Ace-Garageguy

A tube cutter tends to crimp the cut ends. A 32TPI razor saw might work better for you.

Correct, but the same website has a wide variety of sizes for various scales and applications. Scroll down that page for more sizes.

There's a link to everything you need to know about the clay at the bottom of post 15 in this thread.. That site also has DVDs available that explain the whole clay-model process. Here is a link to an extensive video library about various methods of making masters, molds and parts. There's far more to it, and more choices to make, than can possibly be explained here on the MCM forum. http://www.freemansupply.com/video.htm Good Luck.

You're right...the different deep-parts of the sumps are for crossmember clearance in different vehicles, but the deep part of most oil pans is USUALLY directly UNDER the oil pump. Y-block pans, and most others, can NOT just be reversed, but different bodies will use different factory oil pans and pickups. It's common, and relatively easy, to relocate the deep-part of an oil pan to accommodate installing an engine in a vehicle it's not designed for...engine "swapping"...by cutting and fabricating as necessary. Of course, the oil pickup has to be relocated too, and this is simple on some engines and difficult on others. The Y-block can be set up with the deep part either in front or in back, as you've already noticed. Where modifying oil pans and pickups just isn't feasible, the crossmember will have to be notched or otherwise modified for clearance.

Part of your problem may be not knowing what size tubing to use, as you state in your question. Common primary-pipes (the part that comes out of the engine) are between 1 1/2" (1.5") up to 2 3/8" (2.375"). The primary tubing diameter will depend on the type and application of the engine. A street small-block Chevy will usually run smaller diameter header primary pipes than a full-race big-block Chevy, for instance. I assume you're working in 1/25 scale, so to get the correct-looking primary tube size, you divide (as always) the real number by the denominator in the scale. EXAMPLE: 1.5" REAL tubing diameter, divided by 25, would be .060" SCALE tubing. Here's a bunch of pix of lakes-style headers.https://www.google.com/search?q=lakes+headers&client=firefox-a&hs=2Uu&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=UzawUvzJLdTukQfA94CYBg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1589&bih=736 Decide what primary-pipe diameter you want, and adjust the sizes of tubing on the rest of the header to get the look you want, based on that. A little simple math goes a long way to getting things looking right and in proportion on a model. The subject of custom headers has been covered in depth many times on the forum. Try these for starters: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=25819&st=0&p=242272&hl=headers&fromsearch=1&#entry242272 http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=30628&st=0&p=302132&hl=headers&fromsearch=1&#entry302132 http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=43138&st=0&p=452727&hl=headers&fromsearch=1&#entry452727

David's got it...that's one very clean and accurate way to do it. Beautiful, correct work. Man that's nice.

Making the master is definitely the hardest part. You can make an undersized support from balsa or basswood, and skin it with bondo to develop the final shape and surface. If you use foam, like surfboard foam (which is urethane) or URETHANE insulation foam you can sand it to rough shape with 80 grit paper. Make it undersize, and skin it with bondo or clay, and develop your finished surface. WEAR A RESPIRATOR WHEN SANDING. Also, DO NOT HOT WIRE URETHANE FOAM. IT RELEASES HYDROGEN CYANIDE GAS WHEN HEATED. You can also use OPEN CELL styrofoam (florist foam), which CAN be hot-wired safely, or sanded to rough shape. Closed-cell styrofoam (beer coolers) can't be easily shaped with sandpaper. Accurate shapes? Yes. Perfectly accurate if YOU make them perfectly accurate. The foam is shaped UNDERSIZED by 1/8 to 1/4 inch, and is only a lightweight support for the bondo skin. Bondo is applied over the foam and sanded and filed to the final shape, then primered, just like doing full-scale or model bodywork. The accuracy of the bondo skin is only limited by how accurate you make it. The surface you make will be copied EXACTLY in the mold, and reproduced EXACTLY in the finished parts. Even sanding scratches will be reproduced exactly. If your plug or master has a 400grit-sanded surface, your mold AND your parts will have this exact surface. I use bondo for smaller work because it's easy and forgiving, and I always have some around anyway. I tend to use clay for around 1/10 or so models because I have enough in stock to go that big. The stuff can be recycled endlessly if you keep it clean. It also gets expensive in large quantities, so once again, I go back to bondo for most 1:1 work where cost is an issue. Clay is still routinely used for sculpture and product development work. The real car manufacturers used to make their full-scale models, called "clays", from exactly this stuff. Here's an excellent overview with FAQs and a catalog from Chavant (the supplier I use). http://chavant.com/new_site/files/pdf/Chavan_Catalogue_2012_High_Resolution.pdf

Yes. You will have to build a perfect master first. There's no magic way to build a decent fiberglass part or body otherwise. You build a perfect model first, then make your molds, and then make your copies in fiberglass. It's the same basic set of steps as building molds for resin parts or bodies from scratch. No easy shortcuts. The master can be built from special clay, over a wooden armature as shown above, or it can be built from almost ANY material that will support a surface that can be worked and sculpted to a fine finish. Bondo over urethane foam works well for models. Old school full-scale bucks were often built with a wooden-rib framework, covered with chicken wire, in turn covered with screen or burlap, and then skinned with plaster-of-paris which was subsequently sanded to final shape, then primered and painted with lacquer. Many coats of wax were applied, and the molds were made from the waxed surface. The full-scale plug being built in the last shot is constructed over bulkheads made from foil-faced insulating foam, hot-glued together, then covered with urethane planking as shown. That in turn gets a layer of fiberglass to stiffen the shell, and the final contours are sculpted with Bondo, then primered with polyester. PVA release agent is shot over the entire shell, and the mold is made over that. When cured, the finished mold is removed, trimmed, treated inside with the appropriate release agent, and the actual body parts are laid-up inside it. Lotsa work unless you have CAD and a very large 5-axis CNC mill.

Some pretty odd things have been used as release agents by guys trying to save a couple of bucks, including PAM cooking spray.

Poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) http://store.hamiltonmarine.com/browse.cfm/poly-vinyl-alcohol-gl-pva-128746/4,21157.html?gclid=CM_StqietrsCFQbl7AodD1oA7g. It's abut the consistency of milk (but transparent green to aid in identifying its thickness on a mold...like candy paint, the more coats, the darker it gets) and needs to be sprayed for best results. It works as a release under polyester or epoxy resin, over just about any surface. It's water soluble and leaves no residue, so the master can still be painted easily after a mold is made. Some of the spray-can release agents are silicone-based, and are almost impossible to remove from a plug or master. I use an old Binks #7 siphon-feed spray gun, even on models.

Polystyrene's glass transition temperature (where it becomes fairly easy to shape / warp) is listed at about 100C (212F). It's melting point is listed as approximately 240C (464F). Its flashpoint is listed at around 350C (662F) and its autoignition temperature is around 430C (806F). Flash point is the lowest temperature of a liquid, which still emits enough vapor to form an ignitable mixture with air. To find the flash point, the temperature of a liquid exposed to the atmosphere is slowly increased with a flame exposed to the resulting vapors. The temperature at which the first ignition occurs is the flash point. Autoignition temperature is the temperature above which adequate energy is available to provide an ignition source. For instance a hydrocarbon vapor released to the earth's atmosphere at or above its autoignition temperature will spontaneously combust (no other ignition sources are needed). BE CAREFUL!!!! Like other organic compounds, polystyrene is flammable. Polystyrene is classified according to DIN4102 as a "B3" product, meaning highly flammable or "Easily Ignited." IF YOU ATTEMPT TO MELT PLASTIC, WORK WITH ADEQUATE VENTILATION AND FIRE EXTINGUISHING EQUIPMENT. More information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polystyrene

I owned one of these wonderful, exquisitely balanced cars up until the mid 1980s, and your beautiful model reminds me how incredibly stupid I was to sell it. Very very nice, sir.

I've made a lot of glass body panels for models, and a lot more for 1:1 cars and aircraft. The techniques are similar for all of it, up to and including full bodies. Question: Are you meaning "from scratch" original work, or copying existing parts? Either way, I have all the information you need. Mold in progress: Mold removed from master: Trimmed mold, un-trimmed replica part, and master: Original design 1/10 scale clay master in progress: Original re-body design for client, full scale master in progress: My avatar is also an original-design 1/10 sctatchbuilt fiberglass model, currently being developed as a 1:1 showcar. Note: All images are my own, taken from internet sites.

Oh damm. Everybody interesting seems to be leaving the party.

Great project, fine work. Welcome.

Just beautiful.

Great work from design through completion. Very nice.

Great looking execution of a well thought out concept. Very nice.

Images taken from internet sources under "fair use" definition in copyright law.

Image taken from open internet source under "fair-use" definition in copyright law.

Man, super slick conversion work. Real pretty.

Really a treat watching this come together.

Great find, and a fine save shaping up.

Another really interesting cross-breed. Great idea.

Interesting cross-breeding. Are you going to stay with the Mustang's front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout, or are you going mid-engined like the Modena?