OT plastic kit car

[kencombs]

19 hours ago, Dave72dt said:

Weld through primer, comes in a spray can, SEM is a popular brand.  Might be a brushable version also.  I've used it, was not impressed with it.   It worked better if you removed it from the plug weld holes prior to welding.  JMO, your opinion and experience may vary.

I've used cans of 'cold galvanizing compound' made by Rustoleum for that.   It is just powdered zinc in a fast evaporating binder.   I suspect that is what the SEM stuff is too.   Anyway it works for me.   I have a bunch of it on the shelf bought at a big hardware store auction years ago.

[Ulu]

Making more frame gussets from some scrap tubing.

 

 

We had a big rain, so these aren’t finished yet.

[Ulu]

Today I made the last gusset, and they are now welded in.

 

 

 

It stayed warm until sundown, so I flipped the frame upside down, gave it a cleaning, and shot 5 pints of satin black. I’ll do the top later, because of the weather.

It’s raining, but somehow I just barely managed to beat the rain. The finish won’t be great, but at least it won’t rust up during assembly.

[Ulu]

Cold and damp weather has kept me indoors. To keep myself amused I bought an electric guitar. TWO electric guitars……well three actually.

 

This 2014 Schecter is the cat’s meow. Still had the stickers on it. Pretty much unplayed. Korean made and well respected. Schecter made parts for Fender, Gibson & others, before competing with them.

 

I bought this 1967 Harmony-made Bobcat, sold by Sears as a Silvertone.

 

It needs knobs, a whammy bar & new strings. Still plays better than lots of new guitars. Gold pickups have tone for miles.

 

Finally this 1965 Silvertone 1448 beater. This has a million hours on it and still works, but the tailpiece was missing. I made this more organic shape from stainless & aluminum.

 

 

Look at the armpit wear on this machine and that pick guard wear.

 

I made this tail piece for it and put some new strings on it and she plays pretty well. Not that it can match the fine action of a Schecter, but this was a budget guitar back in the day.

I did this from scratch. It works great but I am sharp nearly a quarter tone at the 12th fret. The bridge needs to move 1/4” farther from the nut.

Rockabilly magic with a small amp. I modified the bridge a little bit more and you can see that in the photograph above.

 

Why did I buy this old beater? Well as it turns out this is the same model of guitar that Jimi Hendrix started out on.

 

I can guarantee you this [i]exact[/i] one was not his though, because of the pick guard wear. It would be on the other side of the guitar, as he was left-handed

[Plymouthy Adams]

I could probably imitate and be on par with the guitar and modern performances ONLY IF my segment was smashing it into the amplifier.  

 

Of Bobcat, working one of these now.  Different genus than yours.   An engine rehost on this older 600 along with drive train alteration and many many other other smaller mods tying it all together into being a working beast of burden with ready to hand lower cost and easier obtainable parts with access enhancements for servicing in the future.  The engine is a 22 HP Predator 670.   It seems to drive out nicely now so next up is hydraulics.  Oh, I will also be sewing a set of seat covers in vinyl.  

 

 

Edited January 6 by Plymouthy Adams

[Ulu]

Ok….. Four guitars, but the Bass won’t arrive until Tuesday..

 

 

I think this is a Chinese copy of a Schecter. These are supposed to be well made but the pickups are second rate. The body will not be walnut, maple or mahogany. Poplar or maybe basswood.

 

I only paid $100 for this one. Cheap!

 

I only gave $325 cash for the Schecter with case, because it sat in a shop 5 years and had a chip in the finish on the back. New, that would have listed over $900 + $160 for the case, plus tax and shipping! So nearly $1300 list, but we are in the midst of a worldwide  glut of guitars.

 

Otherwise I would have paid much more for the antiques. I got the Bobcat for $325 and I gave $200 for the 1448.

 

I sacrificed this $3 aluminum (metric) tri-square to make the new 1448 bridge. 

The baseplate was carved from a $5 stainless burger press.

Edited January 6 by Ulu

[Ulu]

Well, I had the whole top of my frame wire brushed & nearly ready to paint, when I nicked the long hydraulic brake line with a grinder.

 

Aaaaaaugh!!!

 

I got a New one for only $25 yesterday, but I have to cut the zip ties, get the old one out of the tunnel, bend the new one up, put it in there, and strap it down.

 

Today I had to work on my sister’s car.

 

But we are having beautiful sunny warm days. I may actually paint tomorrow.

[Ulu]

I did go and buy a new hydraulic line but I never installed it. As a matter of fact I haven’t touched the car in a couple weeks now because I’ve been messing around with new guitars and old amplifiers.

 

I only spent $800 on those 4 guitars, which really is a pittance if you have priced musical instruments.

 

emboldened by that show of frugality, I splurged $1500 on this classic Eric Clapton model fender Stratocaster. 25 years old. The case I got with it didn’t match at all so I got this matching $140 case.

 

Shamed by that act of extravagance, I decided that, even though I desperately wanted to own a ‘50s Broadcaster style Fender Telecaster, I would have to settle for Squier, an Indonesian made under license to Fender. $189 not including the case.

I like to play the Telecaster so much more, that I will probably end up selling the Clapton signature Strat.

 

I also bought two more amplifiers and a speaker.

 

This is a classic 1965 Sears Silvertone 55 W tube amplifier.

This had new tubes and capacitors and it sounded very nice, but it needed a lot of cleanup. Also the grill cloth was totally rotten and stained. so I replaced it with this lovely Hawaiian cloth and the steel grid to protect the speaker.

if you think I’ve ruined the value of a valuable antique then you must understand that the speaker had been replaced in 2002, and it did not have any of the original capacitors.

 

I also replaced the Masonite baffleboard with a piece of modern high density furniture plywood. This is what Fender guitars used to use in their amplifiers before they got cheap and went to particleboard.

 

Finally I bought this used Fender bass speaker and this Ampeg Micro VR mini bass amplifier. Both of them needed a bit of cleanup.

 

 

 

[Ulu]

The Ampeg Micro VR, advertising “200 Watts”

 

 

it’s really amazing how Ampeg can claim this thing puts out 200 W but it only takes in 150 W from the AC line!

 

This was a set up for sort of a oneman band operation: it makes effects and has a looper. Like the rest of them, this one burned out and was removed from the cabinet, leaving behind a pretty high-quality Chinese copy of a 10” Jensen speaker.