Ace-Garageguy

名字或许听起来像是在中国是个好主意。 EDIT: I assumed this was one of those things that didn't translate well from an Asian language (read some early 1970s Datsun owner's manuals for a real laugh), but I now find it's part of the American company's "clever" marketing strategy. Okaaaayyy.

Looks good. Here's you earlier thread. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=99045 I've found it's often quicker to find my own older threads if I simply go straight to Google and type in my user name, and what I recall of the heading or topic line. I just tried it with yours... bubbajoe plug wires...and your thread came up 3rd in the list on the first page of results.

Thanks Dennis. Coming from a guy who builds the real deal on the left coast, that means a lot. Your Ardun mod looks great. Did you do the top-shift mod on the gearbox too? I don't recall seeing one in a kit. I spent most of yesterday researching Ardun installations...specifically angle-drives for the Vertex / Scintilla magneto (which will have to clear the water pump belts, kinda tricky), and early post-war blower and FI parts. I was originally intending to go with 8, 1-barrel carbs on this, but the linkage would be a nightmare and slow the build even more. Then started thinking about an early GMC 3-71 blower setup, but to be right, it would take a multiple V-belt drive, and that would require machining pulleys...again, too much sideways time. Stu Hilborn's mechanical fuel injection did exist at this time, but probably wasn't available as an Ardun bolt-on. Still, guys in those days weren't shy about fabricating and even casting their own parts, so it's entirely possible that, in the time period this model represents, some enterprising rodder / pattern maker could have cast up a set of injector bodies for an Ardun, and used Hilborn guts. It's important to me to make the car historically possible (something that COULD have been built with then-current and available parts and technology). The Hilborn setup vastly simplifies the throttle linkage, will clear the hood with no bubble (not knowing what induction setup I was going to use prevented finishing the hood), and makes the belt / pulley question a non-issue. The Hilborn setup also will work nicely with the center coolant ports I want to use on the heads, which could be an important factor in a lakes car. The last trick was finding a pair of parts-box bits with the right port-spacing to work on the Ardun...which I did, some old log manifolds from something unknown that I'll rework into presentable Hilborn injector bodies.

Yes. The cast boss on the side of the housing and the retaining bolt are the identifiers.

Looking good, nice cut-and-fit. Interior is shaping up well too. Nice choices for parts. Just a suggestion that you may already know...it looks like you saved yourself some grief by masking the rear seat areas before applying filler...very smart. It also saves a lot of grief if you re-mask and leave tape on as you sand. Keeps the sandpaper from damaging adjacent areas. Like I said, you may have already thought of it. Another point you may not know...the engine from the Revell Magnum kit is somewhat overscale (it's too long) for some odd reason. The one in the Revell Challenger is correct (I've measured). Not really a problem on this build, as you have a nice big engine bay, and a slightly larger engine will probably look better anyway. Just thought you might like to know.

Great model, great imagination.

Cool indeed. I sure wish my house was on Paco's route.

For what do people drive racing cars, go into space, climb mountains, or deep-sea dive? Why learn to fly a plane if you're not going to be a commercial pilot? Why learn to play a musical instrument if you're not a professional musician? Why build model cars?

Yup. Building mostly highly-modified stuff, I'm constantly in the mode of one-mod-leads-to-another. It's challenging for me to stay on task when a model takes almost as much planning and engineering as a real car. If I could drive the finished product, that would be one thing. But something to put on a shelf and just look at occasionally? I often question my sanity.

Guys in my club who consistently do the best quality work use BMF to mask straight lines. Perfect edges, and frankly, much better than I'd thought possible on a model car. I'd sure like to see some pix of the results the advice-givers are getting.

Well, if you're going to do something like that, you damm better be sure to get your trajectory figured right, 'cause you're not going to get a second chance. I bet the rush is pretty spectacular as you approach the sheer wall, and I'd probably pass out from relief IF I made it through the hole. I kinda have to admire someone who is either so fearless, or so incredibly capable of managing their fear. I don't think I could do it if somebody had a gun to my head. Just shoot me.

Very nice rework of that Testors kit. Been meanin' to snag one of these, and your work here has really inspired me to look harder for one.

Gorgeous color, fine looking custom bodywork. The floating Olds grill bars both front and rear are a touch I've never seen done before, and your rolled and molded pans are period perfect.

I'm sure you'll be happier with the end result you'll have from reworking the firewall as you describe. I've done rather a lot of 1:1 engine swaps, and it's entirely permissible to modify a subframe, crossmember or oil-pan...or all of them...to get an engine to fit a chassis it wasn't intended for. Just bear in mind where the strength needs to be replaced in the structure (after it's been cut away for clearance) and where the oil pickup would be in the pan.

Good point. We've had threads started in the "general" section complaining that new members often feel left out and not particularly welcome, because they didn't get much feedback on their models. Then we have a new guy, the OP, who steps up and says exactly that...that he feels ignored and actually asks for feedback...in front of the whole forum instead of whining about it to other members offline...and he gets slammed. And, we've had threads going on and on and on about the future of car modeling being in the hands of younger guys who aren't really into '30s-'60s cars, and that more model companies need to address the interests of the Euro and Asian tuner market. So we have a guy who is building an engine-swapped Asian import (more powerful engine in an older body/chassis... the essence of hot-rodding)...and he's told if he doesn't like it here, go somewhere else. Anybody see the disconnect between what some of us SAY and what we DO? And yes, I was one who agreed that there's a lot of interest here in muscle cars, and that's just the way it is, so deal with it. But...I also looked over his build thread and offered advice, like he asked for.

This is interesting, as Model Roundup, Mega Hobby, Hobbylinc and others list them as being 1/25. Has anyone actually measured some real prototype engines and compared the dimensions in scale?

Boy, so many folks piling on the guy. The mob mentality is alive and well, isn't it? Maybe he didn't phrase this question exactly to all of y'all's liking, but what he DID ask for was constructive criticism of his work. I went to his build thread and gave him exactly what he asked for, which was critical and constructive. He accepted it graciously and appreciated what I commented on. Man up and get over it? Good advice. Maybe some of you should take it.

They're up.

We recently pulled this out of a '57 'Bird for a cosmetic freshening and an auto trans rebuild. It is probably a 312, though I didn't personally verify this. There should be enough angles to get all the details on a single-carb 4bbl engine.

Last one we had in the shop. Does this do you any good? I've got a lot of shots of this particular engine I can put up in the 1:1 reference section if you want.

Me too. That's why I use the ones that ARE flat when I need flat ones. "Free" is cheap enough to be selective.

I'd assume it goes from the lever on the "3-way shutoff " shown on the Enderle schematic (plumbed directly to the mechanical pump) to a pull-handle for fuel-shutoff in the cockpit.

I don't really understand your question. The foot-throttle linkage is typically connected to a bellcrank at the rear of the injector body. The bellcrank is connected to a shaft that runs through the body and provides support and a pivot for the throttle plates, and comes out in front where linkage hooks it to the metering valve, which varies fuel delivery as the throttles are opened. The "cam driven fuel pump" typically runs all the time the engine is running. Nothing other than engine revolutions "activates" it. They usually look more or less like this. This is a different mechanical FI setup, but the function is basically the same. The mechanically-driven pump is visible at the front of the engine. One line is pressure to the injector metering or barrel valve, one is return that will have a bleed line on the other side of the pump, and that will go back to the tank. It is not shown. The supply line FROM the tank is not shown either. On this setup, the throttle linkage would connect to the bellcrank on the side of the scoop, which also operates the butterflies (throttle plates) and the metering valve. Layout different, function same. These are more-or-less kinda-sorta typical of all of them, assuming you want to include all the lines and plumbing.

Oops. Yup, you're right. So only 2 valves per cylinder. My duh.