Ace-Garageguy

Nice chop technique. Leaving the A-pillars in the stock location and moving the base of the backlite (and C-pillars) forward to take up the extra distance that's usually added to the roof moves the visual mass of the car forward just a tick, and helps to achieve a more aggressive look overall. Good work.

It's sweet that they kiss them first...

Think about this wretched excess when you're filling up the tank on your gas hog, or sitting idling for 10 minutes in the McDonald's drive-through getting ZERO MPG. These things are what you're really paying for...and Americans seem to still be happy to pour their hard-earned dollars down the Middle Eastern rathole, every time gas drops a few cents per gallon. Make fun of "green" energy efficiency all you want to though, by all means.

Engine sounds great, but not much like a Bug motor anymore. Driver could probably still use a bit of tuning, however.

...And seein' as how we live in a world where all owners of beautiful cars aren't necessarily competent to drive them, it's inevitable that somewhere along the line, a Tesla or three are going to get totalled, and the drivetrains will remain intact. I'd guess a big Tesla with no useable body panels would auction for around $20k. That may sound like a lot of scratch, but it's about the same as we've got in the LS1 / 4L80E / Ford 9" drivetrain under the '47 Caddy at the moment.

I know, and that's dandy, but for the time being, I'd still kinda like to plan my own route based on where I want to go, and not based on where quick-charge locations are. I know, I'm a sweaty old Luddite. Just gimmee a Jag C-X75. It'll run on diesel, kerosene, JP-4, etc. etc. etc...and make about 700 peak HP. And then you can plug it in when you get somewhere civilized.

Good man. I still work lead wen the client wants it (and can pay), but even for my own cars, I'll use plastic (but never more than 1/8" thick)...unless it's something really special like a 356 Porsche straight restoration. The thickness and composition of the steel in the period VWs you're working on can still be filled with lead. Not so the thin-gauge HSLA steels of late-model cars.

Have you seen the x-rated pix of Abdul and his camel posed on the hood? It will all seem to make sense then.

This Jag C-X75 hybrid runs two-multifuel turbines for backup...and peak power. Whoowee...

Sometimes other guys need to measure something at exactly the same time as I do. Five tapes save much bloodshed.

I agree for the most part. Range on a full charge is a factor too. Not much fun heading out to do some mountain-road carving, and have the thing peter out miles from an electrical outlet.

Just be really glad they're not. With all the texting-related accidents these days, you wouldn't even be relatively safe in your own house...waiting for the inevitable distracted moron to fall out of the sky into your living room.

It was never particularly "easy" cutting, reshaping and welding steel, filling and sculpting mods with lead, and doing all the peripheral mechanical and electrical modifications that go along with visual customization. It takes a lot of talent, knowledge, and the commitment to turn talent into skills. Swapping bumpers, grilles, lights, chrome trim, etc. from old car to old car may seem easy to the uninitiated, but it takes a lot more effort than just unbolting something from one car and bolting it on another one. Nothing fits AT ALL...except sometimes within same make / similar year body styles...say '55-'56 Fords. It's considerably more complicated than it might look, and it's one reason that even in the '50s, there was a VERY small number of people doing good custom work. A few things ARE easier now than back then, too. TIG welding, for someone with the desire to learn it, is easier, cleaner and safer than the old oxy-acetylene welding the Barris-era guys (and I) used, and toxic lead has been replaced with much easier AND safer catalyzed plastic fillers. Materials like Bondo and fiberglass have put customization within the reach of many who can't or won't be bothered to learn metalwork, and plastic materials on vehicles can be easily modified and refinished...but again, it takes the level of interest and commitment to find out how you do the stuff...right... rather than lamenting "it's too hard". Correct. It's still entirely possible to build a radical and beautiful custom in the garage, based on a plain-Jane grocery-getter. But there has to be an overwhelming DESIRE to make it happen. And the WILL to follow through to completion. The customs of the glory days weren't made from bolt-on bits bought out of catalogs (though some awful examples had tons of add-on JC Whitney carp). They were built by guys who weren't afraid to get dirty...really filthy...and to learn and master new and sometimes dangerous techniques. They spent their extra money on things like welding rigs, hand tools, body hammers and dollies, etc. Read the old Hot Rod mags, and the stories of how guys built cars in the shed out back, working for months in the cold and oppressive heat, and dealt with the problems inherent with taking the family car off the road for a couple of years. Today, most of the wuss men I know think they're too good (or they hide their practical incompetence under the white collar) to even mow their own lawns, change their own oil or do their own plumbing...much less restyle, re-engineer and re-build an entire car in...OMG...uncomfortable, dangerous surroundings. And I'm not some past-it old fossil lamenting how he used to walk to school up-hill both ways in the snow all year long, and that kids are too soft today. I'm in my mid '60s and STILL build cars (world class cars; the shop I work with has impressive credentials) in a relatively primitive, old-school environment with neither heat nor AC. I sweat like a pig in summer, and stink at the end of the day. I have to wear layers of clothing in the winter, and need to keep moving just to stay warm. I get cut. I get burned. I get things in my eyes occasionally, and I'm physically whipped when I get home in the evenings. I have to learn new engines and gearboxes as they begin to trickle down into the hot-rod end of things. And I have to stay caught up on electronic vehicle systems, because many owners want all the stupid bells and whistles on their rods and customs now. And you know what? I love the work. I get to make things that have never ever been made on this planet, ever before, every working day. I get to alter manufactured machines to reflect how I think they should look and function. And ANYONE with some mechanical aptitude who WANTS TO DO IT, whether professionally or in his own garage just for fun, CAN do it. On new cars, or old ones. But it ain't easy, and it never was.

Snake, it's a custom (available as a full-size body kit from Rocket Bunny) based the Nissan 240 SX (S-14 generation, '95-'99). EDIT: Looks like martinfan5 just beat me to to response.

Oh baby...that's pretty !!

Yup. Good man.

There's a lot of great stuff still being built. Same skill sets, same knowledge-base required (albeit expanded to encompass electronics and sophisticated suspension), same principles of good design involved.

My sincere wishes that everything goes well, Tom. Really.

Joe, you're absolutely right about time being the most precious commodity, and that's the thing that gripes me most...the lack of time to live my own life because I'm so busy trying to manage things for other people who apparently can't or just won't. The 'can do' guy is the one who always gets to clean up everyone's messes, and gets taken advantage of in time, if enough limits aren't set. And all you have to do to be a leader, anywhere and anywhen, is to just stand up and lead. People want to be told what to do, but I'm tired of always being the one who KNOWS what to do, gets it done, and rarely gets the rewards. It's definitely time for a change in my life, and a major change is coming soon. Thanks for your response.

OK, it's not the micro that limits the shrinkage. It's the epoxy. Decent epoxy (not the useless...in my opinion...5 minute stuff) has far far less shrinkage than polyester (the usual 'fiberglass' resin that stinks to high heaven) or some urethanes. If you use a decent quality casting resin...and mix it carefully and correctly... and you read and understand the product data before using it, you should be able to make all the parts you need with minimal shrinkage without going to all the trouble of using micro and epoxy. Guys have been doing it for many years.

I also LOVE the AMT '34 Ford 5-window kit...

Yup, the old AMT '34 3-window IS horrible...BUT...the body shell can be the basis of a decent chopped fenderless car. It's a lot to pay for a kit when the rest of the box is filled with useless scrap plastic, but l do kinda have a soft spot for the bodies...

Here's the kind of thing I like to look over on the HAMB. Pretty well BS-free, with a ton of mechanical and chassis shots, and some nice evocative photography too. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/old-32-ford-hot-rod-gets-updated-part-ii-progress-report-06-03-15-on-the-road-again.861297/

No, but that's a good site I've had bookmarked for years. It almost disappeared when its founder died a while back, but happily for those of us who love the old gassers, it lives on.

Overall it's a good kit. Everything in it is fairly well represented, though there are a few relatively minor proportion and shape issues with the front sheetmetal parts. Interestingly, the hood sides and top from the AMT '33 Ford sedan (which uses the same chassis as the '34 5W kit) don't fit up to the cowl of the '34 5-window...though they DO in reality. Somebody measured wrong somewhere. The AMT '34 Ford 5W proportions are pretty good overall, and it looks like a '34 Ford, but ALL of the '33-'34 Fords available have SOME flaw in the length and shapes of the noses / hoods (the old 1/24 Monogram kit is by far the best). I've measured REAL cars and compared...over on another board that is all about traditional cars. As Bob Ellis states, the AMT 3-window kit shares absolutely NOTHING with the later 5W and sedan kits. And the AMT '34 3W is a horrible kit. Almost nothing in it is any good at all.