Ion Coupe was the last model they made with "flexible fiberglass" (Read: Plastic). Everything they make now since they discontinued the Ion last year is all steel. This includes the new Astra which is ostensibly an Ion replacement. (But pricey!! )
  15. Andy, Tapani makes the Saab 96.........He can be contacted at raurata@yahoo.com I haven't seen it, but from what I hear it's very nice!
  16. Yeah, Harold cautioned me about that when I originally got mine from him at the MAMA meeting. So I definitely make sure it goes back in the way it came each time I take a look at it! In fact, I make sure no other model boxes are sitting on TOP of it------I'm that paranoid!
  17. Yup! I've got one of those too along with the original Gunze Kit (Can't part with it! ) and it's one of the best resin kits out there for the money IMO! ............And yes, Harold's one of the nicest guys you'll meet and is VERY knowledgeable about the subject matter he casts particularly with the 1:1's. Don't ask when I'll build mine as I've had it several years now.........it's just as impressive to look at unbuilt as it is built! BTW, you may wanna check out this guy's site. He's got one he's reproducing just like the actual Daytona............Lotsa pics to detail by!
  18. In the now infamous book by Ralph Nader "Unsafe At Any Speed", he relates a story of how a kid who was playing street baseball was trying to catch a pop fly ball------the kid had the misfortune of running right into a 1961 Cadillac tailfin which pierced his heart! '61 and '62 Caddies also had those lower tailfins so you had to watch your shins too! Yours looks like a '60 from your avatar, so yeah.............they can be dangerous as they were just as pointy!
  19. Abe, for out of the box builds I'll break out the various shades of Alclad I have and airbrush the exhausts. Here's the underside of a 'Vette I did recently............... For more detailed builds like my '55 Ford, I bent aluminum rod along with bent thick solder to get the type of exhaust I need............ HTH!
  20. Welcome back to the hobby! You've got some really nice clean builds there! As was mentioned, don't try to learn a bunch of new things all at once! Maybe with each new build try a different technique. I've been building for 30 years and still haven't tried everything yet!
  21. Probably pretty close............IIRC AMC's V8's changed very little through the late '60's into the '70's. The 390 that was in my 1:1 '69 AMX was really a bored out 290 which ran up through to the "big" 401.
  22. I voted real on this one............something not "model like" about it. Just the same, if it is a model.........I wanna know who makes it!!!! That's one of my favorite racing Ferrari's next to the '58 Testarossa, and the series 1 250 GTO! .............and yes, I know the exact year and model Ferrari it is, (how many were made too!) but I won't give it away here. ........
  23. Thanks for the info about the wheels Rob! I just checked 'em out a second ago and they look great! ....................now if I could only find that engine.........
  24. Ismael, you can rest assured that model is glad you rescued it! That is one TERRIFIC job!! Stance, paint, details are perfect! I especially like the T-Top treatment as I always thought the roofline of any T-Top 'Vette looks best when the panels are a contrasting dark smoke color.
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