Codi

Good morning Chris. Wow, that is some update. For those of you following this thread, go back to my last post wherein I stated, "I have better things to do". I feel very bad for Chris (or anyone who goes through such nonsense). I do think something seems odd about Marks replies to Chris. He stated that on Facebook he was "done casting" and burnt out etc. I'm not on Facebook so I wouldn't know either, just like Chris. As a reminder, after Ted Bowe cancelled my original order with Mark after a month of waiting, Mark contacted me within days telling me he'd ship asap if I would just pay via Paypal. Pretty quick to ask for an order & payment from me considering the comments about being "burnt out" etc. on resin casting via Facebook. Doesn't square. Chris, if this helps you out and you can be a little patient with me, I'll ship you the Donovan I got from Mark when I'm finished. If there are pieces I've machined to date that you can use immediately, then I'll ship them off asap. That being the oil pan, girdle, block, valley cover & heads. I'll do the valve covers in the next week or so and could send them as well. The manifold is not the high rise as you're aware. The blower and other components like that you could source from TDR / Shapeways or others as I know you are quite resourceful or if you can wait as I make progress, I can send them as I complete my Donovan. Let me know. My only thought regarding the post by Joe (SfanGoch) is that ANYONE ordering on-line should have and use whenever possible, Paypal. They don't mess around and since they are such a popular payment method, most REPUTABLE vendors won't risk their reputation and or business by such stunts. It's a shame that a mans word isn't what it used to be. The old adage "buyer beware" still holds true today unfortunately. Cheers, Tim

Dave, Brad, Bob and Randy, appreciated. Now if you only could have seen the mental midget (me) at work yesterday. I finished up the drawings for the heads, which aren't too difficult and put the drawings & sequence of procedures on the wall in front of me and started. Step 1, machine the material to the proper dimensions, Step 3, part it off. Oops, forgot step 2. Just made the whole thing a bit more time consuming...........UGH! There are a total of 7 different operations in total to do them by my count so it'll be early next week til they're done now that the weekend is here. Now if I could only figure out how I jumped straight from step 1 to step 3........cheers, tim

Whew, I was starting to wonder when the next update might be coming..................just in time. Fantastic details you're adding and I like the fact you're taking the time to document and share for us how you're doing it and what you're using. I had a big smile when I saw the pic of Albion Alloy tubes on your desk. For those scratch builders looking for a great source for hard to find sizes and materials, check em' out. Sorry Randy for the mini hi-jack. I won't do it again. Can't wait to see the painted car in totality. Cheers, tim

Thanks Dave & Dave.......and Randy too!!! Some days are more productive than others and today was a good one. Got most of the mag done except for the finish and some detailing. cheers, tim Gratuitous pencil shot As you can see it's not assembled yet but I wanted to share a pic next to the resin piece.

Not a problem John. I've got all the parts for it and will be using it on the Falcon. When I have the heads, valve covers, bell housing and trans done for the funny car, I'm going to finish up the Falcon body work so I can work on it over the fall & winter months. I'll then be jumping back and forth between the 2 builds. cheers

An update. After last Thursday (following Chris and John Teresis posts the same day btw) I received late that afternoon an email from Mark Johnson telling me that he sent the engine to the wrong address. Coincidence? He was back in possession of it and re-routing it to my proper address. Keep in mind I sent him 3 emails previously asking for a status of said order that he committed to turning around within 3 days without a reply. Today it showed up. I don't know the status of Chris' orders that he placed 3 years ago, I'll have to let Chris speak to that. I have know idea where the "truth" is concerning this entire matter. But for what its worth, I won't be ordering again from Mark. I'm not convinced that it wasn't the "light of day" being casted (no pun) his way from this thread or even if he is aware of it. It might possibly be due to our claim being filed with Paypal and no vendor wants to get on the bad side of Paypal. Doesn't seem to matter if they annoy / cheat / ignore their actual clients that spend their money, but if Paypal cuts them off, they're done for all intents and purposes. So, you decide. I don't care as I know who I WON'T be ordering from in the future. Got better things to do. Cheers, Tim

Ahhh, Joe....now why would you try to set expectations higher for me........ Dave, thank you for the detailed explanation of how the process works. I'll post a pic today to kind of give an idea of the "madness" that lurks between the ears. Appreciate all of the kind words and interest guys. I had a chance to recently visit with Dave and learned a bunch as usual, but more importantly, had some great chuckles with a class act. He's just a "good guy" in my book. The heads as mentioned are/were next but sometimes we get "sidetracked" right guys?! I had a real interest in trying to make an accurate Cerillo Monster Mag for the car and I saw the thing as a challenge that I just couldn't resist. It will be made with separate halves of the body, the distributor cap and the shaft itself to put it all together. Here's a pic of the real deal. After doing some research, i drew up the different portions of what I have to machine. The body as you can see has a crackle, hemi head type texture. I'm going to media blast that portion before painting (chemically dipping perhaps?) it matt black. The PINK you see high lighted in the pic is a button that I didn't want to forget to drill for. On the mill. This is the upper portion of the body as I call it. I had to put machine a flange in it to replicate the halves of the body. Last pic, you'll see a resin piece that was a reasonable facsimile, but there is detail that I wanted to include that the resin piece just wouldn't do for me. Next I'll machine the bottom half of the body, make the shaft and the distributor cap. For me the cool part was getting the top half of the body done, the rest is fairly straightforward now and I'm confident I can make this piece and can envision what it will look like already. Should be a cool detail for the engine when all is said and done. cheers, tim

I too am a fan of this car and the direction you're taking it. I hope you go "nuts" detailing the engine, that is a great pic you shared of the 1:1. cheers, tim

Chris and John, I TOTALLY concur. The guy is just disreputable. NO one should bother with him or his product. I have already started the process that one must follow with Paypal to get reimbursed. Not sure how else WE can get the message out on MARK JOHNSON, but he really deserves blacklisting. If more people are aware and stop sending him their hard earned money, maybe, just maybe, he'll go away and spare everyone/anyone else the aggravation. Tim

Very slick Cato. cheers

Thanks Chris. I am anxious to get the next couple of parts made, that should really set it off. Took a little time to put the ribs in the block. A small step but gives the Donovan one of its identifier traits. chip, chip, chip..............cheers

Those few pics of the paint Randy look fantastic. I've no doubt this will be stunning when finished. Great job. cheers, tim

Thank you everyone. The heads & valve covers are next and thankfully I get to visit with Dave on Friday as I have some questions on how best to machine them and check his 37' Chevy build as well. It's coming along quickly and is getting nastier looking with each update. I'm also not sure whether to do a Vertex mag or Cirello "Monster". I like the look of the Cirello, we'll see. To answer a few questions: Marlowe, I'm going to make the Donovan "high rise" blower manifold. It's subtly different from the cragar and others but it shows more of the valley cover. Randy, yes. Won't "pin" the valley cover, but everything else will be.....at least all of the bigger bits. Brad, I'm not quite there yet, but I'll just do the oil pan and head gaskets. Cheers, Tim

Chris, I just drilled it out from the other side with a pin vice after it was parted off. Then lightly buffed it with a dremel wire wheel. Today I got the lifter valley cover made. Wanted something a little different so I put the ribs on a 45 degree angle. The 2mm hole you see if for oil fill, I have to make a simple cap for it. Cheers, tim The ribs are 1/64" btw and the piece is .6mm thick.

That's just nuts. In a good way. cheers, tim

This thread put a big ol' smile on MY face. Really like what you did with the kit. Count me too as a fan. tim

Thank you Lloyd and Joe! Chris, I typically use 000 center drill, but I'm going to pick up a 0000 and 00000 too. For this particular step I actually used a very small dremel triangular twist tool that worked perfectly. You're right that the issue is the 1/8" shank size of the center drills would touch & mar the sides of the pan. Nothing like turning it over when done to see if they all came out perfectly. There is no reason that they shouldn't........but............ Cheers

Thanks Brad.....to answer your question, no I won't bother drilling the holes in the block. At this scale, it wouldn't justify the time / effort. I'll put the bolts in the pan as an example, CA glue em' in and nip off the ends. Lastly, I'll sand em' flat / level. by the time I glue the pieces together during final assmbly, I'm comfortable they won't be coming apart. To everyone out there, enjoy the July 4th weekend with your friends and family and celebrate the birth of our nation!! Cheers, Tim

Dave, Brad, Chris, Marlowe and Scott.....thanks a bunch guys!!! Joe, I got nothing on my 13 yr. old daughter when it comes to math............tops in Algebra 2 at her school and I had to go to summer school for algebra 1 AND 2........sheesh. Dave (comp1839).............couldn't have done any of this without you man. I'm glad you approve. So.............I might be getting better at machining but when it comes to predicting time to do a job............well, that's another story. To drill the #77 holes that you see on the pan, I had to drill em' from the bottom of the pan (ie: upside down) To use a center drill would not have worked from the top side as the width of the c/drill would have left marks on the sides of the pan. The flange on the pan is only 1mm. wide. This took a LOT longer than I anticipated but I am going to boast on this one and say I nailed it. They're perfectly spaced and located. And yes, I know.... who is really going to see it right? Still worth the effort and time to me however. So, not much to share but a bunch of holes. Cheers, tim

Cool build on so many levels. Count me a fan too. cheers, tim

I'm not an armor enthusiast other than building some tanks as a kid. I truly like and appreciate what you accomplished on this James. I'd be very proud to call it mine. Congratulations on the build. Tim

I don't want to be rude, but I've got to run out the door for dinner. I wanted to thank each of you that are following and posting. I got the oil pan done except for the 24 bolts to secure it to the block and the oil drain plug. Seems pretty straightforward but it took the better part of the day to get this one made. I'll probably have another 1 to 2 hours drilling the necessary bolt holes. Got the cam hole along with a few others in the front of the block drilled out and notched the block at the head on the passengers side. It's starting to look like an engine now. cheers, tim

For what its worth. I'm working on machining a 417 Donovan in 1/25th. I have great info / specifications to go by but if I can have an "appropriate" example to reference, then I'd like to have it for comparative purposes. So, I placed an order with Ted @ TedsModelingMarketplace for a Mark Johnson, 1/16th scale Donovan. He told me that Mark committed to shipping it within a month. So a month goes by and I email Ted for a status. Teds not happy. He sends me back my Paypal payment PLUS the freight even though nothing was shipped and apologizes to me profusely. A stand-up guy. Within days, I get an email from Mark Johnson himself telling me that he can / will ship within a few days if I make an immediate Paypal payment. So I did. He told me he'd ship it last Monday. I emailed Wed. for an update. Nothing. I emailed him again on Friday. Again, nothing. Sent him a 3rd email on Sunday............and this morning, you guessed it, NOTHING. It's this type of nonsense that gives the resin industry a bad name. I'll go back to Paypal and file a claim to get my money back. Pure aggravation. I don't care how nice his product, or any other casters products might be, whats the point when you go through this? (rhetorical, please don't answer) IF I should get the engine this week I'll be sure to let everyone know. But at this point, be forewarned. I just don't have the patience for people that promise you one thing and then do something else.

Randy, This is without a doubt one of my favorite builds on the forum. Love the subject and to have someone of your abilities tackling it Randy, well, lets just say it doesn't get any better does it. (rhetorical) That is some time consuming, patience testing linkage assembly but you've pulled it off magnificently. I too have a set of the HRM carbs and can attest to their quality. Haven't used them yet, but you'll be pleased I think even though I've not seen the Shapeway's pieces. Cheers, tim

Ray, you might setup a shop vac and point the nozzle close to your work piece while your machining. It will help keep the mess down and make clean up much easier for you while drawing air across the work piece which has some additional benefit. I took that tip immediately from Dave and have used it ever since. cheers, tim