Ace-Garageguy

Properly mixed polyester resin should jell in about an hour at 60 F, and should be fully hard in a few hours. The ratio of catalyst to resin is important, as is the ratio of mixed resin to glass.

Making "inferior" parts is a choice. It often seems you ask for advice, but don't actually take it. I'll be glad to help you, as I most probably know more about composite materials than 90% of people in the business, and most certainly more than anyone on this board. Without knowing the weave, or having a sample of the particular cloth to weigh, I can not possibly tell you what weight it is. YOU can weigh a square section of the stuff on a gram scale and do some simple arithmetic to see what the per-square-yard weight is.

Define "too thin". ANYTHING correctly made from fiberglass cloth in an open mold is made of MULTIPLE LAMINATE LAYERS, not one single layer. The Bondo brand stuff is loosely woven "boat cloth" and is appropriate for multiple layers on REAL car parts (of low to moderate quality), but not anything in scale...other than perhaps a flat bulkhead. For some reason, newcomers to composite material fabrication seem to almost always make stuff WAY TOO THICK, ridiculously too thick. Even a not-great fiberglass laminate is MUCH stronger than a steel part of the same weight, so the glass part can be MUCH LIGHTER than a steel part of the same strength. An open-molded part will be in the neighborhood of 3 TIMES as strong as a steel part of the same weight, so it can be made at 1/3 the weight of steel and have the same strength. But I STILL see people making body panels from glass on real cars that weigh almost as much as steel. The final thickness of a model car body in 1/8 scale doesn't need to be any more than .030". This can be ideally achieved by 3 layers of fine cloth that is .010" thick.

Finally took the time to read this tragic, well written story. Much better use of my coffee-break than usual. Things like this always make me think of how many young lives are ruined or wasted due to a lack of strong adult role-models teaching kids the essentials of morality.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This thread may contain copyrighted material; the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available for the purposes of criticism, comment, review and news reporting which constitute the 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. Not withstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work for purposes such as criticism, comment, review and news reporting is not an infringement of copyright. From an article in the Intercollegiate Review: August 28, 2014 "Stupid is the new smart. Consider the nostrums of the digital era. “Video gaming is just a new form of literacy.” “Reality shows . . . challenge our emotional intelligence.” “Who cares if Johnny can’t read? The value of books is overstated.” “If you’re not on MySpace, you don’t exist.” Watching cartoons is “a kind of mental calisthenics” for small children. “The truth is, we need multitasking as much as we need air.” Translation? World of Warcraft is not altogether different from The Canterbury Tales. Vicarious existence through reality television contestants enables us to enjoy healthier interactions with real people. Ignorance is underrated. Living is interacting through online intermediaries. Let your television babysit your kids. Attention deficit disorder is strength, not malady. Welcome to Idiotville, population seven billion...Intelligent people are using reason to rationalize intellectual laziness as progress and ridiculing time-tested methods of acquiring knowledge, wisdom, and understanding as outdated." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here's the entire article. Good for a laugh...and some serious thought. WARNING: REQUIRES READING https://home.isi.org/stupid-new-smart

Ah, the curse of the calibrated eyeball...

I really enjoy this part of the MCM board. It seems like a high percentage of truck modelers strive to get the mechanical bits right, and I always learn something here. Thanks for caring, and sharing the knowledge.

In-progress truck and car-hauler trailer, based on the old Monogram Orange Hauler

Sad indeed. The world needs people whose passion drives their craftsmanship, and the passing of such a man is always a great loss. I only have a very few examples of his work, but for that I'm thankful.

For the familiar screw type, try a sliver of BMF wrapped around the hose. For older style wire clamps, a single strand of very fine wire can be shaped into a convincing clamp.

One of my post-retirement projects will be a full on restomod of the '63 Olds convert my mother bought new, that I tracked down in Texas back in "96 and hauled back up here. Good thing I can do it all myself, 'cause I sure as jell couldn't afford to PAY to have it done. I figure about $15-20K in parts and materials, and a few sublets like chrome.

I've never met the owner, but like Ron said, there must be an emotional attachment. But hey...where can you go buy a virtually new '62 Falcon? And he sure won't see many others that nice.

Yup. Fresh engine, new factory-look interior, new windshield and most exterior aluminum trim, both bumpers chromed, extensive bodywork (she wasn't rusty, but had been bashed around...a lot), very nice paint (not perfect, but better than OEM), brakes and suspension all rebuilt, wheels blasted and painted, new tires, new OEM-style wiring harness, etc...it all adds up, especially with labor on even a low-end, simple car being at $100 / hr.

The 4-downdraft Webers were popular on both big-block and smallblock-powered Cobras. For some strange reason, I don't have any Cobra kits in stock, but the bits are out there. At least that's a place to start. And Webers STILL work great on real cars. They make as much power as EFI, but need more frequent tuning. EDIT: Also check Historic Racing Miniatures and Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland. They've both had something in the Weber line...

We have a guy in the big car shop right now who's rapidly closing on having a $50,000 6-cylinder dead-stock '62 Falcon. I'm honestly glad he loves the little car so much, and she's going to be a real sweetheart, but that's a lot of jack to spend on a car that sold new for $1900.

It's Inglese. http://ingleseinductionsystems.com/ The EFI setups haven't been offered in model form (far as I know at the moment) but the multiple Weber manifold for a smallblock Ford HAS been offered. For manifolds for the rest of the Ford engines (other than the FE, which has also been offered) you're probably going to have to scratchbash. The Weber-look EFI setups like Inglese and Imagine bolt to the same footprint as Weber carbs. Some hack-n-scratch starting with scale downdraft Webers will get you the rest of the way to Weber-look EFI.

If you're doing the car AS IT RACED AT SEBRING, it had Minilites (the photo above was taken AT SEBRING). (OOPS...now I see you're doing an OOB build. Never mind.) Alloy wheels on real racing cars WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN CHROME, and very unlikely the centers would have been polished. Race car wheels are periodically inspected for cracks, and chrome could hide damage. The centers would have been pebbly as-cast gray magnesium or aluminum, and the rims would have been machined, possibly polished.

Conclusive.

If widespread evidence on the interwebatron is anything to go by, I believe we may be seeing that happening already.

Neither of these were worth 50 cents when I got them, and I'll have well over $100 in each (not counting my time) when I'm done...

Silicon is beach sand, microchips, and glass. Silicone is the material of which you speak. Two entirely different materials, not related, and not interchangeable.

Good man. Worst they can say is "no".

Which is why, exactly, I was intending to approach existing sellers of PE parts and make them an offer too good to refuse, with ME taking the financial risk, to allow them to add wire centers to their existing product line with virtually NO risk to them...not trying to snake their suppliers. However, the vast majority of what I'm hearing is why it can't be done. EDIT: I just emailed MCG. We'll see what they say. "There's been some interest shown in finding a source for 1/25 motorcycle wire wheel centers for vintage dragsters (and possibly machined aluminum rims) on some of the modeling forums. I'm in a position to help some company that already makes high-quality PE parts (as you do) to expand their product line for zero risk to the company. Please contact me if this is something you would consider discussing. Thanks, WE"

Now THAT is kool. I want, I want, I want. Will contact you about getting some next year.