futurattraction

You're doing stellar work on this, Joe. Keep it up. Headers/turbos and wheelie bar setup both look great!

Cool! Keep it comin' Chris!

Cool! Thanks for the update Leonard. I'm looking forward to more!

It takes a lot of nerve to take that step, Jeff, but I completely think you did the right thing, and it appears you pulled it off without a hitch. Great job, buddy!

Your headers look great so far Joe. The welds are very realistic looking and your Alclad is equally nice.

Wow! Thast is a great lot of work you've done, there, Chris. I'm sure it will be really helpful to a bunch of us.

That'd be great, Bill. I should be able to do a decent job of scaling/eyeballing the other details on the Weiand cover. Thanks!

Is the 1:1 front cover pic you have in the earlier posting yours, or a pic of someone else's? If I could get some accurate dimensions, I might try drawing it up and including it in an upcoming PE order, just to see how it turns out.

Hey Bill, Is this something you think would work as a photo etched piece? Looking at the picture in entry #4 looks like it might be do-able. It might require two separate pieces of PE, stacked together, to get enough 3-D and add more realism to it. Of course, there needs to be enough demand for it to make it cost-effective, too... Just a thought.

Awesome, Dave. Looks like if you poured some VP in the tank, and put plugs, lines and wires on it, you could start it.

Super job, Tyrone. It's looking really great...and I like what you did with your simulated welds on the wheelie bars. Way to go, bro!

You're doing a first-class job on your rework of this body, Darren. I'll look forward to more update...

Thanks Darryl. I've always admired the work you do, so I'm thrilled that you're interested in getting ahold of some of my stuff when you're ready...

Awesome work, Steve. You've done an incredible job on your car... I'll look forward to your updates!

OK. Onward and upward... I made some progress with my revised tubing/tinwork pieces for the front end of the car. I ended up fabbing my new tinwork out of styrene rather than aluminum sheet like I did my first ones. There is not a lot of contact area between the back side of the panels and tubing, so was having some difficulty with the dissimilar materials holding very well. It seems like the all-styrene setup is considerably stronger. Maybe it is just me... Because the two sections of panels were pieced, I am in the process of blending them together so they appear integral. The panels are now slotted for header clearance. More tweaking of the openings will be necessary. In the first pic, you can see small locator nubs on the outboard side of the frame that will locate the lower PE A-arm tabs. I’ve got a mockup Fairmont going that I have been using as a test mule to see how well parts are working before adding them to my real build. It is that test mockup car that helped me catch the front end issues before they got further along. I used my mockup car to establish where the header cutouts go. When I originally discovered the front panel problems, I initially drilled new holes inboard of the old ones in the firewall, then decided that wouldn't do because the intersect points of the upper strut tube and A-pillar bar wouldn't match. That is what prompted me to re-do the panels. Then, of course, I had to go back and plug and fill the unused holes, as seen by the glazing putty. I need to piece a small section of panel in at the lower firewall to fill the gaps that are still present. They probably wouldn't even be there on a 1:1, but they will add strength in this case. Something I have been intending to do is open up the trunk. The resin is very thick in the upper trunk lid area to avoid a major undercut in the mold plug. While I got the trunk out, it wasn’t as clean of a removal as I ideally would have liked. Still, it will be fine by the time it is all finished. Got a ways to go, but here’s a start! This build will have dual pumps, and duel braided line, with each carb supplied by one pump/line. “Floating” frame rail extensions will come through from the kick up over the rear end. I intend to mount the pumps on the passenger side frame rail. I have drawn up lightened PE frame rail supports that will tie the rails and trunk floor together and strengthen both.

Thanks for your kind words and interest, Steve. They're both much appreciated. Jeff - There are times I feel a bit overwhelmed with this. For one thing, the duration of this project is getting well up in years. It's a wonder it doesn't have any gray hair yet, LOL. I try to mix a few things in to give me a bit of variety, but I still feel driven to keep after this as much as possible. I truly appreciate your sharing your thoughts about the whole "pleasing others" and burnout. They have definitely made their presence known on this project...

Super stuff going on here, Jeff. It's looking absolutely killer...

I totally agree...

Bill - Ed is still casting. As Tom said, he doesn't have an active website but is still taking orders. He does my Fairmont castings for me and does a great job.

For not having done many of them before, you've got a nice assortment of them and they're very clean looking builds, Dave... Nice job!

Thanks Chris. To answer your question from your thread, I was able to view the file you sent me, but so far I haven't been able to open it in my program. BTW, I have seen you do so much rework on your car, that I feel that I need (and should!) correct things as much as possible to reflect how it really needs to be done. I don't have a specific 1:1 I'm building toward, as you are, but your patience and diligence toward "doing it right" has definitely played a part in how I'm trying to treat this build. For that, I thank you...

Brett and Dave – I’ve thought about what you said and I think you are correct. I was spending too much time trying to make this an “all things to all people” kind of deal. I need to restrict my build (and design considerations) more to reflect one perspective and trust that others will adapt it to fit their own personal goals. Thanks for the wakeup call. I was on the verge of tying myself up in knots. LOL I’ve not made much progress on this, this week. I do have a shot of an original resin version of the original with a comparative shot of the revised panel, which I haven’t molded and cast yet. You can see a bit of a difference in the angle of the fore side of the panel. This will permit a bit more radiator setback and more accurate placement of the radiator/shroud I hope to use. Radiator setback will also generate a bit more radiator to hood clearance since the frame rails slope downward as the rails move rearward. A miniscule update showing what a strut looks like with the spring and retainer added. I ran across some very fine stranded cable from RB Motion that I’m using for braided brake line hose. Looks like I need to get my tweezers out to defuzz my spring! Thank goodness for macro lens. LOL Next step is get the new tubing/tinwork molded and cast, then I can get back to making some real progress on the front end.

Each of those are pieces are works of art, Dave. Outstanding job, my friend...

Hey Dan, I guess I'll say I'm sneaking up on it. It's not going as fast as I'd like, but I'm making progress. Too many fingers in too many pies...

Thanks Darren. Yes, I ship outside the States. USPS has raised prices but I will ship. Just get in touch with me when you want to order and I'll figure out shipping. I haven't gotten the international shipping thing figured out on Paypal yet... LOL