Ace-Garageguy

There have been several Allison-powered land-vehicles other than pulling-tractors. The engine was also popular for unlimited-class hydroplane race-boats, before turbines. Arfons built a couple of "Green Monster" drag cars running Allisons, and the Jim Lyttle-built "Big Al" series included a 4-engined Fiat and an Isetta. Big Al III was this COE tractor. Then there was the '57 Plymouth "Nightmare", built by E J Potter (who also built Nightmare II, an Allison-powered Dart station wagon). And right here at the forum is an Allison-powered Deora-based build by Psychographic... http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/?showtopic=57976&page=2

One of my "hope to get to it this summer" project cars is an '86 MR2. I think I can get around 500 pounds out of it by ditching the heavy bumper reinforcements, door beams, factory seats (I have some OEM Porsche 914 buckets that weigh nothing) etc. Also already have a 1990 Taurus SHO engine/gearbox that fits very nicely in the engine bay. We shall see.

The Rustoleum stuff worked GREAT on my old 1:1 '89 beater GMC pickup.

Bernard makes an excellent point about the LEGALITY of modifying later-model vehicles (as well as the complexity). In Georgia currently, the emissions-systems are fair game for removal or modification once the car has reached 25-year-old "antique" status, but as far as I know, there is as yet no legislation covering safety-related systems like air-bags, heavy crash bumpers and the like. This means it's still possible, as I write this, to build the philosophical equivalent of a 1950's hot rod. Drag a cheap old hulk home, strip all the useless weight out of it, fit a hotter junkyard-sourced engine and gearbox, better brakes, and go hunting for high-dollar late-model expensive "fast" cars. I don't see many any kids doing it. CORRECTION: I've seen ONE locally. An old 240Z with a Toyota 2JZ, Weber carbs, big brakes, coil-overs and about 4" of ground clearance. The real deal, built with mostly junkyard parts.

Yes, even the factory brochures show guards on the wagons... ..but they are, by necessity, not as tall as the guards on the non-wagons...

The '56-'57 are my favorite C1 Corvettes. Very GM showcar-derived styling, but still aggressive and cohesive as a design. The scoop, wheelie bars and headers should make for an intimidating street presence, and as always, your paint looks great.

Perfect wheels for the car.

X2, and it's positively toasty here compared to what you guys have to put up with. I especially like the first shot of the model poking its nose out of the garage. Your build looks so good, the first thought that went through my warped mind was that some practical joker had hit a real Caddy with the old shrink-ray.

Very very VERY nice work on the wagon. Funny...I usually hate those wheels on just about anything, but your color-treatment makes them perfect for this old Pontiac. Chrome, chrome, and more chrome.

OMG !!!!! OMG !!!!!! What if we WANT the incorrect bumper guards so that anyone who looks at our finished model will immediately know we're NOT RIVET COUNTERS??? OMG !!!!!

Whatever. Same car, same color, similar interior, same wheels, same tires...so no, nothing at all like it. And the object wasn't to copy the damm Oz build anyway. The client wants a car that presents as cleanly-built, straight, well-fitted and as professional as the Oz car, but something with adequate ground clearance to be used as a weekend driver. No bags. No BS. Reliability of a brick. Easy to service with readily-available parts. For under $150,000. He paid $60k sight-unseen for a "finished, all it needs is detailing" monkey-hacked mess of crapp out of SoCal with sorta shiny paint, and not much else. Got it to the big Atl and had it in 3 "professional" shops before he came to us, and all he got was bent over while he signed checks. Every damm thing on the car was done by chimps. So it's going to top $200,000 any way you look at it. The guy could afford a new Lambo or Roller, but he wants a very special '47 Cadillac. It will still be a beautiful old car, and it will work like a new one.

Oh wait...I've heard of cars said to "purr like a kitten". That must be how they get the sound.

Must be a cat-alytic converter.

When it comes to models, I still have about as much self-restraint as an 8-year old. Soon as it's in the door, it's open. I tell myself I want to check for warpage, short-shots and missing parts on new kits, and the sometimes BS missing / mis-labeled ebay problems, but in reality, I just wanna open the things and have a look. Little kid mind.

Not a "real" car, though there was at one time a Porter automobile company. The TV car was a mashup, built for the show by some big name guys. From wikipee: The 1928 Porter used in My Mother the Car was not a production car. Real Porter cars had existed. The first was a steam automobile (Boston, Massachusetts, 1900–1901). The second car was a powerful luxury car made (Bridgeport, Connecticut, 1919–1922) made from parts left over from production of Finley R Porter’s FRP. By the 1960s, no examples of either remained. For the TV show, assistant prop man Kaye Trapp leased the producers a 1924 Ford T-tub hot rod he recently bought from his friend and its builder, Norm Grabowski. Both Grabowski and the car had earlier appeared in the B movie comedy Sex Kittens Go to College (1960). The 1928 Porter touring car sported diamond-tufted naugahyde upholstery, oversized white tonneau cover, plush black carpeting, chrome windshield braces and half-moon hubcaps. Trapp and studio special effects man Norm Breedlove (father of land-speed-record-setter Craig Breedlove) modified the car to give it an elongated engine compartment, palladian-style brass radiator with “Porter” script, a spare tire mounted on therunning board, outboard fuel tank and antique cane-clad trunk. (It was later fitted, as needed, with special effects hardware, such as an oil tank drip to simulate a smoking engine and "tear ducts" in the headlampbezels.) Off-camera operation of electrics was by umbilical cable. The signature features gave it an anachronistic look, resembling cars of earlier eras. The power train was the rod-grade 283 cu in V8 (Chevrolet small-block) engine mated with Powerglide automatic transmission. The "Porter" was registered (as a modified Ford) in 1964 with the contemporary yellow-on-black California license plates PZR 317 evident throughout the show's run. Though it bore a few design similarities with the FRP Porter, which may have suggested the television car's moniker, it is rumored that the car was named after the show’s production manager, W. A. Porter. When series production was approved, the Grabowski rod was retained as the "hero" car, and a second — "stunt", or special effects — car was commissioned and built by celebrated car customizer George Barris, whose Barris Kustom Industries licensed it to AMT for model kit production (an inaccurate rendering) and also toured it after series wrap with other of his creations. The stunt car, not conventionally driveable, was ingeniously equipped with apparatus to let Mother "drive herself" via a system of levers and mirrors operated by a short human driver concealed on a tractor seat below the removed rear floorboards. It also had other special mechanical features, such as gimbaled headlamps. Both cars had the dashboard-mounted radio head with flashing dial light through which Mother "talked" (though only to her son). These scenes were filmed with a stand-in; actress Ann Sothern’s voice was dubbed to the soundtrack in post-production. Generally, the hero car was used for driving shots and close-ups, and the stunt car for long shots and special effects sequences. Either was available as a stand-in in case of mechanical breakdown on set. Though made to represent one car, they can be distinguished by minor details, and actually appeared together in one episode. Additionally, a third car was used in filming, representing both the dilapidated car-lot Porter of the pilot and, in another episode, a “1932 Porter”. This car may not have been complete, and its existence and whereabouts are unknown. The hero car is currently[when?] located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The stunt car was once owned by casino giant William Harrah, who had one of the largest special-interest and antique auto collections of all time in Reno, Nevada. After Harrah's death in 1984, the auction catalogue advertised the lot as having a carnation red body with white top and created from parts of a Ford Model T, a Maxwell, a Hudson and aChevrolet. Following ownership by Rear View Mirror Museum (Nags Head, North Carolina) and later Herbie's Antique & Classic Car Museum (Mount Pleasant, South Carolina), the stunt Porter is currently[when?] on display in Star Cars Museum (Gatlinburg, Tennessee).

I believe I've seen some criticisms of the front inner wheel wells...

And here is a series from Polytek Development Company, another respected manufacturer of similar products. I've used products from all 3 of these companies, followed their instructions carefully, and I've had 100% successful results. http://www.polytek.com/media-gallery/ PS: You will have to dig a little bit on your own in these 3 series to find what you want. I assure you...it's in there. I've made one and two-part silicone and urethane molds, as I've already said, using the materials and procedures illustrated.

Here is another series produced by Alumilite, another real-world supplier of professional materials. Alumilite packages mold-making kits aimed at the hobby market, too. Usually stocked by HobbyTown in my part of the country. http://www.alumilite.com/store/pg/21-How-To-Videos.aspx

There is an entire series available here FREE from one of the most highly respected manufacturers of mold-making materials for professionals, Freeman Manufacturing and Supply. No BS opinions from people who haven't done it, no idiot advice like using olive oil as a mold release. Just factual information that will work RIGHT, EVERY time. http://www.freemansupply.com/video.htm

And here's a buncha links to miniature taps, dies, rivets, nuts, fasteners, etc. etc,,, http://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php?topic=628.0

I pretty much like anything that's done with skill, quality craftsmanship, good engineering and style. Straight restorations, traditional rods, street-rods, pro-touring cars, Euro and Asian tuners, offroad-trucks...anything that's done WELL. I've seen a LOT of fine old vehicles ruined by "experts", "restorers", "hot-rodders", "car builders" etc, who were nothing but idiot hackers. Even cars from "name" shops with a lot of "what were they thinking? poorly-done "modifications". If it's done well, works right and looks good (even the box-stock '34 Ford 4-dr sedan with mechanical brakes we have in the shop at the moment can be DRIVEN if you have just a little understanding of allowing yourself enough room to stop, and don't expect it to practically stand on it's nose like a recent Porsche) gets a big OK !!! from me. What I'm building at the moment in 1:1 was inspired mainly by this Oz Welch build. We'll have much the same look, but no chop, 4-5" of ground clearance and LS power.

http://www.scalehardware.com/threaded-rod-c-26

Yo Joe (souhpier)...that's a great video. Even gives us shots of his hand-action and tool-holding so our mirror-neurons have visual triggers. Great background music, too. Thanks Joe!

Both big news. Congratulations, guys.

I like the Dymo tape idea. Personally, I've had very good results using 3M green masking tape, and the tip of a fresh razor-saw to start the lines rather than a panel scribe or other round-handle tool. I've found that drawing the saw-tip very lightly along the tape edge many times will start a shallow, straight crease quite nicely. It's then not too difficult to actually saw down the line, and the long straight blade tends to keep your line straight. It's not really "easy" I guess, but with practice it has yielded excellent results for me. I'll be posting panel lines I've cut on the nose of my current-build scratchbashed lakes car shortly.