all i can say is http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/GoodwrenchIntimidator3/gr_hail.gif

Offer still stands about swapping Grand Am's. Big meat hanging out the back, looks fantastic!!! Light buckets are looking good, even if they didn't burn. Great work Mr. B :thumbsup::thumbsup:...RM

Man, INCREDIBLE work on the front of that yellow bucket Bill!

Amazed

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/DSC05070.jpg

Some of you might remember the dreaded "camaro prop car" from the bowels of Ebay. http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=231779 Turns out it was a blue tuffy painted black, so no help with my black Camaro restoration. It did pay for itself though as there were two complete bumper sets in great condition.

http://s44.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/MOV05057.flv&fs=1&os=1&ap=1

After re-soldering a broken wire and re-boring the prop center so it would hold tight, the first test revealed that the flatspotted t-jet tires and ruined wheels werent gonna cut it. I'll spare you the video of the "Ugh-mobile" just sitting there with the prop spinning...LOL...hint: it looks identical to the still shot only the prop is spinning! ;)

Quite aways back Bobzilla sent me a pile of US 1 truck chassis so I modified the cheezy plastic front wheel and axle sets to fit. They ride right on the edge of the wheel and the narower axles not in danger of binding in the t-jet chassis bores. (Pine wood derby technology!)

So the first pass with any motation reveals that the Tyco "S" series motor was pretty wheezy and the added spacer box on the trunk mount made her very top heavy. Clunk! hahahahahaha!

http://s44.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/MOV05058.flv&fs=1&os=1&ap=1

After some more study in the pinewood derby forum it was decided to make a few changes. This was also necessitated by the fact that the vintage "S" motor tossed it's solder and other internal organs during another test run. A Tycopro mabuchi can was rebuilt with along shaft green arm.

The trunk mounted spacer box was deleted to drop the COG. To correct some "on throttle stutter" the drive angle was pitched to hold the nose to the rail...AND!...to keep the prop from rototilling the track!

http://s44.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/MOV05061.flv&fs=1&os=1&ap=1

To finally simmer the Ughmobile down an old school red rear guide pin was used. The plastic rear wheels swing right off the track when carrying any speed into the corner. The rear guide was left just loose for a little wiggle between those tiny chassis cleats that nobody knows what they are for.

If you listen carefully you can hear the modified can motor pipeup as "Uhgy" flies by. While the motor gets hot quick, not meant to run at 100% duty cycle, you can run a few wild parade laps before you have to cool her down. I may open a vent in the trunk lid for a little more cooling.

I did feel a twinge of guilt molesting a piece of slotcar folk art, but I did manage to sucessfully waste half an evening. :thumbsup:

Honestly I didn't think lil ughy would move, not with any amount of help!!! That is unreal to see it scream like that!! I'd still put the smaller motor back on it and make it a variable speed desk fan!!

UtherJoe

Great videos !! :thumbsup::thumbsup: rr

The Ugh-Buggy! :thumbsup::thumbsup: nd

As long as you are making videos of Air Farce One...

You know Beeel, this unique vehicle has so many possibilities. You really should put a smoke source on the roof. In the spirit of the vehicle, it probably should be a cigarette butt, with red lipstick residue just to be a bit edgy. Blowin' smoke indeed!

Trying to figure out how you could attract a swarm of insects to drive through... gnats? fruit flys? Chop em up and fog em!

Twisted, but first rate.

Just a thought, Bill.. :hat: Maybe you need to tighten the red pin, loosen the black pin and run it backwards.. A forced air cooled motor would allow you to run it longer.. I dunno..it worked for airplanes...


UtherJoe

LMAO...
Only Bill could come up with something like this and make it work... :rolleyes:
Chris

Leave it to Bill to build it the PROPper way, yeah? Very cool, mate!

Have you notified the seller of your success and sent a link of the vids yet?

Bill,

Kewl Beans on this one man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wind powered and it works. Nice videos also......Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

What if you had a small motor blowing air on the larger motor to cool it down...no,no,no that wouldn't work because then you would need another motor to cool that one down...etc, etc, etc...HAR :lol:

Bob... :woohoo: ...zilla

Bill,

Kewl Beans on this one man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wind powered and it works. Nice videos also......Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

What if you had a small motor blowing air on the larger motor to cool it down...no,no,no that wouldn't work because then you would need another motor to cool that one down...etc, etc, etc...HAR :lol:

Bob... :woohoo: ...zilla

No, no, no. It's needs a big blower hood scoop that induces the air into the larger motor. And flames - lots of flames that are produced as the car lots off its heat! YEAH! Now we are cooking with gas! :hat:

PD2:thumbsup:

Bill i'm glad to see you are working towards a "green" powered slot of sorts...
That car ROCKS !!!!! RATTLES......and ROLLS......ZZZzzzzOOOOooommmmm or should that be WWWWwwhhhhhhoooooooossshhhhhhhhhh......

GREAT CAR BILL

I'm LMAO guys! Thanks for all the "props", encouragment, and kind words.

Things are never what they seem nor do they ever turn out 'zactly as planned. Some times I let things get a little too serious in the slotcave so "Ugh!" was a nice distraction. In all honesty I built nightmares like "Ugh!" in my Jurassic period, but blessedly none survive.

http://s44.photobucket.com/player.sw...fs=1&os=1&ap=1


Hey green fellar with the orange propellar, you may want have Ujoe and the fire truck on standby. That thing's putting out some big sparks!!! Tooooo funny...RM

http://s44.photobucket.com/player.sw...fs=1&os=1&ap=1


Hey green fellar with the orange propellar, you may want have Ujoe and the fire truck on standby. That thing's putting out some big sparks!!! Tooooo funny...RM

Whut? You mean that lil plasma discharge when the throttle is opened? You should see it at night! LOLOLOLOLOLOL

I assume the original pick ups were grooved. The original owner solder patched the pickups so they are a bit soft and sparky. I suppose I could also correct the tig welding going on at the hanger plate with some shunts. Some of it is also related to rotational torque on startup as the narrower axle diameters allow some rock in the chassis axle bores.

At some point though she will no longer be the re-todded lil air-butt er...boat and start becoming a space shuttle.

I know I can count on U-joe for fire suppression! :thumbsup:

LOL Hey I love that thing a ma whatzit ! Nice repair job too Bill. Looks like she sparks quite a bit though !

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/DSC05072.jpg

Grand Zilla has cured out so I took it around the track to make sure the body didnt rub those new fatties. All good! Now that she's firmed up I'll scuff the repair areas with some 2000 wet and start buffing.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/DSC05071.jpg

While the pix dont show it the human eye can pick up micro scratches. We wont go real crazy on Grandzilla. Just enough to bring the shine up a coupla notches. Too shiny and the playwear and patina of the art work will clash with the brilliantlly polished plastic. It's best to split the difference and tip toe around the original artwork. I'll try to remember to take some pics of the buffing process.:rolleyes:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/DSC05066.jpg

This shot shows the changes made to the optic manifold since the Lincoln lighting project. The whips now enter the manifold through side ports drilled at a 45 degree angle. The LED emitter/lens has been shortened and polished. All this helps get the body to fit without kinking the fiber optics.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/DSC05068.jpg

The sheathing helps both route and protect the fiber as it can be very uncooperative...until ya kink it... then its forever. Each kink will limit light transfer fractionally so the idea is to minimize any bending. Note that the left front whip loops over to the right and vice versa. This allows enough rope to work with and again helps prevent any kinkage. It will also allow some play for removing the body. Naturally the excess length will be pared away.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/DSC05062.jpg

While the lenses are quite easy/quick to fabricate; care must be taken that the lenses rear curvature and the front finish are identical. It took three stabs to duplicate the effect of the first lens. With the lights out things look pretty decent.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/DSC05064.jpg

In broad daylight the ballance between left and right bucket is just what the Dr. ordered. Of course I'll probablly get another ticket from Coach Officer Friendly for bald front tires. :rolleyes:

Bill,

That Grand Zilla looks great and now with the window back in I am Loving it!

All those wires look mad scientist like. Serioulsly think about taking one of these pics and blowing it up to frame. Maybe with a beaker with green fluid and dry ice oooozing mysterious smoke clouds in the background.

Bob...Hope the postman doesn't drop kick the Grand Am on the way back...zilla

Wow bill! The Grand Zilla and the roadster look fantastic! I love the LED light setup on the roadster and the Grand Zilla came out great! Man you guys have some freakin awesome talent!! Keep up the awesome work!

PD2:thumbsup:

Hey Bob,
That Grand Zilla would make a GREAT looking late model dirt car! Just have Bill bust out the glass, hot glue in a roll cage, and kick a few dents in the side! I'm thinking Nicorette for a sponsor. Whadya say?!!!!

Rich....I've never seen a dark blue one before....'Nilla

Bill,
You need to get out more often. :rolleyes: :) The Grandzilla looks great.
The lighting of the Roadster in just "WAY OVER THE TOP" :woohoo:

So let's see, a wind turbine Camaro driven by an alien and little lights for little cars......yup you need to get out more LOL

What's next little solar panels .......ROTF.

You're getting some serious lightage to make the wire insulation glow!!! Looks like neon to me!!! :thumbsup: A few extra of those in strategic places and you'll have some interesting neon ground affects!!! If you get into that stuff, that is!!! Lookin' pretty dang cool Mr. Bill!!! Pretty dang cool!! :cool:

UtherJoe

Grand zilla looks nice Mr Bill.

Outstanding, Bill!

The whole hotrod looks factory right! Simply beautiful! :thumbsup:

Can I copy what everybody else said ??? Bob...my Grand Am is better than yours...zilla is gonna be happy!!! Did I mention the :thumbsup::thumbsup: Hot Rod ??? RM

Bill,
The Grand Am is sweet! The other one is incredible!!! :thumbsup::thumbsup: Dave

The builds on this page look just like my Christmas list..... but I don't think Santa or his elves could produce that hot rod, much less repair that fantastic looking Grand Am. Wow!

Wait a minute, I went to look at Alien Blowin' Sparks again and the video is gone???? Thought that was to be preserved for posterity! Searching for the Missing Link, but he musta escaped to area 51.

freakin' awesome Bill!

...snip

Wait a minute, I went to look at Alien Blowin' Sparks again and the video is gone???? Thought that was to be preserved for posterity! Searching for the Missing Link, but he musta escaped to area 51.

First off, my humble thanx to all youse guys for tuning in to model murdering.
From time to time we'll try and share the not for prime time mayhem as it happens. That is if anything noteworthy ever happens. Now that Bozilla has his variety show I thought I'd try some Reality TV of my own. I like to think of it as a "Trauma-dey" series.

To answer Split's question: Being my first set of video uploads ever; I botched the upload and inadvertently allowed access to other sensitive black box projects, secret ops, and potentially tasty tidbits...sorry ...no porn....just slotcar porn. "NO" peaking in the back of the book for the answers will be allowed.

I tried the links for "Ugh!" video and they "sparked" right up. Please advise if such is not actually the case.

I was once asked if I ever race my brass rats...well no...but their not shelf queens either! Thought I'd roll out the armored division and fry some tire. The first two are the Black Max. Had some wash outs in turn four (turn four is down by the workbench) 'til I remembered that I'd been grinding on the bench the night before. Once the fine dust was wiped off things got back to normal.

http://s44.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/MOV05116.flv&fs=1&os=1&ap=1

http://s44.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/MOV05117.flv&fs=1&os=1&ap=1

The Milner Bites could use a little more armature to compete head to head with Max, but it has beautiful ballance and I hate to spoil a nicely set up car.

http://s44.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/MOV05118.flv&fs=1&os=1&ap=1

Project X is a very neutral handling car. You can wail on the juice, eat a sandwich, watch the game, and still keep it in the groove.

http://s44.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/MOV05119.flv&fs=1&os=1&ap=1

Wow! They All Run Great!!!

What does a Swiss watch sound like???? There's the answer!! Now I begin to realize how carpy my cars sound!! And now you understand why I put music on all my movies!!! My cars run like doo doo compared to those!! That's when and if I can keep them running!! Those cars sound like music to my ears!! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

UtherJoe

They're too fast to watch! Wow, they look killer in static mode and they go like they look! Who woulda thunk it? Party On Bill! :drunk::hat::freak::dude:

good looking rat rods !!! :thumbsup:

Wes

Yup! You build great Blurrs, urm, I meant slot cars, Bill!

Thank you for the lil vid clips!

Any way we can see your track cleaner in action too? :D I'd pay to see that!

Any way we can see your track cleaner in action too? :D I'd pay to see that!

What he said. Show 'em the track cleaner.......

Great videos Bill, I think I saw some slot cars fly by.....

Hey Bill!
They run great after you wiped the cat hair off the track!!!!
They run as good as Tycos!
Rich

Thanx for bearing with me guys ....hopefully I'll get better at the vids.

Once upon a time Splitposter and I were talking about tuning the early vibe cars. There's a few tricks to getting them dialed in but the most important thing is a good strong coil. We recently recieved some NOS washer slicks from Win 43 so I wanted to try them out for comparison to my re-juvenated originals.

Note: Both vid cars are on PVT silicone buggy slicks.

The green hot rod is a full resto from 2 yrs prior that had been melted at the doors to fit a t-jet chassis. might be one of my personal favs.

http://s44.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/MOV05106.flv&fs=1&os=1&ap=1

Little by little I'm piecing together several other Vibe hot rods. Red, blue, tan, and this yellow one in the second clip. It takes some fishing to find suitable chassis with good strong coils but when ya find a hummer and get her dialed in, you can get some half way decent performance out of them.

http://s44.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/MOV05108.flv&fs=1&os=1&ap=1

The importance of the freewheeling part of the car's handling has been proven to me now for sure!!! Someday, I might be able to work that into my plans, but as my table sits now, there'd be an awful lot of train wrecks!! :eek: It has also become very apparent that the RRR wheels gotta go!! My customs sound like they are equipped with square tires!! I have learned a trick or two with them wheels... Trick one, dirty up the front tires..No kidding. Trick two , don't ever clean them!! The dirt actually kills the grip, seems to balance them, and sort of trues them, especially the fronts and it knocks most of the chatter off. The sad part is, I forgot rule 2 and cleaned the wheels on my green van, so I'll be riding on square tires for a few days!! Thank you for showing us how good these cars run when properly maintained, and equipped.. That is one smooth track you got there too, Bill!! Nice and quiet!!

UtherJoe

Bill,

Great Videos of yer creations running laps! Will need to come back and check them out later as, I am supposed to be in Chat right now...doh

Bob...Oil Change and a tire patched tonight is my excuse...zilla

Awesome Hot Rods & are they FAASST!!! ..RL

Do Not attempt this at home! Unless you practice first!

I've been asked several times about buffing so here goes. 'Lil cars arent a whole lot different than big cars. One can buff until yer blue in the face but if ya dont cut the dammage out first you'll have a shiny, scratched car; wasting both time and material. "Cutting" refers to physically sanding scratches or damage out so that the finish can be re-polished aka "rubbed". While it is possible to persist with coarse compound and grind these scratches out it takes for ever and is very hard on crisp detail.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/DSC05125.jpg

I dont get real fancy. Coarse medium and fine are spooted onto the work bench where I can reach it easily. Also handy is some water in an open container.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/DSC05126.jpg

Here's the dremel cotton wheel. I use three. This one being #3, the oldest. As they wear out my fine polishing pad, #1, is replaced with a freshy and the others move down a notch so that each pad is only used for it's intended polish grade. This one has a couple more cars in it.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/DSC05127.jpg

Most all busted up t-jets with some form of glued on glass have issues. This tan Cobra was no exception. First the index pegs are drilled out. Then any residual particals are carefully picked off with a blade or file. Finally the area is masked just a hair wide of the repair and "Cut" sanded in 320, 600, and 1200. The masking is pulled prior to the 1200 step so that the area surrounding the repair can be feathered in.

http://s44.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/MOV05133.flv&fs=1&os=1&ap=1

The pad is loaded by smearing it with my fingie. Note that the pad is never buried into the plastic in any one place for very long... KEEP MOVING! It doesnt take long to scorch old styrene bodies. Areas like the vent detail at the cowl are feathered gently with just the very edge of the pad skimming the surface. Also note that the body is rotated frequently in an effort to keep the rotation of the pad going off the edge ....NEVER into the body! This is how you catch an edge and fling the body, scortch an edge detail or both.:freak:

Occasionally when things get start getting sticky (which means you'll scortch soon) I wet the pad and the work surface. In most cases there is enough compound in the pad to continue working. Obviously you can tell if more compound is required because you wont be polishing and yer progress will be slow. At that point you have to dip a finger and reload the pad.

This is the first step of a three stage polishing process. When the other repairs are completed the remaining two steps will completed. I just wanted to get the cowl cleaned off. If windsheild extraction were to go bad (which they can) any other repairs would be a waste of time.

Thanks for posting that Bill the info was very helpful to say the least

It's Alive!

Before any resto leaves model murdering it recieves the final polish. Now that Grand-zilla has cured it can withstand an assault from the buffer. Plastic that still is "Hot" ( has lots of Testors left in it) will light right up and leave a nasty scortch. Minimum cure out is one week.

I spared y'all the vid of the coarse compound stage. Now shown here receiving medium compound in an around the repair areas. Masking the original artwork is a MUST in steps 1 & 2. It is also best to keep the pad rotation headed into the tape rather than pulling the tape glue onto the work surface.

Again note that the pad is never in contact for very long on the thin areas or near the edges.

http://s44.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/MOV05134.flv&fs=1&os=1&ap=1

It should go with out saying that between each stage a thorough wash, rinse and pat dry is required. Ya dont want the residual particals marring the next step.

Again consideration must be given to the artwork. Even fine compound can lift painted details. Sometimes it is advisable to fineline mask factory art when possible. However the origianl art on Grand-zilla is quite thick and exhibits little overall play wear. I chose to put the boots to it after testing in an inconspicuous spot. Just got lucky here.

For the final pass "Meguiars # 9 Scratch and Swirl Remover" is used. You'll note that I dont get real fussy here. Just slather the entire body and buzz it right off. The fine cut gives the depth and luster we all want. Remember not to get greedy... Wax on wax off Danielsahn! The last thing ya wanna do is light the darn thing up trying to get all nitpicky on something that should have been taken out in a previous stage.

http://s44.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/modelmurdering/MOV05135.flv&fs=1&os=1&ap=1

Bill,

You missed a spot :lol::eek::jest::D

As seen on HobbyTalk & not sold in stores. Is it available on DVD or a VCR tape yet.


Bob...Holy Toledo, bet you make a mean Mostacholi also...zilla

Bill,

You missed a spot :lol::eek::jest::D

As seen on HobbyTalk & not sold in stores. Is it available on DVD or a VCR tape yet.


Bob...Holy Toledo, bet you make a mean Mostacholi also...zilla

oh man LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wes

Awesome movies!!! I wondered how you were going to buff the Zilla Grand Am, and got way more than I expected!! If I attempted something like this I would be still be trying to clean compound out of the camera!! Kudos to Gus for the fancy camera work!! This is "Oscar" quality work!! Thanks for the how to videos as we all need these lessons!!!

UtherJoe