CadillacPat

Here is the first installment of my CadillacPat's DieCast Customizing Tutorials. This First part deals with Disassembly and Reassembly. I see a lot of interest on the board here and have received numerous requests for how I modify 1/64 scale DieCast. So, here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "Disassembly and Reassembly" This is one of several parts of an overall Customizing Tutorial. These "CadillacPat Customizing Tutorials" deal mainly with HotWheels, MatchBox and Jada Castings. Jada castings actually screw together. All these physical steps can also be used with Customizing Johnny Lightnings and other brands, keeping in mind that JL rivet posts are of a smaller diameter size than HW or MBox. Here's how I Disassemble and Reassemble my Customs with Rivets. Some guy somewhere mentioned that there are 50 different ways to do a job successfully. Well, that's completely and exactly wrong. There may be 50 different ways to screw a job up, that sounds more accurate, but these techniques that I invented and have posted and shared all over the Internet, will always assure you of perfect professional results. Using a hand drill and simply eyeing things up is faster and even more accurate than setting up a Drill Press. Necessary Tools: Variable Speed Hand drill, 3/16" Pilot Point bit, 3/32" Titanium Split Point drill bit, 1/16” Titanium Split Point drill bit After trying a variety of sizes of bits for removing the mushroom cap on existing factory rivets, I find the 3/16" Split Point Bit to be the perfect size for this task. Dewalt bits are the best. Don't think of the first part of this job as "drilling". There's very little pressure involved in the spinning or shaving off of this thin splayed out mushroom cap of factory shaped rivets. You need to envision this procedure as you would imagine using an Xacto knife. It’s a precise task that needs to be done with care. You don't want to compromise the base, but instead, surgically remove only the rivet's mushroom cap. I start with cutting a short portion off of the solid end of the 3/16" Pilot Point bit using a Cutoff Wheel and a Rotary Tool, or a Jewelers Saw, in order to shorten the length of the bit. Make sure to leave just enough of the solid end of the bit for the chuck to grasp when seated completely into the drill. Shortening the length of the bit will make it easier to eye up in relation to the rivet cap. You don’t have to shorten the bit, so if you don’t have a CutOff Wheel and Rotary Tool, or a Jewelers Saw just skip that step. Shortening the bit will make the job easier but isn’t entirely necessary. Okay, you have the bit tightly seated in the drill. Grab one end of the casting and rest the opposite end against the edge of your workbench. You may want to drape a folded towel over the edge of your table so not to mar the windshield of the casting as it rests upside down against the table. Put the center of your bit in the dimple in the factory rivet and apply just enough pressure to keep the drill bit firmly against the rivet. Line your bit up perpendicular to the face of the rivet at a 0 degree angle. Now, drill slowly, using short light squeezes of the trigger and keep an eye on the metal peeling back from the rivet. The soft metal will curl back just like peeling an apple. When you see the thin edge of the mushroom cap disappear, exposing the underlying base of your casting, you've gone as far as you want to go. More than likely you will not drill in an exact perpendicular (0 degree) angle every time so you will have to lean your bit a degree or so in the other direction to peel away any remaining portions of the rivet cap. This is all very easy to see but you must not drill too fast. Hence the necessity of a Variable Speed Hand drill. You DO NOT WANT to drill further through the splayed out edge of the mushroom cap and into the base of the casting. You simply want to expose the base by removing only the spread out portion of the mushroom cap. That's all there is to it. Now you will need a small thin flat screwdriver or pick to slip in between the wheel and fender and pry the base away from the body. Gently work from one side of the casting to the other so you don't bend axles. If one end comes loose more easily than the other you can use a medium flathead screwdriver slipped in between the base and interior to pry the other end loose. I’ve gone into great detail to explain what are very short steps in real time. That’s why I say there are ways to do things and then there are the Best ways to do things. What I’ve described here will do the job of Disassembly without destroying the base. DRILLING or TAPPING the RIVET POST: Use a good Titanium 3/32" bit, (Walmart about $2). Put any kind of oil (I use WD-40), just a few drops, into a small bottle cap and dip the tip of the bit into this beforehand each time you drill. You may even use vegetable oil. The oil will lubricate the bit and prevent it from loading up with molten metal as it drills into the rivet post. Some Rivet posts will be so long that you will have no concern about drilling too far and into the body. Other posts will be so short that drilling depth will become of great concern. You may want to check out my upcoming "Drill Bit Collar" post to ensure that you have no problems. Okay, hold your casting in the same fashion as mentioned above and again drill at a perpendicular angle straight into the center of the end of the Rivet post. Drill to the desired depth and check fit with one of your replacement Rivets. I check for fit after every 3/32" hole if I'm doing 1 car or 500. It's better to make sure now than after you get a nice paintjob on that sucker. After you've drilled out your Rivet post you will notice how the end of the post has spread out with a sharp edge due to the pressure and heat of the drilling, resembling the large end of a Trumpet. This increase in diameter of the end of the Rivet post will make it difficult for the base to slip back onto it. You can take a small file and file away the excess or use a grinding stone or high speed cutter to smooth off the end of the Rivet post. Here’s a picture, REPLACEMENT RIVETS: The Rivets you'll be using are All Aluminum 3/32" Pop Rivets with a set end of 3/16" to 1/4". Fastenal carries them online or your local NAPA dealer will order them for you. I sold them on the Internet at one time but after going through a box of 20,000 prices increased and I just buy them by the 500 or 1000 box from Fastenal. You may discover that the Rivet posts in Johnny Lightnings are of a smaller diameter and cannot be drilled out for 3/32" Pop Rivets. It's been a long time since I've disassembled a JL so let me suggest the use of small screws and washers. Your drill bit size would be a 1/16" bit and your screws would be 2-56 or 1-56 self tapping sheet metal type. You can find small screws like these at Ace Electronics stores. For any of your Customs, HW’s, MBox, etc., if you don’t want to use Rivets you can just drill the Rivet Post with the same 1/16” bit and use the screws described above. If you choose this method you may need matching tiny washers to go with the screws. I prefer the factory look of Rivets. For additional info on Drilling out your Rivet Posts see my upcoming "Drill Bit Collar" post. Here's an extra procedure I'd like to suggest to improve your Customs. Body Prep is everything. Body Prep, Body Prep, Body Prep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When you remove the casting from the base, inspect all the inside edges very carefully for flash or metal buildup. Some castings do not fit well around the bumpers because of excess metal that remains during the molding process. Use a medium file to remove this excess and your castings will slip back onto their base nice and flush with a well finished and realistic look. Here’s a picture, While you're there go ahead and file smooth the wheel well openings and inside window openings for a very professional finish. Everywhere that you use your file should be sanded with 220 or 320 grit sandpaper. Go the extra distance, produce a better Custom. More about removing flash in my upcoming Body Prep Tutorial. RIVET GUNS: I purchased an excellent Rivet Gun from Grainger Tools for $38. It comes with tapered tips. Big Lots sometimes carries a Rivet Gun for $4. Your Rivet Gun will need to come with a tip that accepts these 3/32” rivets. Wherever you buy your Rivet Gun you will need to file the tip into a taper so that it will not be obstructed by any raised portions of the base. Just file the tip into a point that matches up with the face of the replacement Rivet. As I said, some Rivet guns will come with this already tapered tip. Here's the ordering information to obtain your Rivets from Fastenal. Part#: 41001 Blind Rivet AB3-2A Fastenal's phone number 816-254-1117 Any questions, just give me a shout, Stay tuned for Part 2 "Stripping Your Castings" --CadillacPat the UnCustomizer--

This sure sounds familiar. The Government and Automakers working together to screw over people. What a shame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Tucker was a beautifully crafted Car way ahead of its time. CadillacPat

What kind of AirBrush did you get?????????? CadillacPat

Every car Chuck?????? Didn't all that "wide open American styling" produce cars that could be distinguised from one another from half a mile away on the highway, day or night???? The '57 Chevy and '57 Plymouth had gorgeus huge fins but anyone can tell them apart. The same comparison can be said over and over, wild and outlandish, beautiful and sexy, spacious and epic proportions, but all of them easily told apart. CadillacPat

Harry, the Feds forced the technology because the Car Company Lobbyists paid them to. CadillacPat

Harry I don't think anyone said it was new, just obviously terrible today. CadillacPat

People who were born in the last 30 or 40 years only have life experience within those 30 or 40 years. They are stuck with the last 40 years as their view of the world and have no life reference of what came before. Of course they can always Google to answer any questions. They can't really relate to how unemcumbered and logically things were once designed without all the unnecessary built in costs. Many need a GPS to get from their living room to the garage so they can turn on their other GPS to find the driveway. It's flagrantly naive to think the car companies today want to make our lives better, they want to add on all the cost they can to a vehicle. People born in 1950 have more than 60 years to draw upon to accurately gauge whether or not the car industry has improved or gone downhill (pun intended). We rode in cars that were built for the American Dream, and have the experience of both then and now, of 25 years of beautul cars and then seeing it all come to a stop. But those born in the last 40 years have only the last 30 or so years of recall, consisting mostly of same size, same shape, same style cars. No one is trying to hurt any feelings here, it's just a fact. That extra 20 years of life and history gives us much more data to draw our conclusions from. The socalled "improvements" to todays cramped look a like vehicles are not for anyones enjoyment, don't be naive, they are for profits. Bib Brother telling people,"These improvements are for your safety. Now you have to pay for them and we will collect the extra taxes." I don't see the more experienced Modelers complaining about Technology because most are quite aware that some Technology actually does improve things (like the Automatic Trunk Release) but Technology for the sake of Technology, for the sake of profit, makes fools of those who never question it and slaves of those who are forced to use it. And face it, the design of cars today, I should say modes of transportation, is forced on the public. CadillacPat

Your certainly on the right track there Jeff, Drilling followed by filing and sanding will do the job for body mods on DieCast. I use a Jewelers Saw for the accuracy and cleanliness of the job. Dremels and cutoff wheels are the messiest things in the world and don't fit the job when you need to be precise about your cuts. Dremels are fine for detailed sanding using special bits or for removing stock with Carbide Cutters but for precision I always use my Jewelers Saw. CadillacPat

Vintagestang, the picture Dr. Cranky has shown is what you need, You may find the adapter at Home Depot or through an AirBrush Supply. It is the smallest and most lightweight way of connecting your airhoses CadillacPat

Other than boosting an individual's post count, what does this discussion of automobile styling have to do with with an obviously incorrect observation and rude posting against how most members here feel about the steady decline of American automobiles for the last 40 uears. It shows an obvious disregard for facts and the experience of others' to flagrantly label them as"shut down" and having no "curiosity". That's childish. I don't mind being bashed and slammed by the same people over and over because it becomes laughable and redundant. The whole mindset of ,"If you don't like what I say my friend and I will badger your posts" is what ruins many a site. When posting information on the internet one must always remember that some are unable to use that information without whining and crying. CadillacPat

You bet Hellonwheelz, If I would not want it sitting in my driveway then why would I want an example of it in my display case. The death knoll has been ringing on new automobile style for the last 40 years. CadillacPat

I know what you mean Junkman, Consider this, When these "retro design" cars you speak of were originally created in all their splendor and glory, there were no limits or restrictions on the designs. Today they have tried to continue or emanufacture that same level of name badge credibility but it just doesn't work when they must create those designs within forced parameters of height x width x length x weight. The names Charger, Challenger, Cuda, Camaro and Mustang just fall way short when riveted onto cookie cutter bodies that all look the same. CadillacPat

Here you go Hellonwhelz, Read this thread, http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=57564 It starts out as any normal Modeling thread and winds up talking about Xboxes, But, it does have some answers you are looking for. CadillacPat

Here's a few places that have never failed to get my orders correct and ship quickly. Hobbylinc.com MicroMark.com Dixie Art Supply Coast AirBrush Supply Decal Paper Papilio.com Texas Art Supply CadillacPat

Rob, if talk about Cars makes you so nervous and upset that you have to throw a tantrum then I really wonder about how genuine your comments are. Be glad you have an STS and not an STD. Tell me, don't they rate that Cadillac STS as a sub compact????? CadillacPat

Sure, if you are talking about the original ones!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Mustang, Camaro, Charger and Challenger being manufactured today all look exactly like each other and have the same amount of room inside them as a '72 Opel GT, They are all a joke when compared with their original versions, And the new Cadillac's, they don't even deserve the name Cadillac. CadillacPat

Oh but I DO comprehend it GrassHopper, and why are you getting so angry? Like I said, there have been no Cars produced in YOUR lifetime, only tiny silly inartistic boxes built by Government regulations. In case you haven't noticed, even the backseat of cars in YOUR lifetime is only functional for carrying groceries and small dogs. But hey, if that satisfies your needs and your taste, buy the Models that represent them. CadillacPat

I keep hearing the word "nostalgia" popping up as if it's some kind of neurologic disorder that takes over the body and brain of anyone over 30 and renders them a mindless Zombie, eyes rolled back to the whites, babbling and drooling about days of yesteryear. Nahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That sounds like the same kind of spin left wing politicians put on everything. A number of us who build Models (Car Models) were kids and teens in the 50's and 60's, the time when plastic Model Cars exploded onto the scene. We don't wax nostalgic or reminisce about Glory Days, we just happened to be at a specific place in time when Cars, real cars, molded our outlook on just about everything. Each year, each manufcturer, each model spoke to us with a different voice screaming, "Look at me Man." The interiors and dash layouts were as beautiful as the artisan sculpting of the sheet metal bodies. Body styles changed dramatically each year promising us that our love for automobiles would always be rewarded with new fantastic designs. Engine and power options were unlimited from the factory or the aftermarket. The cars were drop dead gorgeous, completely functional and fun to drive. We simply were part of the most fantastic 2 1/2 decades ever of American Automobiles and once the failsafe switch was pushed in '73 there was no returning to cars being made as they were. It is not nostalgia that makes us want to build Models of the cars we once knew, it is the eternal beauty of those cars. I build examples of cars I like because I would never even think about building any of the computer mouse shaped jokes being manufactured today. Nor would I purchase a real one. I would rather build 10 G.T.O.s with 10 different paintjobs than any single one of the bed pan shaped turrrrdddds that are indistinguishable from each other. At least I would be building Cars and not shopping carts. If anything dilutes or harms the hobby of building Model Cars it will be the manufacture of little egg shaped cars to try and catch a younger market. Don't be so quick to try and label a person's choice of subject matter as "nostalgic", there are many of us who think that choice is a matter of style since we actually lived it and continue to. CadillacPat

Nostalgia really doesn't have a fixed time window. It can just as easily be the Red Beans and Rice you had on Monday with the Italian Sausage. All day Tuesday when you burp you can still taste the Italian Sausage and you say,"Boy am I glad I ordered that." CadillacPat

Not so GrassHopper!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Future is built on the Past and those who have no knowledge of the Past are doomed to repeat it's mistakes. Just curious, Is History even a subject in school anymore?????????? Perhaps teaching History is now considered politically incorrect, or it unlawfully infringes on a student's rights. CadillacPat

DD, The Prison HairCuts are the widely seen "anti haircut", the "no haircut", the styleless tiny short stubble that looks like a bad wax job. CadillacPat

I always find it interesting when someone posts what they "think". It's always very revealing. If being "out of touch" means not knowing or caring about FarceBook or My Space I salute the condition and hope it is permanent and non treatable. I would perfer this type of social dysfunction as opposed to text-walking, prison haircuts and t-shirts that are a little loose around my socks. CadillacPat

Easy Futura, She's only 14 years old!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 14 will get you 20!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CadillacPat

Or Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CadillacPat