Ace-Garageguy

This comes up often, and because all the Chebby "small-block" engines are very similar externally (with the exception of manifolding and accessories) virtually any Chevy engine in the family (265-283-302-327-350 and some others) can represent just about any other in scale. One of my favorite engines in 1/25 is the beautiful old Revell kit, available still quite cheap. You may have to change manifolding and accessories for your particular installation, so it's good to know the era your build will represent, and the power output. This kit comes with the option of two 4-barrels, or a front-driven "Potvin" blower setup.

Finally sprung for the HRM / VRM Cheetah coupe. All I can say is that so far, it looks to be among the best quality resin anything I've ever seen. Whoever did the tooling knew what he was doing, and had the caring, talent and skill to put it all together. The decals are gorgeous too. I've been impressed with everything I've bought that was made by HRM, and this is no exception.

Man, that's nice.

Love 'em both. The yellow rig reminds me of Nellybelle from the old Roy Rogers show..

Absolutely beautiful. Hard to tell if it's a model or a real bike.

Very VERY fine.

Luke...I am your groove thing.

Found a US seller with one of these, and it's a real beauty of a model. I became interested in British trucks many years back, after seeing the old Hell Drivers film (which I also heartily recommend; Sean Connery, Patrick McGoohan, Stanley Baker, David McAllum...hard-driving dump trucks on public roads...). Though the trucks in the film were "Parrot Nose" '55 English Dodge 100 series, the old Bedford cab is similar in appearance, and used to be seen all over the planet. This tanker wants to live next to a 1/24 Spitfire. I don't know if anyone makes a 1/24 or 1/25 Parrot Nose Dodge, but I sure would like to have one.

Though it resembles many similar vehicles of the general period, I've never seen one. Guess I'll have to sit this one out and be surprised.

What I would like to see is factual numbers showing how much of the constant barrage of noisy, stupid, intrusive advertising we're bombarded with daily actually results in sales. The advertising industry is like much of human endeavor, existing more to increase its revenues and insure its own survival than it is about anything else. Quality and actual utility of product as prime motivating factors? Nah. In the beginning of broadcast television, ads were seen as a necessary evil to offset the cost of production and distribution of programming. There was a lot of pretty high quality drama, and newscasters like Walter Cronkite had functioning brains. Now, the tables are entirely turned, and programming seems to exist primarily as a means to attract advertising revenue...hence the lowest-common-denominator dumbing-down of programming in order to appeal to the widest audience. Advertising I personally consider to be stupid and intrusive will turn me OFF of ever buying a product.

GIVE THAT MAN A RAISE !!!!! Given the quality of the programming, what could be more fitting?

Bored indeed. I refuse to patronize any gas stations that have TV ads screaming at me from the pump. I really don't understand how these marketing clowns think some hysterical fool yelling over blang blanging music is going to make anyone buy anything, but apparently it works on the easily manipulated minds out there.

Here's the easy part. Ebay has a 9N shop manual reprint for about $11 plus about $4 shipping. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-Tractor-2N-8N-9N-Shop-Manual-I-T-Shop-Service-coil-binding-/263193789609?epid=2254445582&hash=item3d479284a9:g:TwwAAOSwyQtVj6qQ Ebay is also a great source for parts. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1313.TR2.TRC1.A0.H0.Xford+9n+tractor+parts.TRS0&_nkw=ford+9n+tractor+parts&_sacat=0 Now for the sheet metal. "Stretching" is usually identified by "oil-canning" after the dent is hammered out, though it's sometimes pretty obvious, as I assume it is in your case, when a panel has been struck with something like the round end of a a ball-pein hammer, or a bullet. After repairing the dent as much as possible with a hammer and dolly, sheet-metal can be shrunk in several ways. The one I favor most uses heat from an oxy-acetylene torch. This video will get you going in the right direction.

One thing I find fascinating is that during my youth, there was a lot of resentment to what consumer advocates came to label "planned obsolescence", but in today's world, where there's so much more information available, there seems to be less understanding, and much less resistance to getting hosed. Consumers have been brainwashed to believe that they HAVE to have the latest tech to be happy, that a car is a disposable item just like a phone, with about the same lifespan, and that a car-payment is a necessary part of life. When the current crop of new vehicles has trickled down to those folks who can only afford to buy used, there are going to be a lot more people walking.

Looks GOOD.

The following excerpt is from Motor's "Auto Service Guide Preview" released in December of 2016. Once again, the trans is "sealed for life", uses a very special fluid, and the conventional fluid-level dipstick is gone. I'm used to seeing old-school automatic gearboxes last well past 200,000 miles before needing significant work. It will be interesting to see how long these things last in the real world, and what kind of parts support there will be for them. Several manufacturers ALREADY refuse to sell internal gearbox parts, forcing an owner to buy factory UNITS in the event of a failure. Rumor has it there's a 600+ HP ZL1 with over 400 drag-strip passes on the factory 10-speed autobox, and no problems to date. Nice if it's true, but I'll take the story with a grain of salt. "Of all the new technologies, the 10-speed planetary-type automatic transmission is likely to be the highest in production volume because it’s going into the 2017 Ford F-150 and Chevy Camaro—and that’s just for openers. Is it the same transmission? Almost, as it’s the result of a joint venture between General Motors and Ford. What will be the same is the special ultra-low-viscosity fluid used, which is part of the low-friction engineering package designed for very fast shifting, particularly 1-2 and 3-4. Supposedly, that’s even faster than a dual-clutch transmission (DCT). The gear ratios are specific. But 10 speeds from two brake clutches and four rotating clutches, a wide ratio spread in a one-piece aluminum case (including bellhousing), with an internal bypass to speed fluid warm-up, is common to the Ford and GM versions. The GM version has a variable displacement vane oil pump. The Ford edition uses an electric oil pump, so it can maintain hydraulic pressure during an idle stop, for a smoother restart. However, the computer strategy does not allow idle stop in four-wheel-drive. There are no cast-iron parts anywhere in the gearbox. The 10-speed is an option; the six-speed automatic is standard. So make sure you know which one is installed in the vehicle sitting in your bay. Like many new automatics, the conventional dipstick is gone on both transmissions. To check fluid level, you must remove a fluid fill plug from the housing, separate the threaded plug from a mini dipstick, then insert the dipstick to check the level, which should be at the midpoint on the 10-speed, near the top on the six-speed."

A 10-speed auto gearbox is just a move closer to a CVT continuously (infinitely) variable gearbox. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuously_variable_transmission The idea is to keep the engine in the sweet spot of the power band where it's operating most efficiently (for emissions and fuel economy), and to be able to hold it close to the torque / power peak during hard acceleration. The downside nobody talks about is tiny internal parts and huge complication. This is fine (for the consumer) as long as the vehicle is in warranty. But dog help the poor slob who buys one of these things used and has to put a gearbox in it (around $5 grand these days).

Supremely cool. I remember when the crazy 1:1 was built. A friend of mine stationed in Germany mentioned he'd been on the autobahn and a Rabbit (Golf) had come up behind him, flashed his lights, and passed him like he was walking.

X2

The little bird I found on the front porch at the end of August and brought inside to keep the cats from getting it has taken to sleeping on one of the columns. He's got all his feathers now, and comes by some nights at dusk to roost, especially when it's raining. It seems that sleeping in high corners like this is common behavior for the species.

I've just had to chuckle several times, seeing guys in a bidding war for something listed elsewhere on the site for a fraction of the price, as a buy-it-now. Stupid can often be expensive.

Here's the current owner of Old Yeller II, talking about it and its predecessor. This guy is a wealthy dentist, was a good friend of Balchowsky, and bought the car directly...because he "got it".

The #9 car immediately above is Max Balchowsky's "Old Yeller IV". Balchowsky was a hot-rodding wizard who built a series of road-racing cars. The first two were built from mostly junk parts, and routinely creamed the best of the European sports-cars in SoCal. Engine guys will immediately notice the spacing of the header primary pipes as Buick nailhead, Max's favorite power. Here's part of the story of Max and his cars.

Bingo. Multiple coats make a darker color, too.

X3, and specifically the "Ultra Gel". I find it to be significantly tougher for the applications where I use it, and as it's a gel, it makes very good fillets around joints of a roll-cage. It also works well for edge-filling opening panels that almost nothing else will work on.