Ace-Garageguy

'T'were me, I'd buy the salvage from the insurance company if that's an option where you are. It is where I am, and I've saved several "economic totals" that were excellent mechanically, and either brought them back, or swapped the guts into straight shells. Far as fixing that one goes, I don't know many shops that are competent to do that car right (WE are), but I've seen so much structural buggery that was "just repaired"...well, I wouldn't want it, period...unless you know a shop that has a reputation for doing heavy hits absolutely correctly. There aren't many out there.

Exactly. Nor would they contribute to an excessively hard ride, as short springs often do. Short springs can induce unwanted camber as well, often requiring relocated A-arm pickup points to compensate. AND...stiff springs generally work the best on very smooth race tracks. Bring in a little bumpiness, like on the street, and you can end up with a car that can't generate high lateral G forces because the tires are skittering over the surface and losing contact. This can make a car unnecessarily difficult to control on uneven pavement. In very general terms, the optimum street setup (and race setup too), is often springs on the softer side that allow easy wheel travel over pavement undulations, with firm shock valving to control excessive rebound...but too stiff valving in one direction or the other causes its own problems. Before all the suspension setup experts dogpile on me, as I said, these are very general terms, and suspension tuning and component matching for each application and use condition is critical to get the best handling. Back to the OP's question: dropped spindles (as replicated above in model form) would be the best real-world solution, and a realistic one, as the parts are available in 1:1.

Dropped spindles are available for these... https://opentrackerracing.com/shop/1965-66-v8-mustang-1960-65-v8-falcon-comet-large-bearing-1-5-inch-drop-spindles/?srsltid=AfmBOooHw9SGkCD-OTqKDdY4pV7WfCbP26QUMbZYfE6oECeVlsN83bhA

Distance between two points is shortest on a straight line, unless you can fold space.

Well, it's not "chrome". It's highly polished aluminum. BMF, actually being aluminum, would produce the most realistic finish, and it's thin enough for rivet and panel lines to show through when it's burnished down. There's only one "chrome" paint I'm aware of that can be clear-coated and is durable, but it's not really cost-effective to do only one small model with it. Some of the 'dulling' of "chrome" paint can be mitigated by wearing thin cotton gloves during assembly.

Up the chimbly he rose.

No idea. None, zero, period.

You can lead a horse to water, but if it has a certain mindset, it'll die of dehydration just to spite you.

If you have some kind of problem with everyone around you, there's a good chance the real problem is you.

There's no time like the present to put something off until later.

Real world solution: custom trans mount and a longer custom driveshaft. Pretty easy on a model too. Far as the starter goes, real-world solution would be either an aftermarket bellhousing that relocated the starter, common at one time, or machine work and fabrication to accomplish the same thing...also common at one time.

It depends. The '32 bolt pattern was 5 on 5.5", '40 Ford was 5 on 5.5" too, vs. the 5 on 5" of some later cars (other than the "wide five" design). (Though the bolt pattern is the same, I do not recall if '40 wheels will bolt directly to '32 hubs.) There are multiple ways to use later rims on earlier cars. 1) '40 wheels may bolt directly to '32 hubs, or spacers may be required. 2) Wheel adaptors for different bolt patterns 3) Re-drill the brake drums and use spacers if necessary. 4) Swap wheels and their corresponding brake drums entirely. This was common practice when upgrading early Ford cars to '39 and later hydraulic ("juice") brakes, and can be accomplished with a minimum amount of machine work. Junkyard parts were plentiful and cheap. Remember that if you're building a "period" car, there were a whole hellava lot more machinists around then than there are now, and finding someone capable of performing these relatively simple mods was no big deal. 1940 16" X 4", 5 on 5.5" Ford passenger car wheels, below: Wide five wheels, below: Wide five adaptor, below (there are several designs): EDIT: The '32 Ford "Blackjack" built for James Hetfield by Josh Mills when I was working for him (I had zero to do with that build) ran wide-five wheels using only period parts and technology. IIRC it used '39 drums, backing plates, and wheels. The car was a contender for the 2017 AMBR.

While much information has been repeated in subsequent issues of vintage magazines or online forums, much has not. I personally prefer printed reference material to the digitized versions, for a variety of reasons.

"The cleverest of all, in my opinion, is the man who calls himself a fool at least once a month" Fyodor Dostoevsky.

"Wet noodle" is frequently used to describe this Canadian National Railway logo.

"Class" is a commodity that's sorely lacking in today's world.

The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself – Sun Tzu

Big smilemaker. Well done, sir.

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Benjamin Franklin

"Spirit ain't worth spit without a little exercise." Eastwood in Pale Rider

But frankly, I don't understand why all the fuss...

Encountering "The Government Is Closed" on several websites. P A T H E T I C Next time my taxes are due, I assume it's OK to just send a note that says "This particular well has run dry".

"Get a horse!" https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2017/01/get-horse-americas-skepticism-toward-first-automobiles/

Found a reasonably well-built Monogram 1/24 Scarab for $10. I have a few of these as NIB kits, but this one will probably be the one that gets (re)built. I'd like to show it with the front-engined Strombecker version.

Also brought home a complete Lindberg 1/48 Snark kit. Not really cheap (different vendor from the train stuff), but less than online. I buggered a Snark model (Revell) when I was a kid, and always kinda wanted to do a nice job on one. Some of the rivet detail at the fuselage seams will be tricky to get right, and I may or may not change the raised panel lines to scribed, but it's worth a shot.