Ace-Garageguy

Thanks, Ray. This was supposed to be a simple little quickie, but naturally it got all carried away with itself. Nevertheless, I've kept it on the bench, and after dealing with these things I put off for so long, I don't think actually going all the way with this one fairly soon is totally out of the question.

I'm glad you chimed in, Joe. You understand the problem perfectly. And I'm certainly NOT saying ALL ASE or A&P licensed mechanics are bad...but a substantial number of them are worthless, no matter WHAT certs they have (even the ASE "Master" certification). It's the same problem that New York City Schools have when 80% of their graduates can't read. Article here: http://www.educationviews.org/80-of-nyc-high-school-graduates-cant-read/

All it shows is that just because you studied the prep materials and can pass the test, you don't necessarily have a firm grasp of the material and what it all MEANS...or know how to apply it. I've encountered the same phenom in A&P (airframe and powerplant) federally-licensed aircraft mechanics I wouldn't let change a plug in my lawnmower. The whole concept of multiple-guess testing, also prevalent in ordinary schools, doesn't really evaluate how well you UNDERSTAND the material, only how well you take multiple-guess tests on it. While ASE certification is better than no proof whatsoever that a technician has at least SOME knowledge of what he's doing, it's absolutely no substitute for formal hands-on training like used to be available in some good vo-tech programs. And again, unfortunately, there are good programs and programs that suck. i've seen high-school "mechanics" courses in days past where the students sat around smoking and talking while the "instructor" wasn't even present. I've also seen programs where the class actually fixed cars and had extensive diagnostics lab work. And I have worked alongside graduates from some of the aviation certification mills that guarantee everybody will pass. Some of these charge upwards of $30,000...and some of the graduates I've known were just plain dangerous.

My sincere thanks to everyone for their interest and responses, and as mentioned above...if anybody sees I'm going off track and doing something not technically or historically accurate for the old MSP class, PLEASE bring it to my attention. Though this is a "what if" model, I would like it to be correctly representative of this type of old drag-racing car. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I removed the tacked-on nose to begin careful final-fitting, made up some little mockup spacers for the rear end, removed the center X-member (it won't clear the lift-bars), and began filling the hooyahs where the original frame made detours around the font suspension. Here, I've adjusted the mocked-up front straight-axle (partially to determine whether I'll need to use a dropped axle or a straight one to get the stance I'm after, and partially to see if a transverse spring will work...which is easier to make...or whether I'll need to do semi-elliptics parallel to the frame rails), and mocked up the rear axle (to determine whether I can use coil springs or again, semi-elliptics). I've also put in some temporary stanchions to hold the body at the right height relative to the frame. The front of the frame rails has also been extended to pick up and support the front of the body. Here, the body is sitting on the stanchions and the frame is sitting on the hard-mocked suspension. The major dimensions and stance shouldn't change after this. The nose has been trimmed and carefully fitted to the SITM body shell, checked for square and about the right droop in front. I've also made some 'lips' on the nose to later be filled, in an effort to get a 'face' that more closely resembles the real 4-eyed Corvettes. The engine in the first mockup was a Buick nailhead I just happened to have lying on the bench (from another ongoing build). The engine I'm actually using, in an effort to do most of this build with old-school parts available around 40-50 years ago, is based on the old AMT 409 from their first '57 Chevy. We're going to pretend it's the rare 427 Z-11 version of the W-block. The blower, injection and drive are based on old Revell Tony Nancy double-dragster parts, while the Vertex magneto and T-10 gearbox are from an AMT parts-pack. Engine mocked up in the chassis. The W-block isn't the best possible engine to use here, as the location of the plug holes tends to make the engine need to sit farther forward in the chassis than some others would to comply with the 25% setback rule...but the 409-427 was the biggest Chebby available at the time this model is supposed to represent. Once the engine was pretty well where it goes, Lefty was kind enough to help me fit the thing for a driver. The extreme amount of engine setback made it necessary to set the driver's seat rearward too, and the back of the cockpit had to be trimmed to allow for this. Lefty is a big guy, a 1/24 figure that would be a 6+ footer weighing at least 220 in 1/25, so if he fits the car, just about anybody would.

Oh man. I feel I'm being discriminated against. I'm going to call my lawyer and the ACLU and anybody else I can think of who will listen to my idiotic point of view.

I just know I'm going to get ripped a new one for this, but here goes...and it's intended to be HELPFUL, not to make anybody feel bad. First, WELCOME to the forum, Rick. 1) STRIPPING (with two Ps) is the process of removing paint. 2) STRIPING (one P) is the process of applying stripes. 3) This is the "on the workbench" section of the board, and is intended to display models getting built, not for posting questions. 4) There IS a section specifically devoted to asking questions, and it's here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/forum/8-model-building-questions-and-answers/ 5) There is also an exhaustive thread on what strippers to use and how to use them, here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/83153-paint-strippers-what-to-use/ 6) Don't be surprised if your thread here disappears and reappears over there.

You're obviously not using enough sauce to cover the taste of the beaks and feet.

Much as the idea of what McD's is selling usually turns me off, I do still occasionally (and very rarely) go there to get a taste of the past. There's something about the flavor of their little cheeseburgers that you can't get anywhere else (probably those eyeballs and intestines). And those extra-greasy steak-and-cheese bagels for breakfast...pure heaven. "I'll have two random-cow-part sandwiches made on processed-to-unrecognizable-white-flour buns (add a yellow-chemical slice of cheese-like substance), a large side of deep-fat-fried potato-like starch sticks, and a large cup of carbonated brown sugar-water please". Yum.

I wasn't clear enough. The crazing issues I've been having on models are from Duplicolor and PlastiKote real-car rattlecan lacquer primers. Crazing of the base plastic is the problem, and I believe the solvents in the primers may be hotter than before, and the kit-plastics are becoming cheaper, softer, and less-solvent-resistant. I'll only use them in a pinch on real-car parts...for the most part...and haven't shot lacquer as a primer under real-car paint for a LONG time. if you missed it, we went into some of the plastic-crazing issues and options here... http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/116530-duplicolor-primers-too-hot-for-current-production-kits/

Yup. I could go on for pages and pages about things I've encountered in both the car repair and modification business, and the general aviation repair and maintenance business that defy belief.

Two of the younger guys who work at one of the shops I subcontract to don't know the essential differences between "soldering", "brazing" and "welding" and had never even heard of "oxy-acetylene welding"...even though there is a gas-welding rig in the shop. I certainly don't expect your basic man-in-the-street to know this (though my father had made me aware of the differences by the time I was 10), but people whose job description includes "forming and joining metal" really ought to understand these things in detail. They've both been doing hands-on car stuff for over 10 years....and I would think that would be sufficient time for these relatively common concepts to sink in. There are also important basic concepts about the function of internal combustion engines (that would have been taught thoroughly in a high-school vo-tech "mechanic" course when I was a kid) that these guys just don't know. Understanding the basic theory of operation of an IC engine is absolutely essential to correctly diagnose things that don't have onboard computers (and some that DO). Both of these guys are clueless when it comes to older cars as a result, and resort to the classic throw-parts-on-it-til-it-works approach. And they're both ASE certified. It can be disheartening.

Thanks for the interest and responses. Thanks for that. I thought I'd seen it before somewhere. And yes, that little old Monogram dragster kit was in fact 1/25 scale, going by the engine and wheel / tire dimensions (possibly a little undersized, but very close). Good question. Mostly because I've been having crazing issues like mad with real-car primer lately, and the rattlecan Tamiya stuff I've been experimenting with seems to work well, though I can't get the control I want to shoot it really slick. So...to get a good-looking red primer surface that won't need any sanding, I've decided to try a combination of recommendations of some other builders here who do exceptionally nice paint, and try a light barrier coat of Tamiya (airbrushed) followed by red-oxide decanted and airbrushed too. I haven't used lacquer primer for big-car work in maybe 30 years, so buying a quart would leave me with a lot of material I'd have no good use for...and I already have several rattle-cans of the exact red-oxide color I want on the '57.

A belated thanks for everyone's interest and comments. I finished the steering cross-shaft and box mount, and made support sleeves out of brass tube. The slots in the front of the body ended up too wide and sloppy for my liking, so I set her aside for a bit to figure out how to fix it. I also needed to find a place for a hand-brake that would fit inside the body shell and still seem like it would be accessible to a driver AND clear his legs. The body fix turned out to be relatively easy, simply adding some thin styrene strip-stock to the edges as necessary. Trimmed. A little final dressing with files and sandpaper will have her looking right. The brake cylinder and handle looks like an old Revell part, but I don't recall from what. I had to turn the handle grip around to make it a pull unit, and find a place to mount it.

After several hours of gently and patiently sawing away at the heavily glued joint between the first cam-cover and the head, I got it free with relatively little damage. The other one is going to take a LOT more work. Not just heavily glued, but glued on backwards. The first one really wasn't too bad, all things considered. The tool I used is a photoetched saw from Model Car Garage. It's only .007" thick and really is magic...if you go very slowly. The second cam cover took at least twice as long to get free, but again, came off finally with relatively little damage. The flanges on both cam covers and the head are going to need some repairs, but that's OK. I didn't want to get too deep into this thing until I'd made certain I wasn't going to have to buy another head. Now I'm a happy guy.

Made up a template to accurately transfer the angle and placement of the windshield from the mockup to the new body shell... ...made a copy to align the other side, and tacked the frame in place. Then began forming a new cowl rib to replace the one sanded off earlier, in the correct position and shape to fit the relocated and raked frame... Work progressing. Rib is built up of small sections of styrene strip, finger-bent to approximate profile... 100% roughed-in quite accurately, with the first iteration of the new windshield pillar design (to be scratch-built) in place.

Nice little model. This kit often gets a bad rap, but you've shown that it can build up into a very attractive piece. Good work.

So...who knows what the specific differences are among the '67-'70 Eldorados? (yes, I know I can look it up, but I'm hoping to save a little time here) I've always thought the early cars were the more attractive, but I've never studied exactly why, or what the differences are. I know they went to exposed headlights in what...'69? Thanks in advance to anyone who actually knows the straight story and will take the time to post.

Capitalization, punctuation and contractions seem to be largely unknown...and the ones who write this way wear it as some kind of badge of superiority, calling out the ones who use English as it's designed the "grammar police". I've also noticed that the ones incapable of communicating clearly in their own native language are also largely the ones complaining about a lack of "good jobs", while they live in their parents' basements or collect government benefits. So, if you're an illiterate moron who was too-cool-for-school, you ought to get 50 grand a year just for showing up? Oh...silly me. I forgot...everyone's a winner. Make that whiner and you'll have it right.

Yes indeed.

Badge-engineering a Yotyto and calling it an Aston Martin? Sacrilege. So, ummmm...this must be the new entry-level BMW...

This just gets better and better. Gotta hand it to you for hacking into a beautiful chassis and essentially starting over to get it more-right. Always gratifying to see guys work who care this much.

I always enjoy seeing your historically accurate work, but in this case, I have to agree that your roofline and tail are much more attractive than what was on the real car. Kinda makes you wonder "what were they thinking?"

Everything looks great. "Sheila" has some of the best figure-painting I've ever seen too. Great textures and highlights.

Wouldn't that have been nice. When television began to catch on, there was a lot of speculation among hopeful people that it would bring the world closer together and help foster understanding across all of humanity. Unfortunately, all it really did was create a race of mindless-entertainment-addicted zombies with short attention-spans created by advertising breaks. With the availability of the internet, idiots tend to posture as experts, re-posting the first results they find on Google as the gospel. Actually KNOWING something through experience and sharing it in an honest attempt to be helpful is often looked upon as being a "show-off know-it-all'. Even here.

Thanks, David. It seems to be on the short-list of builds to try to actually finish...so I must like it too.