Ace-Garageguy

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.

Yup.

Good idea. I have backups for my backups. I have a propane conversion standing by for the gasoline-powered generator, in case there's no power to run the gas pumps at the station, and cans of propane strategically stockpiled. The backup for those backups is a lawnmower engine coupled to a car alternator, with an inverter to power a limited number of necessities. I also have stand-alone propane heaters and adapters for all of the propane canisters. Natural gas heat is great, but it won't work in a power outage if the thermostat and blower systems are electric. And solar electric systems don't have to be prohibitively expensive if you understand the technology, understand working with electricity safely, and don't buy into the sales hype screaming everything needs to be the latest-greatest-microprocessor-controlled-phone-app-accessible-insanely-overcomplicated (and usually Chinee) baloney. There were perfectly adequate photovoltaic systems available 5 decades ago, simple and reliable, using lead-acid batteries. The efficiency of the cells has increased dramatically over time, but the rest of the older systems can be entirely functional today.

MasterClub makes a nice selection. You can buy them on eBay. There is an Eastern European source but I don't have the web address handy. Tichy Train Group makes a limited range of sizes too. Also available on eBay, or direct https://www.tichytraingroup.com/Shop/tabid/91/c/ho_nbw--rivets/Default.aspx Far as knowing what size to order...just measure the size of the real bolt head you want to model and divide by 25.

Yup. They are remarkably competent little cars. https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a28067326/new-face-of-vintage-racing-dodge-neon-acr/ Kinda sad...to a lot of dwerps out there, they're thought of as being as disposable as beer cans. But they have a strong following among guys who understand what they can do...particularly the SRT-4. Glad your mechs got your brakes sorted too.

Thanks. Fixed the hose at first light, drove to work, home, then around for a couple hours this evening. He's a car again.