Ace-Garageguy

I usually tape or jig the window in place exactly where I want it, dry. Then I'll apply a few drops or a small bead of a white PVA (polyvinyl acetate) "canopy" glue where the parts meet. It dries clear, you avoid smearing from moving the part around, and it's plenty strong for "glass". If you get any excess on anything, it cleans off with a damp Q-tip when it's wet too. My go-to is Micro Kristal Klear, but there are lots more...including plain old Elmers...that work just as well. They're all water-based, so there's no fogging that you can get with CA, no gooey mess like you can get with epoxy, and no solvent crazing like you can get with tube or liquid plastic cement.

Correct. Which is specifically why I said "through '87 engines of the original 1948 design". The original 1948 design, known as "XK", was fitted to the US spec XJ-6 through 1987 in 4.2 liter displacement. I have two. In other markets, the "XK" engine lasted through 1992 in the Daimler DS420.

Agreed. Though I see a couple other nits to pick (like the little depression stamped in the fender just over the end of the side-trim being shaped wrong and kinda huge), nothing significant. I'll be having a few. There are so many ways to do a wagon that this should be a big hit with the market. No problem with it having the old-school blobular chassis, either. The bits are out there to deal with that should anybody want to go full-detail, but as a curbside it looks great as-is.

Dead on the money.

Indeed. One of the best.

Exactly. The general shape and first impression of it are vastly superior to that sad old Monogram mess, but the first-generation E-type roadster kit from Revell decades ago, long before CAD and 3D printing made it entirely possible to fully evaluate a kit's accuracy prior to any tooling being cut, was really quite good. I will probably buy one and fix the stupid stuff that the designers should have caught while doing their JOBS. But I shouldn't have to FIX SOMEBODY ELSE'S WORK. And that is the entire point. To US these are hobby items, not hugely significant in the overall scheme of things. Adult toys, if you will. But to the people who design and market this stuff, and take our money, IT'S PAYING WORK. Folks seem to be allowing more and more slackness in doing ANYTHING to creep into every aspect of life, and the immediately obvious flaws in yet another newly-tooled and endlessly hyped kit are just another affront to those of us who take our work seriously, and strive for competence daily.

Very nice rendition of a rare piece. I've always felt the scale of this kit may be somewhat under 1/25, but I've never taken the time to research the dimensions of the real one and check.

Possibly. One of the shops I work with these days has a pretty good stockpile of older Jag bits. The owner and his son are hardcore old-Jag enthusiasts, have nicely restored several, and I believe they still have some in their own collection. I'll be there this PM, and I'll ask.

Yes (through '87 engines of the original 1948 design). The "chrome" cam covers are actually polished cast aluminum.

Had to save space for all the extra TP now that the hoarders are at it again. I guess that's what's meant by "white Christmas" in 2020.

Here's a little secret for you. If something is 12" long, it doesn't cost any more to measure it and get 12" than to have some idiot chimp measure it and get 13". It only costs more when the first clown gets 13", the tools get cut, and then somebody else has to fix the problem.

Actually, Agent G posted that. But I could certainly suffer through having it in my possession.

This same old refrain every time. GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME. THEN MORE MONEY ISN'T REQUIRED TO FIX IT.

I live in a semi-rural area, on a large wooded lot. Big fat field mice (big as medium rats, but kinda cute with light gray backs and white bellies) were a problem...12-15 a year in the house, trapped, usually after they'd shredded book bindings, photos, and made nests to raise their young in model boxes. Even having a cat in the house did no good. But since I've been feeding the feral cats outside (my current housecat is a kitten-rescue abandoned by one of them), I've had zero mouse-rat incursions for several years. The feral cats seem to do a very effective job of keeping all the rodents in check too: no more shredded wiring (squirrels) or fouled interiors in the stored cars either. Kinda interesting, as when hunting's not so good, some of the ferals will wait for me to come home so as to be sure to get a meal that day, and even bring their kittens up on the porch to meet the big food-dispenser being. Some of my neighbors, however, prefer to use poison on the rodents. My current cat has been very sick several times from having (probably) eaten a poisoned rodent outside. Some of the neighbors are decidedly anti-feral-cat too. One of the friendliest of the ferals died a while back, after having been shot through the throat and somehow dragging itself back to my front door to bleed out. I understand people being concerned that feral cats prey on songbirds. I love birds too. But the truth is that the cats only get the slow, stupid birds...insuring the survival of the fittest, and improving the overall genetic makeup of the bird population. Kind of a shame there aren't more lions and tigers and bears in the neighborhood.

I would tend to believe you're correct. I'd also venture a guess that most people here didn't notice the paint mismatch between panels on the blue side-view reference photo posted by Matt. But when you have spent your entire professional life making things LOOK right as well as function, these discrepancies stick out like big zits on the Mona Lisa. Which is why I'm continually amazed that the "professionals" tasked with accurately measuring, scaling, and tooling models almost always seem to miss the mark somehow. Mediocrity is "Job 1" apparently.

Yup. I kinda seem to recall somebody said that earlier...

Width-of-frame channeled f'glass '32 body on American Stamping rails. 327 Chebby w/double hump heads, three Rochester 2G twos, Joe Hunt magneto. Tremec TKX 5-speed. "Culver City" Halibrand QC, gennie forged '32 front axle w/4" drop. Doors elongated and suicided. Custom windshield frame, other bits. This model was built in 1/8 to work out how I want to do the real one. Already have most of the parts except the QC rear end and the front axle. Just scored a pair of Jag E-type wires and hubs for the front.

For simplicity's sake, yes. A sloppy real-car builder could leave it in place but inop, or a more knowledgeable real-car builder might even rework it to function as a pressure-retard, but the most likely scenario would be to just get rid of it.

Lamb vindaloo, fragrant basmati rice, naan bread, sweet-hot chutney, Taj Mahal beer. Probably my favorite meal on the planet.

Everything depends on the era and application you're building. A blown car in the 1960s would most likely run a magneto setup, as coil-type ignitions would be on the ragged edge of not being able to make a hot enough spark to light off a blown engine consistently...but the amount of over- or under-drive on the blower is part of the equation. An over-driven blower on a drag car would need more gutsy ignition than an under-driven blower on a street machine. Cylinder pressure in a racing engine will usually be higher than a street engine, requiring a "hotter" spark. There are a few coil ignitions that could handle it back then, like a Spaulding Flamethrower, or some of the other two-coil rigs. Coils would be external on those. On the other hand, a GM HEI distributor, made from about '74 onwards (and looks kinda like your model) makes a much hotter spark than some of the earlier hot-rod setups, should be able to handle a street-driven blown engine without huge boost, and has its coil inside the cap. It only requires one small wire to power it...no coil wire. The first-generation HEI rigs had some limitations, but GM and the aftermarket quickly solved the problems. People dissing the HEI today are generally just rebleating what somebody else said, and most of 'em don't know what they're talking about. A stock HEI distributor with vacuum advance won't work with a blown engine, because there's no way for it to get a boost reference to vary the timing as the blower blows harder. There are, however, plenty of HEI-look distributors that WILL do the job on a blower motor...and none of the differences would be visible. Again, both the "module" and the coil are inside the typical HEI cap, so you don't need to worry about coil wiring (remove the nipple for the coil wire from the cap). HEI caps are usually larger diameter than older coil-type caps, and usually look like this...more or less. Another popular (external-coil) electronic distributor that will do the job is the Mallory Unilite, and its relatives. Use a separate coil, and wire it like you normally would. There's a lot to getting the right ignition system on a real engine, but the info here should be plenty to get your model reasonably accurate. If you're building an earlier car and want to run a magneto or a Flamethrower, I've got posts that show the correct wiring for all of 'em. Just ask.

Exceptional progress on making what you're missing here. Very nice. Unfortunately, these Pontiac engines are so wrong in many areas that I've done almost as much work to one just correcting things as you have manufacturing much of a new one. Still, I'm sure it'll look great in your model...and you certainly deserve extra points for fabricating what you don't have.

Thanks. I'll be working up through Christmas eve, but thought I might steal some model-bench time during the week before New Year. Guess not. I am beginning to imagine putting all the incompetent morons I have to clean up after through wood chippers. Makes for a very satisfying experience.

The Neon just stripped the timing belt belt at 145,000 miles. The "mechanic" I bought the car from swore he did the requisite timing belt change at 100,000. So either the clown flat out lied, or he buggered the install...very common when chimps with tools try to shortcut the job and force the belt over the sprockets with a prybar. Little car treated me well though, and died in the driveway before I got out on the road. Just bought a good used head and 16 new valves, will build it on the bench, then do the swap over Christmas week.

Complete set of factory service manuals for the old PT Cruiser. Pretty much have factory manuals for everything I own now. Considerably richer source of information than Haynes, Chilton's, etc.

At the shop last week... Nice little plastic '32, in for pinstriping: Very fine all-stock '48, other side was torn off: Very clean and tidy 409 Impala (at the shop next door):