Ace-Garageguy

Sick animals tend to hide and rest until they feel better, kinda like me.

Here's the thing. I have pretty well calibrated eyeballs from decades of doing what I do. For example: lotsa people have dumped on all the '34 Fords in the model-car-kit world, and for good reason. Not a one of 'em looks 100% right to somebody who's been looking at the real ones for 50 odd years. Some years back, I had access to a nekkid '34 3W over several months. I measured it quite accurately (+ or- 1/8") and took extensive notes and photos. Without exception, what looked wrong to me on the various models looked wrong because the actual measurements were not scaled from a real car correctly on to the models. Some things on some of the models were too narrow. Almost none of the hoods were long enough, though the closest looked the best. Some of the grilles were not tall enough. Lines and curves of fenders and other panels were wonky, and in incorrect relationships to each other. Etc. etc. etc. In the final analysis, the ancient 1/24 scale Monogram '34 Ford kit is by far the most accurate of any '34 Ford ever kitted, from a hard numbers standpoint. And it's pretty much universally accepted that that old, old kit just flat looks more like a real '34 Ford than any other '34 Ford kit ever marketed. There's a reason for that. Numbers don't lie. EDIT: That's also the reason the AMT and Johan annual models derived from dealer promos that were scaled from factory blueprints look so very very good from a proportion and line standpoint. They are numerically accurate scaled-down representations of the real cars, not subjectively "artistically interpreted" by well-meaning but misguided designers.

"Crowd-sourced is only as smart as the dumbest guy in the crowd." Too bad more folks don't realize that. Googli's AI hasn't figured it out yet either. EDIT: For those who missed it, shortly (within minutes) after I posted jokingly on another thread that "budge is an adult budget", Googli's AI picked it up and repeated it.

That makes me cold(er) just thinking about it.

This is baloney that's been circulating for decades, attributed to various people. If it's true, explain to me why a small photograph of a real car looks just exactly like the real car (assuming there's no weird lens effects like extra-long focal lengths or fisheyes). A perfectly-scaled model looks right when viewed from a similar angle and scale distance as the real one. Subjective oogie boogie "artistic interpretation" doesn't cut it.

Ummm...yeah. I think that anyone who operates as complex and potentially lethal a machine as a car should have at least a basic grasp of how the thing works. That used to come under the heading of "common knowledge", but not so anymore. (EDIT: Even the frilly little girls in my 6th grade class had to pass the same science tests as I did, including operation of IC engines, jet engines, wings, electric motors, how electricity is generated and distributed, etc.) Obviously the majority of the "tech savvy" but in reality woefully technically and scientifically ignorant don't agree with me. But that's OK. Nobody has to. Just please don't crash into me as a result of your willful refusal to understand physical reality (NOT directed at YOU Lenny, just to be clear).

Laziness probably could qualify as a hobby all by itself.

Exactly, sad but very very true. Many beautiful cars were run into the ground by people who had no clue, and not just 308s and Panteras and Maseratis and Jags when they got cheap. There was no shortage of American thoroughbreds like Corvettes and GTOs and Trans Ams and Mustangs and Challengers etc. senselessly destroyed or driven to death by (word I can't say here).

Looks good. I like stripper trucks too. Actual trucks, not symbols. Pretty cool headlight trick as well.

Hmmm. Looks like a drag car to me, nothing at all like an "Indy racer". But what do I know? If the interdwerbs say it's true, it is.

Shock value notwithstanding, nowadays a spoiling banana taped to a wall as "art" can bring really big bucks ($6.2 million)...and probably lotsa little flies...so you'd best eat it before it rots.

Which, frankly, doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The majority of an Edsel under the skin is Ford, V8 engines being in the FE and MEL families, and the 223 six, with gearboxes and rear ends and most brake parts identical to other Ford lines. While there were definitely build and and design and engineering and general quality control issues, IIRC the Edsel-specific "Teletouch" automatic transmission shifter was particularly problematic, with the control buttons in the center of the steering wheel. Many years after the fact, it's entirely possible to go through an Edsel carefully and end up with a car that's as reliable and easy to operate as anything else of the period...and done right, that's very reliable. Unfortunately, Ford management badly misread the market, apparently failed to thoroughly develop the car prior to production, and wasn't particularly good with QC on the line.

Saloon gals ain't like they used ta was.

Dew Drop Inn sounds like "do drop in".

Mountain men probably smell worse than a rutting moose after a long winter with no running water.

Feet without OJ are like shoelaces without Anita Bryant.

Magic Carpet Ride still works for me...

Love this build. I have a full-scale 450SL theft-recovery that's too far gone to make a straight restoration really feasible, so it's slated to get a supercharged 351C Ford I have lying around from a long-ago project. Oddball Merc hot-rods are cool.

Found him, finally. PM'd

Subject yourself to daily doses of pain and starvation if you want to dislike your lot in life even more than you already do.

Forum rules seek to eliminate political arguments that are usually pointless at best, and downright rude and hateful at worst.

Yeah man...that engine bay is pretty.

For all the Yugo bashing that goes on, it's really not that bad a car for the most part. Kinda like the Corvair and Pinto and Fiats in the US, it's become popular to rag on them without much first-hand knowledge to back it up. The Fiat the Yugo is derived from is actually a very good little car, but being small and having a much more highly stressed engine than the big loafing American engines people here were used to, they required more regular but relatively minor maintenance than they usually got...and the lack of knowledgeable people to work on them led to their supposed unreliability. Fiat 128 and Yugo cam belts, for instance, required replacement at around 25,000 mile intervals IIRC, but unlike something like a PT cruiser or a Neon, which last around 100,000 miles but are a nightmare to change, the Fiat / Yugo cam belts can be done in a matter of minutes...because they were designed to be easily serviced. The only basic flaw with the Yugo I can recall is that a batch of crankshafts were made of the wrong material, and failed very early. Other than that, they were just a cheap car made inexpensively, and anyone expecting Rolls-like quality simply isn't living in reality.

Works fine...

Dog lovers with chihuahuas should be careful of cat lovers with pumas.