Do you also have 1:1 project cars?

[89AKurt]

44 minutes ago, Zen said:

Great pic! That scenery is just terrible ... 

Is this better? 😜 

[Russell C]

22 hours ago, 89AKurt said:

...Took the full scale kit car for my first drive yesterday. 😎

Still trying to spend your money for ya -- while the V8 in it might sound great, us multi-cylinder nuts would prefer a V12 sound. One out of a Mercedes SL600 should do, but also put the MBenz emblems on it to replace the Ferrari ones. That should send all the purists off screaming into the night. 😱😂

[89AKurt]

Recent stuff done on Fakerri.
The Corvette steel frame had giant flakes of whatever falling off, removed the rest of it, then the sprayed the goopiest paint I ever used, it foams up at first, then settles down.

There was no splash panel behind the passenger front wheel, had vacuumed out a couple pounds of dirt from the sill area.  Today I got a truck mudflap ( Made in the USA!), made a cardboard pattern:

Cut with the jigsaw:

I was having people bug me about "tire shine".  I remember when Armor All first came out, dad did the tires.  After a short drive on a dirt road, they were dirt color.  Did the tires, and the mirrors which need to be replaced.

Have more to go before the Williams Route 66 car show.

[Russell C]

5 hours ago, 89AKurt said:

Recent stuff done on Fakerri. ....  Today I got a truck mudflap ....

If ya want to send the Ferraraficionados screaming off even further into the night, a pair of those Yosemite Sam "Back Off" mudflaps would do the trick .... 😂

[89AKurt]

What is with me wanting to use up every bit of something, like how big is the plastic scrap pile that I harvest from when scratch-building models?  I got road signs to make the trunk/boot floor, have some left over that will fill up the giant gap in front of the headlights.  Mockup cardboard in the driver side, just a piece big enough to visualize in the other side.   This sort of modification would not take much to reverse, if I was ever to properly blow lots of money on a restoration SEMA car (ain't happening with me).  It's also going with my theme of shock value, the trunk/boot is not what you expect on a real Ferrari.

I added semi truck reflector tape for safety reasons, can just see the floor in this nightime picture:

Here is something else that is like full scale scratch-building.  There was no fender liner inside the passenger front wheel well, I vacuumed out pounds of dirt from the sill area behind the wheel.  The shop fabricated aluminum panels attached to the steel square tube structure, except here.  I made a cardboard pattern, got a Made In USA truck mudflap, cut with the jigsaw, simply screwed to the tube frame.  Shouldn't squeak. 😬

I make up for this dorky cheapskate engineering by having real mechanics do things like this, new links and shocks:

I have more to do, like a proper gas tank strap, front bushings then alignment, polish then wax the body...... I'll never get on the bench at this rate. 😏

[espo]

You're putting your model building skills to good use on your fo-Ferrari. 

[89AKurt]

On 5/21/2025 at 8:25 AM, espo said:

You're putting your model building skills to good use on your fo-Ferrari. 

Just what I wanted, I would be dangerous with the real thing.

I installed the gap plates (splash pan on a '48 Chevy pickup) made with left-over sign.  The existing hole (cut off) dictated the direction of the arrow.  Can't really see unless you are looking down.

There is an odd tiny detail, let's see who spots it.  Polished/waxed the whole body yesterday.

[johnyrotten]

Looks very good in that photo,  polished up nicely.  What's that just above the emblem?

[Old Buckaroo]

4 hours ago, johnyrotten said:

Looks very good in that photo,  polished up nicely.  What's that just above the emblem?

Roadrunner gun sight from the looks of the rocks in that area!

[RSchnell]

On 5/21/2025 at 10:15 AM, 89AKurt said:

What is with me wanting to use up every bit of something, like how big is the plastic scrap pile that I harvest from when scratch-building models?  I got road signs to make the trunk/boot floor, have some left over that will fill up the giant gap in front of the headlights.  Mockup cardboard in the driver side, just a piece big enough to visualize in the other side.   This sort of modification would not take much to reverse, if I was ever to properly blow lots of money on a restoration SEMA car (ain't happening with me).  It's also going with my theme of shock value, the trunk/boot is not what you expect on a real Ferrari.

I added semi truck reflector tape for safety reasons, can just see the floor in this nightime picture:

Here is something else that is like full scale scratch-building.  There was no fender liner inside the passenger front wheel well, I vacuumed out pounds of dirt from the sill area behind the wheel.  The shop fabricated aluminum panels attached to the steel square tube structure, except here.  I made a cardboard pattern, got a Made In USA truck mudflap, cut with the jigsaw, simply screwed to the tube frame.  Shouldn't squeak. 😬

I make up for this dorky cheapskate engineering by having real mechanics do things like this, new links and shocks:

I have more to do, like a proper gas tank strap, front bushings then alignment, polish then wax the body...... I'll never get on the bench at this rate. 😏

One thing I would add, the bearing supports on the rear axle are one of the most neglected parts of a C2/C3 chassis. There's no way to grease the bearings except for disassembly and then you need a press to R&I the spindle & make sure you get the endplay right during reassembly. It's one of those things that's not a problem until it is. Unless you know the history of the chassis this is something I'd look into getting done if you plan to drive the car a lot. 

[bobss396]

More work on the '66 Belair. I had a friend's shop do some work on the car recently.

The entire fuel line was replaced. Someone had put a stainless steel line into it and it was badly linked and chafed everywhere. So that is fixed and looks mint.

New plug wires, plugs, fuel pump, fuel filter, transmission service and some other small tasks. I supplied most of the parts.

Next up is to rebuild the carburetor. The accelerator pump is shot.

Edited May 27 by bobss396

[Falcon Ranchero]

The Highway Star has settled nicely into it's new home, and so some preliminary projects, such as installing wiper blades. One wiper was missing one, and the other was falling off so my dad was able to cut a piece out of some old blades he had hanging around, and fit them securely into the wiper frames. They're pretty solid.

 

[espo]

3 hours ago, Falcon Ranchero said:

The Highway Star has settled nicely into it's new home, and so some preliminary projects, such as installing wiper blades. One wiper was missing one, and the other was falling off so my dad was able to cut a piece out of some old blades he had hanging around, and fit them securely into the wiper frames. They're pretty solid.

 

For the sake of your windshield, you might want to think about some new wiper blades. They are very inexpensive compared to a scratched windshield. 

[Falcon Ranchero]

42 minutes ago, espo said:

some new wiper blades.

Well for now they're pretty good. It's not like they're very old, I don't think there's any chance of those scratching the windshield. It's not like we're going to drive it in intense rain anyway. But yes down the road some new ones should probably be used.

[Jim Dodson]

On 12/7/2024 at 9:16 PM, Tabbysdaddy said:

Reason #2 the van has been sitting so long, bad tire:

I didn't notice it because it's on the inside and the tread is thick on the outside. I'm going to write a strongly worded letter to the tire company about how their cheap tires wear out unevenly.

I was going to put the rear on the front and use one of the rallies that I bought for my other truck temporarily, but the rear wasn't all that great either so I swapped on two. I guess I'll have to check the condition of the two tires on the other side.  I knew the rallies are 8 wide, I thought the aluminum ones were too but they're 6.5 wide. I'm actually liking the rallies on the van so I'm thinking of keeping them on and using the aluminum ones on the truck instead. What do you guys think? 

I have all eight center caps even though there's only one of each on the rear.

Sean, my rickety old memory says that vintage of vans of all makes was notorious for not holding alignments and that can cause that type of uneven tire wear.

[89AKurt]

On 5/25/2025 at 7:52 PM, RSchnell said:

One thing I would add, the bearing supports on the rear axle are one of the most neglected parts of a C2/C3 chassis. There's no way to grease the bearings except for disassembly and then you need a press to R&I the spindle & make sure you get the endplay right during reassembly. It's one of those things that's not a problem until it is. Unless you know the history of the chassis this is something I'd look into getting done if you plan to drive the car a lot. 

Thank you for posting that picture!  I was told about how much fun it is to work on this particular part of these cars, so I shall keep an ear open.  Have the front A-arm bushings replacement scheduled, then on and on.   I polished the body, needs more work.  Since Prescott is known as having the World's Oldest Rodeo, had to do this.

[Falcon Ranchero]

2 minutes ago, 89AKurt said:

Thank you for posting that picture!  I was told about how much fun it is to work on this particular part of these cars, so I shall keep an ear open.  Have the front A-arm bushings replacement scheduled, then on and on.   I polished the body, needs more work.  Since Prescott is known as having the World's Oldest Rodeo, had to do this.

That's actually a smart idea

[Tabbysdaddy]

6 hours ago, Jim Dodson said:

Sean, my rickety old memory says that vintage of vans of all makes was notorious for not holding alignments and that can cause that type of uneven tire wear.

It has some extra camber probably from ball joints or control arm bushings but it doesn't get used much so it wasn't really a priority. It's sitting because I need to work on the brakes and I was going to look into that more while I was at it. 

[89AKurt]

I was thinking of starting my own thread, so I don't hijack this one. 🤔  Would it be too much to call it 'Once Upon A Time - Kurt's Fakerri'?  I'm someone who has only one project at a time going, I've tried several at a time and, meh.   For now, while I'm waiting on scheduling, having fun letting my OCD take over here:

The head needs to be separate, like the sign.  Faked it with a chrome necktie.

While looking into improving the fuel tank straps, I discovered an exhaust mount had broken, who knows when.

I just got a metal circular saw at the auto club swap meet, so I cut some bed frame and drilled holes, wish everything was this easy.  😆

[MeatMan]

On 5/26/2025 at 6:13 AM, bobss396 said:

More work on the '66 Belair. I had a friend's shop do some work on the car recently.

The entire fuel line was replaced. Someone had put a stainless steel line into it and it was badly linked and chafed everywhere. So that is fixed and looks mint.

New plug wires, plugs, fuel pump, fuel filter, transmission service and some other small tasks. I supplied most of the parts.

Next up is to rebuild the carburetor. The accelerator pump is shot.

Dude, that takes me back! That was my first car, same color outside but solid color seats.
My grandma gave it to me. It had been sideswiped on the passenger side and it had fairly minor dents in both doors, but it was a one reliable ride that took me thru my senior year in high school.

[Falcon Ranchero]

The Highway Star went into Jiggerz yesterday to get the exhaust work done. Had thrush mufflers with exhaust coming right out behind them, and in the center, which is a no-no around here, so those were taken off and new mufflers as well as exhaust pipes were installed, the pipes now going up and over the rear diff and out behind the the car on each side. Doesn't sound as rumbly now as it did, but it is legal now and still pretty nice. My dad took these photos since he brought the car in and stuck around to make sure everything was going good. Another check off the list of things needed for the safety. Went into our regular mechanic today and should come back with a wiper motor, and maybe a horn 🤞.

[89AKurt]

Oh man, no cutouts or flame throwers either? 🙄  I took Fakerri in to a long-time exhaust shop, he took a quick look, would prefer doing a whole system when the time comes.   I really wanted to ditch the "original" filler tube that had two right turns that foamed up the gas, so this ought to help.

Front A-arm bushings got replaced.  And the front calipers decided to *#*#*#* while there, so those are replaced.

Last thing I wanted to think about for now, is the top.  We got an early storm, dodged the big rain while shuttling vehicles today.  Quick fix:

It's been fix that, something else breaks, fix that, guess what.  56 years old, what did I expect?

[bobss396]

My Belair had a full dual system on it when I got the car, very recently done.

AND... very quiet. I find it nice to be able to hold a conversation when I drive it.

[Falcon Ranchero]

So, the Highway Star didn't come back with a wiper motor because there is apparently one other piece missing for it that we didn't know about. Did come back with, however, a list of other little things that aren't working that we really didn't know, like the dash lights for example. So it's going to take a little longer than expected to get the car to 100% but I believe my parents are going into the MTO (DMV) to get either the safety or the mechanical passed. Either way it's one step closer to being able to drive more often, and hopefully ready for the June 20th local cruise night. 

[johnyrotten]

2 hours ago, Falcon Ranchero said:

So, the Highway Star didn't come back with a wiper motor because there is apparently one other piece missing for it that we didn't know about. Did come back with, however, a list of other little things that aren't working that we really didn't know, like the dash lights for example. So it's going to take a little longer than expected to get the car to 100% but I believe my parents are going into the MTO (DMV) to get either the safety or the mechanical passed. Either way it's one step closer to being able to drive more often, and hopefully ready for the June 20th local cruise night. 

That's all part of a project. You're fortunate to have a mostly complete, running vehicle. Buying a basket case may seem cheaper, In The long run it costs more in time and money. The one basket case I have is a long term, very valuable harley project. I've slowly accumulated parts over the past five years for that one. And mainly it's been that long because a want all oem, original parts and pieces. You'll be able to track down everything that Lemans needs, very popular platform, and a ton support on them. Don't forget G.M.'s have a ton of interchange with parts, any old junkyards around you may have what you need.