Ace-Garageguy

The big Jags had 2 caps and 2 tanks...which was great... until, in one failure mode of the crossover-feed, the pump would put all the fuel from both tanks into one, and the excess would overflow out the cap and on to the ground. Gallons.

Lotsa problems with this one. I bought one to do a replica of one I had many years ago, and after looking carefully at the parts, I've postponed it indefinitely. This is NOT mine, but as you can see, the windshield, the roof above it and the pillars are really bad. However, I think the overall shape is close enough that you could do a very nice model...with a lot of patient re-work.

Before I knew any better (1969) I built my first car using some parts from the J C Witless / Warshawsky catalog (catalog sales went by both names). Although you COULD buy quality parts from Witless if you knew your stuff, the "quick steering arm extension" I bought for my hot-rod VW slalom car was made of porous pot-metal, and split as I was pulling into the parking lot of the Burger King adjacent to the Electrical Engineering parking lot where Ga. Tech Sports Car Club was having a meet. The wheels splayed outwards, eliminating any possible control. This occurred moments after I had been running about 70mph down the interstate. Today, I'm sure a lawyer could get me a fat out-of-court settlement. Back then, I just chalked it up to experience.

Frank, please fill the details for those of us who don't know the story here.

Beautiful work, as usual. Always an inspiration. The variety of surface finishes you achieve really bring your models to life.

Pity the dealer you were doing business with didn't have anyone competent to look at a vehicle and tell if it had ever had a significant hit. Any decent body-shop estimator should be able to do it. I would have demanded same, and gone elsewhere if they didn't.

Looks good.

'98-'01 Explorer / Mountaineer with 5.0 V8, I think. Lower one is Ford part #XL2Z 9430-CA Upper one is Ford part #XL2Z 9431-CA

A red red red '62, '63 or '64 Corvair Spyder convertible.

It has an interior, too. Kinda hard seats.

A couple of answers... 5) Calipers these days are typically mounted to the rear on front wheels, to the front on rear wheels...but not always. Google pix of a similar car to what you're doing to get a most-plausible clocking. 4) Wilwood, Brembo and Porsche calipers, among others, are most commonly red, but ANY color is acceptable. Calipers are routinely color-matched to a custom vehicle. Personally, I favor flat-black for heat dissipation on real cars. 3) On the street, the surface of most rotors you will see is cast iron or steel, but with a swept / somewhat shiny look from moving contact with the brake pads. I like Testors buffing-metalizer "Titanium", buffed, to simulate the look.

I really like it, but for some reason, now I'm craving an orange Creamsicle.

The way I do it: Place the slick you want to use on the quarter panel exactly where you want it to be, and NEATLY mark around it with a fine-line Sharpie or equivalent. Make sure to locate the axle centerline EXACTLY so the wheel opening will be centered around the tire, with an even gap all around. Rough cut the opening with just about anything. I use a Dremel. I semi-finish the cut with a drum-sander on the Dremel, getting to about 1/32" of the marked line. I finish the cut-out with a piece of 80, 100 or 120 grit sandpaper wrapped around a suitable piece of PVC pipe, or in some cases, a tire of the right diameter, twisting it in the opening like a round file, to make SURE the opening is round and smooth. Test-fit the tire in the opening as you work to get a nice even gap, and to make sure it's ROUND. Nothing looks worse than uneven, wonky-edged fender cutouts. Then finish-sand the radius with 180, then 400, and primer it. These fender radii were done this way. They fit EXACTLY at this point. The tires will be set inboard of the fenders to comply with older gasser class rules.

A poorly done color-change is often a sign a car has been "misplaced" somewhere along the line.

Welcome to the area. I'm in ACME, and live on the north-west side of town (ACME meets in Smyrna). There's a very well stocked (for tools and supplies) Hobby Town off of Barrett Parkway in Kennesaw, and a Hobby Lobby and Michaels both in walking distance from the Hobby Town store. Several small hobby shops have come and gone fairly recently, some older ones have folded, and there are a couple of slot car tracks in the area. The big ACME Southern NNL meet is coming up in early November, too. Lotsa vendors signed up. http://www.acme-ipms.com/2014-nnl-southern-nationals

Obvious hot-rod inspiration. I like the concept but I'm not wild about the execution.

Yes, and it's not just pro-street cars that can be a problem. The '48 Cad I'm re-building was impossible to change rear tires on the side of the road as it came in. Only 6" wide rims. Even with the fender skirts removed, the shocks had to be disconnected to get enough axle travel to get a wheel off...and the rocket scientists who built the car had the fuel tank and Panhard bar installed so it was impossible to remove the shocks without either dropping the tank or the bar. We've also got a '49 Merc, lowered in the rear with blocks, and it too is impossible to change a rear tire on without taking one end of both shocks loose.

Yeah...this is not a "chick's" car... ...or this...

Beautiful cars, all. Surely as much fun to work there as where I work. Back in the days I was wrenching on '60s-'70s American iron and genuine classics, there were quite a few 'Birds running aftermarket glass tonneaus masquerading as "Sport Roadsters". I assume you know this one's pedigree, as your shop restored it.

You want ugly Miata? I'll give you ugly Miata. This Bizarro-world custom has to be the winner.

I think it looks OK in the photos, probably looks a lot better in person, but still seems to be a combination of styling elements lifted intact from other cars and not all that well integrated. If it's lighter than the recent ones, and as much fun to drive as the original, it'll do. I agree with Mr. Just. The Lotus Elan, which was THE major influence for the original Miata, was a light, taught, agile car that would run away and hide from most nose-heavy sloppily sprung American iron as soon as the roads got a little twisty. The original Miata was a Japanese version of the Lotus (which was fiberglass) in steel; it was also simple to work on and as reliable as a stone ax. It was a REAL sports-car, but usable as a daily driver. A friend of mine has a largish vehicle fleet (new stuff and old stuff) and his original Miata, with close to 200k on the clock, is his favorite car. The heavy, over-wrought Miatas of late are poseurs, wanna-be, nothing at all like the originals in spirit. Sports-car look-likes, not sports cars. I hope this one returns to its real-car roots.

I used to stay up late to watch her. Interesting girl, for sure. I wasn't convinced of the accuracy of the facial likeness until I saw your work with her makeup. Remarkable how much it actually looks like her once the hair goes on. What is the nominal scale?

Cool idea. I'm assuming from the flat cab rear panel that you're going to do a "roadster pickup" interpretation. Correct? One of the re-issued AMT engine parts-packs has a Corvair flat-6, an engine that was and still is a popular high-performance swap into VW-based vehicles.