Ace-Garageguy

Trying to get anything done in this age of incompetence and endless excuses drives me up the friggin wall. Last several big-bucks parts orders I've put in with multiple suppliers have come in unbelievably scrambled. Invoice shows the right stuff, packing slip shows the right stuff. What's in the box is from some other planet. For instance: I ordered enough 72" sticks of annealed stainless 304 5/8" and 1/2" hard line from a well known performance parts supplier to finish the fuel system on the '66 Chevelle, and put some back in stock, as they were the ONLY ones who showed it available any time soon. Got a buzz from FedEx it was on my porch. Pulled up and saw a smallish square box instead of the normal big mailing tubes the stuff usually comes in. Packing slip ON THE BOX says it's stainless. I figger they sent me coils instead of sticks...which I can live with if that's all I can get...but it's a little light. Hmmm... Opened the box, it's 6' of some blue rubber hose that I have exactly zero use for. Morons. I guess it's just too distracting to see if what you're putting in the box matches what's SUPPOSED to be in the box when you're needing to stay caught up with your social media accounts every minute of every dammed day. As usual, I have to waste MY OWN TIME straightening out some useless fool's mess, in essence doing his job over for him.

That is very small.

https://www.rodsnsods.co.uk/forum/showroom/2cv-rod-10098

Lewis Hamilton...another wildly overpaid celebrity who's now set himself up as some kind of moral arbiter and lecturer. Just shut up and drive.

I personally think that Icing is hands-down the best glazing putty in the business for real cars, and it's my first choice when it's available. The problem with using it for models is the size of the tubes. ALL the plastic glazing putty tubes allow the material to dry out and eventually become unusable. And that is why I use the small modeler-friendly tubes of Bondo Professional Glazing and Spot Putty, PRODUCT # 801 It's catalyzed polyester, like icing, but in a much smaller METAL tube, which helps it last longer. EDIT: Joe's recommendation appears to be in a mylar tube and is only 8oz, both of which will help it last longer. If it's as good as Icing, but finer grained, it should be perfect for models.

I'll probably get there first. You want coffee or cocoa to go with those toasted marshmallows?

I know the idea of strenuous exercise is anathema to lots of people, but I have found time and time again that when I allow my lifestyle to become more sedentary, my vision begins to deteriorate. When I get off my lazy backside and push myself to go back to hiking (at least moderate trails a few hours a week), my vision always improves. I was surprised the first time I noticed the correlation. Years back, I had been doing the hiking thing seriously for a few weeks to lose some weight (and improve my sleep, which is another side benefit), and one day in the woods I just noticed how remarkably CLEAR everything was. I've been unable to do as much as I'd like for the past couple years after cracking my pelvis when an old director's chair collapsed (which was partially a function of having allowed myself to pack on too many pounds of lard), and the floaters have been getting worse. After a fair bit of kinda painful physical therapy since the break, I've been able to resume regular hiking to an extent. Just this week, I've noticed a significant reduction in perceived floaters. Your mileage may vary.

Perty kool. Always good to see seriously rich guys spending serious gobs of money to go seriously fast.

Probably wise for any number of reasons...

Some of the smartest, best looking, most talented and skilled people I know are left-handed.

Great idea. Hmmmmmmm...

Finally had a chance to sit down and watch all the way through. Beautiful car, hugely talented and skilled designer/engineer, no ugly "aero" whiffles and flippers everywhere stinking up the clean lines, and no damm touch screens and paddle shifter/slushbox. It's just flat wonderful to see such a passionate blend of art and engineering. Thanks Matt. PS: Only thing I'm not too keen on is the virtual lack of a flywheel, and the engine management computer apparently going to be responsible for engine/gearbox speed matching, taking away some of the fun of the classic heel-and-toe dance. It's part of the price of getting the center of engine mass so exquisitely low in the chassis, so it is what it is. But I have a feeling the development phase of that part of the electronics package will end up giving the driver a choice of mode that mimics old-school downshifting quite accurately.

Yeah, but remember...most of the parts had been pulled out of race-cars. They've been depreciated to the max and are essentially scrap metal for business purposes. Why not give 'em to somebody who can do something with them, instead of getting pennies from the recycler who'll only ship 'em to China anyway?

Thanks. For some odd reason, I got on this thing for getting a bunch of late '50s and early '60s American iron.

That auction site everybody seems to hate.

Probably a ratty, worn-out grandma car with no hubcaps, a little fatter tires (for sand), and a surfboard rack and boards. Sorta what would have been an un-cool alternative to a woody.

That would depend entirely on the design of the particular radiator. There is no universal design, and configurations to fit an available space can vary widely due to time-period (example: downflow or crossflow), application (a racing radiator will usually have a much thicker core than a street radiator, etc.), etc. Do an image search for "car radiators" and you'll see what I mean.

Love those old what-if spacecraft models. Looks good.

Is that a real million dollar bill?

'Bout a grand's worth of AN fittings, hose, annealed stainless hard line, and hardware...mostly to finish up the '66 Chevelle fuel system, some for stock. This Bat Flu mess is playing hello with getting a lot of stuff the US just doesn't make anymore. I've been online for almost a full work week sourcing things that are backordered here, out-of-stock there, we-don't-know-if-we'll-ever-be-able-to-get-any -more someplace else.

Saw one of these being built on the board recently, remembered I'd meant to get one. It came in today.

Nice score, especially the Buick.

Tell him there's soon gonna be an app for it. That should make him happy.

Nice car. Mostly function, exceptionally clean, great fab work. HP seems about right to me too...way too much is just enough.

Yessir. One of my first forays into racing had to do with a Chevron B-16 running a BMW 4-cylinder. To the best of my knowledge, nobody's put Webers on a 2-liter Neon yet. They will face forward and require a significant hood blister, plus a cold air box, but that's not too hard. A tricky bit is getting a distributor on it, as the coil packs are fired by the engine management computer as-is...but there's a mounting point where the cam position sensor lives on the LH end of the head, and I can machine a drive dog to run off the end of the cam. Something like an AccuSpark or Pertronix conversion in an old Bosch 019 distributor ought to do the job, maybe firing an MSD box...or not. Just about any junkyard magnetic-trigger distributor could work.