Ace-Garageguy

Very cool. And with a little love, it'll still be running fine in another 50 years.

I didn't know that. I stand corrected.

Yup. As he was doing it, he kept saying the book must be wrong...but in the biz, if that's what the book says, that's what you usually charge...unless it takes longer due to genuinely extenuating circumstances like rusty fasteners snapping off, etc. Any competent mechanic can make a very good living, as it's routinely possible to "beat the book" by 50% or more on straightforward work and still do it right. Turning 80 to 100 billable hours in a 40-hour week didn't used to be unusual. My personal best was something over 30 billable in one day. Diagnosis, on the other hand, is a whole 'nuther animal...and the vast majority of techs today are either idiots, crooks, or both. One thing I'm not crazy about is that this guy kinda slings stuff around more than I'd like to see, and isn't as fastidious about making "tool marks" as I tend to be. Still, when you're working on things that customers have no emotional investment in, see as semi-disposable appliances that they helplessly depend on but don't understand, and who want to spend a minimum to stay mobile, it doesn't make much sense to be too anal-retentive.

Sounds like a great guy. Glad you and he had each other as friends. People like that don't really die; they live on in the hearts and memories of those who they touched.

And he's fast, and he understands everything about what he's doing. That's unbelievably rare in the business these days.

That right there is pretty funny. Most of the time when he's actually working on a car...not driving... he either has a camera on a tripod or on his head. Anybody who actually works on stuff can see he's using both hands in most of the work shots, but hey...criticize away. I've seen him do a job that book-times for 7 hours in 45 minutes, then give the customer a big discount because of it. 99.9% of guys would take it all. And most of the dwerps I'm lucky enough to have worked with recently spend large parts of their days on their phones WATCHING YT videos because they have no clue how to do the work, or how anything functions, or why. Final point: techs like this work on commission. They're not paid salary. They're paid for what they actually accomplish, and if he wasn't turning a decent number of hours every week, he'd be gone

Yeah, I love those things. Some of the last best cars ever to be built in the US. Every time I drive one I'm really impressed.

There are trainloads of bozo "mechanics" on YouTube that I wouldn't let work on my ex-mother-in-law's lawnmower. There are also a few I'd let work on something I'd drive...which is just about unheard of. This guy is great about explaining how things work as he goes through the motions of fixing typical daily-driver cars. He's smart, funny, articulate, and always entertaining...and if you watch enough of his videos, you're bound to learn a thing or two.

I found a local company that can move up to nine of my cars to Az. in one shot. Yippee.

No question in my mind...a 1942 Chrysler Town and Country wagon. Late Art Deco styling, under-stressed slow revving engine, classic "a heavy car holds the road" ride, plenty of room for everything, and space to take a snooze. My second choice is the one I already have just for that purpose. '87 Jag XJ6. Crisp handling, finely controlled and supple ride, another under-stressed engine, great brakes, and a huge trunk. The real leather and burl interior, General Motors AC, swapped-in 700R4 trans with a lockup converter, elegant, timeless design, and 22+ MPG at 80 MPH don't hurt either. EDIT: Mileage otter be better on the next long run. When I first did the gearbox swap, I used a non-lockup converter 'cause I'd intended to tow a race car trailer with the car. With the lockup unit, she ought to be doing considerably better at steady-state cruise.

Revell's version: Reality (showing multiple other issues as well):

It's always astounded me that nobody else has ever apparently noticed that jarring inaccuracy on that kit. To me it's about as obvious as getting jabbed in the eye with a sharp stick. Looks like you're off to a good start. Just watch the curves and lines carefully and make what you see. EDIT: Looks like the taper on top of the quarter panel could use a little more work. Just a thought...one technique I've used quite successfully when I was having a hard time getting a side shape just right: find a good profile photo online, save it, and if you have a way to fiddle with image sizes from your printer, print one out that is close to 1/25 (shoot for getting the wheelbase of your printout the same as the wheelbase of your model). Make multiple copies if necessary, and cut templates to use to work towards. EDIT2: I used that method to get the depth of the frame rail covers / bellypan, and the curvature of the hood and nose and dividing line on the hood sides for a build of the Eddie Dye roadster, below. The same method was used to determine that the curve of the decklid on the Revell '29 Ford body is closer to correct than the same curve on the similar AMT '29 Ford body...and the reason I decided to use the Revell version to do the Eddie Dye car.

Theoretically I've been retired for a few years now, but I promised I'd finish up two long term jobs for two shops before I leave. I'm about 4 weeks away from done on one, and 3 months from handoff to the paint shop on the other one, but the jobs have both been two-steps-forward, one-step-back...so we'll see. They both involve redesign and reworking of multiple custom systems both clients paid other shops a lot of money for, and got incompetent but expensive crapola.

Those look really good, and thanks for the source.

So...I get home from a hard day in the mines, sitz down at my computer to check a few tracking numbers for parts, and start to smell plastic burning. First thing I thinks to myself is "self...that smells like plastic burning. Have I overloaded some space-heater circuit, and is I bee in danger of burning the dang house down?" So I checks and no wires bees melting. I thinks maybees I otter go outside and see if the truck is on fire. Nope. But whatcha think I sees? Through the trees, just a block away, I sees a HUGE bonfire...violating every damm fire law in the county. WAY less than 50 feet from any tree or structure, well after 6:00 PM when all burning is spozed to cease, and judging from the chemical stench and the black oily nature of the plume, it's carcinogenic smoke with PCBs and suchlike, coming from burning plastic...also absolutely verboten. But hey...the folks doing the burning have already violated the zoning laws with impunity by operating a landscaping service there after they moved their 30+ family members elsewhere, so what can I say? At least they're not living there now, so I don't have to try to sleep on the weekend nights with the walls shaking from blaring, thumping music at 3:00 AM (also in violation of county law). And hey...what's a little carcinogenic smoke, anyway? I'm old, so who cares? I'll probably die from something else before whatever's in the smoke gets me. Real glad I'll be movin' on soon, though. They take stupid, risky, unpermitted burning pretty seriously where I'm going.

Hey man...that engine paint has "ceramic" in it, and according to some 14-year-old on Facebook (an expert because he once opened the hood on his mom's Camry, and who heard it somewhere authoritative), it's just exactly the same as those expensive plasma coatings the race guys get.

Glad you posted this, for the reminder. I'm not too keen on the recent E-type, because of the bodged windshield height, the way the engine is done, and a few other things. But the old SS is a kit I need at least one more of.

Ideally you want something that won't spring back a lot when you wind it around a dowel. Of course, that makes it not so "springy" either, if you want it to actually operate as a spring. For simple "looks like a spring", soft copper, annealed brass, or iron work well. Very fine electronics solder is another option. Soft tie-wire is available at most car parts stores in at least two wire-diameters. Craft stores have lotsa soft wire choices too. Real car spring wire diameter can be anywhere from about 1/4" for light duty helper springs, to 1" or more for heavy vehicles. Determine the diameter of the real-world wire, and divide by the scale you're working in to know what to look for.

Only if you're a YouTube-certified mechanic.

Nice paint, good color choices for this body style.

Glad to finally see this one, as it shows beyond doubt how good these little buggers can look when built with patience and care...in spite of the constant carping about how "bad" a kit it is. NICE work.

Wow. Nice.

And it leaves your model smelling minty-fresh too.

That can be a real drag. I've been there. Hope the rest of your family will behave reasonably during the process. Good luck.

No problem. Looks like a very interesting product, but there are other sites that don't require an "accept cookies" affirmation to view the stuff. https://www.megahobby.com/products/chrome-sheets-5-ammo-by-mig-jimenez.html