astroracer

Harry, The clear coat will need to be stripped off before you can do any polishing. The real problem here is the clear coat gets a chip or cut in it and that lets the air and water react with the aluminum. Once the oxidation starts it just worms it's way under the clear coat and bites deep into the aluminum. Once you get the wheels stripped and re-polished I would be very hesitant to re-coat them. All you are doing is setting yourself up for the same issues as soon as the rims get a stone chip. Leaving them bare is more work but at least you can keep them polished. Go to Eastwood's site and look at their polishing kits. I have used their kits for years and they provide everything you need to get this job done. The only way to fix this is to sand the corrosion out with 180 grit paper. Once you have most of the damage removed you can start working your way up through the grits from the 180. Use WD40 as a lube and wet/dry 220, 400, 600, 1000 finish up with 2000 and the rims will be ready for a high polish with red and white rouge. This IS a lot of work but it's cheaper then new wheels if Ford can't do anything for you. Mark

Can you post a picture? I just finished completely re-polishing a brand new set of American Racing aluminum rally wheels I bought for my truck. Sanded out with 2000 grit and WD40 then buffed with red and white rouge, a Meguires polishing cone and White Diamond metal polish. Lots of elbow grease but they look like chrome now. http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4da33b3127ccef58d8a24aeaf00000030O00BaNmrFmyYtQe3nw0/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00501231564020140412204800442.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/ Mark

Soaking does nothing to remove any release agent. Scrubbing with a toothbrush will get into the nooks and crannies to clean them out. To scuff the surface you are better off to use a small piece of ScotchBrite pad to do your washing and scrubbing. Using the ScotchBrite will have the surface scuffed and ready for paint after the first cleaning. Try it. Mark

Hey Dennis, I sent you another PM. I am in Michigan too... Mark

Block of pine and pins or short pieces of brass tubing. I built a jig to solder the front suspension for a '37 Ford. I drilled the required locations out with a 1/16th drill and then pressed 1/16th brass tubing into the holes. Worked well. Mark

Okay, understandable. B&M Hydro Stick makes a difference. B&M Hydro simply sounded like he was looking for an auto trans to me. And ANY auto trans would work in that situation as long as the shape was correct. It's very difficult to know how much actual "car" knowledge a model car builder has, so interpreting questions is a krap shoot. Mark

Powerglide? TH350? TH400? Back in the "day" a B&M transmission was a stock transmission rebuilt by B&M with new internal parts. ANY Powerglide, TH350 or TH400 trans will work if you paint it black and put a B&M decal on it. Mark

Ken, Nice crisp workmanship but can I mention a couple of issues I see with your rear suspension? The upper bars really need to go to the top of the axle housing. This is a pic of a housing I built for an Astro van. You can see the upper and lower brackets. Another pic from the front. The upper bars are inset from the lowers, you can do that. This controls the axle wrap and keeps the rear end from spinning backward. The way the bars are installed now the axle will fall backward (as the pinion rises) under power. And yes, I realize this is a model but I feel if it is going to be done, it should be done as correctly as possible. A four link suspension does not need a torque tube (the long tube you have running from the center section to the back of the subframe). Many two and three links will use a torque tube but the four link has no need as the upper and lower bars control axle wrap. Scratch this stuff below... I see you have the panhard in there.... I was blinded by the upper bars and didn't see the whole picture... The four link WILL need a panhard, or track bar, to keep the suspension centered under the car during cornering. You can see a panhard bar in this pic of the 3D design I did for the suspension in my van. The panhard bar runs cross car behind the diff. The left end attaches to brackets on the rearend and the right side bolts to frame brackets. I hope to not upset you. I just want to help you build an accurate model. Mark

This is called "tubbing" or "back-halving". Do a search. There are a lot of how to's out there. This can be done by "kit-bashing", adding the back half of another kit, or scratch building the components you need. Google "Chris Alston" this is a company that supplies the 1:1 builders with these components. There is a nice tutorial on that site that walks you through back halving an early Mustang. The process is the same for any vehicle. Mark

And AGAIN... There is absolutely NO reason to soak these parts in ANYTHING overnight!!! All that is needed is a good washing and scrubbing with TSP and hot water. I don't like to use the "cleaners" because there are other additives that are not needed to clean a model car body for painting... Use a ScotchBrite pad to scrub the model while cleaning. And keep it oil free while painting. Once there is a coat of primer I use automotive wax and grease removers to clean prior to spraying paint. Mark

Aaron, do a search on the site. There are at least 4 different threads going on this subject. I and a few others have posted in most of them. There is a lot to learn by reading the current threads and not having to re-hash everything in a new one. If you have any questions post them in the existing threads. Mark

Nice job on the rims! I used to make that stuff all the time. I can help also if you have any questions. For your work bench, if I could make a suggestion, keep an eye open for kitchen cabinets on clearance at the big box stores. These make great storage cabinets and can be found cheap. I picked up a few at Home Depot a couple of years ago for just a few dollars each... These were the white melamine "put together" cabinets but they work great for building a nice modeling/hobby bench. Mark

Sorry, but I wouldn't touch that with a 10' pole... It is basically a toy and you will have a difficult time finding tooling for it. If you really want to get into the machining aspect of modeling save your money and get something that is more stable and will use available tooling. Look at Smithy, Grizzly, Jet or Enco for available machines. You will be spending more money but at least it is money well spent and you won't be wasting your time with a toy. Mark

I have a Smithy lathe/mill combo I ran ALL of my products on for 13 years. It is 22 yrs. old now and still going strong so I can attest they do last. Mark

Radio Shack has it on their website. I can't post the link put it will Google just fine. Mark

Put it back to the three wire, the way it should be, and the charging system will be MUCH happier... Mark

Stan is right. I don't want to dis your build but it is not correct. The turbo runs off the exhaust and the way you have it plumbed it will do nothing. Do a search on Nelson Racing Engines. You will find all kinds of reference pics. The headers need to route into the turbine side like Stan said. That is the side you currently have plumbed into the firewall. The compressor side of the turbo will go thru the firewall into your intercooler box and then back out, into the air box on top. The outlet for the exhaust should run out the front fenders or back under the car.. Just trying to help. Mark

I posted this in the Household materials thread. Look at the textured lids off Yogurt, butter, Peanuts, what have you, in the grocery store. They are a thin foil and have the texture embossed right into them. I just opened a can of mixed nuts last night and that lid is about 5 inches in diameter and has a "button tuft" pattern. I'll get a pic tonight. This stuff glues down easily with Tacky Glue. Mark

Harry, the shift knob is a "skull"... Any of my friends with real cars and shifters like that don't even grab the "knob" to shift. They grab the lever about half way up. Mark

You guys are making this much more difficult then it really is. Adhesion promoters are not necessary... If the parts are clean, oil free and well sanded the base primer will have plenty of adhesion. The plastic has to be sanded to provide a tooth for the primer to adhere to. I use Grey ScotchBrite pads pretty much exclusively for this initial sanding. They work much better then sand paper at getting into the little nooks and crannies presented by the small parts. Like I said in my first post, if you use the ScotchBrite to wash and scrub the body it will be nearly ready for primer after it's dry. This applies to kit as well as resin bodies. Mark

Again, there is no need to "soak" the resin in anything before prepping for paint. This was discussed here a couple of years ago. Soaking in Bleche White does NOTHING to help clean or prep the part for finishing. I have NEVER done this and have never had an issue with paint adhesion... The BEST thing you can do is get a box of TSP (tri-sodium-phosphate) at your local hardware and wash/scrub the body, inside and out, with hot water and a bit of the TSP. The TSP will remove all of the silicone residue from the molding process and, if you use a ScotchBrite pad to wash/scrub the body, it will be just about ready for primer when it is fully dry. Use a good automotive grey primer like Plasti-Kote or Duplicolor and you should be fine. Keeping the parts clean and oil free after washing and sanding is key. Do not handle the parts with your bare hands before painting. I use the same prep for molded kit parts. There is no difference. Mark

I would be interested to see what the ingredients are for your "knock-off" Silly Putty. I know the real one uses a silicone oil mixed with the borax. Washing will help but this is the last thing I would use to mask off a paint job. Painting full size cars in my shop, any silicone product is banned from the area. Washing the parts with hot water and TSP will neutralize the silicone but this is something I would never consider or condone as a masking solution. Mark

Ahh, guys.... Silly Putty is full of silicone. It is made with a silicone oil. Silicone is something you do NOT want to get on a surface you are going to paint. Silicone will cause fisheyes and all other sorts of issues with a paint job.... This is Not a good idea. Mark

I posted in another thread about using nail polish. I use it all the time. Do a search and you should find it. Mark

It's not much on small pieces but wheel bases and actual body sizes will be noticable. A 1:1 wheelbase of 110", in 1/25 scale, would be 4.4". In 1/28th it would be 3.93 That's almost a half inch difference in scale size. Very noticable... Mark