Tom Geiger

Ooooh! I like that a whole lot! ? I’m watching!

If you are looking for specific items, ask here on the board. Someone will be able to point you in the right direction. If it’s resin or 3D printed you can order. If people recommend parts from kits, you can buy that kit.. there are low cost sources like Hobby Lobby 40% off sale, or eBay. There are also guys selling individual parts on eBay. And you can always post in the Wanted section of this board. Either trade or some of us will simply mail you the parts to help your project along.

Hey, I guess it’s time for a mid year report! I have failed miserably on my January forecast. None of the pictured projects have progressed. But from my 4/9 report I’ve quoted above… The Valiant Speedster shown in white primer is finished. This Datsun pickup was nearly finished but sitting in the shop. So I completed it. And this rebuilder slipped into the production schedule and was completed today. The Studebaker Speedster is still front and center on the bench and needs to be finished for the end of this month. Beyond that is anyone’s guess!

With Jeff Bezos?

Beware of “the rack is full” at HL.. seems clueless clerks will move other colors into the empty spots. At least ‘round here!

One last post.. New engine in place. The beauty of having multiple parts kits! The existing one had everything glued crooked. Engine is wired though tough to see now in photos. I didn’t take any pics of it before installing. On this Hemi, the plugs are under covers, so I drilled a decent size hole in the back of the valve cover and fed wires into it. I’ll do this next time I use this engine in something visible like a street rod. The two carb manifold came from the parts box and carbs from the Fireball 500 kit.. not used in that kit but still on the tree from the Barracuda days. I drilled the barrels so they’re not exactly straight! ? The front bumper is an old roll bar that was missing an end. It’s always been in the way in the parts box and I nearly chucked it a couple of times! A lesson there! Exhaust complete! I used kit exhaust, but instead of having it go all the way to the back I did the fluted side exit I’ve done on a few other vehicles. I accomplished this by cutting up and drilling / pinning together bits from kit exhaust. The ends are actually injector horns from the engine. I usually pin everything and every time I try to short cut I get bit! The exhaust manifolds on the engine I junked were on there sooo tight I just glued them onto the new engine. Yup! As soon as engine was glued (and pinned) in place and I tried to attach exhaust from underneath, they popped right off! So then I got to not only drill and add pins (like I should’ve in the beginning) I got to fish them into place from down under! And this shot was actually to see if I liked the bumper prior to gluing.. just pinned on here. After this I added mirrors, antenna, gas cap and a few other bits.. and it’s finished! In it’s Under Glass thread: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/162877-53-ford-pickup-new-lease-on-life-is-finished/ Thanks for following along!

Super job on that seat Mike!

What’d I win? ??

Lest not forget our humble beginnings… I had this poor old pickup in my 1950s Ford Pickup parts box. Built by some kid somewhere back in history, I don’t even remember how I came into it. It would have been easy to just toss it since I have a whole box full of this kit.. It wound up sitting on top of my model room TV where it would call my name! So I started playing and you know where it went! And she rolled off the workbench this morning! Part of this build was to have a no pressure build, and to retain some of the character the original builder put into it. Thus we kept it Desoto Hemi powered and left the hood scoop intact. We even kept the original grille the kid painted the center logo red so maybe he’d recognize it someday. The original brush paint blue yielded two more colors under it as we wet sanded it flat. That worked for our vision. The front bumper with 4 fog lights was an old broken roll bar from the parts box. We left the rear roll pan the way it was and added Pennsylvania license “REFRESH” as appropriate. We added Caddy bullet tail lights from our parts box. We did dry brush some wood grain in the box. Tool box has been banging around my workbench looking for a project. Wheels and tires came from our vast parts collection. We went to reuse the original gas cap and noticed the kid accidentally used the back side of the alternator, so we used the custom one from the kit. The truck had no suspension at all so we hit the 53 Ford parts box for all new stuff. The back end of chassis has been hacked up, so we cut the back end from a new chassis and pinned it together. Important to note that the front chassis and body are permanently fused together with an enthusiastic amount of glue so we left it together. We made the side exhaust from kit supplied parts. Desoto Hemi was all glued to death crooked, so we grabbed a new one from the parts bin. The engine is wired, though you can hardly see the work. Manifold and carbs again from the parts box. Interior was originally assembled without any paint. Since it’s stuck in there, we did the ship in a bottle thing and did work through the windows. Steering wheel got painted. Dash got a gauge label and detail painting. The seat got a printed paper cover glued in place. And the money shot! She fits right into the 53-56 pickup collection. This was a fun no pressure build.. anything I did would be an improvement! At times a bit frustrating and with the limitations it’s not perfect, but I’m glad to have it on the shelf!

MODEL CAR KITS

More Taxi pic! Mostly from old postcards..

I understand that Ray! Right now my sister is on her way from NJ to Texas to visit her only granddaughter. She's a year old and this will be the second time she's seen her! In the meantime, put all the models up and out of the way! Last time my granddaughters arrived the eldest went right for the row of models on our wall unit! They were moved up to the work room until they left!

Nice build! I think the black on hood and roof look fine. Kind of a satin look.

Looks promising! Can’t wait to see more!

Love it! I have three granddaughters three and under. When one looks up at me and says, “Papa!” You just melt!

Enuf WOF already

Interesting build! I also noticed that the news coverage of the current conflict shows Chevy ambulances.

And I don’t buy the food there! Once I bought a can of cashews and they were old and stale.. Gummi bears ? hard as a rock! If you do go to buy kits, also look for Duplicolor paint.. hardware dept, or sometimes just on a rack out in an aisle.

When I was in Demo Derby at Wall Stadium in NJ years ago the rules specified. “No station wagons, no Chrysler Imperials” I was behind this one today:

From this week’s flyer. I’m glad they were specific!

Riding a pickle

Who complain loudly

Ya know…. There is no one product I’ve been pleased with more than BMF. I’ve been a user for over 30 years and have yet to have a real issue. I can suggest that the product has changed over the years.. I suspect that BMF company buys it in bulk from a manufacturer and cuts / packages it. Thus they have to rock with it. It was much more versatile in the old days. I’ve never had BMF not stick. If anything as it ages, it adheres more to its backing or your model. I have models 30 years old where none of it has ever come off, so the “clear coat if before it comes off” is bunk. I’ve found that when it ages, it wrinkles more and it cannot be removed from the carrier sheet without breaking up. That’s when I will toss a sheet. There’s a lot of user error that people whine about. Mostly people who try to economize by cutting pieces to exactly fit their use, touch the glue and lift and reset multiple times.

Cool! even with a new kit coming, there is some historic justice to restoring the original car. Even if you waited and restored it with parts from the new issue I’d do it.

Kwap Ray! I buy those Dusters for the chassis to use under old Valiants! It would cost me 55 cents to send ya a spoiler! ?