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.............. 🙂

Hey Keiser 31, Wow! A very small world indeed! I was working at Frank Lincoln Mercury located at the "National City Mile of Cars" in San Diego. Across the street was Stanly Dodge. We saw that incredible car pull up to their parts department. I went over and asked the owner about his car. He said that I could see it at a car show coming up here in San Diego. He had to run and could not talk at the time but I did make it to the auto show and spent a lot of time looking and taking pictures of his car. This was back when we did not have that many car shows like today. But I was suddenly "tuned in" to the classic car shows and watched for them from then on. At that show, accompaning the Airstream, there was a beautiful yellow Packard convertible coupe and a green Cadillac "Roadster". All were stunning but the Airstream was the rarity and garnered the most attention. Randy

Roger, I guess that the spring steel bumpers were the original "5 MPH" bumpers? Being of spring steel, slow speed "bumps" would not damage the car, other than marring the chromium finish on the bumpers. A friend of mine, Andy Lee in Arkansas, is the guru on the thirties GM cars. He related to me a story about his 38 Chevrolet with spring steel bumpers. He told me while driving a tie rod end gave way. He was traveling around 40 MPH and lost the steering. The car ran off of the right side of the road and took out 38 guard rail posts (wooden) before encountering a larger post, which stopped the car. He said that the bumper was only scratched, however, the cable between the guard rails did a number on his fenders. But he did get stopped without going over the cliff into a deep ravine. 40 MPH and the bumper was OK? Wow. Couldn't say that about these plastic cars of today. Roger, I don't imagine that the Cadillac will be subjected to an impact test but it is great to see you duplicating these bumpers exactly like the originals. The bigger headache is the luggage rack. But with so many watching, it is nice that members are chiming in with drawings, measurments etc. to get over that hurdle. As always it is just amazing to see you overcoming obstacles and getting the part(s) made. Great work, Roger.

Roger, I have been missing for a while. A death in the family and I have been traveling back to St. Louis for family matters for most of August and September. But I am back now. Getting the trunk rack right is puzzling. Did Fisher Body put out the trunk rack for all models or was that up to the coach maker to provide them for their body fabrication? I would think that the location of the mounts would be the same on all models? That may be erroneous on my part. Bravo on the body selection ! ! ! As I said in my previous posting, there are a few of these beauties here in the San Diego area. At the major car shows, we see two or three pop up. The most stunning model was the 30 or 31 (can't remember the year) Roadster. It took "Best of Show" at the La Jolla Motorcar Classic a couple years back. Just Stunning. It is black and silver and loaded with the most lusterous chromium I have ever seen on any classic car. There is also a two tone green roadster around. I cannot wait to see you fabricating the body for this stunning chassis. We ALL look forward to seeing that process, Roger. It would have been so cool to see you on a YouTube channel building your models. Starting with the Avanti. But YouTube is a newer program that has only been around for the last decade. There is a guy who takes "off the shelf" Tamiya and Hasa kits (plastic) and builds them way "over the top" with his detailing of the car. An artist just like you but in plastic and he fabricates the upgraded items from scratch. His models are stunning. If you have time, you can see his work. He is A4 Garage on YouTube. Hes done a Mercedez 300SL Gullwing, a Citroen DS21 (stunning), Jaguar XKE just to name a few. Well worth the time to see him in action. They may not be in the same league as yours Roger, but they are beautifuly constructed with enhancements that set them apart and elevate them from regular models. However, in your field of scratch built models, no one compares to your work. Period. You are the master and we all cannot wait till your next posting to see what, and how, you have fabricated the next element of your model. Explaining the problem and what you are up against and how you solve it shows us all that you are indeed human (from earth) and not on loan from another galexy. 🙂

Excellent Roger! The air filters look FACTORY ! ! ! You seem to get the parts perfect every time (to our eyes). I have a question; In the photos all of the brass parts are sanded and smoothed. But in the pics, they show a "scratchy" finish. I realize that the camera shots are close ups but how fine is the sandpaper you use for the final sand before you shoot them in primer? Obviously, the finished parts do not show any sanding marks, but I was curious as to how fine you sand the parts before you paint? We see the parts after you complete the assembly and before it is painted. The final part (painted) shows NO sanding marks what soever and to the camera are stunning. Just curious. One other question; Do you have a service there in Switzerland that produces the miniature decals for the various parts on the engine? OR do you do those yourself with your camera and printer? There is a guy here who scales the decals down to the scale that is needed for the model (1:24 is as small as he goes) and they are pretty good. There are guys out there that are talented with their computers, cad programs and printers that do all of thoes items themselves. Sadly, I was not in the same age group that these young whizes are in and I am too old a dog to learn those new tricks. IF I were a serious modeler and were doing this daily, that would be a different story. But doing it once every six monoths or so, the retention for the process slips. 😞 Randy

Chris, Another tip for keeping the particulate matter off of your freshly painted surfaces; Wet down the floor under the items that you are painting. Any atomized paint that falls on the floor invariably gets "kicked up" as you move around the fender, door, body shell, etc. This will settle on the painted surface along with any dust that was missed during your prep. When the atomized paint hits the floor, it is held there by the film of water on the surface of the floor. My buddy painted his 66 Nova in his garage that he set up like yours only he used two window box fans and a 2 X 8 filtered opening. He rolled up the garage door and secured the 2X8" frame holding the filter battens (2' X 2', four of them) secured to the frame and then secured that to the bottom of the garage door with plenty of masking and duct tape. The garage door was opened up 2'. His paint job came out superb. Very few imperfections from dust and particulate matter. After color sanding and buffing, you would have never known it was painted in a residential garage. Good luck. We all want to see the MGA in it's new, regal paint job !

Ah......Sheez coming along nicely. I will look for the Rust Converter Ultra here. If they don't have it, I am sure that Amazon or Ebay does. World is shrinking. What color are you painting the Buick? It looks black in these pics but it could be a dark blue. Are you staying with the original color? And where do you paint? Do you have a booth that you use or do you rig one in your garage? Randiego

Roger, In Switzerland, the plating industry probably has been through all the environmental changes that have plagued the US recently. Switzerland is a lot more concious regarding pollutants, water quality and such. It is such Pristine Country and beautiful. The mountain air is changed out often by the breezes. The beautiful lakes are replentished from the snowmelt. As a non native looking in, Switzerland is probably the cleanest of all the European countries. The people are meticulous with neatness and cleanliness. But this is me talking.....an outsider looking in. I am sure that you know of some discrepancies that we are not aware of. But for the most part, I am sure that the strict government of your country would never let air pollution or poor water quality ever get a "toe hold" before the officials came down on the culprit, eh? Back to the Cadillac. Who would have thought that the hubcap(s) would present such a problem? As usual, you have come up with a solution to another problem. Why am I not surprised? Great work, Roger.

Goeff, Reading through your threads and from what I sent you in the email, the FIRST thing that you check is the cable and housing. From sitting, (sometimes many years) the lubricant in the housing congeales and puts an immense amount of resistance on the speedo cable inside of the housing producing heat. The heat can soften and melt the old grease but it is just a matter of time before the cable catches, binds and snaps. If you ever examine a speedo cable, you will see that it is a bundle of very small wires wrapped into a spiral. the ends are usually "tinned" with a hard solder and then machined into a square to fit into the drive head of the transmission gear and the speedo/odo unit. After rescuing a lot of old cars, the first order of agenda are the obvious; Oil and filter change, air filter, tranny oil (and filter if automatic), belts, hoses, coolant and any other maintenance item that needs attention. The overlooked items; the speedo cables, e-brake cables, choke cables, hood release cables, etc.,etc. Any difference in the lubricants there than in the engine? Invariably, they get overlooked. Until there is a problem. THEN it gets attention. Or not. At the very least, when I get an old car and am bringing it back to life, I disconnect the cable from the transmission and deal with the speedo and cable at a later date when I have time slated for that maintenance. It is amazing how many overlook this step. When I do get time, I pull the cable out of the housing, wash it clean in Acetone and start the process of cleaning out the cable housing. It is best to start on the end that attaches to the speedo unit. I ususally pour in ( with a little funnel) acetone into the housing and introduce the cable into the housing slipping it in and out until the gunk has completely exited the bottom end of the tube that is disconnected from the transmission. I also use my air hose to blow the line clean. When I am satisfied that the housing is clean, I introduce new lubricant.......liberally. I run the cable in, spin it with my drill, pull it back out, introduce more lubricant until I can see it exiting the lower end and it is clean. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THE CABLE DOES NOT HAVE ANY BINDING ALONG THE ROUTE ! You can tell if you see your speedo needle vascillate (erratic movement). If you have your speedo head moving freely and operating corrctly, then the culprit usually is the speedo cable or housing. Especially if you have a tight bend to navigate. In my upright tool box, I have a 1' and 2' length of speedo cables (using the one that best will work for the application) that I use to test run my speedo unit while still in the vehicle. I will insert the square end into the speedo and chuck the other end into my drill, spinning up the speedo to check operation. In the case of the severe curve(s), it is best to remove the cable from that location (if possible) and reroute the cable so that there is not the tight curvature that can lead to issues with the cable. When you pull your cable out of the housing, inspect the cable from stem to stern. If you see any "shiny" spots on the cable, that is indication that the cable is wearing or binding at that spot and is meeting excessive resistance. That in turn will lead to failure. 50 to 70% of all speedo issues are usually with the cable, not the head or the transmission gear drive. They have much better synthetic oils today than the oil that was used back in the day. The new lubricants do not break down and are resistant to heat and give excellent lubrication to the cable. One brand that I found that works well I get from the hobby shop. It is: Hob-E-Lube Premium. Ultra-Lite Oil HL661. It has state of the art lubricant additives, clings well to moving parts and will not break down over time. There are other lubricants available also. This is just one. Again, Geoff covers the speedo in detail. Other than not having a puller to remove the needle from the shaft, the units are relatively simple to dissasemble the working parts. Much like a watchsmith with fine gears and worm drives. But many restorers are fearful about getting into speedos prefering to send them to the specialists (expensive) vs. repairing or servicing the units themselves. Of all the jobs involved in restorations, I really enjoy working on the speedo/odo units. Rules of the game; It is imperative to have the correct tools. Have a clean workspace. I go one step further. I use a 16" X 16" ? 1/2" thick melamine faced plywood (white) with a 1 1/2" X 1/4" strip of wood nailed around the perimiter "boxing in" the work surface. This keeps the errant screw from falling off onto the carpet or ? Too many hours spent looking for dropped fasteners led to fabricating this accessory. I have a good "goose neck" lamp that I can zero in on the item that I am working on. Fine screwdrivers appropriate to fit the small slots on the screw heads, minature hex and open faced wrenches for the small nuts, nut drivers, medical hemostats are an excellent tool to use for handling small parts, tweezers, long q-tips for cleaning hard to get to areas and a jewlers puller for removing needles from the shaft, Small clamps to hold parts together, and I have a Ultrasonic tank for cleaning up the parts. I also have small trays to put the parts in and clean with acetone (not the numbers on the odo. Those I hand clean with mild detergents and a q-tip). Take your time, shoot pictures of the unit and steps along the way for refrence and re-assembly. If you run into a problem, there are a lot of sources to help with solving them. In the end, it is a rewarding portion of your auto restoration. Randiego

Hope you have a good cardiologist on standby. When you go into the paint store and price the new paints, get ready for a shock you were not expecting. Any color, other than white, has gone through the roof ! ! ! After the pandemic, all of the suppliers saw the labor force depleted, from manufacturing to distribution, and material costs skyrocketing so they have really killed the prices of paint. I had my 78 Fiat Spider painted a year ago. From the time that the painter started on the body till the time he went to pick up the paint, it had DOUBLED ! The paint, reducers, catalyzer (single stage urethane) to paint my (small body) Fiat was coming in around $1,000.00. Three years earlier, I had another 124 Spider painted. The total cost for the materials, including filler primers and puttys, was around $400.00. And this was PPG products. What color are you going to paint the MGA? With your diligence, I am sure that you will get good results and have a beautiful paint job. We will be looking to see the results.

MIND BOGGLING ! ! ! Roger, It is May in SO CAL. AND STILL COLD ! The weather patterns are changing. I hope that Spring time in the Confoederatio Helvetia will be a welcome change to the cold winter. With warmer air comes the time to drive the 1:1 cars to the meets. 🙂 This year, there was a 1931 Cadillac V 16 Roadster at the La Jolla Motorcar Concourse show here in San Diego. It was silver bodied with black fenders and a black interior. And the chrome was dazzling. Stunning. My pictures are on a card and I have misplaced it otherwise, I would post them here for all to see. 😞 When I find it, I will post them. This stunning car (other than the year) has the chassis that may be the same that you are working on. With all the other beautiful marks at the show, I spent more time with that Cadillac and the owners taking pictures of the engine bay, suspension and some undercarriage shots. It was restored 6 years ago and the owner has put on 400 miles only since the car was finished, only driving it on occasion. Stunning. The early 30's cars were not only automobiles but works of art. The detail that you are capturing in your model boggles the mind. Every nuance and item is carefully thought out and then you make it ! This latest item, the radiator hoses, is testament to your ingenuity. Not just rubber tubes, but RIBBED rubber tubes ! Another detail that you amaze us with.