Ace-Garageguy

It's minimal, if at all. I've already put one under an AMT '36, and had it up on its wheels to work on the stance. that was many years back, I don't recall specifics, but I DO recall it wasn't a big deal...especially to someone with your skills. EDIT: Great looking pickup, by the way.

Wow. Yes, the world needs a real one. I like everything about it, but the best part is how well you integrated the graceful sweep of the sail panel into the bed design. Everything looks like it belongs together, and few designers pull that off. Bill Mitchell, Edsel Ford, or Harley Earl couldn't have done it any better. A++

Yes, I'm kidding. I have what's known in the trade as a "dark and sarcastic" way of looking at things. And I'm so fed-up with American "news" outlets, even the very few that aren't professional dogma rebleaters, that I get news feeds from several European, Asian, etc. sources. It daily boggles my mind that the rest of the world is apparently run by idiots easily on a par with those we have here.

^^^ Even more of an issue with today's co-ed heads.

Barris wasn't ever a form-follows-function-first kinda guy. Anybody remember the V8-powered Munster's Coach had 10 fake carbs and ram-induction pipes?

Didn't ya hear? They're going to beam the energy to run 'em from great big inductive chargers, like your phone and toothbrush already use, hidden inside the wheel wells. Of course you'll have to have the optional 400-amp alternator, but hey...making a fashion statement's worth whatever it takes to get noticed, right? The original plan was to beam energy to the tires using microwaves, but early trials produced a few medium-rare dogs, cats, and one guy who forgot to disable the system before changing a flat.

What is this "rest of the world" you speak of ???

Oh man...I HAVE to build that. Campesi is a genius.

And it looks good. The body lines and proportions look pretty much like they're supposed to, and the stance is fine, apparently OOB. That right there is more than we can say about some newer, more complex and expensive kits. A simple shelf model is all it was ever intended to be, a mildly upgraded promo with an opening hood and an engine, typical for 1973. And hey, it's a split-window. Far as the price goes, I imagine it's close to being in line with what other stuff cost in '73 as opposed to now...and a 40%-off coupon, or an Ollie's price, makes it a decent deal today. I bought one shortly after it was re-released, with a 40% discount, and wasn't at all disappointed because I knew exactly what to expect...which anyone can find out with a little time spent online. Tell ya the truth...yours looks so good as a simple build that I'm going to buy another one just to have an extra decent split-window body to do something crazy with.

It's a self-correcting situation. The way inflation is going, everyone will only be able to afford one item in their cart in not too long. Problem solved.

There seems to be a fair amount of interest, judging from the response to the thread posted below. It takes a lot of fiddling around to get one that satisfies me, and I'd happily pay real money for an accurate, high-res, cleanly printed one...with multiple induction setups.

Me too. My good version of that one is at least 20 years old. The barrel and nuts are cleanly machined from brass, chrome plated. The threads are good, with very smooth action. The reversible collets are spring steel. For the really small bits, it's necessary to grasp the ribs on the barrel with a pair of miniature channel-locks, and tighten the collet nut with a small wrench. As I said, 20+ years and going strong. I bought a knockoff about 6 months back in a hardware store in Az. for what should have been enough money to ensure quality. The package was sealed, so I had to trust it. When I got it home, I found the barrel was chromed, cast pot-metal, the nuts were aluminum, and the collets were brass. The threads were stiff and grainy feeling, and tightening the collet nut enough to grip the smallest bit in the index resulted in stripped threads first time I tried it.

Same basic casting, set up for EFI: EDIT: In the photo immediately above, the fuel injectors live in the old mechanical injector bosses on the inner side of the ports. The lines you see on the outer sides of the ports are vacuum to the MAP sensor. BIG pictures of the Hilborn manifold EFI setup at link below. Manifold casting itself is almost identical to the old-school mechanical unit. http://fepower.net/simplemachinesforum/index.php?action=profile;area=showposts;sa=topics;u=38

Reliable resin offers this one: http://www.reliableresin.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=209 I realize there are people not convinced of Reliable Resin's reliability, so there's that.

Here's the thing with the Speed City part...Ford FE engines with pushrod heads use the edges of the intake manifold as the inner valve cover sealing rails. That makes the manifold wider than most others. It MIGHT be possible to file away the excess material from both sides of the manifold so it would snuggle down between the SOHC heads like it was made for it. But it might not. My gut feeling is that it would work, but it says right there on the web page it WON'T work on the SOHC. If it was me, I'd gamble the $12 plus shipping just to find out...but I'm used to doing heavy mods on things to make other things. MAYBE you can find somebody parting out one of the Mustang kits above, but unless you get the whole engine, you run the risk of the injection manifold not fitting the SOHC you have, as there are many different kit versions that were measured and scaled by people with varying degrees of accuracy.

Yup, we're going that way.

With a semi-documentary spinoff coming soon to the History Channel...

Man...I want a real one.

That was a Manta Mirage, also based on McLaren styling, but the M8 as opposed to the M6GT the Manta Montage / Coyote is based on.

...and hippos...

It seems as though there's an unwritten rule now that you can't leave any clean line unadorned without tacking some useless lump or geegaw on it. It's entirely possible to look "modern" and be free from excess ornamentation...but it's harder to make an original clean design than it is to cover something with clutter to proclaim its individuality.

I wonder if some careful light rework might adapt that one to a SOHC...

True...and it's good you pointed that out...but the first-gen Chrysler hemis used a separate valley cover, and the L and R throttle bodies would likely be stand-alone castings, adaptable to the Ford SOHC in model form if a valley cover is fabbed from sheet stock. Not perfectly prototype-correct, but in 1/25, nobody but a real-engine guy will care. And while the 426 hemi uses the intake manifold as the valley cover, Hilborn injection manifolds usually have longitudinal ribs. Not too hard to cut between them and correct the offset for a Ford. Either way, it's a whole lot easier than fabbing something from scratch...which is what I meant by "will get you very close".

I don't know right off hand, but anything with even port spacing like a Ford FE or a Chrysler hemi will get you very close.