Ace-Garageguy

1) READ THE INSTRUCTIONS 2) The biggest problem with these things is condensation inside the filter cartridges from breathing through them. If you put them back in the bag immediately after use, they may be damp and CAN grow mold internally, and it can make you sick. It's happened to me more than once, and I finally figured out what was going on. I haven't had any problems since I started putting them in a sunny window for an hour or two after each use, to let them dry out thoroughly, before putting them back in the storage bag.

Hanging intermittently this AM, some photos just not loading at all. If this was a car, at this point I'd rip out all the OEM electronics and build something that worked.

The drawing of a 270 configured for front engine/rear drive applications, below, shows typical Offy engine coolant inlets and outlets. Pretty much standard Offy practice, but there may be variations depending on the specific engine and application. The hot outlet is usually from a coolant manifold bolted to the top of the head. The cooled inlet is usually into the center of the water pump, below the crank snout. EDIT: The photo below clearly shows the coolant manifold on top of the head, with the outlet being the capped rubber hose between the two breathers. The inlet would be the center of the water pump (shown capped, just above the "Offy" book).

"Normal" is sometimes a good thing, but it can also be stifling, hidebound, and negative towards imagination and innovation.

Day to day heat can make it less pleasant to work hard.

Massaged

Pretty cool if-Batman-was-a-hot-rodder vibe.

Pretty good Sunday. Worked outside in the AM to get some natural vitamin D, then picked up some more model railroad HO scale "craftsman" kits from the '50s and '60s, went to Barnes & Noble for maps and a new SciFi book, and then drove up to Lake Allatoona just to see some water. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Allatoona Sat under a tree in the shade and listened to little waves lapping on the shore for a while, tuned the noise of the jet-skis and power boats out. Came back, cleaned my windshield, topped up my fuel tank and fluids in the Blazer, then spent a couple hours packing for the move, made dinner, watched a couple of '50s b&w TV shows I wasn't allowed to as a kid. Time to go to bed. School day tomorrow.

Correct.

Shops full of speed equipment catering to real gearheads are as rare as hobby shops today.

Big bowl of chorizo-black bean cheese dip, hot tortillas, guac and salsa on the side, and a dark Dos Equis.

Yup, fascinating engineering-of-expedience, or necessity-is-a-mother. RGS geese were based on big torquey town cars or limos, Buick and Pierce-Arrow. No two were the same, and they usually evolved through several iterations resulting from damage, or the need to replace worn out engines and/or running gear. Several railroads and shortlines built equally unusual railcars adapted from automotive chassis and engines. Even Mack (the truck company) got into the act:

What's more surprising is that they bothered to paint it all the same color(s). Cobbled together expediency like this wasn't known for its detail work, was built as cost-effectively as possible, and was often rough as a cob close up. The sheetmetal work looks surprisingly good for the conditions it was probably built under, but I can guess what the shop foreman said to the body-builder when he wanted to get trim parts to finish up the look: "Sure, if you pay for the parts out of your own pocket, make it as pretty as you want to".

World Products manufactures a line of performance parts for US-based engines. https://www.facebook.com/p/World-Products-100057123923813/

Mime your order at the drive-through window next time for a load of laughs.

Taxis are being widely replaced by things like Uber and Lyft.

Though the kit was originally tooled in the '50s, it was done at a time when promos were developed from factory blueprints, and because of that, the kit is quite well proportioned. And because of that, in spite of its warts, it can be the basis for a very fine model...with a lot of remedial work. Unfortunately, some scale fidelity has been lost during the tooling design process (primarily to make the thing come out of the mold more easily), fit of many parts is poor, and the blobular chassis was the standard early AMT kit style.

You might want to read it again. What it actually says is "the mold that made these 1/25 promos was later converted into a model kit tool, the same tool that made this kit you are about to build". There are several major differences between the "promo" and the kit derived from it. For instance, the actual promo had the windshield frame, hood, and headlight rims molded into the body shell as one piece. The underside of the actual promo is the typical stamped metal, friction-motor job. EDIT: The ORIGINAL AMT "Styling" kit was in fact almost the promo offered as a kit, but it is an entirely different animal from the kit you have. It included the one-piece body (the windshield frame is broken in the photo below), a stamped metal chassis, and the promo's cast metal bumpers. It was also molded in light green, as well as the red shown below. https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/amt-ford-thunderbird-styling-kit-25-1899416906

Modelers working with wet cool clay would enjoy it more today than those of us who are welding.

"Here, There, and Everywhere" was one of the Beatles' more romantic songs.

Predator UAV's wings have been occasionally carefully blueprinted by hand, glider-style, in experiments to enhance performance.

Wild cats sometimes don't take to humans even if you get them as kittens.

Or at least store 'em upside down, so in theory only the propellant will leak and you can still decant the rest to airbrush (seein' as how it always seems to be the bottom of the cans that leak...).

Cool score. Guess I need to check the one near me...

Check out that cool shine-runner long-rear-shackle stance. My old man bought a new '63 two-door to commute from our home on the Jersey shore into NYC every day. Great little car, 3-on-the-tree. But my mother refused to even ride in it. Traded it in '65 on a 289 autobox Mustang that she hated too.