Ace-Garageguy

At this point, I think maybe he'll be a little more aware in the future. Saturday he had to stack another set of takeoff wheels and tires out of the way until they find a new home. I walked over to him as he put the last one on top, and smiling, said "wow...perfect height for a paint stand". He just looked a little embarrassed, laughed, and smiled too. He seems like a nice kid, and I hope he'll get his head into what he's doing. We'll see. But we've churned through so many useless employees since 2016..."highly experienced" as well as apprentices...I'm not holding my breath.

Well sir, seein' as how most really "insightful and meaningful" conversations are banned here under the headings of "politics" and "religion", at least this is a thread that allows those of us who live in a less-than-perfect world to show appreciation for those rare instances when people actually do their jobs and things go well, and to occasionally let off a little steam as an aside. And it's way cheaper than therapy.

I think I have heem.

What's really crazy here is that decent, clean, late-'80s through mid-'90s Chevy and GMC pickups like mine are now in the $10,000+ range. Makes it kinda worth it to re-engine the '89 GMC long-bed I saved from the crusher for $100, and the extended cab '92 Silverado I bought over a decade ago for $2500. EDIT: Not that long ago, these were $1500 trucks, max.

Yup, very very nice.

Anybody who doesn't have the common sense at 18 to NOT spray paint almost new tires...AND the concrete in front of the main door to the shop AFTER I gave him plenty of masking material to put down first...really shouldn't be playing with sharp dangerous things.

Nope. That photo came from MY computer as a jpg, to P-bucket back in 2016. This is the image link: http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af320/fastoldcarz/Jag XK 120 for Bonneville/DSCN0193_zps9xvzkq5t.jpg How it ended up here as a WEBP, again, just isn't my dog. When somebody needs an example of something, I find my old thread by name on this site and copy/paste photos already posted on this site into the "question" thread. And that USED to work fine. I'm NOT going to sift through thousands of photos on a hard drive to make fresh uploads here just so everybody can see them. Sorry. Giving somebody the RIGHT answer with well lighted, in focus, and highly relevant photos really ought to be enough without jumping through hoops to make sure that photos already visible on this site elsewhere will be visible to every user if copy-pasted into a new thread.

Nope. Photos I upload to this site NOW are uploaded in the same format I've always uploaded photos to P-bucket...as jpgs, straight from the drive on an old Win7 machine that stores them as jpgs. BEFORE this site offered photo hosting, everything I had here, and that still displays fine on my older threads was hosted on P-bucket, uploaded as jpegs. For proof, LOOK at the image link file name I copied directly from the photo displayed on MCM on the Firefox browser and pasted here. It's jpg, as uploaded by me. Any configuration change has zip to do with me. The problem arises only when COPYING FROM THIS SITE TO THIS SITE...and sometimes copying other photos on the web to illustrate a particular point.

That's real interesting, as those photos display the image link file names as jpg on the Firefox browser. http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af320/fastoldcarz/Jag XK 120 for Bonneville/DSCN0193_zps9xvzkq5t.jpg

That's nice. Look at the photos I posted on this thread: They're saved on Photobucket as JPEGs just like I uploaded 'em in 2016. Last time I looked, it wasn't part of my job description to make sure the interdwerbs handle all my photo uploads in perpetuity so everybody and his little dog can see them. EDIT: I've reported occasional problems with photos copied from this site to this site either not displaying or kicking up an odd 502 with some gibberish about "the server can't be reached" bla bla bla. So far I've heard only crickets.

Easiest, most efficient and profitable way to get the car on the ground? Chain it to something heavy, drive the truck out from under it, bill the client to repair the damage. You have to think differently to stay competitive in today's business environment. EDIT: Or just ship the truck with the car in it to China. Let those guys deal with everything, when it's done ship it back to your shop and mark the cost up 100%.

I appreciate the information, Pete, but I fail to see how the problem is my responsibility. I uploaded the photos to the web in JPEG format, some considerable time ago. Far as I'm concerned, if the incessant meddling of a bunch of techie dwerbs makes my photos invisible now to some users, it's not my dog...no more than if I give somebody a car with a properly tuned carburetor setup, later they put EFI on it, then it won't run, and they think it's my place to fix their mess. Nope, not my dog.

There's at least a partial how-to by Bill Geary (Mr. Obsessive) somewhere on here showing how to make a simple single-curved windshield from sheet stock, and making up retainers on the pillars so the "glass" will just snap in place once it's made right. I usually use masking tape to make the first template, transfer it to .010 white stock, get the fit dead on, then transfer that to the clear stock. Works flawlessly every time...but NOT for compound curves (it WILL work on the '63 Poncho).

Pretty much exactly what happened, but another of the techs decided to get involved, the guy who'd told him to just use whatever was "lying around" for a paint stand. Tech said "well, the tires didn't have your name on them" which is idiocy, 'cause anybody with half a brain really ought to be able to reason out that a stack of almost-new tires had some value to SOMEBODY. Still staying remarkably calm, I explained there wouldn't have been a problem if they'd put newspaper or some other disposable masking material down first, to cover the tires. Naturally we get literally tons of cardboard, wrapping plastic, and all kinds of other packing materials every month on parts that come in. There's never a shortage of stuff to use for masking. But instead of understanding the point of my speech was "disposable masking material", the other tech went off on a rant about the lack of availability of "newspaper" because nobody reads anymore...which was when I dug through the trash and pulled out enough wrapping paper to do the job. Maybe a whole 2 minutes of effort. Later the same guy went off when I told the kid not to paint the concrete after I'd just given him masking material. Other tech screamed "we don't care about the dammed concrete"...which is when the dozy shop manager got involved and had the kid pressure-wash his mess off the front pad, explaining that we rent the building, and the owner doesn't want his property paintchimpified. I never really lost it, and everything calmed back down. But a couple years back, some dumb.... put a mess of greasy parts on my drafting table, and that time I DID lose it. The kid grasped what he'd done, apologized, we shook hands, and he was good about thinking before he buggered stuff after that. My temper concerning stupid is well known, as is the fact I have little tolerance for mindlessness...and argumentative excuses.

.005" or .010" should do you fine. Unlike some other cars, the '63 Pontiac windshield has a very slight compound curve, almost negligible. Because the apparent curve is only in one plane (as evidenced by this profile view), flat sheet stock should give you a good looking solution.

Rear of the Jags, with some unwanted details removed and the surface prepped for first primer coat with 180 grit paper: ...and because these models are metal, you can use very "hot" automotive self-etching primers for best adhesion.

That's all there is to it. These Jags are from the same series as your MG, same metal. It's soft metal and won't hurt your tools, though they'll dull a little quicker than on plastic. Notice the heavy parting line along the side of the upper one.

Those of us who know enough about reality to recognize when we're being lied to call that "mainstream media".

You can cut it from sheet stock if they have the thickness you need. A Dremel with a cutoff wheel will do it nicely. Dress the cut edge, presto-change-o, there is is. Kindof a PITA, but if you need something specific, there's always a way.

Well that bites. They show on mine. I'd suggest reporting the issue to the mods, as they're all copied from this very site.

You should be OK with "resin" wheels provided the person who made 'em mixed the stuff properly...but that's often not the case. "Directions? I don't need to read no stinkin' directions." Thermoset urethane ("resin") when fully cured has better chemical resistance than injection molded thermoplastic ("styrene"). If you're going with styrene wheels, a barrier of BMF is the safest choice...though I've had encouraging results coating styrene wheels with a GOOD epoxy prior to mounting suspect tires.

My go-to for bare aluminum panels used to be Testors ModelMaster "aluminum plate" buffing metalizer...which is why I bought all I could get my hands on when they discontinued it. To me, the end of the buffing metalizers was a tremendous loss to the modeling community...particularly guys who build warbirds and jets. The engine cowling below is Testors, as above (forward of the canopy is too, but hasn't been buffed; some difference, eh?) I've also had promising results using Rub 'n Buff silver leaf. I got this effect on the Challenger using a combination of the two.

But if "mistakes" aren't pointed out by someone in authority or who has superior knowledge, whether it be a parent, employer, peer, or senior co-worker, we never learn what to do better in the future. If we avoid correcting behavior or erroneous beliefs and misunderstandings for fear of damaging widdle-baby's-pwecious-widdle-egoums, we create an adult who can't differentiate between dung and diamonds, or quality craftsmanship and mediocrity, and who fails to take personal responsibility for cleaning up his own messes. While there are indeed ways to point out shortcomings or presenting information gently and with tact (walking on eggs so to speak), there are also those personalities who can't take any criticism or negative feedback whatsoever, no matter how politely phrased and presented, without imploding. These same personalities are often mistakenly convinced of their own infallibility and expertise, and render themselves essentially unteachable. They are not people I choose to deal with unless it's absolutely necessary.

Have you read the thread in question? Apparently not. Nobody's build was ever "questioned", nobody's work was denigrated, no names were called, there were no criticisms of any build or anyone's skill or character. A photo used for reference was pointed out as being of a model, not a real object. That's all. EDIT: I like and respect both PatW and Peteski. And I think enough is enough.

I know it's always popular to pile on somebody for any perceived wrongdoing, but after reading the "nasty comments" (what I assume are the cause of the problem), frankly, I don't see the "nasty" part. All the accused did was to point something out. I've always thought of Pete as one of the more intelligent, polite, articulate, and knowledgeable members here, even though we've had the occasional minor disagreement over technical subtleties. My opinion stands.