-
Posts
38,175 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Gallery
Everything posted by Ace-Garageguy
-
426 Hemi information needed.
Ace-Garageguy replied to Brutalform's topic in Model Building Questions and Answers
Opinions vary. There are factory pix from 1970 showing a twin-plug head, and the '73 catalog shows them with a Mopar Performance part number. Intended as a race head, though people have run them on the street. -
Yup, should work fine if it really IS high-impact polystyrene. It MIGHT be a little more solvent-resistant than what you're used to in current kits, but it can still be assembled using solvent-type plastic glues, epoxy, and CA. The specific plastic formulation (and there are MANY that come under the "HIPS" moniker) will determine the exact degree of solvent resistance. Some early Johan kits, for example, though molded from "high-impact polystyrene" are difficult to glue, and require the hottest of the solvents (or epoxy) to get a lasting bond. HIPS filament-printed parts are one kind of output from some 3D printers, and they also can be assembled with the familiar solvent-type glues.
-
If I Ran Revell....
Ace-Garageguy replied to Snake45's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
Yeah, sorry. I forgot for a minute which planet I was on. This one is ruled by the lazy, the stupid, and the willfully ignorant. Everything has to be geared to the lowest-common-denominator. My bad. -
If I Ran Revell....
Ace-Garageguy replied to Snake45's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
When a non-retooled repop is released, why not just tell the truth on the box, something like "This is a nostalgia kit, made in 60-year-old (or whatever) tooling, and is identical in most respects to the original. Do NOT expect the level of fit, accuracy, or complexity of a kit tooled in the 21st century". That should go a long way towards dispelling disappointment upon opening the box. Still, in some respects, the 60-year-old stuff can be more accurate than much more recent offerings. I wonder why that is. -
Need some help detailing a Ford R-code 427
Ace-Garageguy replied to Monty's topic in Model Building Questions and Answers
All there is at the connection is a brass fitting after the line from the filter makes a 450 turn to line up with the supply manifold. And yes, the filter is factory. -
Exactly, and I've been pushing for stand-alone and hardened mission-critical systems (the ones necessary to control speed, steer and stop any vehicle SAFELY) since 2005, when I first realized just HOW vulnerable today's tech-dependent cars really were. But another scary thing ignored by everyone in perpetual lala land is that non-nuclear EMP weapons development has been ongoing globally for years, and is within the technological reach of determined bad guys today. An EMP (electromagnetic pulse) can instantly disable ALL non-hardened electronic systems within its range. One short pulse from an interstate overpass could produce a result like this:
-
Chrome Chrome Chrome everywhere
Ace-Garageguy replied to SCRWDRVR's topic in Model Building Questions and Answers
Any luck, Bob Downie (zoomzoom) will chime in here. He's the guy who's had the most experience spraying the stuff that I know of. -
Paxton Supercharger question
Ace-Garageguy replied to JollySipper's topic in Model Building Questions and Answers
As Mr. Drysdale says, Paxtons have been put on just about everything somewhere along the line. Descended from similar units called McCulloch, they are the granddaddies of the Paxton, Vortech and ProCharger centrifugal belt-driven units still in production today. Real-world kits are out there now for refits on FE engines https://www.thesuperchargerstore.com/ford and you can be certain they've been done for a long time. I'm 99.785223% sure Hot Rod magazine featured a '57 T-bird with a 406 FE, blown with a Paxton, back in the early '60s. This image is from the Supercharger Store's big-block Street Stalker I kit page...https://www.thesuperchargerstore.com/ford-bb-ss1 -
Man...I have at least 20 punch lines to go with that, but I'm pretty sure any of 'em would get me suspended again. Suffice it to say "no class, no clue".
-
Well, somebody's having a good time. Sounds like a KPV 14.5 about a half klick away. EDIT...Ah, now the sirens. Happy New Year, y'all.
-
But the American way of life is changing rapidly. Where a car once meant instant mobility to get groceries, a burger, or to go hang out with friends, now the instant-gratification of shopping online, having eats and everything else imaginable delivered to your door, and social interaction becoming more and more virtual than personal...that all means the perceived NEED for a car is declining.
-
Which is something I do not and probably will not ever understand. ANYONE who's ever been involved with computers or any kind of complex electrical or mechanical systems knows that complex systems do not ALWAYS function as foreseen, and that unexpected failures in modes not predicted are common. Today's onboard electronic systems are easy to hack into remotely for someone with the right skills (which has been demonstrated repeatedly...but nobody seems to be paying much attention) and the self-drives, no matter how heavily protected by "security" will be vulnerable as well. In addition, they appear (at this time, anyway) extremely vulnerable to relatively unsophisticated means to disable them in multiples. And several exploits against the "internet of things" have shown conclusively how vulnerable to hacking that particular piece of idiocy really is. There are some very bad people in the world, but there are also those who persist in the delusional notion that everyone everywhere loves puppies and unicorns. I look around, and to some segments of Western society, it's as though 9-11 never happened. So...tell me what makes a more tempting terrorist target than a busy rush-hour interstate segment with a high percentage of driverless vehicles whose sensors and/or communication abilities can be shut down simultaneously. You get a very large steaming pile, in an instant, for a very small investment. WHY do humans seem to be in such a hurry to give up both their freedoms AND their responsibilities to technology and government, going unthinkingly through life saying lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala, while they look away from the dangers staring them undeniably squarely in the face? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/uber-self-driving-car-fatality-reveals-the-technologys-blind-spots1/ https://www.bbc.com/news/business-42710215
-
What Did You Get Today? (Not Model Related)
Ace-Garageguy replied to LOBBS's topic in The Off-Topic Lounge
Yes, and one of the reasons I jumped on it was 'cause it's white. The blue '86 XJ is going with me too, but she'll get heavily hot-rodded, while the white one will only get Euro bumpers and lights, and be the pristine vintage going-out-to-dinner (etc.) car. -
I've mentioned this, and I sincerely believe that a large part of what we're seeing is the result of a long-in-coming and gradual switch from driving being at least somewhat about DRIVING to it being about transportation appliances that get people and their stuff somewhere, in the greatest comfort, with the least effort, and with as many non-driving-oriented accessories and capabilities that a manufacturer can cram into a vehicle. We've already seen that only around 18% of US drivers today can operate a manual gearbox. That's an indicator that the physical involvement with the machine and the driving experience in general is waning. The whole approach to owning and using a vehicle is different than it was just 20 years back. The concept of "handling" has also been taking a beating, even in the enthusiast press. Where high lateral-acceleration numbers and crisp transient response used to be the main defining elements of "handling", it now seems that these concepts are relatively unknown, and rarely cited as incentives to buy a particular vehicle. High center-of-gravity SUVs and crossovers, though perceived as "safer" than cars by many, sacrifice two of the primary accident avoidance capabilities a vehicle can have...namely the above-mentioned high lateral-acceleration numbers and crisp transient response. Cars, by nature and the laws of physics, are just better at those things...but they're not what anybody cares about. How easy a vehicle is to enter and exit, how many "cargo configurations" are available, what its crash ratings are and how much "connectivity" it offers, heated seats, cup-holders, etc. have taken precedence over how much fun it is to drive. But make no mistake. People buy what's marketed to them most effectively, and what their friends and various media sources and online communities tell them to buy. Consumers in general know NOTHING about how a car operates, or what's stupid design, or what's logical and efficient. And they don't care. That's why marketing works. For anything. I assure you, had little fun-to-drive gas-sipping econoboxes been marketed as heavily as road-crushing SUVs, pickups, and "crossovers", we'd see an entirely different American automotive landscape. But higher profit margins were available on loaded pickups and generally larger vehicles, so THOSE were the ones that got pushed. And I freely admit that if the DRIVING experience isn't particularly important to you, and if you can only have one vehicle, a light SUV or crossover makes a lot of sense. But at this point in time, I just don't care. Far as I'm concerned, there's almost nothing new that lights my jets. But there are still a whole lot of older, interesting, highly competent and FUN vehicles out there, just waiting. And because I'm not dependent on anyone else to maintain my old vehicles, I'm kinda like a kid in a candy store, having my cake and eating it too, if you will. I can have a ball DRIVING while most everyone else cruises around in their mobile living rooms that tell them where to go and park themselves when they get there, oblivious to their surroundings and the machines they occupy. That's just fine by me. (I know...TLDNR)
-
What Did You Get Today? (Not Model Related)
Ace-Garageguy replied to LOBBS's topic in The Off-Topic Lounge
I got a little closer to bringing my recently purchased Jag XJ6 home. The previous owner had taken much of the dash out, and dropped the steering column, in an effort to trace a smoked wire in the climate-control system. He finally got tired of messing with it, so she's mine now. Just a few things to address before she's running again, at least enough to go cross-town on her own power. -
Had to go to the other side of town to help a friend bleed the clutch on his old Miata, and get my recently purchased XJ6 Jag a little closer to bringing home. Stopped at HobbyTown on the way back and snagged a Revell '66 Suburban, a Hasegawa scribing template set #1, and a Helix small circle template. Gonna put on some Christmas music while I open the Suburban, and be a kid again for a few minutes.
- 38,655 replies
-
- johan
- glue bombs
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
I'm one critical SOB, an engineer, and a mechanic. I think both vehicles are just fine, and I don't understand the constant bashing of them by internet "experts". I have long relationships with PT and Neon owners. To me, they're perfectly fine little cars; somewhat unnecessarily complex to work on, but good vehicles. One client has a 2001 PT that's getting close to having 200K on the clock. She's owned it since 60K indicated, and it's been as reliable as a brick EXCEPT for things that were bodged by other "mechanics". Same scenario with a 2005 Neon with 120K+ . For a while now, I've been de-buggering things also bodged by other "mechanics" who were just throwing parts at insignificant issues they were too incompetent to diagnose correctly. Over time, lotsa money got spent "fixing" things on the little car that never did actually get fixed, as they weren't broken in the first place. For instance: the owner paid over $1000 total for multiple cam-position sensors, plugs, wires, a coil pack and a throttle-position sensor, with NO improvement in the symptoms. The actual issue was a bad $25 sensor in the automatic gearbox, but the chimps who worked on the car just couldn't figure it out. Just about anything ever built (other than cars with major flaws like the first Yugos snapping crankshafts) is really pretty decent. They usually start going bad when ham-handed and ignorant "techs" start "fixing" them, at dealerships while under warranty, and at independents as they age. This sort of statement by me always ticks off a lot of folks, but I know the business inside-out, worked my way up in it from floor-sweeper to owner of multiple shops over the years, and employer. It's almost impossible to find a COMPETENT mechanic anywhere. Sad, but very, very true.
-
^^^ Yup. Yup. Yup.
-
First Fiat-Chrysler culled it's car lines. Then GM dumped all of theirs. Now Ford. I guess it's the new game of do-whatever-everyone-else-in-the-US-car-business-does. But hey...demand for US-built Asian cars is way down too. Guess those urban-adventure ads aimed at the terminally clueless are working, and now they all think they need trucks and SUVs to haul their organic kale, picket signs, and penny-farthings.
-
If I Ran Revell....
Ace-Garageguy replied to Snake45's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
And I WOULD bet my own money on a '26-'27 Ford body on the Revell '28-'31 frame, a GOOD '34 3-window version of the AMT 5-window kit, and a bullet-nose Studebaker...Moebius of course. The market for these in the States is HERE NOW, but they won't be around forever. Only the Stude would take a whole new toolset, too. The other two are easy. -
One device to rule them all...
-
If I Ran Revell....
Ace-Garageguy replied to Snake45's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
Yeah, and some of the craftsmanship is really great on those, but the genre is pure fantasy. Never-never land. Identifying with supermachinebeings that an individual could never aspire to be in reality. Maybe I see things oddly, but the model cars I build are things I would really do if funds and time permitted, and some are very close representations of things I actually HAVE done, or owned, or worked on. To me, it's an entirely different psychological mindset that drives Gundam model-building, gaming, everything that's pure fantasy. And who's buying them? My local hobby outlets don't stock much in the genre. I understand they're very popular in some Asian markets, but here? I really don't know. Yes, there is that. And if much evidence out there can be believed, there's a general and widespread ignorance of and lack of interest in physical reality, how things work and are actually made. There IS growing interest in the "maker" phenomenon, but it seems to be primarily focused on what can be designed in a virtual (computer) setting, and "made" by 3D or other hands-off processes, so I don't know how that carries over to building models the old way...or if it even does. I really don't know enough about people's pastime interests in general these days to have much of useful validity to say...other than the reality of the potential market would need to be investigated thoroughly by people who interpret data better than the guys who said "sure, you really need to build the Edsel; it can't miss". -
Autoquiz 406 - Finished
Ace-Garageguy replied to carsntrucks4you's topic in Real or Model? / Auto ID Quiz
I can't help but think that, odd as it is, the one in the photo must be one tough little bugger to be still soldiering on after what would seem to indicate a very hard and unforgiving life. Love those mismatched headlights too. -
But Joe...everyone who's not a card-carrying Luddite fossil knows that "technology" is the be-all-end-all ne-plus-ultra accomplishment of the human race and that only someone who's doing something they "shouldn't" could possibly have any objection to being tracked 24-7, and that everyone should appreciate the instant convenience of having carefully targeted advertising sent just to YOU based on your individual behavior patterns because YOU'RE SPECIAL, and that tech's striving to enhance your experience as an inhabitant of Earth, being able to buy exactly what you want instantly and have it delivered to you without even the effort of opening a car door and turning a key, and that having the ability for your refrigerator to tell you the milk has gone off when you're in Paris (though God knows why anybody would go there now), or being able to flush the john from the plane if you forgot in your highly-stressed lifestyle-dash-to-accomplish-nothing makes everything SO much better than it's ever been before... What was the question again?