Everybody's got a shop these days. Here's the one I've been working out of for, well, it seems like forever. This is a pic from the old days...

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/gassta12.jpg

Not too long ago, we were actually a pretty busy shop.

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/newtable11a.jpg

Lately, though, even though things have slowed down around here, there's been a ton of construction... seems like everything went to 4 lanes. You can see there's literally an overpass right behind the shop. I worry about my poor neighbors--if someone going too fast comes off that overpass, they're gonna have a car through their roof...

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/PICT0002a.jpg

Anyways, just down the road from here is a big-time speed shop. Nick Balko's Velocity Performance. He used to be one of those guys that buys brand new cars off a dealer's lot and stuffs them full of huge horsepower and flashy stripes. He works mostly with Chevys, but I've seen all makes go through his place. Back in the day, he always had a lot full of Chevelles and Camaros...

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/newtable14.jpg

These days, though, he mostly picks up old stuff to fix up. Sometimes I'll go in with him if he's going to a big swap meet, or if he brings home more than he knows what to do with, I'll take one or two projects off his hands. (Provided I have the time and space, of course.)

Well, that's what happened last weekend. He rolled in from some big meet on Long Island with a ton of restorable and usable stuff, and I moseyed on over to see what all I could get out of it...

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/PICT0003.jpg

Dangit, the phone is ringing, which means the wife is wondering why I'm not home to help put the kids in bed. Soon as I have some time, I'll show you all what came off that truck, and what I ended up with...

--rick

Nice Job,, Rick,,
I worked in a Texaco station similar to that ,,well ,,,,,a long time ago...
Looks like you beat the Cash For Clunkers deal .... on the truck,,;)
CJ

Nice job Rick!! Is gas still 59.9?? I need a fill up!!! :lol: I need to try to make the L I Superbowl show this winter.. I just hope I have the funds to do it!! Nice shop!!:thumbsup::thumbsup:

SWEEEET!!!! :thumbsup:

Sparky may have to give you a hand. Is that a resin Dodge Monaco cop car?

SWEEEET!!!! :thumbsup:

Sparky may have to give you a hand. Is that a resin Dodge Monaco cop car?

heh heh, yes it is. that's an old picture, big kevin (mrwillysgasser) did that one--it fits a Slimline chassis (yuck). and i need to get some scale figures in there soon...

--rick

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Wes

Cool pics!!! I like that old Texaco station!!! Glad to see a new shop open up, also, especially a Bowtie shop!!! Keep the pics coming...RM

Rick,

Man this is a nice lot of Kewl slot car layout pics. Thanks for posting them up and they are blast to see.

Yeah that Texaco gas station is great and there is alot of fun cars to go along with all the landscape. Truck loads of cars and High Performance Chevys too! :thumbsup:

Bob...working on my mountains now...zilla

:thumbsup::thumbsup:... Keep 'em coming. nd

Rick - Looks like that velocity shop is pumping out the quadralam engines to drop in those chevy's.

Nice haul from the swap meet. Reminds me of the Haggerty commercial with all of those Cougars!.
Jim

Reminds me of the Haggerty commercial with all of those Cougars!.
Jim

MWAAAA hahaha! I had never seen that before and so I Googled "hagerty cougar" and then "commercial" popped up right after it... linked right to YouTube. that's hilarious.

--rick

So here's what we took off the truck:

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0006.jpg

Both of these are real nice. As you can see, someone decided that the Corvette needed a hole in its roof, and the wheelwells have been touched with something sharp, but barely. Needs a front bumper too, and the rear is broken on the passenger side, but overall a nice runner candidate. Think that hole in the roof is gonna be my first experiment with goop, stay tuned... And the Thunderbird is even nicer. Someone rounded out the wheelwells, but they're not bad since they stayed low, and the screwposts are perfect.

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0007.jpg

These were bought strictly for parts. The rear bumper off the Camaro is already on my lime green one, and the Cougar front bumper is earmarked for a nice yellow Cougar here that only needs one window post. Shame about the roof on this one... the screwposts and wheelwells are perfect.

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0008.jpg

Nick said this olive Vette was too nice to pass up, since we don't have that color around here, and the Firebird has already given up its glass for the aforementioned lime green Camaro. Public Service Announcement: The glass between Firebirds and Camaros is not interchangeable without a little tweaking...

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0009.jpg

Nick apparently got a little out of control buying at the show, because he bought this red Cougar for the front bumper, forgetting he already had bought the yellow one above. It's rougher than it looks; the wheelwells have been hit pretty hard and the roof is all cockeyed. And he has some magic potion he thinks is gonna strip the tan Cougar, but I'm not holding my breath. Be nice if it works, since that car has perfect wheelwells and screwposts... just needs a new windshield. By the way, all 8 cars above were in junk boxes for a dollar or two each.

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0010.jpg

Now this one was NOT in a junk box. Seems that people know the value of these and even beaters never go cheap. We got a million repop Chargers around here, but this is the first original Aurora example in these parts. I told Nick that I'm gonna use Bill Hall's magical goop techniques to fix this one up, that's why he's gonna let me practice on that red Corvette. I'm thinking this'll clean up real nice if I can learn some patience...

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0011.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0012.jpg

there's a few more things to show you all, and i even got started on a project, but that all's gonna have to wait till I feed the kids and maybe get them in bed...

--rick

That yellow Cougar looks like a good canidate for a convertible.
hojoe

"Magical"...?

Disney's "Sorcerer's Apprentice" is actually what comes to mind. hahahahahahaha! If there's anything I can help bumble you along with Rick, give a shout.

Looks like a great bunch of fun Rick. I spy another lonely torso. Does anyone else wonder what happens to all the driver's arms? Where do they all go? Who cuts them off? The missing head decapitation thing I get...but the paraplegia thing boggles my tiny pea brain.

Will check for turquoise donor pillars in the shoeboxes of plenty. Tricky part might be getting the remaining glass chunk out of that roof. Be sure to tiptoe rather than risk cracking the roof any further. The charger roof is quite thin and charger glass can be kinda uncooperative depending on the glue wad.

The olive vette would be a great candidate to cut yer teeth on. Splitty wheel wells are a straightforward repair with no lip/flair to complicate things. Olive is a very forgiving color too. Fill them up, block them off, cut and shape them, color blend the panel, sand and polish...woopty doo...next victim! The pillars arent that hard either.

Same with the red vette. I can walk you through the woof wepair.

Man, I wouldn't strip that tan Cougar for nothin!! (if there was a way to lift that paint and apply it to the red one, yeah, that would be great.) I don't know, just kinda strikes me as cool. Maybe I've been watching too many derbies. The yellow one does look like a great convertible.

Only sorta nibbled... On one side... By a little old lady... On the way to church... On Sunday... but fixable ! ! nd

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0012.jpg

This looks like a Charger getting damaged but, cut the film and switch the car for the flip...Wheeeeeeeeeew this Carger was to young to die.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSo9V-8M2Io

Bob...Charge...zilla

Jeez!! Couldn't handle the outside lane on a 9" curve!!! It deserved to die!! :lol:

Jeez!! Couldn't handle the outside lane on a 9" curve!!! It deserved to die!! :lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3SmVZPIeEo&NR=1

I watched this after posting the first video. The story behind the story....typical 70s flic. Fast car with a wreck and no real story except for a knife and a guitar.

Bob...stop making me watch videos...zilla

"Magical"...?

Disney's "Sorcerer's Apprentice" is actually what comes to mind. hahahahahahaha! If there's anything I can help bumble you along with Rick, give a shout.

Looks like a great bunch of fun Rick. I spy another lonely torso. Does anyone else wonder what happens to all the driver's arms? Where do they all go? Who cuts them off? The missing head decapitation thing I get...but the paraplegia thing boggles my tiny pea brain.

Will check for turquoise donor pillars in the shoeboxes of plenty. Tricky part might be getting the remaining glass chunk out of that roof. Be sure to tiptoe rather than risk cracking the roof any further. The charger roof is quite thin and charger glass can be kinda uncooperative depending on the glue wad.

The olive vette would be a great candidate to cut yer teeth on. Splitty wheel wells are a straightforward repair with no lip/flair to complicate things. Olive is a very forgiving color too. Fill them up, block them off, cut and shape them, color blend the panel, sand and polish...woopty doo...next victim! The pillars arent that hard either.

Same with the red vette. I can walk you through the woof wepair.

Hey Bill, I actually finally took the plunge and started on the red Vette... it's only been, what, a year or two since I've said I was gonna do this? I mixed up a (VERY) small batch of red goop... some red shavings and chunks in the bottom of the jar, with just enough liquid Testors to cover them, then went up to bed. I was amazed when I came down the next morning and found that the testors had melted the stuff in the jar to a goo of the perfect consistency. I also cut a little chunk of solid red material to jam down in the hole in the roof to take up space. I dropped a little goop in the hole to fill in around my filler piece and went off to church. Came home and dropped in a little more. Then a little more the next day, and finally one small drop to build the surface up enough for that ridge in the roof...

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0029.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0031.JPG

I am AMAZED at how well the color matches. Can't wait to get this sanded, but I'm a little concerned about protecting the ridge on the roof, and carrying that ridge across the repair... I really have to get some proper files before I go any further on this one.

As for the windows in the Charger... I pried and prodded and twisted and got lucky.

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0014.jpg

That glass with the door windows cut out is from a JL pullback, in case anyone was wondering, as are the bumpers. Also, I found a donor car for some turquoise goop:

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0032.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0033.JPG

As you can see, I cut a couple pieces of potential window post material off the rocker panel of the Thunderbird. I'm a little worried about using the Tbird as goop, though, because it was previously painted black and I've stripped it the best I can, but there's still some black crud hanging on, and I don't want to contaminate my goop...

Man, I gotta buy a couple of jars of liquid Testors and maybe some more empty glass jars. (Hey Bill, you sent me a couple empty jars a while back, and I'm using one for the red--thanks!) Does the goop actually keep in the jar for a while? And how do you apply it? Brushes? If so, how do you clean them? I ended up using a toothpick to drip the stuff in the hole this time...

--rick

Man, I wouldn't strip that tan Cougar for nothin!! (if there was a way to lift that paint and apply it to the red one, yeah, that would be great.) I don't know, just kinda strikes me as cool. Maybe I've been watching too many derbies. The yellow one does look like a great convertible.

funny you should say that. the tan car apparently doesn't want to be stripped. it's been sitting in Spic-N-Span for two days... first of all, that paint is TOUGH. second of all, it seems to have stained the plastic in some places...

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0034.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0035.JPG

most of what you see there is what's left in the plastic AFTER I chipped off chunks of paint...

--rick

oh, and that lime Camaro I tried to strip months ago? thanks to the parts cars above, it's mostly complete, although pretty beat:

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0023.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0024.jpg

Now it can show its face as a proper beater at the local cruise-in...

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0026.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0027.jpg

--rick

Now it can show its face as a proper beater at the local cruise-in...

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0026.jpg
-rick

Hey, it's whats under the hood that counts!!!
In this case, its a post :thumbsup:

Sorry about your tan nightmare.

That cougar would make a nice repaint, so I wouldn't sweat it.. Nice job on the red vette!! That was quick!!! And the slimy limey 'maro looks cool as it sits. The rat rod look always works for me!! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Rick have you every tried pine-sol? I have done a experiment with a lot of things.I used spic-n-span it did not work as good as pine-sol on my cars. lendell

Rick have you every tried pine-sol? I have done a experiment with a lot of things.I used spic-n-span it did not work as good as pine-sol on my cars. lendell

I use Pine-Sol first and then ELO to finish it off...ELO = Easy Lift Off by Testors (previously Poly name). ELO comes in a big $10.00 can at hobby stores and last a long, long, long time as it doesn't take much. Just pour a little in the cap and brush area after about 5 min with a stiff toothbrush. Then scrub with a toothbrush with liquid soap and water. Repeat if needed.

Heck sometimes I just go straight for the ELO if I am in a hurry to paint the dang thing. :) Pine-Sol never cleans off all the paint scum but, with a finish up with ELO it usualy works well for me.

On getting that black out of your goop donor body. I think you could just cut out the large portions of black & scrape the black off with an x-acto knife on the others since you are going to cut it up for goop in the end anyways.

Rick I am digging your layout as I am working on mine right now. Just had fun with the hot glue gun and am heading off to bed now. Can't wait to get to the buildings and details after my landscaped Desert Mountains are all done. That Freezee builing and detail is very inspirational.

Bob...nice goop job on the Vette...zilla

Very cool pics. Really like the buildings. You have some good looking projects happening.

Yes it will keep ...well so far anyway...I'm still using the original yellow and olive I started with a couple years ago. Admittedly I've added material and solvent to it over time. If it gets too sticky add some drops of 3502 and stir it up. It'll be fine.

For application I use a 000 synthetic artist's brush most of the time. I used to buy 00's as well, but an old fuzzed up 000 is close enough...LOL. For cleaning I just use 3502 but I 'spose one could use lacquer thinner as well. Generally I have a clean bottle of testors to use with the project. I also use another jug of thinner (partial) for brush cleaning. As this is contaminated/tinted it is never used directly on the work piece or mixed with the plastic base (goop). It is only for brush cleaning. A coupla dunks and swirls then twirl it on a towel and yer good to go. Contamination by tinting is more of a problem in white, tan, and yellow. Truthfuly I have a rinse jug for dark colors and light colors. Remember that only plastic should be thinned or cleaned with these rinse jugs....dont make the mistake of using it to clean your detail painting brushes in them.

Painted cars are a problem. I have a technique for cleaning them, but it's messy. (A lacquer thinner bath and scrub.) I use them only when clean scrap isnt available. Pertinent Note: You will have to remove that black paint on the turq charger roof. Otherwise you may accidentally drag the black paint down into your pillar repair. Been there done that. Oridinarily I remove the painted section entirely because it's durn near impossible to match AND blend the aged factory lacquer. By removing the black entirely you only have to spray it....duh? However you could choose to feather out the black you cut back and attempt to slog enamel over it ...it's just not guaranteed the enamel wont rumple or wrinkle your feather edge.

For the red vette roof ridge.... and other things like that which are proud and difficult to maintain straightness...use fine line tape. I like 3M blue 1/8" but whatever works is more-n-likely fine. I run a tape line along the known line so that it crosses the nebulous as yet to be defined area. Do it again! Doubling it up keeps your file riding properly so ya dont skip off. Cut one side and then the other. For sanding I only use the fresh folded edge of the paper to clean up the file marks along the ridge. Sometimes it takes a few passes to get them right.

Painted cars are a problem. I have a technique for cleaning them, but it's messy. (A lacquer thinner bath and scrub.) I use them only when clean scrap isnt available. Pertinent Note: You will have to remove that black paint on the turq charger roof. Otherwise you may accidentally drag the black paint down into your pillar repair. Been there done that. Oridinarily I remove the painted section entirely because it's durn near impossible to match AND blend the aged factory lacquer. By removing the black entirely you only have to spray it....duh? However you could choose to feather out the black you cut back and attempt to slog enamel over it ...it's just not guaranteed the enamel wont rumple or wrinkle your feather edge.


What do you (anyone, not just Bill) recommend for removing Aurora's paint? I've stripped plenty of well-intentioned applications of Testors' finest brush paint with Spic N Span, but the whole point of using it is that it DOESN'T take off the factory paint. YOu mention lacquer thinner, bobhch also suggested ELO and Pine-Sol. will these have any negative effects on the plastic finish? I'm hoping to find something that will not. I once got a car (a nice turquoise Cougar, fwiw) that had numbers painted on the doors in what looked like red nail polish. I tried hitting them with a little nail polish remover (can't remember if it was acetone type or not) and it took the numbers right off, but seemed to haze the plastic too...

Separate but related question: think it's possible to remove the roof paint without screwing up the bumblebee stripe? Seems crazy to have to repaint tail stripes because I'm replacing a windshield pillar, but I guess that's what makes some of 'em harder to restore than others...

--rick

Rick,
Just curious, The car in the middle between the Willys and the burgundy MM Camaro, is it an JL or AW AFX style 71 Cuda? Thanks.
Ron

Ahhhhh-so...factory paint.

I use easy-off and elbow grease myself...but thats only cuz I'm in charge of oven cleaning too. I only use the LT as a cleaner bath for scrap....NEVER on the work piece to be restored!

Rumor has it that ELO is great, but I believe there have been reported casualties the Tyco universe.

Not uncommon to run into lacquer painted numbers and stripes from vintage modeling. Who ever came up with the idea for painting slots with nail polish should be killed....well ok ....maybe just cut off their hands as a stern warning to their children. I dont waste alot of time on lacquered cars. Usually the fine details are irrepairably ruined by the time you get the offending paint off. The hazing you describe can be sanded off, repolished or both depending on how bad it ate into the parent material.

There really are no absolutes or definative word when it comes to stripping...sometimes ya get lucky and this or that works ....and other times ya crash and burn and say..."D'Oh!"

Rick,
Just curious, The car in the middle between the Willys and the burgundy MM Camaro, is it an JL or AW AFX style 71 Cuda? Thanks.
Ron

ahhhhh... someone noticed. :thumbsup: it's neither. it's a resin cast by Marty Milligan who used to hang out around this board, based off an old Johnny Lightning diecast. i painted it brown with a black roof to look like a 'Cuda that a friend of mine had back in high school...

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/resincuda14.jpg

--rick

Ahhhhh-so...factory paint.
(snip)
The hazing you describe can be sanded off, repolished or both depending on how bad it ate into the parent material.

There really are no absolutes or definative word when it comes to stripping...sometimes ya get lucky and this or that works ....and other times ya crash and burn and say..."D'Oh!"

Yeah, I discovered that most of the hazing will polish off... I hit it quick with the old fashioned toothpaste trick and it looked a little better. I am leaning toward stripping only part of the roof of the Charger and trying to see if I can blend it without it looking too funny... guess we'll see when I get there...

--rick

Just about missed the Corner Texaco, Great shop, Cool pics and good looking projects! Nice gooping job. Keep the photo's coming. ..RL

Some of you may remember this getting its initial color coat, when I didn't realize the spray bomb was metallic:

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/mach0102.jpg

Well, it's been sitting in the back of Balko's just like this, and when I asked when he was gonna get around to detailing it up, he told me to feel free to wheel it down to the Corner and finish it up. So we rolled it in, and this is how it rolled out:

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/mach02.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/mach03.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/mach04.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/mach06.JPG

I gotta say this one didn't go as easy as I would have liked. First off, the mirrors are a pain. I know someone else here had the same comment. I used CA to get them on. Worked pretty good, but apparently I didn't let it dry long enough and it boogered up the windshield when I put it in. I was able to minimize it with Future, but you can still see the streaks. Then I ruined a bunch of dishes in the kitchen sink trying to open a bottle of Testors Silver for the details. (Long ugly story. Don't ask. :rolleyes: ) Finally, I had little decal stripe sections BEHIND the rear wheelwells, but they weren't laying down nice, and when I touched the red paint to the side marker, it ran under the passenger side decal and got all ugly. So off they came. Hey, HO Detroit didn't put stripes behind the wheelwells on their Mach 1s, so I guess I can get away with it.

I am once again amazed at the wonders of Future... the side stripe decals weren't looking that great and the edges didn't seem to want to stay down, but all I had to do was lay some Future over them with a Q-tip and they were a hundred times better.

So this one's done for now. We gassed it up and sent it on its way.

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/mach05.JPG

--rick

A thing of beauty for sure!!! Nice job!!! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/mach02.JPG



Looking good Rick!!! :thumbsup::thumbsup: Great detail work!!! I likes these garage shots...RM

Awesome, gotta love a blue Ford!!

Nice detailing job- looks great!

Rick,
Looks pretty good. I would have only changed one thing, flat black on the front spoiler. :thumbsup::thumbsup: rr

Rick, Nice Mach 1 & like the garage background too!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: ..RL

Nice STANG :thumbsup::thumbsup:
Glad to see it finished :)

Nice lil pony Rick.
Whose tires did you use?

Glad to hear the CA is being schlobbered and silver is splashed around the sink at other houses too. LMAO!

Did I tell ya the one about accidentally spritzing a bit of easy off on the levolour blind in our kitchen...? It suffices to say that it REMOVES OTHER PAINT also! :freak: Duuuuuuuuuh.

Rick,
Looks pretty good. I would have only changed one thing, flat black on the front spoiler. :thumbsup::thumbsup: rr

ya know, i thought about that after the fact... i might still brush a coat of flat black across it...

Nice lil pony Rick.
Whose tires did you use?


those are Weird Jack's Rocket Science tires. just won a Bag-O Rejects from him off the 'Bay, w00t!

--rick

MAN I haven't had a chance to get in the shop much lately. but thanks to Dave (aka Goose Chicken (aka CTSV OWNER)), I had some motivation to get a little tuning and decal job done...

We unloaded these at the shop a couple weeks ago.

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/tex/PICT0125.JPG

The idea was to use the 'Cuda chassis and the Camaro body and create a race car, then ship it off to a proxy race at Dave's. No additional parts, just tweak and tune what's there. It was decided that the one permissible change would be silicone tires.

I lapped the gears, lowered the body, and shaved the windows so they just filled the openings. I also fixed it up with a few decals and a Future dip, and now this is what we have:

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/decals3.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/decals4.jpg

Finally got 'er on the trailer and hitched to the most reliable tow vehicle we have at the moment:

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/trail0.jpg

It's gonna roll out to NJ tomorrow; let's hope for the best... :D

--rick

Looks great Rick. Good luck in 'Joisey. nd

nice CAMARO

Good luck at the races :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Love the Elky tow vehicle rick!

That Camaro should get to the track right on time. What's it got under the hood? 340, 360 or a 440? Vroooooooooooom baby Vrrooooooooooooooom!

Bob...a posi always leaves KOOL burnout marks...zilla

Rick, Nice Camaro & Great tow vehicle & nice garage background !! Good luck at the races. :thumbsup::thumbsup: ..RL

a Camaro with a 340. man, that would tick some people off... but i kinda dig it... :D

funny, though, i DID think that at the time... that it was wrong to put a Chevy body on Mopar running gear... lol

--rick