Ace-Garageguy

ONLY $29.79 plus tax!!!

Exactly.

I tend to agree with ya. All the real military surplus seats I've seen (and I have a pair here) lack the "lightening" holes. It's not hard, however, to press nice round lipped holes in sheet aluminum with a set of matched dies that anyone with a lathe can make. Just for youse guys information, there were lotsa plywood surplus seats too...with no holes for the belts, 'cause when you're sitting on a 'chute, you sit high enough that the belts go over the seat rails. The wooden ones are much easier for an amateur to upholster, too. EDIT: The pix are hot-linked and may disappear shortly. If they do, I can post them from my own drives.

Unemployable 3rd-rate emoji designers hired to design cars?

Lotsa great looking machinery on this thread. Kinda makes me wonder if the folks who designed this horrible mess had ever actually SEEN a car before...

Maybe you should start a thread on "the Zen of blowing things up".

That's one I've never seen. Pretty crazy...and dig that wicked chain drive.

Probably the best build of that particular kit I've ever seen. You (and a few others on here over the years) have definitely inspired me to do a few simple box-art jobs.

Except hydrogen. No carbon dioxide...but some oxides of nitrogen as a function of combustion with air. And they can be minimized with cats just like carbon-burning engines use. Almost unbelievably from my standpoint (having been studying alternative energy technologies since I was 11, and having been heavily involved with some over the years), there's a mix of technologies that have been available for decades that could have already had us at carbon-neutral, but there's nobody driving the energy-bus who has a clue as to what's possible, or who grasps the big picture. It's almost all platitudes, posturing, politics, sound bites, and virtue-signaling.

Ditto. Mindless destruction just never had any appeal for me. None whatsoever.

If I had unlimited funds, but could have only one "special" vehicle, the Ford GT40 Mk I would be my choice. Even a good replica would be fine (though I prefer the wider hips of the slightly later Mk I, as shown in the two upper photos).

There are several photo-etched generic throttle-linkage sets that contain parts that can be used effectively, and filaments from incandescent bulbs can make very realistic springs. To make your own, as with everything in modeling, look carefully at photos of the real deal, study the shapes and functions of the parts, and copy what you see in scale. Perfect little throttle linkage bellcranks, levers, and brackets can be fabricated from .010" to .030" brass sheet stock, but the parts will be very small. Sharp scissors, jeweler's files, miniature pliers, and micro drills in a pin-vise will be necessary...and most likely some form of magnification.

1) They were used in post-war race cars predominantly, because they were light...and cheap. They were used in post-war "street" rods occasionally, but usually only temporarily until the owner could afford something better (nicer, more finished looking, more luxurious, etc). EDIT: You would sometimes see a car that had "bomber" seats padded with custom foam cushions and upholstered, but their origins were obscured by the upholstery. With the advent of little "ferrin" cars coming into the US after the war though, rodders who wanted light-weight individual seating often scoured the junkyards for early "bucket" seats from MGs and the like. They came with cushions and upholstery already done, obviously. The combat-aviation origin of "bomber" seats, and surplus military aircraft seats in general, usually designed to accommodate a parachute pack (or 2) as the cushion, makes them not as easy to convert to comfortable automotive use as you might think. A lot of other military-surplus parts showed up on post-war hot rods, things like electric pumps, switches, instruments, AN fittings and hose, small tanks for fuel and other fluids, and even the venerable GMC 4-71 supercharger. 2) I didn't notice them making a comeback until sometime in the late '90s.

See my post immediately above.

One of the shops I contract with routinely repairs beyond-idiot damage done by a local comes-to-you franchise. Their removal chimps frequently cut pinch-welds, destroy interior pillar moldings and dash covers, gouge exterior paint, and leave huge whistling "flow through ventilation" air leaks. Seriously...we repair structural damage they've caused about every two months, and repairing hacked pinch-welds ain't cheap. I honestly don't know how these clowns stay in business. Let's see...last one, last week, they did the windshield for under $300. Cut structure under the glass, tried to hide it, and ended up taking the windshield back out AND PAYING US $1500 to repair the damage they caused. This has been ongoing for several YEARS.

NICE TOOL ! One of the few I don't have and really wish I did.

Great thread, fine work. I've wanted a "right" looking model of this one-year-only body style for a long time, but I've never been entirely happy with the available kits.

Crank-driven GMC blowers were popular for a number of years. A famous company by the name of Potvin built them by the truckload...as did some others. The attraction was the elimination of the early chain-drives necessary in the days before the Gilmer belt became de rigueur. The downside is length, obviously, and the pumping (and efficiency) losses associated with the two big curved pipes. You can still get a Potvin setup new... https://www.mooneyesusa.com/product-p/potvin2009.htm .Some very well known cars ran them. Below is the Mooneyes dragster. Below again is Brian Chuchua's Bonneville-record-setting Corvette. http://www.superchevy.com/features/1508-1958-chevrolet-corvette-sets-record-at-1960-bonneville-speed-trials/

Words of experience... https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/how-do-you-demagnetize-tools.207632/

When I wrote the comment, I knew somebody would just have to comment on the comment. And I well remember your rusty Corvette. Pretty funny.

Nice presentation. Many helpful ideas here.

Lotsa good info here, believable results. Much appreciated. Interesting choice to use a Trabant for your demo though, as the real cars' bodies were made from a phenolic/cotton composite and, of course, don't rust.