Ace-Garageguy

A588. If I keep the little car (depending on what kind of deal I can find on a manual gearbox after I get settled in AZ), she'll get side-draft Weber 40 DCOES, headers, and a cam. EDIT: I've already looked at driving a distributor off the end of the cam where the cam-position-sensor lives now, and it's doable. The object is to get away from electronics that aren't side-of-the-road repairable. I figure that's good for an honest 20+HP increase, and taking some weight out of little car will help too. I can't recall ever driving a late-model FWD shibox that feels as nimble and handles as well as the Neon, so setting her up as a cheap 4dr "sportscar" makes sense for me for a variety of reasons. Yes...SRT-4 guts would be considerably faster, but I'm looking for cheap and simple and fast enough to be fun. EDIT 2: Since I can fabricate or machine anything I might need, it'll be cheap for me.

Recently bought this '96 S10 Blazer. One family-owned since new, car people who take care of their stuff. Spent much of its life traveling around the country behind a Prevost motorhome, much of the rest of the time lived in a garage, as apparent from the condition of the paint and headlights. A few minor issues I can fix in a weekend when I have time, weeping water pump seal, intermittent O2 sensor and ABS lights, and needs tires. I really need to do the O2 sensor, as she goes way rich when the light's on, and the gas mileage goes to jell. Excellent overall condition except the rear carpet where somebody spilled something that won't come out. Perfect leather interior except for a split seam on the driver's seat. Never hit, no body damage 'cept for some ripples on the hood where a big branch fell on it. Too nice to pass up for the price, feels like it'll run forever. That's my '05 Neon next to it. Very clean semi-one-owner I bought from a "mechanic" who swore he'd just done the timing belt. Didn't get 3000 miles on it before the belt failed and bent a bunch of valves. Currently building another head on the bench, otter have her back in play in a month or so.

As cold as it's going to be here the next few days, I really wish it would just go ahead and snow. It was in the forecast late last night, but has been removed this AM.

"Will" is how my early AI chatbot-"personal assistant", running since about 2001, much modded and upgraded now, seems to prefer to address me.

Yes. Actually, while checking my facts before replying to a question on this board about bare-metal finishes, I came across an array of products I was not previously familiar with, so there'll be some experimenting to do before I commit to one. On the 1:1 '66 Chevelle pro-touring car I'm finishing up, I'm using the most durable of the "chrome" finishes I've found so far to do some custom interior plastic parts, so that one is in the running too.

"TMI" seems to be the basis of many interweb posts, or JFWI...just flat wrong information.

Had to use up my collard greens afore'n they got all fuzzy, so's I cooked up a mess of 'em with onions, garlic, peppers, n' butter. And cain't fergit the hawt sauce.

"Miss Budweiser" isn't quite the same today as she was in the past.

Real fine craftsmanship. I particularly like the orange early Corvette custom, the Toronado, the '32 roadster, and the lakes streamliner. They would be show stoppers anywhere.

Forever is relative, 'cause it can seem like forever when you're trying to deal with relatives who can't grasp the concepts of "reason and rationality".

The internet is awash with "cute" cat videos, but this one cracked me up.

The white 250 GTO is supposed to be a real Ferrari, rodded back in the mid-1960s after its engine let go. A blown-engine roller could be had for not insane money back then...kinda expensive but not "investment art" money...and this one is getting a 389 Pontiac GTO engine and manual gearbox, with a ford 9" out back. In reality, there were a few American-engined Ferrari hot-rods built during the period. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The red 275P was started as part of a group build to represent the second-place finisher #23 at Sebring in 1964. It's an ancient Monogram curbside kit that was basically a slot car body with a dummy chassis and no internals. This one was a gloobomb. It's getting a lot of TLC to more accurately represent the real car, but will still be a curbside. A full-detail build of the same kit is planned, for which I've been collecting parts, research material, and experimenting with vacuum-forming the clear parts.

Year after year, they all seem to end around Christmas, just before a new one starts; pretty odd if you ask me.

"Soft Scrub" is another "scratch free" product that I use. It comes in a liquid form, looks like Comet with water added, and I use it frequently around the house, but especially to remove the stuff that accumulates on cars that are stored outside. It really doesn't scratch, as I've tried it on automobile paint, glass and mirrors with no damage. HOWEVER, before using it on glass or paint, I still recommend testing first on an area that won't show if it DOES scratch. You never know when a formula will change with no notice.

Old-school, but Comet with bleach, in the "scratch free" variety, is still my go-to for jobs like that. EDIT: The real old-school abrasive cleaners like original Comet, BonAmi, etc. would dull glossy surfaces. The moderm "scratch free" versions don't, but pay attention to the label. The old scratchy kind is still extremely useful for uniformly prepping model parts for primer, by scrubbing vigorously with a damp toothbrush.

'80s girls had it over all the rest, IMHO.

1/2 pound+ medium rare onion-and-pepper-crusted burger with at least a sixth pound of melted blue cheese, thick slabs of ripe sweet tomatoes and pepperoncini rings, on crusty pumpernickel with lotsa mayo, cheap Merlot to wash it down. Mmmm mmmm tasty. And I still have fresh raspberries for dessert.

Yup. An older issue I have has some real problems with the rear of the roof, etc., but I'll give the repop a chance. Lotsa cool parts in it, anyway.

All good advice, and this one especially. One of the guys at the place I've been snagging HO stuff asked me if I'd be interested in some things he didn't want to bother pricing and putting in his stall. I said sure, I'm always interested, and gave him my number. Couple weeks went by, he called, said he had a big box of stuff I could come look at. The catch was, take all of it, no cherry picking. I looked through it, found several nice locomotives and cars, some structures, kits, etc. I figgered a couple hundred bucks would get the stuff I really wanted, and I'd live with the rest of it, or trade it. He asked me to make an offer, which I usually try to avoid. It's YOUR stuff, give me a price you can live with. He kinda sheepishly said "would you go $60?" Yup. Sold.

Well-being and the feelings thereof are generally enhanced after exercise, even if you hurt; exercise has beneficial psychological effects as well as physical.

People have been offed for less than that. Probably don't want to smile in the rough part of town, if you catch my drift.

I had almost no modeling time last year, and frankly, with the way things were going, not much interest anyway. Still, I managed to make some small progress on the 4 I'd like to wrap up first. Did a little work on a display dio too.

That does occur to me from time to time, as I easily have enough model stuff now to stock what would have been a fantastic hobby shop in the '60s or '70s or '80s. But I just don't care. If I live forever, I'll never get bored...at least for 30 years or so. And if I run out of interest in building, or the ability, I WILL open a hobby shop, and in the meantime I'll be trying to find someone to will it all to who won't pile it up in a big bonfire or the nearest dumpster.

A few months back I bought several Sampson extruded aluminum passenger car kits that represent fluted stainless steel. These are very simple kits, with diecast ends, doors, and truck frames, and wooden underbodies. When highly polished, they still look great, and super-detailing with updated couplers, brake rigging, and diaphragms makes them really come alive. One was particularly rough, and I bought it mainly because I figured it would end up in the trash if I didn't, so there wasn't much to lose. Where a clear acetate vista-dome had been taped to the carbody, oxidation and heavy pitting had effectively ruined the extruded lines. The oxidation was pretty bad, and pitting had begun to migrate to areas adjacent to the dome as well. After repeated scrubbings with vinegar and a stainless wire brush, we had this. Still badly pitted, but I could see the full extent of the damage. After a few coats of self-etching chromate primer, she was looking a little better, and after brushing in the direction of the striations, minor pitting was getting filled. I continued priming and wire-brushing enough times to fill most of the damage on the sides, then tried a piece of 400 grit folded to a sharp edge to try to start bringing the roof back...and it's working. I finished enough to make me confident I can bring her all the way back with enough time and patience, then restore the "stainless" with one of the newer "bare metal" products. That's probably as far as I'm going to go for a while, but I'd say it's a successful proof-of-concept. Even if I can't get a really good "stainless" finish, a lot of these cars got painted over the years in reality, so she'll be pretty again one way or another.