Ace-Garageguy

Full scale, running and drivable versions of these two original designs... https://contest.techbriefs.com/2010/entries/transportation/871 1/10 scale wind-tunnel model: Full scale body plug in progress back in '97: 1/8 scale mockup:

EDIT: The stuff on the floor is packing peanuts from the dozens of kits I bought this year that I'll probably never get to.

This is also excellent advice. The molding process will duplicate EXACTLY anything that's on your master. ANYTHING. EXACTLY. If your surface finish is, say, 400 grit sanding scratches, that is what every part pulled from the molds will have too. I've seen countless "experts" and "professionals" who, for some unfathomable reason couldn't grasp this fact, and wasted untold hours correcting parts that were halfassed as masters...a stupid waste of time that's entirely avoidable if you get your masters PERFECT.

Nice pix. One would have needed the patience of Job to put up with the glacial "acceleration" of that mountain of iron and steel powered by a flathead six. Jeez...I remember when trucks were slow.

Very nice. Wheels look perfect for it too.

^^^ Heed Mark's words. Pretty much exactly what I would have advised, and I also have decades of working with various casting and other composite materials. There are many good and CORRECT sources of information from the manufacturers of casting products, including excellent videos. Here are some: https://www.smooth-on.com/tutorials/ https://www.freemansupply.com/library/video https://www.polytek.com/how-to/tutorials-videos

I always liked these little engines. My first "professional" engine swap was a 215-hp OHC 6 and a Powerglide stuffed into a Jag MkVII that had a bad rod knock. With about 50 additional horsepower and considerably less maintenance required, it made a nice, drivable car at a time when such a mod wasn't looked upon as sacrilege.

I really liked the proportions, lines, and stance of your first mockup, thought it was spot-on for a radical yet practical, drivable rod. I actually think it was much more attractive than your 1:1 inspiration. You would, of course, need to section the grille to get sufficient ground clearance, but careful juggling of the proportions would keep the look.

And after eating the noisy neighbors, out would come the precious Spice... Wait, wait...I need to look that up...

I haven't seen those little guys right where I am yet, but when I was looking at property a few thousand feet up, there was a family of 'em browsing through the yard. Hmm, I says to myself. Free range porkchops (apparently good eating as long as they're handled right in the field). I now have recipes for all kinds of porky goodness, including javelina pastrami. Only critters I've seen on the ground so far are lotsa well-camouflaged tarantulas (no recipes for big hairy spiders yet, alas...I'll leave that to the Cambods), two kinds of rabbits, and quail (and the big gopher my neighbor caught).

Nice assembly representing the big Hewland, but it's a little pricey to buy just for the gearbox. Last time I looked, the Revell Shelby S1 kit was pretty much unloved and cheap...which is why I bought a bunch of them for the ZF. And the ZF will take more power than most of the affordable Porsche gearboxes, while gearboxes from exotics would be insanely expensive in the real world.

Nope. A 6-speed built by RBT in Texas, a development of the older 5-speed ZF. http://rbttrans.com/ The Revell kit has what is a dead ringer (close enough to easily pass, anyway) for an old ZF 5-speed, mounted upside down, at the rear, with a torque-tube bolted to the front of it. EDIT: Yup. Just pulled the kit and double-checked. Looks just like an old 5-spd ZF, upside down. No doubt whatsoever. Did I mention I specialized in Panteras for years, decades back, and kinda know the gearboxes?

A sand moat...

Only until I'm moved in, the chain link and barbed wire perimeter fences are up, the tracking lasers and machine guns are calibrated, and the moat is filled and stocked with giant mutant gill-equipped gila monsters.

Mo debinately. The first one has much better proportions than I remember, kinda Roth-esque (but I haven't looked in the boxes for years), and the second one looks mean. Nice work. The QC conversion looks good too...though in a small bump, the housing would be hitting the spring...which is why an A or T spring is often used with a quick-change. Just one other small engineering suggestion...if this were a real car, you'd want to bring that front suicide spring perch all the way up and over the spring pack. That way the U-bolts wouldn't be entirely responsible for supporting the weight of the vehicle...which can be multiplied several times in "bump". Rather, they'd just be there to keep the spring located to the underside of the perch (of course, you might already be planning this, and what we see might only be for mockup purposes...).

Try harder. High-end audio (tube-type amps, etc.), vinyl records and turntables to play 'em, "continuation" cars like the Jags and Kirkham Cobras, bias-ply tires, all manner of hand tools, countless "retro" styled and constructed clothing items, the Beechcraft Bonanza, ballpoint pens, photographic film, several styles of "mag" wheels, Weber and Holley carbs, firearms and ammunition whose designs go much farther back than '63, Coca Cola, etc. etc. etc.

I have absolutely no idea at the moment...but I kinda like it.

Which, more often than not, is a guaranteed source of the wrong answer. It never ceases to amaze me...well, not really any more...how many times I see the same useless, incorrect, but endlessly rebleated gibberish all over the interdwerbs. And it doesn't matter what the subject is, either. There is just no shortage of "experts" pontificating on things they're actually clueless about. EDIT: There are also a whole lot of real experts on the web who are more than happy to share the results of their experience, but unless the one looking for info has some basic knowledge of the subject being researched, it's pert near impossible to separate expertise from bloviation.

Thanks. Both this one and the Vicky (and at least 20 others) are exactly where they were when I last posted progress. Thank you too, sir. The '66 Chevelle is getting close to engine-start. The 2016 Caddy leather power seats are in, the custom console is progressing, and I just finished up most of the fuel system. I'm now in the process of reworking the inner fenders with louvers and more engine clearance. Then the front sheetmetal comes back off so I can rework the headers to accommodate the engine setback. There are countless interrelated details on a build like this, but it all comes down to putting your pants on one leg at a time. And patience. Lots and lots of patience. Once she'll move around the lot under her own power, she gets partially disassembled and goes to paint. While she's being painted, I'll be moving West, then come back here for a few weeks to put her all back together. Glad you're finding something useful. And yes, I've learned a whole jell of a lot in the course of building this model too. There are things I'd do much differently if I were starting today, and it's sometimes hard to resist the temptation to go back and change them. But she'll keep on going from here with no rework, soon as I get some more time...like after the Chevelle and DeLorean are both done, and I'm in Az. to stay.

Yup, the light-colored woodgrain is out-of-the-park gorgeous. Nice job, sir. Nice indeed.

Yeah, I'd have to agree with you there. Thing is, this board is an endless source of information. In order to avoid disappointment, big boys don't just assume every kit will live up to their 21st-century expectations. They research what they're interested in before buying something challenging and then smearing the entire product line because it doesn't build itself.

This may be the single most bizarre statement I've ever read on this forum.

Not really. Though Corvette started using a transaxle with the C5 (1997), the proportions and layout make it unsuitable for a mid-engined car. Unlike boxes made with a mid-mounted engine in mind, the Corvette transaxles (prior to the C8) have the differential mounted at the rear. This makes the drive axles come out at the rear too, and unless you want a goofy-long car, it just doesn't work.