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Everything posted by Ace-Garageguy
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Wish you a quick and complete recovery. Really bites to injure your hands. What were you doing?
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200 MPG carburetor book
Ace-Garageguy replied to Greg Wann's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
That would be great. I'm always interested in how guys who got it right went about it. -
! Not News , But Still Irritating ...
Ace-Garageguy replied to 1972coronet's topic in Model Building Questions and Answers
The buffing aluminum was the one I used most, and I just bought enough cans and bottles of the stuff to last me the rest of my life, most likely. I've never seen another product that could do exactly what the buffing metalizers do, though there's some that look to be pretty close. And I never woulda thunk the stuff would ever go away just due to lack of interest on the part of the corporate parent. Here's one of those niche market opportunities just waiting for some enterprising person to step up and fill... -
! Not News , But Still Irritating ...
Ace-Garageguy replied to 1972coronet's topic in Model Building Questions and Answers
Me too... -
! Not News , But Still Irritating ...
Ace-Garageguy replied to 1972coronet's topic in Model Building Questions and Answers
Agreed wholeheartedly. I've been in both ends of American business...the dirty-hands hard-tech service end, and the engineering/product development end. In engineering, I've seen the efficiency of a highly experienced small team with a can-do attitude replaced with bloated staffs of people with little-to-no hands-on experience, reluctant to speak up and primarily focused on blame-spreading, making everything as needlessly complex as they possibly can. Much the same deterioration has occurred on the service end. If the computer in the vehicle can't tell a tech why the car is sick, they'll usually just keep throwing parts at it until it gets better...at the owner's expense...and a lot of today's "mechanics" don't really have a basic understanding of how engines, transmissions, and brakes actually work. But hopefully we'll see a return to rationality. It's not political to say that this Covid mess has pointed out the sheer stupidity of relying on China for so much of our manufacturing and goods. There's plenty of room for a reemergence of the "cottage industries" that underpinned much of the American economy in days past. -
200 MPG carburetor book
Ace-Garageguy replied to Greg Wann's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
Here's the thing...the engine doesn't really care if fuel is in a gaseous state (vapor) or a liquid (atomized droplets) state. All that matters in an internal combustion engine is the proportion of the particular hydrocarbon fuel molecules (gasoline, propane, etc.) to available oxygen molecules. That's it. SIDE NOTE: This is why "nitrous oxide injection" works, and requires a richer mixture: the nitrous adds additional oxygen to the mixture in the cylinder, so additional fuel added as well makes more power. There's a thing called "stoichiometric mixture" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air–fuel_ratio , which is simply the ratio of fuel to air that achieves complete combustion with no fuel left over. And it doesn't matter whether the fuel is liquid or vapor. Cars used to be tuned to run pretty close to this theoretical ideal, but these days, emission-controlled engines are often set up to run towards the lean side...more available oxygen than there is fuel to combine with it. This tends to make them run hotter, which increases the oxides-of-nitrogen that are produced during combustion of fuel in air, and necessitates catalytic converters to mitigate...and it rapidly gets a lot more complicated than I can possibly get into here. While there have been some pretty wild claims that engines have been able to use "vapor carburetors" to get extremely good mileage, the idea defies known physics and chemistry, and verifiable real-world or lab testing has never confirmed the claims. Gasoline that's been "vaporized" takes up more physical volume in a combustion chamber than liquid droplets, and the net effect is reduced volumetric efficiency, resulting in reduced power output. Other gaseous fuels, like propane, natural gas, and hydrogen do have some interesting and worthwhile side benefits, but they're also usually lower in energy content than plain old gasoline...resulting in lower power and poorer fuel economy. I've worked with gaseous fuels and alcohol off and on a good bit over the last five decades, doing repeatable and verifiable experiments. But in short...there is no free lunch when it comes to this stuff, no matter how many "proofs" are claimed to be floating around. NOTE: There MAY be some validity to very high mileage claims made by one particular experimental engine that essentially lived in an insulated container, and was supposedly set up to get usable work from almost all the energy produced by burning fuel in air. When you remember that IC engines typically WASTE as much as 70% of the heat the burning fuel produces, dumping it out the exhaust and cooling system, the idea, if ever really developed, has at least theoretical merit...though to get it to work for very long, it would probably need to be made from exotic ceramics that could withstand the heat. SIDE NOTE 2: There have been some very successful experimental and limited-production engines optimized to take advantage of the particular characteristics of certain gaseous fuels, including a hydrogen-burning bus engine that's said to make as much power and torque as a comparable diesel. Pretty impressive IF it's true. -
Thanks for the interest and comments, gentlemen. I hadn't realized until just this moment that anybody had looked at this thing recently. It's still resting real close to the bench. Honestly, I'd been intending to get it "trailerable" in time for the November ACME meet here, to show along with my big 'ol 1/8 '32 Ford. This will definitely be my last year here in the Southeast, and I'd wanted to go out with something kinda special. But since the crazy health mess, it's not going to happen. For what it's worth, this build has inspired me to start putting together enough stuff to build something very similar in full scale. Lotsa the old parts are still surprisingly affordable.
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200 MPG carburetor book
Ace-Garageguy replied to Greg Wann's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
What's crazy these days is how many people of apparently reasonable intelligence can get sucked into believing all kinds of stuff that entirely disregards physics, math, observable reality, and documented repeatable science. Taking the word of "experts" isn't always the wise course of action...but it's a lot easier than searching out the actual truth. -
200 MPG carburetor book
Ace-Garageguy replied to Greg Wann's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
Unless you bolt it on at the top of a very long hill and roll to the bottom with the engine off most of the way... -
'Bout 99.77285% sure I know what it's based on, but I just can't find it...
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I agree about it being a beautiful kit. I've managed to get all the 250GTO kits that are out there for anything like reasonable money, and other than the odd rear wheel openings, I like Gunze's rendition of this particular car the best...even though it seems a little inaccurate shape-wise (to me). Most of the real 250 GTO bodies have always looked just a tad squashed immediately forward of the windshield to me, and Gunze's rendition appears just a bit less so (to me).
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! Not News , But Still Irritating ...
Ace-Garageguy replied to 1972coronet's topic in Model Building Questions and Answers
This is pretty much inevitable when relatively small businesses that cater to niche markets...like modelers...get swallowed up by big corporations that don't have any understanding of the particular niche the small business catered to. As far as Rustoleum is concerned, any shiny black paint is just shiny black paint, and talent free / skill free bozos who spray runny, drippy messes on their lawn furniture and think it looks great are a helluva lot easier to market to and satisfy than modelers...who are essentially artists. -
! Not News , But Still Irritating ...
Ace-Garageguy replied to 1972coronet's topic in Model Building Questions and Answers
Which has basically been the downfall of much of American business. In the beginning, the idea was "we want to make good stuff that people want, and we'll figure out a way to make enough money doing it to keep making good stuff that people want". Today, the idea is primarily "we want to make a ton of money, and we really don't give a rat's rear what kind of garbage we make (or WHERE we make it, or even IF we make ANYTHING), as long as we make a ton of money... ...and we'll spend insane amounts of money on marketing and advertising to make people THINK they want the garbage we sell, rather than making really great stuff that sells itself because we spend real effort on product development to make really great stuff. -
What Did You Have for Dinner?
Ace-Garageguy replied to StevenGuthmiller's topic in The Off-Topic Lounge
Sorry to hear that. I just finished a bag of burritos, nachos, and tacos...and a Killian's Red. Feel stuffed, but good. -
What Did You Have for Dinner?
Ace-Garageguy replied to StevenGuthmiller's topic in The Off-Topic Lounge
I worked hard and ate healthy all week, so tonight I'm going to load my gut down with Taco Bell. Yes...I really like Taco Bell. Must be the chihuahua in me. -
Only real interest I had in that series was the engines, which I managed to snag long ago for not-insane money. Had to get 'em both so's I could do a blown 392 in a '34 Ford drag car. Kinda wish now I'd picked up the chassis and bodies too, but they're not anything I'll be after in the foreseeable future...
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Don't ask me why, but I finally sprung for a reasonably priced Gunze 250 GTO with the engine. There are 3 versions of this kit, one purely curbside with a molded shut hood, (but with PE wheels and cast metal chassis and bits), another version with an opening hood but no engine (and all the parts rendered in plastic), and the full-detail kit, again with PE wire wheels, various detail parts, cast metal chassis and underpinnings, and a cast metal engine with separate spun metal velocity stacks, etc. The two engine-free kits I've already started as American V8-powered hot rods, but this one I think I'm going to do as it's intended. I haven't built a challenging multi-media kit since my last HO scale locomotive decades ago, and this thing looks like the build will be a gas.
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The parts pack chassis is naked rails, and includes the Corvette's independent front suspension...with no floorpan.
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OMG !!!! OMG !!!! Skinning cats or any other kind of cruelty to animals like eating them just isn't something to be joked about !!!! OMG !!! I'm so OFFENDED !!! OMG !!! I TOLD MY MOM AND SHE AGREES !!!! I'm literally DYING !!! OMG !!! OMG !!! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sorry. I couldn't resist.
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two questions actually
Ace-Garageguy replied to Husky1943's topic in Model Building Questions and Answers
Yes...if you're not particularly concerned with accuracy, both AMT's '32 Ford Tudor sedan and their '33 sedan (virtually identical to a '34) can be built stock...though they show rodded versions on the boxes... ...though to do the '33 sedan "stock", you'd need the interchangeable guts from the '34 5-window coupe...and some interior work. EDIT: Just a warning...stay away from this kit. There's almost nothing in the box that's usable (at least from a somewhat accurate standpoint), other than the body shell as the basis of a race car. -
Cool project. We rarely see the first-series Corvettes done as any kind of race cars. It's a natural, as the Miss Deal frame is actually a first-gen Corvette.
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There seem to be more and more instances of sloppy business practices and general incompetence with each passing day, and it can be costly and maddeningly frustrating when you're trying to make a living but have to be constantly cleaning up other people's messes to get anything done. But sometimes, you get a pleasant surprise: happy ending to my "irked" rant...I got a great customer service guy on the horn at Jeg's who went well out of his way to get the issue resolved, even calling the warehouse while I was on hold to make sure a human was aware of the problem with the order, and then sent me a pre-paid FedEx label to ship the wrong stuff back. Everything's looking good...and two sticks of the right stuff came in yesterday, which lets me move forward with the build while I wait for the rest.
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Happy ending...I got a great customer service guy on the horn at Jeg's who went well out of his way to get the mess resolved, even calling the warehouse while I was on hold to make sure a human was aware of the problem with the order, and then sent me a pre-paid FedEx label to ship the wrong stuff back. Everything's looking good...and two sticks of the right stuff came in yesterday, which lets me move forward with the build while I wait for the rest.
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Yup. I got my last several tags renewed at the kiosk in Kroger. Never anybody seeming to use it...but the mask-wearing supplicants still line up faithfully at the county tag office.