LDO

Send your insurance agent's kids to college.

Especially the engine. I'm hoping the cylinders (fins) look better than their 1/12 scale chopper engine.

What pickup cab are you using? BTW why not a supercharged Duesenberg straight-8 under the cab? Auburn/Cord/Duesenberg were all under the same roof (more or less. Art Anderson could certainly give you more information). That Duesenberg made 320hp on the street in 1932. A factory hot rod made 400hp. IMHO, a good engine for pulling all that truck with a car on the back.

My link and My link

There are at least 2 Ardun conversions on the market already. out there. One is in the Revell/Monogram '50 Ford pickup. Another is by Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland. They also have a S.C.o.T. blower to go with it. Replicas and Miniatures also offer several different log-type manifolds. Not trying to rain on your parade, but there's not much point in reinventing the wheel. Especially when you're competing against Norm at Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland.

At the LHS, in the "Gently Used" kit section. Complete, unbuilt. $30. Heck yeah, man! All kinds of possibilities. 1/8 scale hot rod COE. Pulling tractor! Heck yeah! Copy that turbo and put compound turbos on it!

Note the wife, who's wondering "You spent HOW MUCH for an old car?!"

There are also tanks in 1/25. I know of a British Centurion (Korean War era) and several Geraman WWII tanks, along with a Russian WWII tank or two. I don't know of anything more modern than the Centurion, but there could well be something out there. If you go up to a 1/16 scale rig, there are lots of choices there for tanks, also. The price goes up a LOT, though. I would love to have Tamiya's 1/16 Leopard 2A6, but at 900 bucks, it will have to wait. As far as pullers go, (let me put on my flame suit) I think it would be better to just get several kits with the engine you like. You can get good deals on auction websites, and the kit will have lots of parts for your spares stash. There are several pullers using Allison V-12s. I've seen AMT Parts Pack V-12s on ebay recently at good prices. There is (or was) a puller in Europe that used 4 Allisons. There are also pullers that use the Rolls-Royce Merlin. That's available in Airfix's 1/24 P-51 Mustang. Airfix's Spitfire and Hurricane may have Merlins. I'm not sure. I've seen pullers with Rolls-Royce Griffons, but there are no 1/24 Griffons available. Even info is hard to find on that one. Some pullers use Radial aircraft engines. The only affordable radial I know of in 1/24 is the BMW from Airfix's FW-190. Pretty far-fetched, though, as those things are rare as hen's teeth in the real world and no one would use one in a puller. If you're going for a "what-if", though, it would be a cool model. There is a 1/24 P-47 kit with an R-2800. That could be a puller engine, but the kit is expensive. Maybe someone will come along and offer a better engine in resin. You could go bananas and get a punch and die set to make your own cooling cylinders for a radial. A puller with a 4360 would be WILD.

Gosh what a beautiful engine All 198 pics http://public.fotki.com/TunnelRammedBigBlock/lone-star-roundup-2011/

This looks like a smokin' deal: http://cgi.ebay.com/Taig-Tools-1017-2-Lathe-Package-2-/320678089911?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa9e754b7 And it's brand new. No worries about getting someone else's problems. I've bought from this company, too.

Find a good deal on a used Sherline or Taig. Seriously- I'm not trying to sound like a jerk, but in addition to the incredibly difficult task of building a machine tool that will hold reasonable tolerances...even for static models...anything you make will have to have one-off, custom made accessories. Sherline and Taig have all kinds of accessories from the factory and from aftermarket suppliers, along with kits and plans on building your own accessories.

Too much talk, not enough pipes! BRM H-16 Matra V-12 Kohler 2-stroke flat 6. I wish I knew more.

You have to make an entirely new hood. Look at the hood from above. The sides taper toward the front. Your grille shell and cowl (ends of the hood) are now farther apart. The angle of the taper will have to change. I've only done that once, and in 1/8 scale. I hammered a new hood from copper. Here it is next to the original. It's sitting on the sheet or cold-rolled steel that I used for an anvil and next to the repousee hammer I used to form it. I went by advive from Gerald Wingrove's "The Complete Car Modeller" volumes 1 and 2.

Wow. Lots of good advice. I may have to try a couple of different sources. Thank you.

Not consistent enough. There will be 92 of them very close together. I don't want any lop-sided bolt heads or differences in height.

Yeah but I still want zoomies on my Packard straight-8. Inefficient or not.

It's a 1/8 scale project.

Looking for something about .040"-.050" across. I don't want to pay for metal. I'll need 100 minimum. Where can I find something like that?

THAT is cool. Will you display it with the front wheels in the air?

It's worth whatever someone is willing to pay. Period. There is no "standard rate". Gerald Wingrove probably gets a bit more than someone who's starting with a plastic kit. Throw a price out there for your Corolla owner. If they agree, that's what it's worth. You may find that your idea of what your time is worth is different than what your friend thinks your time is worth.

And the rest of the kit could be unloaded on eBay as a curbside. Oh yeah. It's a shame the real car costs so much. I don't think would ever be done in real life.

This issue comes up every once in a while and always stirs up controversy. Lee

Rear transaxle? Oh heck yeah. That's going into a Deuce at some point.