1967 Ford Mustang GT Update.............Making a pretty face prettier! 8/22/15

[blunc]

I also use MEK rather than Ambroid or Tenax. Not much discernible difference in performance, but a quart of MEK sells for a little more than a benchtop bottle of the hobby-rebranded stuff.

PS: Great start, Bill. Amazing how much visual difference the little details make!

I recently was only able to find MEK substitue at Home Depot and Ace Hardware.

Where did you find real MEK?

[Guest]

What is a MEK substitute?? I have seen real MEK in hardware stores, Menards, Home depot, Sherwin Williams.

Edited July 6, 2014 by midnightprowler

[MrObsessive]

Well, I can't put it off any longer.......it's time to tackle the glass! The kit glass really wasn't bad fit wise, I just really hate the optical distortion that it gives. So...........what I did here is to start adding channels to the A pillars to have my clear stencil sheet pattern lay against once its epoxied.

I did the same to the rear backlite. The channels are nothing more than .020 sheet plastic cut into strips, glued with liquid glue, and then with my Exacto blade cut a groove so I can just slide the rear window into place.

Once the glass is all mounted, I'll carefully paint this area flat black to simulate the rubber sealing you see on cars. In the 1:1 pics I have of this car, this is somewhat prominent especially when looking at the inside of the glass from the rear seat.

Next, I took a piece of 3x5 card and traced a pattern of the windshield opening from the inside. I cut this pattern out and started test fitting it into the opening. In the case of the windshield, because there's no "lip" on the A pillars to hold the glass in place, I bent the sides of the pattern.

When it comes time to epoxy in the clear stencil sheet, I'll do the same to it. The bent sides will have a more positive location to lay against, making for a stronger bond to the posts.

The same was done for the backlite...........

I'll be right back with more!

[MrObsessive]

Now here is the "glass" made from clear stencil sheet. It's just placed in for the moment so I can get an idea of how things are going to mount once the body is all painted and polished. Please excuse the fingerprints! A lot of trial and error can go into making this thing sit right!

You can see here the windshield and how it sits in its channel.

I may tint the glass, but since this is basically a flat piece of acetate which has to be bent to shape, this may be difficult to paint, and then I run the risk of scratching the surface when it's time to be mounted.

If this were molded, I would go ahead and tint this as the glass would be nice and stiff and ready to pop right in after the tinting was dry.

That's it for now fellas.............Time to do a little more minor tweaking to the body work, and then it's on to the engine.

Thanks for lookin'!

Edited July 6, 2014 by MrObsessive

[scaleauto]

Awesome craftsmanship. I love your "minor" upgrades.

Such a passion "to get it right"

An inspiration to all us modellers.

[62rebel]

Bill; i may start doing that trick as well.... you make it look so easy....

[Jaguar man 21]

Very nice

[Bob Ellis]

Nice work on the Mustang.

I agree Everegreen is different than the plastic in the kit. I can't say anything about density, but Everegreen is much softer. When you sand, it wears away faster and you have to be more careful. Not always good in a structural application if thin.

MEK, aka methyl ethyl ketone, is sort of nasty stuff. Be careful about breathing it. It was a HAP according to the government before 2005.

[blunc]

What is a MEK substitute?? I have seen real MEK in hardware stores, Menards, Home depot, Sherwin Williams.

says MEK substitute right on the can, I got some to see if it will actually work.

[Danno]

I recently was only able to find MEK substitue at Home Depot and Ace Hardware.

Where did you find real MEK?

Last I bought, Mike, was at Ace. But it lasts so long, things may have changed. I haven't looked lately.

Hey, Bill. Looks great! I've used "report cover" plastic for windows. The coloring is in the plastic, not painted or coated on, so they work well and scratches aren't fatal.

You can sometimes find them in various hues at office supply stores, but most commonly "smoke" is the hue you'll find at variety, discount, or dollar stores.

[Guest]

says MEK substitute right on the can, I got some to see if it will actually work.

What chemical is it? It should say on the can. MEK is methyl ethyl keytone. Looking great Bill!

[charlie8575]

Simple build.....yeah, right.

Well, for you it is, I suppose!

Actually, those mods aren't too tough. I have one of those kits, and I'll probably do some of that.

For curiosity's sake, Bill, what thickness plastic did you use for spacers on those louvers? I didn't see it listed.

And yes, MEK is rather potent. I would suggest- STRONGLY- that you use a fan blowing air away from you (and not in any way towards you) if you use it to help control the fumes, or work next to an open window. If you can get a fan and window, even better. If that's not possible, consider wearing a painter's mask to control fume inhalation.

I'll stick with Testors and Tamiya for my cement. I use both, depends on what I want to do.

Charlie Larkin

[Len Woodruff]

Very nice progress Bill.

[slusher]

Impressive ideas and improvements on this build Bill..

[MrObsessive]

For curiosity's sake, Bill, what thickness plastic did you use for spacers on those louvers? I didn't see it listed.

Charlie, the shims I used were Evergreen .020 sheet plastic. Really makes a difference in not having those louvers set so far into the body. Of course, with paint they may stick out a teensy bit more, but I can compensate for that.

Thanks for asking!

[Guest]

Simple build.....yeah, right.

Well, for you it is, I suppose!

Actually, those mods aren't too tough. I have one of those kits, and I'll probably do some of that.

For curiosity's sake, Bill, what thickness plastic did you use for spacers on those louvers? I didn't see it listed.

And yes, MEK is rather potent. I would suggest- STRONGLY- that you use a fan blowing air away from you (and not in any way towards you) if you use it to help control the fumes, or work next to an open window. If you can get a fan and window, even better. If that's not possible, consider wearing a painter's mask to control fume inhalation.

I'll stick with Testors and Tamiya for my cement. I use both, depends on what I want to do.

Charlie Larkin

Both probably have MEK as a major ingredient.

[MrObsessive]

Well, this is really a bummer! The only good day during the week to compose an update and post pics-------and of course Fotki seems to have indigestion at the moment! Sigh..............I had some engine work that I wanted to show, mostly how I'm doing those "angled' spark plug boots that you see on some distributors.

Well, if Fotki isn't up in a reasonable amount of time, then hopefully I can give you guys an update tomorrow, or it'll be next Sunday before I'm able to do it.

[DynoMight]

Bill, try tinypic.com if you really want to update this, then you can change them back to Fotki if you want.. YOu don't need a account for tinypic.

[MrObsessive]

Glenn, thanks for the suggestion. The problem with the format on there is that you can only upload one pic at a time, not in bulk like I can with Fotki (I have their uploader on my hard disc). I also like to edit the pics there with text which I can then copy and transfer here when I want to do an update.

Well, it's getting close to me fixing something for dinner-------if they're not up and running by 6PM EDT, I'll have to call it a day and try again some other time. I get up VERY early in the morning (1:30-2AM) as I'm working 10 hour days on the job as of late. Thus the limited time to build, let alone do a reasonably coherent post that's presentable.

[Mopar - D]

Bill I've really enjoyed reading all the way through your post here on the 67 Mustang. Looking forward to seeing your current updates.

[vintagestang]

The chrome trim around the wheel well was standard for the GT but could be deleted. It could also be added on a non GT.

[MrObsessive]

Well, since Fotki is on the fritz, and I’d like to keep you folks on track with an update, this is coming to you via my blog page I had set up some time ago. I’ve nearly forgotten about it, as it’s been awhile since I’ve posted there, but with all of Fotki’s constant hiccups, I’ll be using this a bit more often.

Basically, I’ll compose this through my Microsoft Word, and then copy and paste it on the blog. An added plus is that I can save what I’ve composed as a webpage on the model’s folder I have on my hard disc. It’s something I can then refer to in the future when I try to figure out……"Just how did I do that?? ".

Well, here’s what I have so far……….I’m pretty much done with the body work including the glass, so it’s time for me to move on to the engine. I started with gluing some of the sub-assemblies together, and then painted these as a unit. The block, heads, oil pan, water pump, and transmission parts were all airbrushed as you see here.

While these were set aside to dry, I wanted to start work on making my own distributor. While I could have gone out and bought one of those pre-drilled ones, they lack some of the detail that I want to put in. Namely plug boots, (which I could add) and a vacuum advance.

A challenge for me would be to make those angled spark plug boots that you might see on older cars………especially cars that have the old points and condenser (remember those??).

I’m going to present now a mini tutorial on how I make mine………

First, since I work in an industry that deals with cables, I have access to all sorts of wires and shielded cable of all sizes. I’m not certain of the size that I’ve used here, but the diameter of what I have looked “right” to me in 1/25, so this is what I figured on using. I took my scale and measured 3/64” of the insulation.

Then I did an angle cut of the insulation-----the total length of the insulation is about 7/64”.

With a sharpened toothpick, I then wanted to expand the insulation slightly. Slicing the jacket deforms it somewhat and I wanted to get back the roundness that it had. I did this to both pieces.

Be right back!

Edited July 14, 2014 by MrObsessive

[MrObsessive]

Continuing on, I then took some 30 AWG black kynar wire and made a sharp bend to it………..

Then just simply slipped the insulation on the wire………

Notice how there’s a “break” in the insulation? I just filled this in with gap filling super glue, and used some Zip Kicker to speed things up.

Now since super glue tends to “frost” when dry, I'll just painted the frosted area Polly S Engine Black.

Now just repeat this eight more times and there you’ll have it!

The next job is putting all of these (will probably be a tight fit) into the distributor that you see here that I made from scrap plastic.

I don’t have a pic yet, but I did make a vacuum advance……..it’s a VERY tiny piece that I have a piece of wire looped through for the moment to keep it from getting lost.

Now I was playing around with the wheels for a moment………..I was trying to detail the wheels with paint. Here’s what I have at the moment………

Those redline tires are from an extra new issue ’68 Road Runner kit that may be part of a possible future magazine article. I figured I may as well put those tires to good use since they won’t be needed for the article. I’m not sure I have the shade of gray in the spokes dark enough……….some pics show this shade, other pics I have it appears to be darker.

My better sense tells me to darken them up a bit. Any thoughts on this?

Well that’s pretty much it for now……….I’m not sure when Fotki might get their act together but for the time being, this may be what I’ll be doing as far as doing a post.

Thanks for looking!

[MrObsessive]

HA! Wouldn't you know it?? After all this work getting this post put together, Fotki is now back up!

That's just as well, as I'm about to hit the sack in about a half hour. Waiting for them, it would be 9:00 before I got to bed!

[Jaguar man 21]

Looking good can't wait to see the finished project