Ace-Garageguy

The differences are pretty straightforward really, though the specific numbers would depend on the specific engine. In general, more lift and duration make more power. Lift opens the valve wider, duration keeps it open longer. Overlap is to a certain extent a function of those, and keeps both intake and exhaust valves open at the same time, in order to facilitate cylinder filling and more complete exhaust purging, using the speed of the outgoing exhaust to, in effect, pull more fresh charge in. Lots of lift and overlap tends to make engines produce power higher in the RPM range, and lose power down low. Same for lotsa overlap. A cam is ideally carefully matched to the engine specifics, like desired operating RPM, intake manifold design, fuel delivery system, header / exhaust system, etc. These variables are all closely interrelated, so component selection and tuning is best done with the aid of a dynamometer. A low-RPM high-torque cam for a smallblock Chebby may have something in the neighborhood of .375" of lift, and will idle happily at 600 RPM and work well with an automatic trans. A peaky race cam for the same basic engine, that won't idle well or pull enough vacuum to operate power brakes, may have around .525" of lift.

Thanks to all for the heads-up on the GTO kits. That's one I missed entirely.

You just never know... https://jalopnik.com/of-course-mazda-is-still-working-on-their-new-rotary-en-1802144895

Probably won't due to difficulties with emissions and high fuel consumption...unless it's a tiny constant-speed one in a hybrid configuration, or is run on CNG or hydrogen gas.

I subscribe to several engineering publications. In one of today's is the announcement of the commercial availability of 3D printing in metal that's so accurate, details too small to be seen without magnification may be printed clean. For producing reusable patterns for resin molds, it would seem hard to beat. This also makes it possible to print scale model parts that are supposed to be metal in metal. Not cheap, but like all tech, the pricing will come way down as it's accepted and implemented on a wide scale. Article here. Note the little man is only 10mm tall. http://www.digitaleng.news/de/binder-jetting-3d-printer-produces-metal-objects/?ajs_uid=9564E8171245D3T Video here (published on September 22)...

I agree 100%. And that 3W is just about perfect. I need to build that, exactly.

Wow. Pulled by vintage EMD F-units too, looks like. Thanks !

What the ??? indeed. There have been Jag, Ferrari, Porsche 917 and MG "replicas" on Bug underpinnings, so why not a Cobra? Here's one of the real bodies made for Bug guts...

This shows a typical pump mounting, with the Gilmer drive and 3 scavenge lines in plain view.

Just one of those opportunities to learn a lot about real cars and engines, if you're so inclined. This diagram is fairly representative of a generic dry-sump system. The only things not obvious are that the pump is driven from the front of the engine by a small Gilmer belt, and the blue line goes to the main oil galleries in the block (in this case, through the stock oil-filter location) to supply the bearings with cooled, filtered and de-aerated oil.

You're not "missing the block". It's a "short skirt" block that doesn't extend down below the crankshaft centerline, as some do. The heads aren't on the thing yet, obviously, and you just have a shallow dry-sump-style racing oil pan, rather than a traditional production oil pan with a deeper sump in the rear.

There have been several cars built along similar lines, using later-model tails, narrowed, grafted to "traditional" rods, and some of them looked pretty damm good. This one's not too bad... This design by Sean Smith takes the basic concept farther...

Yup.

If you like to drive, the run south from Flagstaff on 89 through Oak Creek Canyon is lotsa fun. Gorgeous scenery. I was out there for a couple weeks last year. Sedona is full of art galleries too, which you probably know, and you can easily spend a couple of days in them if you enjoy that sort of thing.

It does look Aston-ish, doesn't it...

Looks like that sport could remove de feet.

Looks very good. I did a tutorial on chopping the '34 3-window, and showed much the same procedure as you've used with the A-pillars. Though I understand why you did what you did (an angled chop, avoiding lengthening the roof, and avoiding heavy re-work of the C-pillars), it usually makes life somewhat easier if you can manage to come straight down on the B-pillars and rear door gap, and limit your major rework to the ends...in full scale cars as well.

When 1/25 (one twenty-fifth), a fraction, is expressed as a ratio, 1:25, it's pronounced "one to twenty five". Likewise, 1:1 is always pronounced as "one to one".

Their cast iron hammers seem to be pretty much OK too...

Nice taut surfaces, good lines overall. I could see the nose just a tad shorter for proportion's sake, and a little less complexity up front as well. Still, first impression is most definitely positive.

^^^^ Nailed it.

Yuck. But hey, what do I know?

Yes. Even in the real world. Very hot with either very low humidity or very high humidity can play hell with spraying. Depending on exactly what material you're using, hot and humid can cause solvent popping and blushing, and hot and dry can cause graininess and excessive orange peel. Even in the real-paint world where special additives are available to tailor materials to the weather conditions, they only work so far. While working in the Az. desert for a while, we had to shoot paint first thing in the early morning. Here in the Southeast at the other end of the humidity spectrum, I've sometimes had to do my real-car painting in the middle of the night. NOTE: The "Mr. Leveling Thinner" that's been recommended elsewhere is similar apparently in function to "retarder" used in real-car lacquers, and "slow reducer" used in real-car enamels and urethanes. I assume it's formulated to evaporate much more slowly, and as such, keeps paint "wet" while atomized (thinner evaporating out of the material before it even hits the model on low-humidity hot days causes dry spray and grainy orange peel), and keeps paint "flowing out" after it's on the model.

I know you've had a tough time with this one, but I admire your perseverance, and wish you lots of luck as you get closer to the end. You certainly deserve it for sticking it out and stripping it multiple times. I'm pulling for you.