Randiego

Gala. We got to personally meet and shake hands with this fine gentleman. We were clued in on who he was and the collection of vehicles he designed and had influenced in his career (so far). Everyone rememeber the "Cannon Ball Run" movie that had the Countach with the two ladies participating in the cross country race? His impact on designs back then was legendary. A great asset to the craft. RIP.

Kurtrunk, I worked at two FIAT Lancia Alfa Romeo dealerships here in San Diego. That Fiat X19 was one of the most unbelieveable car designs for that small "package". In 1977, we went to the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles for the introduction of the 78 model season. Agnelli (head of Fiat) was there along with Gandini and the other designers for that

Gunsmoke, In my opinion, for the mid to lower ranged automobile back in the early thirrties, Chrysler engineering was at the top of the heap. Duesenberg, Bugatti and Mercedez, Isotta, Hispano Suisa, and all the other "Hi End" manufacturers followed their own drum beat, only "borrowing" ideas that came along that they could integrate into their automobile designs, but with their "thumbprint" on those elements. Walter Chrysler's design studios/labs were cutting edge. Every year, Ford, GM, Studebaker and other manufacturers, would purchase the latest Chrysler product, take it to their studios, dissasemble them to see what Chrysler did that year and apply their new designs to their products. Through the eighties, Chrysler engineering was always ahead of the curve. Cadillac could have used their hood ventilation port design's, integrating them into their models. I am sure that a follower of this thread will enlighten us to who was the first to use the hood ventilators/Iouvers in the 20's early 30's as I am not an automotive historian. Engineering a system to get rid of the heat in the engine compartment was always a needed element of the engine bay. Even though the engines were not turning as many revolutions as modern engines, they still produced a lot of heat from those large radiators. Even the splash shields covering the lower engine bay to keep the road dirt from flying up into the engine compartment were "louvered' to allow water AND air to flow out. Oh to have been a fly on the wall of the design studios back in the early thirties. Books and publications give us insight but they only cover a fraction of what life and methods were like back then. Today, it is all computers and everything can be tracked and documented. A Slide Rule, French Curve and other "tools" of the designers are all replaced with CAD systems. And in the near future, will A I replace the designers? Give me the old days when life was simpler.

Chris, Earlier in this thread, you were discussing Moss Motors panel parts. JUNK. When we were doing my 60 MGA, my restorere opted to repair the two lower sill panels as the ones that came from Moss, like the ones you are describing here, were junk. We sent them back and we found some OEM's (from England) through his Austin Healey club contact over there. They were in someone's parts collection and we were elated to get them. Moss was offering OEM style fastners (Chinese). They too were inferior, so we sent all of our fastners that came off of the car to a Los Angeles plater that Terry used for his resto work. They re plated them in the correct cadmium finish and came out beautiful. Early English fastners were of very high quality. I just recently had my 78 Fiat 124 Spider disassembled and repainted by a real pro. He is a Dutch craftsman here in Vista, CA. The FiAT got sideswiped by an idiot in a UHaul moving truck. (he didn't see me in the adjoining lane). Repairing one side of a 40 year old paint job was not an option. When I got the car back from the paint shop he instructed me to let the paint "set" for a period of time. Once that the paint had cured to his satisfaction, he instructedd me on applying masking tape to leading edges on the body where the doors, hood and trunk panels may come into contact while fitting and aligning the panels. For the most part, this will ensure that nicks can be avoided. The other precaution is to use a second to help with the handling of the parts. 4 hands and eyes are way better than 2. I was lucky to have avoided any chips on this EXPENSIVE body and paint job. The MGA is really taking shape and you are doing such a bang up job, Chris. We all cannot wait to see the day when you fire up the MGA. UhHo; two not so good descriptives here; "bang up" and "fire up" should be replaced with other verbs, eh? I hope that you will give us followers a YouTube video of you starting the MGA and it's inaugural run.

Roger, Be cautioned about changing this thread. If you decide to "isolate" the Cadillac thread from the original, the previous threads may be eliminated from the viewing public. This happend with another subject on the Forum that I was following. It would be a major disaster to lose the previous 10+ years of your wonderful builds. Didn't you have an issue with this in the past after you finished the Continental? Those of us who have been your loyal followers don't mind having the Cadillac "dovetailed" onto the Continental thread. We are all aware of the previous builds and can go back in time to refrence any or all of the previous builds without any difficulty in finding them. "If it aint broke, don't try to fix it". Back to the build; Not seeing an early 30's Cadillac V 16 since the last La Jolla Motorcar Classic a couple of seasons ago, I will have to look in my photo archives to see how the firewall looked. Was most of the wiring and plumbing hidden behind the outer firewall? I am sure that there was a lot of engineering and planing to that element of the Cadillac. I wonder if other marks of the day did the double fireweall? I am sure that fellow members can answer that question.

Roger, In our email exchanges, I told you about McMaster-Carr. They are right up the hiway from me in Santa Fe Springs, CA but they have call centers all across the US. They are in Don's "back yard". I don't know if they have a retail, walk-in facility, but they are humongus in materials supply and tooling. If they don't have it, it probably doesn't exist. But for us modelers, there is a micro fastener company that is located on the east coast. I don't have their name and number off the top of my head but If needed, I will dig it out of my contacts. They supply every miniscule size of screw, nut, bolt and if I am not mistaken, hinges (including piano hinges). I found them when I was getting additional parts together for my Pocher build. In another time, I wanted to make a trailer for my RR Sedanca Drop Head Coupe. I had a designer frind of mine do cad-cam plans and I was ordering sheet, tube and solid brass materials to do the build. I have Pocher wheels (1:8 scale) in aluminum, not plastic, and period correct, for the trailer. But I have not had time to devote to that build. Don, the gentleman who built the Model T and many other beautiful models is Ken Foran. He published a book "Model Building with Brass" published by Schiffer Publishing, Ltd, copywright 2012. I purchased that book after Mr. Foran visited the Craftsmanship Museum in Carlsbad. The book is in beautiful, color on enameled print stock. A very fine book. He, like Roger, is a master craftsman and has made many beautiful models. He started building models at a young age but was soon dismayed by the plastic kits. He, like a lot of fine modlers, started "kit bashing" to make better models. Later while in the USMC he was trained and worked as a helicopter structural mechanic. His skills are finite that few posess. In addition to the Model T, he was challenged by Gary Kohs of Fine Art Models to make a Bell H-13D, the "MASH" helicopter from the movie and television series. He made it in brass and it is exquisite. In the book, he walks you through every step in fabrication starting with materials, tools, methods, etc., etc. It is a must have book if you want to persue building in brass. And he shows every step of the construction of the Model T racer, just like Roger shares with us ! It is so much more satisfying to see HOW they get to the final results. And Roger, I would think (and hope) that building the body for the Cadillac will be much easier that that of the Continental, Toronado or the Avanti. The big sweeping fenders and the body, which is basically an open "tub", (hopefully) will be something that is easier for you to create.

This is to Don in Long Beach. My name is Randy Lockett and I am in Oceanside, just down the road a piece from you. I purchased my Emco Unimat 3 in 2000. I was in a hobby shop in Santa Clara, CA with my nephew. Hobby shops are my "candy stores". I was cruising through the aisles when I happened upon the lathe sitting on a shelf. I asked the attendant about it. He said that they just had the lathe on display but it came with the milling machine/head and various tooling. They used to be a dealer for Emco and at that time Emco discontinued the little lathe/mill. He said that one of their customers purchased them from the hobby shop. But his eyesight was failing and he could no longer model. Using the lathe and most of his modeling tools was no longer an option for him. They were selling everything for him. Don, this lathe was like BRAND NEW. I paid something like $700.00 for it, which seemed like a lot of money back in 2000. But really, not for this lathe. It, unlike the latter Unimat which was on aluminum bed ways and was inexpensivly made, more like an entry level toy (probably in China or ? for Emco). This Unimat 3 is a formidable unit built on cast iron bedways and frame. That is the key for rigidity which is paramount for any precision machining tools. I scoured the internet and picked up any and all tooling for the Emco that I could find, even the formers and guides for thread cutting. This lathe and milling head is what Roger uses to fabricate these beautiful models. Today, Emco makes the larger lathes, which are fine tools. But besides Sherline here in Vista, CA, pretty much of all the mini lathes are made in China. And they lack a lot in quality, but are getting better. I even made the cabinet for my Emco from pictures of the original cabinet offered by Emco. Send me an email and we can talk further. randy@americanarbortreeservice.com

Roger, What manufacturer is the lathe/drill press/milling head shown here? I am familiar with the Emco that you and I have. Is this an earlier model Emco? Randy

Don, I am here in the Carlsbad/Oceanside area. I visit the Craftsmanship Museum frequently. The last scratch built masterpiece that they acquired was Louis Chenot's 1:6th scale operating Duesenberg Pheaton. I was able to attend Mr. Chenot's starting of the engine and it can be seen on YouTube. He is (was) working on a scale Garwood 1:6 racing runabout with the Liberty V8 (WWI surplus engines that Garfield A. Wood acquired for his racing boats that took the Harmsworth Trophy(s) in England !). We have not heard from Mr. Chenots progress with this model. If anyone knows of his site or if he is still making the model it would be great to share. Another scale modler that we lost in the last few years was Gerald Wingrove. He produced exquisite 1:24 models professionally, He teamed up with his wife and they researched, visited, photographed, and measured each model that they created. They contracted with individual owners and museums for their models. Roger Zimmerman and a select few are the benchmarks in this hobby. It is good to know you are persuing scale automobile modeling too. Have you made any in the past that you can share with us? I hope that you are inspiration for other moders to get into this fascinating field. If they are out there, they are in the shadows. Maybe you will be inspiration for them to come forward. I will be following your threads. Great work.

Roger And Christina, Joyeux Noel et Bonne Annee. And the main wish......a HEALTY HAPPY year to come ! Following you for the last 13 plus years, you have made all of us appreciate what an automotive engineer can add to this hobby. Breaking down each step, contriving a way to duplicate the part in 1:12 scale, is boggling to the mind and a joy to watch. For those of us who venture into modeling, you are the benchmark. I ask myself.......now how would Roger do this? Exactness is a tough mistress to achieve in the world of 1:12 but you make it look simple, which is anything but! After you get the part finished and fitted to the chassis, it is hard to discern that this is a model and not full sized. We all know better. So many hours of contemplation, trial and error go into each part. I favor the 30's cars as the "artists" were still at the drafting boards of the manufacturers. J.R. Nethercutt summed it up best; "These automobiles are rolling art!". This Cadillac will be a masterpiece to add to the Avanti, Toronado and the Continental. Bravo Roger. Each new post is a delight.

Chris, 2. That is all the fuses there are! If you do install a radio, I suggest that you run a 14g. wire to the battery with an inline fuse. This will keep most of the ignition noise out but you can also get an ignition static supressor (coil wire) that will keep most, if not all, ignition noise to a minimal. On another note; My flasher unit was bad. Instead of installing the Moss replacement (Made in India, I think) and not seeing that halowed Lucas name on my firewall, I tookk the "can" off of my defective flasher unit and installed it on the replacement. When you looked at my firewall, you saw all "Lucas" components. 🙂 I hope that your flasher is in good order as there are no more Lucas units available.

Remarks about your voltage regulator: The "new" regulators that Moss and others are selling are Chinese junk. During our restoration of my 60, my restorer had a connection to a parts house in England that sourced an original voltage regulator that I bought for a back up for my MGA. The original had 60K miles on it and we reused it in the restoration. Even though Lucas gets a lot of flack about their questionable electrics, their voltage regulator were pretty hearty. Inspect the points and if they are not too pitted, you should be good to go. They are tungsten coated for a longer service life. I did not even have to file them as they were 80% like new. Also, filing the points removes the tungsten coating but the points will work better if they make good contact. The nice thing about the voltage regulators is that they can be adjusted for proper output, unlike the electronic units of today. So when you have your car into the shop for the "shake down", (no pun intended) have them check the voltage output of the generator. If it is below (or above) the norm, they can adjust the regulator for proper voltage output. Can't do that with modern systems. This step is sometimes missed by new owners of MGs. (prior to Alternators and newer electronics). Improper voltage can lead to all kinds of problems, i.e. battery failure for overcharging, guage fluctuations or failure, etc., etc. With the new(er) wiring and components and all the work you have done in and around the engine and under the dash, the efforts will give you years of enjoyment. Bravo to you for attending to the smallest details in your restoration.

Dang Roger, The luggage rack look just like the 1:1 version ! ! The "casting" for the frame mount is just amazing that you got that detail so accurate (from the pictures of the full sized rack) and the way it folds up is just incredible. Amazing ! After following your threads from the Continental (so many years ago), there seems to be NOTHING that you cannot duplicate. (Except for a minature man (1:12) to drive the Cadillac). Maybe you can find a 1:12 doll and Christina can fashion him a suiteable suit of clothes and a tiny tophat and he can sit behind the wheel? 🙂 Your work astounds us all. Just beautiful and precise. Every thread you post, the Cadillac is really becoming a car. Now that the chassis is near completion, I can't wait to see you fabricating the body.

I've been missing for a while working dilligently on several projects in my warehouse and had no time to get on the internet other than chasing parts for my projects. You have come a loooong way in the last 6-8 months! With my (2nd) 60 MGA, my restorer not only used the jute but he used the Dynamat (a thin version) below it. What a difference it made in supressing the heat transmission around the firewall, tunnel and floor. He got the repro floor ply from Moss Motors and upon examining it and after a trial "fit", it did not fit correctly (plus it was an inferior wood product) he junked that for Marine Ply. He had the original panels and using them as templates, cut the new ply to fit perfectly. Then he sealed both sided and edges with sealer. He stated that it was not needed as Marine Ply is impervious to water intrusion due to the superior adhesive used, but he sealed it anyway. Then he painted it with the black paint as the factory had done. All in all, this car was a comfort to drive in the hot summer here in San Diego. No foot well heat that cooks your shoes (and feet) as the 60 MGA that I "inherited" from my sister (paid her $200), who bought it from my brother, Jeff (Model 56s) who was discussing it in a previous post. It wasn't in very good shape and I spent the spring getting it drivable once again. BUT, it made the treck from St. Louis to San Diego, not breaking down once! And through the heat of the desert and Phoenix in July! It did not over heat and kept on flawlessly till I arrived it San Diego. That was in 1974. I am sure that you will have many happy hours tooling around in your MGA. It is a very fun car to take out for a spin. Not so much for a 2200 mile trek. 🙂

Skvitt, Midas is always looking for techs that knows how to do installs.............. 🙂