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Everything posted by Ace-Garageguy
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Pretty freakin' cool, love the theme music, but what I really want now is to build a model of your little '34 poster truck.
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The '32 frame (and running gear) from the current Revell '29 is a natural under any of Revell's '32 kits, and the narrowed rear rails make for some interesting possibilities. HOWEVER...though I'm 99% certain the wheelbase is the same, the '32 frame in the current '29 kit is slightly narrowed to work under the '29 body shell. The upside is that if you want to build a channeled '32, you're halfway there with the frame we're discussing. I'm with you in pining for a traditional buggy-sprung version of at least one of the Revell '32s. If they ever need a consultant to make sure they get it right, I'm available.
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All the 1/25 Revell (early) model A chassis and running gear are interchangeable, being the same tooling. The '29 bodies won't fit the '31 fenders well because, just as in reality, the '28-'29 fenders are entirely different from the '30-'31 fenders. HOWEVER...IIRC...the Revell parts will work very nicely under the old AMT '28-'29 roadster body and fenders, born in this double-kit and reissued in many guises since. This is a big positive, as the AMT chassis and running gear are somewhat toylike compared to the Revell parts. You're SOL on a frame swap with the MPC (later AMT) woody/RPU however, as (again IIRC) those kits have the frame molded as a piece with the fender unit. Running gear and engines are swappable, however.
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That kind of crappola drives me nuts. Makes one long for a pocket EMP device. No collateral damage, but a nice payback for the cost and inconvenience.
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The Revell 1/25 '29 RPU/closed cab pickup was derived from the earlier '31 woody/sedan kit. It shares frame, running gear, engine, and most of the chrome tree (the differences being hop-up goodies for the venerable inline 4). As all 4 years of model A ('28-'29-'30-'31) are essentially identical mechanically, this was a smart move on Revell's part. These kits have a largely unfair reputation for being "fiddly", but with a little adult care and patience, they make outstanding models.
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These days it's really pretty much anything goes, from where I'm sitting. Thankfully, the unsafe-at-any-speed crapp-rod craze is dying, and though there's still interest in the barn-find fake patina look, the cars are mostly well engineered. "Traditional" cars are still popular, but now tradition seems to include any look from the '30s through the '90s...except the Easter-egg colored billet-encrusted period. Full-fendered cars always played second fiddle to the lakes-inspired fenderless cars (and still do) but today, just about anything that's well-constructed and well proportioned will be relevant. For me, I find it hard to top the look and presence of the best of the early cars, like this late 1940s build by Doane Spencer... A little more rubber on the rear of this car (radials all around, naturally---but you can get them that have the right look, almost), a 5-speed gearbox or automatic, and late-model power...it would still be as much of a head turner as it was in 1947.
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What Did You Get Today? (Not Model Related)
Ace-Garageguy replied to LOBBS's topic in The Off-Topic Lounge
Yeah, all the TP's been gone since I got back from Az. on Monday. Few nights back though, I got lucky and snagged the last giant refugee-camp-sized package of the recycled paper towels I favor. They break down in water almost as fast as the real stuff, so I'm set. Nice thing is that they don't break down in alcohol or lacquer thinner...which is pretty much why I buy them. -
Anybody know anything about this Lotus?
Ace-Garageguy replied to NYLIBUD's topic in The Off-Topic Lounge
SWEET !!! -
Anybody know anything about this Lotus?
Ace-Garageguy replied to NYLIBUD's topic in The Off-Topic Lounge
I assure you, there's somebody who would gladly pay decent money for it and restore it. Fiberglass doesn't deteriorate badly if it's painted, and the chassis is simplicity itself. As the chassis is built up of folded sheetmetal primarily, a competent fabricator can put it back to righteous condition with little drama. These are wonderful cars to drive. You almost literally wear them, and it doesn't take much more than thinking about a turn and you're through it...even on those skinny little tires. Not the best car for people living in the same environment with smart-phone obsessed soccer moms driving 5000 pound hippo-lookalikes though. -
Absolutely nothing wrong with the Revell Pontiac and Caddy parts pack mills... Or the AMT Pontiac either...
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What Did You Get Today? (Not Model Related)
Ace-Garageguy replied to LOBBS's topic in The Off-Topic Lounge
Butter, eggs, and ground beef were back in the store this AM when I was on the way to work (yes, even though I'm in the target demographic for the Boomer-Remover Flu, I'm still working). Bought 100 pounds of each, in keeping with the panicking horde mentality. I figure most of it will rot long before I can eat it. Just doing my part, you know? -
And here's some practical construction advice:
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Vindication?
Ace-Garageguy replied to charlie8575's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
Yup. I've owned at least one of all of 'em except the wagons and rampsides. Fine little cars, all. The '60 was a little squirrelly if the tire pressures weren't dead on and you found yourself going a little fast into a decreasing radius turn, but was easily fixed with a "camber compensator". The gutted, race-prepped '66 140 I eventually ran on the street was one of the most fun cars I've ever owned. Nader was my first exposure to a self-styled "expert" with verbal diarrhea concerning things he had little knowledge of (followed by countless others) and a gullible drama-seeking public swallowing just-flat-wrong loads of excrement whole...but GM's gutless lack of defense of the little car and its entirely adequate engineering (exemplary from '65 on) was what actually killed it. There is, however, no question GM should have installed the camber compensator from day one. The engineers knew it, but the bean-counters nixed it. -
Monogram '29 Ford engine, questions
Ace-Garageguy replied to Roadrunner's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
Correct. The Caddy engine is the only one with the water manifolds going to the front of the heads as represented by the model. -
I'm sincerely sorry to hear about the difficult times you've been going through. I've been through something similar, and it's hard to understand why these breakups happen sometimes. Hang in there. You can deal with it.
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COVID-19 has brought out the tinfoil hat crowd again...
Ace-Garageguy replied to Mike C's topic in The Off-Topic Lounge
I assume you're targeting my comment, as you quoted it. Every word I posted is fact. Every single word. Here's some more facts: a quinine derivative used for treating malaria has shown very positive results as a treatment once you have the bug (though that was misidentified elsewhere on the forum as being a malaria "vaccination", and a vaccine is now in phase one of clinical trials, though it will be months before it becomes widely available even if it proves to be effective. -
COVID-19 has brought out the tinfoil hat crowd again...
Ace-Garageguy replied to Mike C's topic in The Off-Topic Lounge
And let's try to keep the hand-wringing concern in perspective. Look at the numbers indeed. CDC estimates that so far this season there have been at least 36 million flu illnesses, 370,000 hospitalizations and 22,000 deaths from flu. Coronavirus cases, by comparison...13,622 illnesses and 189 deaths. Where was the economy-crippling panic due to the flu? People are acting like this bug is an automatic death sentence. It's not. Period. If you're basically healthy, it's just a bad flu-like couple of weeks at most, and many people who are exposed don't even get the sniffles. If you're old and have pre-existing respiratory and/or cardiac conditions, you should be very careful. And if you know people like that, you should avoid them to protect them from infection, as carriers can show no symptoms but may transmit the bug. Otherwise, a little calm and rational thought might be good at this point. -
There is a guy on the board who's done 3D renderings of a poly engine. I don't recall whether he's printed any yet, but his other work looks very good. I'll try to remember his user name. He's posted a lot of good info regarding 3D printing.
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Correct. The "poly" heads were a cost and complexity cutting measure applied to lower line cars from '55-'58. The rocker covers on the actual "hemi" hemi look like this, lacking the scalloped lower edge... Great little car anyway, well worth rescuing, and looks to be remarkably complete. Any aspect of your restoration work you need competent professional advice concerning, don't hesitate to ask. PM me if you'd like, and I'll give you my direct email.
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That's it in a nutshell...except it's a whole hell of a lot harder. I watched the early trials of the first-gen Darpa-sponsored self-drivers navigating around rocks and ditches in the desert, and thought "well, that's cool, but the rocks and ditches aren't all moving independently, or stepping in front of the thing, or cutting it off with lane-changes, or running stop lights. It should be interesting to see what happens when all that gets stirred into the mix". Turns out I was right. The level of "intelligence" and fail-safe reliability necessary for a full-function self-drive environment is higher, probably by an order of magnitude, than anything ever previously devised by humans.
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Yup. I'm in 100% agreement. And destroying the economy in the process doesn't seem to be the smartest possible move.
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Hey man, who needs drive-in movies when you can just call Uber to take you anywhere you can afford and watch a movie on your tiny little smart-screen while somebody else is responsible for controlling the vehicle? Hell...the fully-evolved self-driving cars will probably have big-screen entertainment and bean-bag seating, so you don't need to grope with that pesky steering wheel and gearshift in the way, or climb into the back seat for more comfortable maneuvering.
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Bumps on Valve covers ?
Ace-Garageguy replied to Jon Haigwood's topic in Model Building Questions and Answers
They appear to be knurled hold-downs for the valve cover castings, as the covers also appear to lack the normal bolt pattern on the perimeter. Somewhat similar valve covers show cast-in bosses for filler cap or breather installation, but even without the bosses, machining pads on cast alloy covers for aftermarket breathers is no big deal. Likewise, machining holes in cast covers, machining knurled knobs, and fabbing brackets that bolt to the heads and receive the threaded portion of the hold-down would be no big deal to anyone competent in the business. EDIT: You also have to remember that this car was built in a completely different America. There were still plenty of highly skilled pattern-makers around, and making wood patterns, sand molds from them, and getting a small foundry to cast a set of two of custom parts was not uncommon.