Ace-Garageguy

About 5 years ago, I bought a vintage Unimat well after they became "collectible", but when adjusted for inflation, it cost about as much in real buying-power as it would have new in the 1960s. I'd wanted one since I first saw them advertised in the model train mags way back then for around $100, but had no real need for it after I quit hobby-modeling around 1970, but I have had a full-size mill and lathe for my full-scale work since 1995. It was barely, if ever, used, and came complete in the box with an excellent manual, almost identical to the one below. With a few extra accessories and upgrades purchased later, I have about $1500 in the Unimat at this point. It is a very high quality tool, made in Austria (old-school "German" craftsmanship) and with proper care and maintenance should last forever. It easily converts to a vertical mill with parts that are in the box, but to use it as a mill requires cutters that are not part of the basic set. There's a sizable community of Unimat enthusiasts, some of whom manufacture accessories and replacement parts (like urethane drive belts, as the rubber ones are all useless by now). Speeds are adjusted by swapping belts on various sized pulleys that are included. Lower speeds are preferable for most thermoplastics to prevent melting of the work surface. Once you have an understanding of machining operations, you will discover that many accessories made for other machine tools can be adapted to work perfectly with the little Unimat, too. I use it in lathe-mode most frequently to modify kit wheels to give me exactly what I need for a given situation. It is not very powerful, or rigid enough to make heavy cuts, and if you try to rush your work by cutting too aggressively, it won't like you. There are many videos available on YT about these things, so you can get a very good idea of exactly what they will...and won't...do. And one word of warning...the really inexpensive "offshore" miniature machine tools are mostly plastic trash, more toys than precision equipment.

High-quality reprint of both volumes of the factory '63 Oldsmobile service manual. My parents bought a '63 dynamic 88 convert new, and I drove it a fair bit in high school. It got away after my mother's death in the early '80s, but I tracked it down in Texas and brought it up here in 1995. Solid 120,000 mile car, never wrecked, but the engine is seized from sitting, it's missing some parts now, and needs a full resto...beginning with going through the engine. Already have a hotter cam, new lifters, rocker arms and shafts, rings, valves, a 3X2 manifold, rebuildable 2GC carbs, spare distributor to convert to HEI guts, and a set of header flanges; still need a manual gearbox flywheel and vintage Wilcap bellhousing. The car has the original Roto-Hydramatic 375, also known as the "Slim Jim", which wasn't great when it was new, and parts are getting scarce. When I drove the car in HS, I loved it except for the slushbox. Just about any tranny swap in these cars requires substantial tunnel mods, so I figure I might as well go for a manual box to make it more fun than a TH350 would be (to me, anyway). The single-2bbl 394 is a semi-bulletproof 280 HP torque monster (430 lb/ft) with a factory 10.25:1 compression ratio, and the 3X2 setup, cam, and headers will give it enough additional grunt to be entertaining.

No worries, sir.

Thanks for the heads-up. Wonder who'll go home as AMBR. https://inthegaragemedia.com/2024-grand-national-roadster-show-first-look-at-ambr-competition/

Every time you did the perfect chop, or the perfect paint job, or the perfect engine detail before calling it a night, when you got back to the bench in the morning, all the beautiful work would have disappeared.

If I sold all the projects in the condition they're in today, I could just about swing it.

Josh Mills was (he's still very much alive but got out of the car biz) a real wizard when it came to building period-perfect "real" hot rods and customs. I fell in love with the chopped '35 coupe he was building for himself when I first met him, when he was just finishing the chop and it was still in bare steel. Never a finer piece of metalwork anywhere, and that's when I decided I really wanted to work with him. I did mostly parts design and fabrication, electrical/electronics, and plumbing on later-style builds, while he and a two-man crew built the strictly traditional cars. Working with Josh was one of the highlights of my life, and man, did I learn a lot. His '35 finished...also flathead powered, and his daily driver for several years. Note the early Edelbrock heads, Harmon-Collins mag, and Packard 440 plug wires with Rajah ends...'bout as "real" as it gets.

Beginner, tyro, callow youth...all pretty much mean noob.

Flathead. The very rare Osiecki heads were cast in Atlanta sometime in the late '40s IIRC. Mills chose 'em because the car was built here in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta. Also, IIRC, no significant part of the car (except the repop tires) was made after 1949, including most of the hardware. And it has a 2-speed Columbia rear end...from a '40 Ford, again IIRC. Naturally the car is all vintage steel, and you really have to know real period rod stuff to fully appreciate all the subtle details Mills worked into the build. The gizmo at the rear of the head is the vacuum controller for the Columbia 2-speed rear end.

Nice toot.

King 'tis better to be than serf, but surfing gets you wet.

Speakin' o' keeping it real... I was building an LS-powered '47 Caddy convert and a 354 Chrysler Firepower-powered '33 Plymouth at Josh Mills' shop while HE was building this for James Hetfield. Doesn't get much more "real".

Stirred martinis taste the same as shaken ones, but the latter are a little colder...and that makes a difference to somebody as cool as James Bomb.

Because that would require either 1) taking personal responsibility, or 2) thinking.

It's kindof a spin on an old Rodney Dangerfield bit. I won't date anyone who'd date me.

So you might actually get some building done? What a concept.

No current future-ex-wives in my life, no worries.

Why not just go totally green and safe and have a realistic virtual series where the drivers compete online using joysticks and keyboards, or even specially developed VR-feedback-equipped gaming console stations that have foot-throttle and brake inputs, steering, simulated G-forces, etc., and the millions of onlookers clamoring for thrills and spills can pay to watch on their 72-inch screens while they sit on the couch downing prodigious quantities of pizza, chips, and beer delivered by Uber Eats? Car sounds could be tailored by each individual viewer to simulate ICE or EV propulsion, depending on their taste. That is, after all, the future we seem to be moving to. Let's just get on with it. Racing in the Matrix. Thrilling indeed.

"Savoured, not stirred" isn't what Mr. Bond said regarding his martinis.

Crusty French bread dipped in garlic olive oil is nice with Italian food.

Chicken on pizza always makes me think of Chichen Itza.

Appetite suppressants are supposed to suppress your appetite.

I haven't triple-checked to be double-dog certain, but I think you can use the head from the AMT Beverly Hillbillies truck to build one of these...

Long John Silvers had OK fried clams last time I was there.