Ace-Garageguy

Love the color...

Yup, and a pushrod engine, with NO cam-chain drive cover in front like the SOHC engine had. Here's one installed in a car... ...and on its lonesome...

A single one inch STEEL tube won't support a REAL CAR very well either, loaded in "bending"...it will bend under weight. You MIGHT LOOK at some REAL structures, and see how the elements are arranged and HOW they all inter-relate to give a structure strength. .040 plastic rod loaded in compression, tension or shear WILL support a model car, but NOT if it's loaded in BENDING.. A knowledge of structures and how they work might also be useful. Modelers ROUTINELY build trailers, roll-cages, frames, etc....ALL from scale-appearing PLASTIC, with no problems. Calling us out?? We've all given you CORRECT information. (PS. I'm an engineer.) In the REAL world, structures are made up of combinations of "flimsy" pieces, put together in such a way as to "reinforce" each other and support loads that are MUCH greater than any individual piece could carry on its own. The truss is a simple example. Each element of a truss is a "flimsy" piece of material, and has limited strength. Put together CORRECTLY, these little "flimsy" pieces will support a MASSIVE weight...

I wouldn't mind so much getting pulled over by that.

If I ever hit the bazillion $$ lotto, it would be kinda fun to do this with a real Daytona Spyder. Nothing that couldn't be put right again later, but I sure would love to see the looks on the Cavallino snobs faces when I pulled up in this. Still with the V-12, but with an obvious mis-fire on at least 2 cylinders, and making a lovely cloud of smoke.

Just the thought of that makes my eyes bleed...

I thought I knew old cars and engineering, but I had no idea that so much hand work still went into U.S. cars in the late 1950s. The interior cut / sew line really surprised me, as did the extent of jigs and fixtures assembled and dis-assembled around the structural units, and the human dimension-checking of the glass openings. Absolutely fascinating.

Cool video. Thanks. PS. Sound works with Chrome. I've had youboob no-sound issues sometimes with F-fox.

I think I have a rash.

mathematics [math-uh-mat-iks] Spell Syllables Examples Word Origin noun 1. (used with a singular verb) the systematic treatment of magnitude,relationships between figures and forms, and relations between quantities expressed symbolically. 2. (used with a singular or plural verb) mathematical procedures,operations, or properties. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- a·rith·me·tic noun əˈriTHməˌtik/ 1. the branch of mathematics dealing with the properties and manipulation of numbers. "the laws of arithmetic" adjective ˌariTHˈmetik/ 1. of or relating to arithmetic. "perform arithmetic functions" ERGO: All arithmetic is math. Not all math is arithmetic.

Got several Chebby LS engine reference books and swapping guides on the way. Guess it's time to step up to a somewhat "modern" engine.

Do you want down-draft or side-draft carbs? The Accurate miniatures 1/24 Corvettes have exquisite Weber side-drafts, but the manifold is of course for a smallblock Chevy. Building an FE manifold to accommodate them shouldn't be too difficult. Of course, most real Cobras you'll see, if they have Webers, will be running down-drafts. You can't just stand a side-draft up and call it good, unfortunately.

First gen Viper coupe, dark blue / white stripes, being driven enthusiastically out on I-75 N this PM. I still think the first generation Vipers were the most attractive, by far (well, next to the prototypes). Too bad the V-10 has such an unfortunate exhaust note. Also saw a second gen Corvair coupe, with a blotchy candle-apple red paint job and a "vinyl" roof that looked like bed-liner.

The 6 liter L-96 Vortec-powered '47 Caddy convertible I'm building just gets more and more horrible, the deeper I get into it. Yeah, I should be tickled pink that this one car is job security for at least a year, assuming the owner's millions hold out, but geez...It gets SO frustrating to have to rework EVERYTHING because several "car builders" (this thing has been in multiple "professional shops" before it came to us) with absolutely NO CLUE of how to do anything (other than burn "billable hours"...kinda like some lawyers I've known) have been in it first. EVERY SINGLE THING that has ever been done to this car, EVERYTHING, is WRONG, boogered, bodged, slipshod, or just plain STUPID. I don't know how some of these clowns stay in business, but I DO know why most folks assume hot-rods or customs are un-reliable and un-drivable.

My cat came back from the hospital yesterday, looking like Frankenstein kitty...huge line of stitches in her side, kinda looking like they made one cat out of two. Definitely NOT the doc to do plastic surgery. The happy part is that with the growth removed, she has the same energy as she used to, doesn't lie around looking like "please just kill me" any more, and in another week or 10 days (if all continues to go well) should be her old self...with a few visible repairs. But hey, the purrer still works.

Nice save / update / rework of a gluebomb.

Being a gearhead / adrenaline junkie has absolutely NOTHING to do with being an inconsiderate MORON who blows smoke, on purpose, into the faces of innocent bystanders. I'm a gearhead, I still BUILD hot-rods that are WAY faster than they "need" to be, I still DRIVE hot-rods that are WAY faster than they need to be, and whenever possible, I participate in sanctioned speed events. What I DON'T do is drive stupidly fast on the streets, intentionally scare people with reckless behavior, or use my vehicles in a pathetic attempt to compensate for shortcomings elsewhere in my life. Being a gearhead has absolutely nothing to do with being an insecure, rude idiot.

Bernard, wonderful pictures of the Jag low-drag cars. Man, it's wild how aggressive and hairy the XK-E can look (I think the production car is beautiful, but it always struck me as a little effeminate) with the relatively subtle mods to stance and body showcased in these race versions. I think I'll have to add some low-drag builds to my impossible-to-get-done-in-this-lifetime list.

Goes for real cars too.

This question, or something similar, comes up rather often. An understanding of "scale", fractions, and their decimal equivalents can be helpful. If you have a piece of "tree" that measures 1/8 of an inch, use your calculator to divide 1 by 8. That will give you the decimal equivalent of 1/8, which is 0.125. Say you're working in 1/25 scale. Because 1/25 scale means that a real car would be 25 times larger than a model in 1/25 scale, to find out what size your part of "tree" would be in full-size, you simply multiply 0.125 by 25. That gives you 3.125 inches, or about 3 1/8 inches. Your piece of "tree" represents a full-size piece of tubing that is 3 and 1/8 inches in diameter. If you understand "scale" and some simple math, you have everything you need to easily figure out any size, in any scale.

I don't get what's "cool" about having an 8 mpg vehicle, with an engine and chassis designed to actually do WORK, and using it as nothing more than a body-part extension. Guess I'm just past-it. 'Course, I never really understood the need for a 200 mph street machine, either.

Bugatti Veyron... Jag Lightweight... They both have a certain appeal.

Yeah, I cleaned out the local stock of '50 Olds and '57 Ford kits, plus a Jukebox and some other old reissues not too long ago, all for the same low low price.

Nice job on two of my favorite kits of old. And as Mark said, the Willys blower is just about perfect for color the way I remember them on the 1:1 cars, before everything was getting polished. How'd ya do it ??