Ace-Garageguy

Nope, no, unh-unh, not buyin' it. They had this ancient technology called "drawing" and "scale drawing". I know it seems pretty hard to believe, but they used these tools called "pencils" and "pens" and "paper", and these tricks called "measuring" and "perspective". I've used them myself. And believe it or not, they can show you just exactly what something will look like before you build it. Not having computers is no excuse for building ugly.

Thanks for the pix. Lookit that big beautiful Yoder power hammer. I'm in love.

It can be a real PITA to buy seals to rebuild old hydraulics. There's an old-school hydraulic shop near me that usually, miraculously, has what I need in NOS on the shelf...often 40 or more years old. You have to know the dimensions, obviously, plus the profile and material. Barring that, catalogs like this are where I usually turn (IF you can find aftermarket "kits" that don't come directly from the seal manufacturers, you always run the risk that the specs weren't followed closely enough by whoever put the package together; almost every aftermarket part or assembly I come across these days has a deficiency of some kind in design or materials). http://www.skf.com/binary/68-300492/Hydraulic-seals---12393_2-EN.pdf EDIT: Check 1/4 down this page for a pump rebuild kit: https://www.convertibletopguys.com/convertible/1734/Hydraulic-Cylinders-Motor-Pumps-Hose-Sets#hydraulics EDIT 2 : Mustang Barn / Glazier Nolan appears to have CYLINDER rebuild kits under pt.# G12153...but I don't know if this is still a good number.

HOLY CRAMOLEY !!! Three hundred bucks a gallon? Yeah, THAT would put a little crimp in my travel plans.

Glad you brought up Luigi Colani. I've been a fan of his work for decades. Probably the most "original" designer out there. Not terribly practical in a lot of cases, but certainly thought-provoking and inspiring:

While you're watching Indy, or cooking out, or sitting by the pool with a nice cold beer, or fighting crowds at the countless sales, please stop for a moment to remember those who gave everything for the concept of freedom

And then there's "a cow can tell the difference between grain and chaff, but it's still a cow".

I don't know how you want to define "coachbuilt", but this is entirely my original work. Bring on the"expert" criticism. I can hardly wait. 1:10 scale model: Full scale mockup under construction:

Hey y'all...watch this.

Sounds like you're a pretty nice guy too.

I think that's a lot of the post-modern SOP in a nutshell.

Pretty good series, in glorious black-and-white. Quite a few episodes are on YouTube now, clean clear uploads. It's low key, often kinda sad. Sorta like reality.

And so should it be in the rest of the world...but anyone who's the least bit aware will know that this is not always the case, even in this country, and the idea has been eroding for decades.

But wait...there's MORE !!!

The CORRECT type. Internet "experts" notwithstanding, there are several types of "hydraulic" fluid. and NOT ALL FLUID IS COMPATIBLE WITH ALL SEALS. Being a "mix" has nothing to do with anything, unless part of the mixture is a type of fluid that destroys the seals in the system. This is why engineers go to the trouble of writing specifications for appropriate fluids in various "hydraulic" applications...from car and aviation braking systems, to heavy machinery. USE WHAT THE OEM DOCUMENTATION SPECIFIES, and disregard opinions and hearsay.

Type F. Yes.

I do actually rather like the McLaren. There seems to be some reason to most of its "aero" styling, other than just an overly nervous CFD program. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_fluid_dynamics

Of which I'm well aware, and which is a very clear indication that allowing the Fed to establish arbitrary emissions and fuel economy standards for decades is ludicrous. One reason manufacturers pushed large trucklike vehicles was because the fuel economy standards for them were easier to comply with. Now, with an all-trucklike fleet on the horizon, to get the CAFE numbers they need, small engines in big vehicles will be the norm. There is simply NO ONE looking at the big picture, and if you try to enlighten most people, they treat you like a Luddite crackpot. Go along to get along. All technology is wonderful. Buy whatever the marketers tell you to buy. The Fed knows everything about everything, and always does the rational thing. Don't think. Baaa baaa baaa. Not to mention destroying the second-hand vehicle marketplace. How many buyers of used vehicles are really in a position to cough up an additional $8,000 when the trans quits a few months into ownership? (To the best of my knowledge at the present time, there are NO rebuilders of the 8-speed automatic boxes; you buy a new replacement, or you park it forever) There will come a time when the high cost of repairing this overly complex excrement will make it impossible to even get used-vehicle extended warranty coverage for anything like an affordable price. But the Fed and the manufacturers and hordes of mostly uninformed consumers go on their merry way singing "lalalalalalala I can't hear you..."

I agree heartily. Though I was fine with everything through algebra, I struggled with calculus my first quarter. The instructor was a pure-math enthusiast, and had little interest in helping us grasp how it could be applied to real-world problem solving. Once I understood how it could be used as a tool, everything changed.

Pretty cool, Ray. Looks like overall you're doing a very respectable job. Fascinating model.

I didn't think you could get any uglier than the last Bug. I was wrong.