Ace-Garageguy

I don't think anyone can realistically condemn GM or ANY manufacturer for having product recalls. Cars are extremely complex machines, getting more complex all the time, they're committee-designed and built, by LARGE groups of people who are, unfortunately, "only human", and an occasional "oops" is simply inevitable. The cover-up mentality, and allowing a non-spec design into mass production, are the unforgivable issues.

Must not be a smart-phone app for that...you know, hold the phone next to the handlebars, etc.

Two days after I replaced the distributor cap and wires on the old '89 GMC to cure a single-cylinder mis-fire, the engine-management system went into meltdown mode. Popping, spitting out both ends, as though the ignition module is hunting for the correct timing, fruitlessly. This is an early computer-controlled fuel-injection and electronic-timing-advance system, and it's indicative of what ALL the current cars with complex electronics will be facing when they're old. And the completely useless OBD I system shows only codes 44 and 45...too rich and too lean. Duh...ya' think?? So rather than going through the lengthy diagnostic procedures with the trusty VOM, and replacing electronic components with iffy Chinese copies (GM no longer services most of the stuff) I MAY just put a carb and a mechanical-advance HEI distributor in it. Have to step the fuel-pressure down from what the FI pump delivers, but once converted, she should be good for another 100,000 miles, minimum.

Yes, but a couple more small points. 1) The most common "hardener" or "catalyst" used in polyester resins you'll encounter in Bondo or similar products is MEKP, methyl-ethyl-ketone-peroxide. 2) The best way to "knead" a tube of "hardener" is to hold it with the cap uppermost, tap the bottom on the bench to shake the contents down away from the cap, take the cap off and carefully squeeze the air out of the tube, re-cap it, and knead away. You CAN NOT effectively knead these tubes if they're full of air. This I know, as I've been using the stuff professionally for over 40 years. 3) Also, thoroughly stir / mix your filler BEFORE adding hardener. The liquid resin will separate out of filler too, over time.

Oh baby, if I saw that on the street sans badges, my first guess would be Maserati, not Jag. Looks pretty good (he said understatedly). Rear end is very Jag-esque, but all the folds and creases don't evoke the smooth feminine sensuality of the E-type. Still, I wouldn't throw her out of the garage. Oh, baby. I wonder if she's as small, nimble and toss-able as she looks in the top photo.

Nice chassis. Looks like it would be a great basis for a pro-touring car. A pro-touring Holden Ute would be different...

I build a lot of '32 Fords. Yes, you CAN bash the roadster you have with the 5-window frame rails, but you'll have to adjust a few things. The hood on the "1/24" roadster kit is noticeably longer than Revell's "1/25" kits, and the body is a little wider in the 24th roadster than the 1/25 roadster, but if you're not used to seeing a LOT of '32 Fords, you can make a very nice model. The WIDTH of the roadster body you have is NOT A PROBLEM at all. I have both kits, and I just checked. Just pay attention to the wheelbase and proportions. You MAY find your model will look better if you cut the FRONT crossmember loose and move it forward a tick, as the 1/24 roadster has a slightly longer wheelbase than the 1/25 kits. naturally. None of the '32 Ford kits are particularly well-scaled, but they're ALL in the ballpark, close enough to mix-and-match. Do thorough mockups to get the "look' you want BEFORE you start gluing...just like we do on the real ones.

Yes, but Revell's snapper hood is STILL a couple of scale INCHES too short. I too have access to 1:1 '34 Fords. Measuring must be much harder than it seems

It's probably the best I can do...

I lusted mightily after the Aurora double '34 kit. Then I got a couple, and was sorely disappointed to find that it's just another one that has horrible, inaccurate proportions. I'm still debating whether to build one box-stock for "nostalgia", or do a hack and whack and make a good model. I don't know why it has seemed to be almost impossible to build a correctly-scaled '34 Ford.

YES.

EXACTLY. News flash: It doesn't matter a damm WHERE a part is made as long as there is a REAL quality-assurance program in place, and the offshore manufacturers are HELD ACCOUNTABLE for making parts TO SPEC (which MANY MANY OFFSHORE PARTS MISS). What this means is that POOR QUALITY PARTS ARE NOT ACCEPTED, and ARE RETURNED. 2 times and you NO LONGER CONTRACT TO GM, or whoever you're making stuff for. Quality-assurance needs SOME TEETH, and more than the idiotic pencil-whipping paperwork piles that are today's norm. A pile of paper does NOT guarantee a decent part.

Yup. The state of the world suddenly begins to make sense.

I made a stupid post, because I'd neglected to read the one immediately before it. I'm an idiot. Really. I just was an idiot, anyway. I hope it doesn't happen too often. I don't want to be a constant idiot. Occasional idiot, OK.

Yup, sure woulda been cheaper to get it right the first time...

Except it's not really a Revell kit. It's an Accurate Miniatures kit, reboxed after AM went belly-up. I bought something like 12 of them to build and for parts, just because it's such a GREAT kit.

And WOW...it says if I sign up 1000 friends, they'll send me FREE blades for 83 years !!!

ME !!! In the shower. How's THAT for a horrible visual?

The only stuff I've ever seen that would work on those was a special vinyl adhesive that came packaged with replacement split-boots for CV joints in front-wheel-drive cars. I don't know what the stuff was. Good luck. EDIT: It was probably something like this...WELD-ON ® 4784 Vinyl Cement Clear, medium bodied, fast setting, high strength solvent cement for flexible vinyl, leather, acrylic, butyrate and kydex.

I really have to wonder if the bean counters will learn from this HOW MUCH CHEAPER IT REALLY IS TO GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.

Click this link to the real deal on US gasser classes and rules, from 1958 on. Remember, as already mentioned, in the beginning gas classes required full street equipment...lights, all that stuff. Later they evolved into more purpose-built race cars. http://www.gassermadness.us/Gas_Classes/index.htm

Insight: It's a simple numbers, probability thing, like the cost of insurance. And if you happen to be the one guy in 1000 who has the sidewall ripped out of your tire and didn't read the fine-print and pony up $200, you're screwed.

Ah, where to begin... First, the cheapo blue generic razors from the grocery store, that USED to cut and last like the "more expensive spread" now only last for a couple of shaves before disintegrating. When you knock the whiskers out under running water, the heads break off after about 3 or 4 shaves. This is a new phenomenon. Fixable with a couple dabs of Loctite toughened super-glue, but WTF ??? The rear universal joint I put in my Chevy truck 2 years ago has already failed. The original lasted for 20+ years, but the new one has already disintegrated (must be made to the same quality specs as the razors). Same mostly reasonable driving style, same greasing of the joint about every 10,000 miles. The needles in the bearing must have been as soft as welding rod. Oh, the joys of Chinese-made parts. The septic tank in my new place has backed up, and stinking brown lumpy water is coming up in the bathtub. Apparently, the prior tenants were notorious for causing regular plumbing problems, flushing didies and paper down the thing. Morons didn't understand indoor plumbing, and apparently the tank is now full of crapp and paper. Lovely. And the build I've just started on a '47 Caddy convertible came to us from a used-to-be-good shop. The car was disassembled there, and all the rust was bodge-welded and bondoed over. The iron LS the morons swapped in was 1.5" too far to one side in the chassis, and the steering shaft was fouling the headers. Same morons had done the steering install. The trans tailshaft housing is so high the UJ WILL foul the trans tunnel, and the "custom" trans mount is made of 1/16" sheet!!! The Camaro front subframe somebody hacked into the car isn't square in the chassis, was installed 2" TOO FAR FORWARD, and it's been built with Ford bolt-pattern aftermarket hubs and ADAPTED back to GM to match the '70s Caddy rear-end pattern...which makes the front track 2" too wide. And to top it all off, besides EVERYTHING needing to be redone (not my problem, as I'm paid straight time for what it takes), the fools dumped all the parts in various boxes, jars and cans with NO LABELS, including every single nut, bolt or other fastener on the car, and piled sharp scratchy greasy parts on top of perfect glass lenses and new chrome. Oh...and the "relay board" someone had started building was just that: a pine board that looked like it had once been a fence picket. Morons morons morons. Sometimes I just have to wonder where all the smart people went.

And all this time I thought it was just me having those problems...

Not to worry...Dystopia's coming on strong.