# Side projects



## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Thought I'd better give some of you guys an update on your repairs.

Joe, your indy has been stripped and the bad cracked rear post repair is curing, did the front as well as it was showing a hint of a crack. All gravy!

Note: Joe had this body in good order. Sanded baby butt smooth with only a few remnants of the original chrome finish. I could get straight to work. He chose standard green like the "Rumbler" for a top coat. 

His tan Riv is another story. Typical 'sploded tan car. Joe did a nono here and reassembled it with CA. This has to be dug out to provide a furrow for the goo to fill. The goo process works best when all the materials are the same. Pic shows the first skim prior to shaping and I hope no CA pops up when blocking in the details. 

Gonna have to grind out the glass on the yellow Riv Joe, if thats OK. It's cracked any way. Typical of most Rivs some one at the factory Magilla-ed about six times more glue than required. LOL.

Greg's purple Charger had a trunk and rear valence problem and a repair had been started. I cut the area back hard as it had been previously skimmed with overly thick goo/base. I was also fishing around for the remnants of the original body seams. Note:

The thicker "base" goo will bubble like that due to the MEK trying to escape, but is trapped buy the outer membrane/skin that sets up fast. I only use the thick base for attaching sections and filling craters or voids. The bulk of all repairs are done with the thinned down mix. Half strengh so to speak. 

Now that the spoiler has been somewhat shaped and seams have been located and roughed in, the entire area will be recut down to the bubbles and refloated with the thinner mixture.

Greg provided the purple base as well as a second car to help me match the details. Not a bad start so far and things look promising.

Ed's blue Firebird has the window posts softened, straightend and reattached to the roof. They will have the details retouched and then glazed. 

Camaro, Firebird, and Mako "A" pillars are easy to repair, however getting the final details right is not always a cakewalk.

Unfortunatly for Ed, the dumba$$ camera operator screwed the pics up so the 'Bird isnt shown here. Be assured it will come out of his check!


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

Bill Hall inc. You is a busy man, man.

Bob...zilla


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## JordanZ870 (Nov 25, 2004)

Hey Bill, thanks for the update! (no rush on my pieces though) :thumbsup:


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## *MAYHEM* (May 4, 2007)

Took me years to get my hands on a Howmet Turbine and in poor condition at that. Now every time I turn around someone has one they're showing off.

BTW anyone have a good Bachman chassis they're willing to sell? The gears in this one are worn so bad they barely engage.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*MAYHEM* said:


> Took me years to get my hands on a Howmet Turbine and in poor condition at that. Now every time I turn around someone has one they're showing off.
> 
> BTW anyone have a good Bachman chassis they're willing to sell? The gears in this one are worn so bad they barely engage.


Really? So dat's what that ugly 'lil bugger is! I got one of those in a junk lot about a year ago. Chassis is incomplete as I remember and didnt appear to be the right one anyway although it did say Bachmann on it... sat kinda funny.

Looks to have all it's Doodads intact including the delicate little windsheild wiper, the rear surface to air missle launchers, the Kenworth running lights and the funny car roof scoop. I'd give it an eight maybe nine in the right light. 

She's been dangerously close to the goo vat and I was short of red for a while...snicker. Gonna have to look a little closer I guess.

Hey! Just racked up my thousanth post. WOOHOO! Send cash, food or little cars to Model Murdering


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## sethndaddy (Dec 4, 2004)

Bill Hall said:


> Really? So dat's what that ugly 'lil bugger is! I got one of those in a junk lot about a year ago. Chassis is incomplete as I remember and didnt appear to be the right one anyway although it did say Bachmann on it... sat kinda funny.
> 
> Looks to have all it's Doodads intact including the delicate little windsheild wiper, the rear surface to air missle launchers, the Kenworth running lights and the funny car roof scoop. I'd give it an eight maybe nine in the right light.
> 
> ...


LOL, I'll already conrat's'ed you on another post (I know I know, thats not a word)


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## *MAYHEM* (May 4, 2007)

Bill Hall said:


> She's been dangerously close to the goo vat and I was short of red for a while...snicker. Gonna have to look a little closer I guess.


Really? Mine was painted red. I stripped it and repainted. (the original red was mostly worn off down to a fugly sorta yellow)


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Repair updates*

Daddy's (Ed) 'Bird is about done.

"A" pillars were bent, broke and noodled. Learned a new trick along the way too. Buy saturating the pillars with Testors every night for a few days I found that they will eventually get pliable/soft enough to gently work back into shape without cracking or breaking off completely. Unfortunately I fubared the before pic. 

This one was kinda tricky due in part to the mint graphics and the fact that I didnt want to remove the glass. Oft times carving /prying the glass out can potentially hurt the roof, ordinarily easily fixed, but in this case the roof carries a graphic. I always try not to remove parts whenever possible.
We got lucky here!

Not obvious in the pics is the retouched bumpers. I was gonna Alclad them but again this would have required their removal. They were retouched carefully with Testors buffable metalizer. Not as durable as Alclad under clear, however it can be retouched again with a minimum of hassle/prep.

Joez white Indy car arrived beautifully prepared/sanded and required only a quick spritz of easy off to remove some stubborn chrome and some routine screwpost repairs. Apparently this bod was seriously gerfed up.

Nice save Joe!He chose the standard green styrene topcoat. Still the same batch of green from the Rumble roadster that was made from an old vibe wheel controller. I'm kind of fond of the green too. The first blast will cure for a while and will probably only require another light pass or two for completion. I like working in standard green or blue as they cover/build well with a minimum amount of coats.

I really like the way this Indy looks.


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## JordanZ870 (Nov 25, 2004)

Amazing, Bill! Thank you so much! I have a nice set of meatballs that will go quite nicely with that beautiful green!

(I like the Fbird, too! looks great on that slung chassis! :thumbsup: )

You used the word "gerfed". I think that is the perfect word to describe the "gerfling" that took a gerfdriver or some-such impliment from his fathers toolbox and went gerfing! The body was scored so deeply (5 or 6 gerfs behind each wheel and several across the hood), that I was amazed that the body did not get broken up from the strain on the plastic. My original intent was to repop the body (I still may yet do that, eh), but when I saw the green that you sprayed, the first body that came to mind was my poor lil indy. Again, Bill, many-many thanks!! :thumbsup:


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## jas (Apr 7, 2006)

Hi,

_Good _ show on your part regarding fixes to others' rides . . .

Cheers,
Jas


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Joez Indy Update*

Chassis slammed, posts shortened, might get a bit more if I can find the room.
Then one more coat of standard green + details


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

Bill,
That's gonna look like one bad A** racer when you finish with the details on that thing. Definite :thumbsup: :thumbsup: ! Dave


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Thanks Dave! I always had a soft spot for the indy racer. This one's pretty fun and Joe is just lettin' me wing it.


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

Bill Hall said:


> Chassis slammed, posts shortened, might get a bit more if I can find the room.
> Then one more coat of standard green + details


Bill,

Saw a picture of this during Chat last week and this is an even better pictur...Woaaaah that is nice and nifty also. Great job, Bob


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Turning out GREAT...*

What a nice save!!!! :thumbsup: nd


Ghnnt Nnnis Hnnng Hnnnopha Nnnee...

_Translation: Get this thing off of me !!!_


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

tjd241 said:


> What a nice save!!!! :thumbsup: nd
> 
> 
> Ghnnt Nnnis Hnnng Hnnnopha Nnnee...
> ...


LMAO 'Nuther! Somehow I missed your reply.

I wundered when someone was gonna comment. Ole Striling kinda looks like a
a 70's Saints ...er I mean "Aints" fan.

Really he drives pretty good like that. We'll get the trash bag off his mug soon. :thumbsup:


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Back to the slotcave*

Finally escaped 1:1 land and crawled into the comfort of my cave. 

Coupla update pics of Greg's charger and Joez Camaro.

After a several build layers of brushable and some tedious filing and blade work, I finally got the Charger's rear deck shaped up and the bumper now fits correctly in the pocket above the rear valence. Now that most of the contours are correct I can cut it back a ways and start fussing with tightening up the detail and getting the color blend just right.

The Camaro had the typical "A" pillar smash and blasted vent posts. The Pillars were softened chemically over a few evenings and then shoved back into position after the roof was softened with my Bic. The driver vent post was made from a micro slice of Lola rocker panel. Scuffed the roof down as this car spent quite a bit of time upside down. Then it got a preliminary glaze to seal/protect things while other repairs are completed. Gotta whip up a batch o red and see what can be done to bring the rear wells back. Not sure yet if I'm gonna splice a graft in or just build and sculpt.

Added my green bird cuz dogged if can remember what the original thread is!  

Same old smashed roof syndrome. Added some scratch built "A" pillars a couple months ago and set it aside to cure. LOL. Guess they are dry now!

Whittled the pillars down to their approximate shape with a blade until the glass fit correctly. Started cutting the drip rails in and scuffed them down with 600 and glazed them. Next I'll fidget some vent posts in and finish 'er up.


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## JordanZ870 (Nov 25, 2004)

tjd241 said:


> What a nice save!!!! :thumbsup: nd
> 
> 
> Ghnnt Nnnis Hnnng Hnnnopha Nnnee...
> ...


Could'na sedit better m'sef! 


Magic-Bill has been at it again, yeah! I can hardly wait! :thumbsup:


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*No more waitin Joe.*

Poked the final details on Joes Indy tonight. Splashed a little paint around and polished up a windsheild. Like this one so much I wanna keep it!  

We're done! Crew cheif approves, :thumbsup: 

Then flopped down on the bench and said lets go to bed.


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Smoooooth...*

Googley-eye goggles in place... Demons exorcised... this build is clean!! nd

BTW: Good way to dust off the workbench. Here kitty kitty kitty.


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## JordanZ870 (Nov 25, 2004)

brrrroooooOoOowWwWwWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRrRrRrrrrrrrrr! :thumbsup: 
That has got to be the sexiest Indy I have ever seen! I am gonna run the
talls off of it! WooHoo! I wish I had a pic of its sorry gerfed-up beginnings.
I never thought it could be so beautiful, Bill! Thank you so much!!


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## gear buster (Dec 1, 2005)

*cool Indy*

Sweeeet lookin Indy Bill..
I'm not to much into Indy, but that is a super lookin ride :thumbsup:


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Thanks Nuther and Steve, Joez prep work was impeccable to say the least. Like to have him prep all my builds! Bring your lunch tomorrow Joe! 

This car was a joy to build. Joe said "Do whatever as long as it's green!" LOL 

Did one similar moons ago, however it was tan, and 'sploded on the launch pad after a week of fiddling. D'oh! So Yes! A deamon has been excorcised.

Agree that the 'ole Indy is a loaf of bread. It has some fine attributes as well. Due to the egg shape and thick plastic they're tough as nails and many have survived the ravages of time needing only minor repairs. Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. :thumbsup: 

Joe! No thanks necessary. As I said, A joy to do.


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## sethndaddy (Dec 4, 2004)

Bill ?????

Why is there a fat squirrel on your work bench? lol


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Road Kill*

You makin' fun of my 17 lb crew chief Daddy!?

Gus has put on a little chub since he got cut and is very sensitive about it!


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

Joe you are Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucky Man! I can barely stop looking at that Indy with those smooth lines and Kick But(t) rims!

Bob...zilla


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Broken Lola*

Ed may recognize this red Lola. I had a twinge of conscience and couldnt melt it down. All that was wrong was a busted pillar and a blown out rear post and support.

Fixed the pillar with the softening technique. Then built a support out of another scrap Lola door and a salvaged post from my baggy of posts. I always save posts when a cull gets cooked up. Tacked it all up and schlobbered some red goop around. The bod is just sorta thrown on the chassis for the pic. It tucks up really nicely when mounted...Still kinda sticky at the time of the pic. Chassis is a T-jet modified with Accelerater guts. Missle testing already completed. The only body mod being a removal of the windsheild mounting pin. Any body got a glass for a Lola?
LMK please.

Dunno about the final color. I didnt have a red Lola in my collection, but orange would be cool too and it's a natural to go over red. Hmmmmm?


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Heads up Greg*

Moving right along...snicker...ok moving anyway

Bumper is finally fitting a little better, I'd like to see it a bit deeper so we'll work on that. I may still be a bit short on the total trunk lid length.

Managed to bring back the gas cap detail, although not spot on it's pretty close. I'm pretty stoked about it considering that it was a nonexistent blob at the outset.

The inner roof and under trunk has been smoothed, another pass or two and it should look factory from the bottom. Left vent post was cracked, not obviously, but needed a 'lil fix. The bent right ventpost has been softened and pushed somewhat straight. Another treatment and a small shove should coerce it back straight. Just cant rush it.

There's still a weird dot on the hood that needs a little attention. It'll have to wait until the finishing stages to disappear it. The only thing that still bugs me is how to bring back the missing left rear marker light. Got an idea formulated but havent practiced it yet. Soon.


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## alfaslot1 (May 27, 2005)

Hi Bill thanks for the update,the car looks great and i cant thank you enough,i know how hard time is to come by,and you have spent plenty on my charger,.p.m. me your addy i have some more stuff for you....greg


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Fresh off the gun and other stuff*

Here's few pics of some of Joez cars that have been to plasticville.

The 512 was originally blue. The rear scoop was busted so a chunk from a culled blue charger was grafted in. The canopy pillars were creaking a bit when wet sanding which is usually indicative of stress cracks so they were repaired as well. All in all a pretty straight bod. She's now wearing Joez favorite color...as usual from a green vibe controller. 

The Indy was an ancient tan car with busted posts and the drivers chest was blown out...weird! You could see his his spine! New posts were grafted in and set for the drop axle chassis. Sterling got a chest transplant in the form of some carefully floated goop. It's now clad in standard blue made from a crushed cougar, a mashed Mangusta, and god knows what else got cooked in that batch...but I guarantee it was blue. Gonna have to scrounge up another glass Joe... I busted the one that was in it.  

The red 'Maro is finally close to the finish work. The rear fenders were butched up well above the flare. They were built up with successive floats rather than a graft. They're a tricky thing in that the rocker decos were involved. Once the fills had cured suffiecently I did the old side by side scribe with a stock body and rodded them out with my trusty sanding pencil. The flares where teased in by floating with a fine brush. They still need another layer or two to sharpen the detail. The vent and "A" posts will get softened again and shoved one more time. Currently sitting at stock ride height  ...maybe Joe will sanction a 'lil post shave  

The black Jag is one of my recent aquisitions. Pretty solid other than all the roof posts were mangled. Not worth saving so they got butched out. The right rear well is wacked and the rockers are rounded off. Managed to get the busted glass out without killing the roof. Aurora never spared the glue on the Jag roofs...Snicker. Now looking for a black donor car...dont really matter what as long as she's early molded black. Just a back burner project, but a worthy victim none the less. Once all the roof posts are fidgeted in this one will be pretty easy.

Thanks for looking :wave:


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Old saying goes... Idle hands are what?*

... not attached to Bill's arms!!!

The 512: Joe told me about a few days ago. Looks great in green.... niiiice.  

The Camaro: Could use a shave... I agree. Keep working him till he says yes.  

The Indy: I see you've Abu Graibed yet another driver... but its a smoothie. :thumbsup: 

The Jag: I thought it was only my (now trashed) Jag that had an over-glued roof. Years ago I jelly-fied mine trying to give one the look of the olive green one Wierd Jack has on his site. Tried to get the window out, bumpers off, and filled in, but I gerfed it up so bad.... we had to have a closed casket burial. :freak: 

nuther Dave


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Thanks Nuther!

Didnt seem like I was getting much done during virus week and my prolonged pseudophed trip. When I returned to consciousness, I found that I'd actually accomplished a few things afterall. 

The Jag roof and glass thing is plenty frustrating. Unless you've got one of the rare few that have just a dab of cement you can virtually bank on having to dremel the ever luvin' you know what out of them to gettem' out. Seems like a lot of them were installed by some dude using a Barbecue swab in the glue pot. The glue puddle is often as big as a dime.


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## RacerDave (Mar 28, 2006)

Nice work Bill. Love the 512 in green. Dave.


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## JordanZ870 (Nov 25, 2004)

Holy Hannah, Bill! You have been a busy man....pretending to be sick so we wouldn't be bothering you with phone calls....sly man!

They look great!...but you know....I had an idea. I know it would mean more work for you, but how would you feel about dropping that Camaro down in the dirt a bit?

I have two camaro bods here. The turq bod sits high like the one you have repaired. The bow-tied orange one (#1 XLerators) sits low. I can only see a smidge of chassis peeking out below the rockers. It is a good look, yeah?! Are you up for it? hehehehehehe

I am amazed with the 512M, Bill! The scoop looks perfect and the color is.....well...the color is PERFECT, TOO! I KNEW green was a going to be a good look there! 
Top shelf work on the sterling twin, too, hey! I have a nice set of ansens just waiting for a new ride! 

Bill, thank you so much for all your efforts! (I am* getting them back.....right?  )


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Boyo! I wish we were faking sick Joe. Still a little washed out.

Well the 512 scoop was pretty routine... the break was right up top so it was easy to work, no trouble at all...really! Seemed sacreligeous to blast a Ferrari green, but it looks great in person so I got over it. Considering it was icky blue I got over it pretty quick.  

It appears that chest transplant on Sterlings funky brother was a success. The graft has not been rejected. Never seen that particular injury before, but it was a tan car so I'm not surprised. No doubt it will be a good looking running mate with your green Indy. :thumbsup: 

No problem settling that Camaro onto the chassis. Just wanted to be sure we were simpatico on the ride height before it was changed from original. Below are a coupla pics of one I actually had to RAISE the posts! They had been carelessly cut well short of the mark. Any lower than this old blue Tuffy and ya gotta start digging deep into the bag of tricks. If it's OK, I'll set it just like the blue one.

Of course you'll get them back Joe! Like I need more cars?  
So you can get to work, I'll send the 512 and your skunk works car together as soon as the 512 is cured...Havent even started the indy chassis yet so it and the Camaro will come later.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*"Crushstang" pillars*

This ole white Crushstang was another back burner project that finally moved up the list enough to start fiddling with. 

She'd been stepped on hard and both pillars and front roof corners were blown clean out. Other than that the ole girl survived pretty well save for a nick in the deck spoiler. Really it's a pretty thick/tough body all 'round except for the flimsy front roof edge and pillars.

Used pillars from a scrapper white Torino. The 'Stang's roof edge corners were angle cut to smooth the blow outs and a wedged portion of the Torino roof was left attached to the pillar tops to make up the difference.

More goober than I generally like to use, but as it is right out in the open the extra schlobber will cut off easily.


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## JordanZ870 (Nov 25, 2004)

Hey, Bill!
The new posts are looking very good! You mentioned using part of the donors roof. Was the torino post to windshield angle the same as the mach1 or did you have to fudge around with that too? Your repairs to these fragile parts are amazing! :thumbsup:


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*More like whittling white chocolate*

LOL Joe! 

Thanks for the props. Once the roof is involved with a pillar blowout the rules go out the window cuz it brings the horizontal roof plane into the mix along with trying to ensure that the drip edge geometry is workable. Not to deep , and not to proud. Like baby bear's poridge or bed, it's gotta be just right!  

Fudge?...Why of course! The Torino roof is thinner, but the pillar angle is close enough for horse shoes or hangrenades. Hence the application of extra material.

The main issue is to get the drip edges as close as possible and the rest comes out in the wash. Other than a direct transplant of Mach 1 parts, go fish, and good luck; compromises have to be made. The Torino parts were white, and they were there...two out of three aint bad. :thumbsup: 

When they get cut back, they will be file shaped to fit the original glass. Then any irregularities can be lightly skimmed and re-addressed.  

...or at least that's how it gets penciled up for now.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Crush-stang update*

Finally picked up the Crush-stang again. Put a quick filing across the "A" pillars inside and out. This allows three things to happen. It lets my liner tape sit nicely so I can use it as a guide to scratch in seam detail. It also helps the hobby knife stay straight when scribing the first pass. Of couse its a good time to recheck the fit of the glass too!

I usually pull the blade through twice then reverse the blade and drag the blunt back of the blade through to remove the material. By using the backside of the blade you dont have the issue of the blade taking off askew during the critical initial passes. Once I've got a good score planted, the liner tape is removed. I follow the score with a darning needle chucked into my pin vise. I like the blunt needle because it doesnt remove gobs of material and allows pinpoint control. It's more of a wedge than a gouge.

Once the needle glides though all the seams without snagging or rolling up any excess material The lines are followed with a fine tip file and any big wowees are straightened up. I generally scrub the whole mess down with cleanser and a tooth brush to remove all the stubborn little its and bitties that would ordinarily not be smoothed out with glazing.

Although thing look a little wobbly after the first glazing the "A" pillar and drip edges will be file straightened and reglazed so the body work follows the line.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Fresh off the gun*

Managed to get a coupla sprays completed today too!

The final coat on Gregs purple Charger looks decent. Due to material running short I had to thin a little more than usual. The solvent to solids ratio was a tad hot. A bit more peel than I'd like to see, but that was the last of the purple plastic. I'll tickle it with some 2000 wet and polish this one anyway so no big problemo. 

The Willy's is actually Olive green. A trick of the camera makes it appear more of a standard Aurora green, however in person it IS Olive. The original car was bright yellow "dollar" car that Nuther Dave found for me at the last Beers show. I had a tough time pulling the trigger on a Genny dollar car but my customer wanted Olive...so be it! A coupla weeks back the chassis was installed with some nice Vincent rims that I got from Win 43 and I ran it around after the first coat of Olive had set up. I gotta admit this one is starting to grow on me.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Frame rack + dinkin and dunkin*

Per normal I've always got a bunch of cars in process.

The fairly rare standard blue Splitty was the victim of a wicked boot stomp. It takes an awful good whack to bust up Auroras T-jet Vette. In this particular case the roof was mashed down to the point that the "A" pillars were folded right in half like paper.

Got lucky and the usually stubborn Vette glass popped right out. No small miracle! What was left of the pillars was cut at the roof and softened, then folded back straight out beyond the roof edge and glazed. This was allowed to cure fully. Then after the roof was pushed back up, the posts were re-softened at the cowl and pushed back into position. The glass was test fit and the pillars cut to fit at the roof edge. 

The roof was still kinda sprung down on the driver side. My trusty crusty springy tweezers were inserted through the drivers window on the short side to porta power the roof into position. The goober band holds the tight side gently down so the porta power wont lift it of the post. Both sides were gooped in blue. Once cured the entire roof will get a glaze of straight testors. This will take any remaining torsion out of the roof.

She's got more stress marks than a mother of the sextuplets. This vette will have to be toasted like a S'more to get them out. Fire! huhuhuhuhuh.

Also pictured as a Goat post that had a clean break. Ordinarily childs play, but with white all bets are off. It's really hard to get a clean repair without a ghost line at the break. Scrubbing the bejeezus out of the area with both cleanser and super clean removes any dirt that may wick back and spoil yer day. This GTO was further complicated by the fact that the glass was still in place. With a little wiggling I can usually get a piece of tinfoil between the glass and pillar to protect the glass from the goop. I hate to remove original glass unless unavoidable. 

Win 43's light yellow Mako was again a clean pillar break. Same technique as white...scrub-a-dub...or you'll have a line! The Mako is a very robust car other than the extremely delicate pillars. It's a fairly simple pillar repair in that there is no seam detail to contend with. Although not pictured I took the liberty of re-inforcing the other pillar, touching up the front screw post, and reglazing the rear inner wheel wells that were nicked up where you couldnt see it from the outside. Hope you dont mind Jerry.  

Last pic is one of my junker Mercedes. The black Merciless Bent was stuffed in the front and the screw post was doinked as well. A chunk half the size of a dime was replaced on the drivers side valence and the post was repaired using the build up technique. Black is tough to match. strangely I got lucky here and it's on the money. Kinda figures that it would! Had the shade been off, it wouldnt have mattered as this area is covered by the front bumper/lights.


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

Bill,

You do great work. Those Purple and Green bodies...woah baby they look nice! I am sure that the others will end up saved by the Bill also someday.

Bob...zilla


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*yeah they're ok...*

...if ya like that kinda thing. Me?... I LOVE 'EM !!!!! nd

btw Bill... One more time please... What brands of cleaners are you using on the dirty bods? Do they affect the shine and do they remove original painted details?? I have 1 or 2 that just need a cleaning and would rather leave the can 'o worms closed.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Thanx Bob, Lots of progress and fun yesterday. It's always nice when I get get a few hours to level the pile a bit!

'Nuther, For normal cleaning I use whatever is in arms reach. Keep in mind that for the guys that use future any ammoniated cleaner is a nono! Ammonia is the base of most wax strippers. Screws up plating in a heartbeat too.

Simple green works good and is a fav of mine. A great general maintainence cleaner for the run of the mill slot grungous that accumulates. I prefer it as it leaves the shine on plastic provided it is properly rinsed. Most soaps are caustic to some degree and if left to dry indiscrimminently they can dull or cloud finishes.

Orange Fresh is a tad more agressive and works well for those stubborn grease stains that buildup around T-jet rear screw posts. I also use OF for a final wash prior to spraying styrene.

Super Clean is my last ditch effort when trying to de-gunkify a body. It too can be hard on plating and certain model paints so I never use SC for general cleaning on a completed car.

All that being said it should be noted that these are all chemical cleaners. Some times there is no substitute for a little mechanical agitation. Common household cleanseres are the ticket here. I make a slurry of warm water and **** and span powder with more powder than water. A thick rouge if you will. Using last years worn out toothbrush I scrub-a-dub the you no what out of the body. Care must be take however not to snag "A" pillars and rip them out as the bristles like to slip between the pillar and glass potentially causing a D'oh!

The cleanser can of course dull a nice polish job...interestingly it can also resurrect some shine on a dulled old turd or a car that has been overly dulled by Super Clean. Poor mans medium rubbing compound LOL. 

For spot cleaning, stains, mottling or dull spots (AKA: dieback) regular automotive compounds work for me and it's always in stock. Medium, fine, and #9 Megwyers scratch and swirl remover, same carp I use on my big cars. My trick is to snip one end off a Q-tip and chuck it in my cordless drill. Then I just doodle the whole car. Always wash the previous grade of compound off thoroughly with simple green. For the final rub I have the sleeve off a sweat shirt. The unlooped fleece on the inside gives a superior shine and doesnt snag at the critical moments. I tend to shy away from roll towels cuz every blue moon I drag a piece of bark, or a birds nest across my finish. In my mind their is no substitute for something thats been washed 800 times!


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*This weeks nonsense*

Puttered around a little and finished builing a coupla chassis.

Olive Oil Willys sits on a Tuff Ones chassis. Rims are Vincent slots with whittled PVT tires. Took a bit of fiddling to loosen this chassis up. Fortunately the arm wasnt damaged by the previous owners overly tight set up. She's got great grunt and good top speed. The big pinion is a little leggy for my short track but I'm gonna leave this one as is for it's new owner. 

Crushstang got some thin blue glaze. Helps me see whats going on as white messes with my old man eyes when I'm trying to do bodywork. Chassis build is stanfard fare except for an old school green/gray that wings up beautifully and an early hop up pinion for final drive. Gears were lapped twice as I wasnt satisfied with the first go around. A joy to drive, easy in the turns and great acceleration down the chute. Sometimes ya just get lucky.  

Wheels have been narrowed front and back with the front getting an inner edge roll to alleviate pick up shoe interference. Since the pic it's been lowered some by post shaving, switching to O-ring fronts, and grinding a few thousandths off the rear skins. Slowly sneaking up on the final ride height cuz there is very little margin for error on the Mach l. Although some pretty blue inset RRR rims were spec'ed, they typically upset the car's road manners and were vetoed for some round rims. Funtion over form!

I resurrected an old school trick that allows the use of the standard AFX front wheel and axle set up. A reamed brass tube CA'd from frame rail to frame rail. Really a good free wheeling independent retrofit that negates over boring the wheel to fit a T-jet axle. Less rotating mass although the overall weight is probably about the same when you add in the brass tube. Worked good back in the stone age and still works good now.

Last but not least the mutilated Vette is off the frame rack. At first I thought this car was a convertible candidate..but I had to try anyway. Now that the roof line is back in position and the "A" pillars are squared up it looks worthy of completion. After the solvent has cured out, and prior to thinning down the pillars; me and Bic will toast her up and chase out the stress marks on the hood and trunk. Dont wanna light up those thinned pillars.

Thanx for looking :wave:


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## win43 (Aug 28, 2006)

Bill
You are the man!!!! Mako looks great. :woohoo: You do whatever you have to do it's cool with me. Let me know when they're done. I will send you return postage. I forgot to put it in the box when I sent the cars. :thumbsup:


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## JordanZ870 (Nov 25, 2004)

They are all very nice, Bill!
I see that your bad wing hasn't stopped you from making the magic happen! :thumbsup:

The afx wheels on that Mach I look good, too!


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Thanx Joe, 

Joe: The game wing is much better. I'm back to two handed showers and putting on my own socks. :thumbsup: 

Really not so bad going one handed...I only make half as many mistakes in twice the time...so it's a win!

Dunno for sure about the 'stang rims ...may go baby Ansen all around... those stock five spokes came out of the mock up box...as usual they were just there and in easy reach. I was extra bummed about the RRR rims.  The car ran like a dog passing razor blades so I had to punt. 

Jerry: Poppycock! Dont you dare send postage! Yer forever sending goodies and bonuses... so "fugedabowdit" and give me this oppurtunity to bring up my end of the scorecard


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Headway*

Made a little more progress.

After a few different wheel changes, I went with my old stand by Ansen slots for the Lolo 904. The RRR wires were pretty, but a hair wide, and extra lumpy. Handled horribly! Didnt do a whole lot other than the silver accents and dotting the tail lights. Front glass was backsprayed black. I'll leave the personal touches to the new owner.

"Olive" was left pretty much standard. Just brush touches and again with the blacked out glass. I did split the hanger strap for the glass. I always thought they fit a little funny at the bottom edge of the rear windows. By splitting the glass into two chunks you can drop the rear glass just a tad to cover the area that is missed in nearly every t-jet Willys I've seen. Also scrapped the plastic tuff ones idler for a polished deburred t-jet unit. It had an intermitent harmonic/growl that bugged me and hurt RPM whenever it popped up...usually down the back stretch. LOL! 

The Crushtang recieved it's first spray of styrene after a wet sand in 2000. The base was cooked from a busted up Tuff Ones 80 ohm blue russkit controller. The jury is still out on this one. Still kinda translucent and not near as dark as expected after a tack coat and a fatty. Hopefully get it covered with two more medium coats and bring it a shade or two darker. This one's gonna be a surprise.


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## vaBcHRog (Feb 19, 2003)

Bill Hall said:


> Made a little more progress.
> 
> After a few different wheel changes, I went with my old stand by Ansen slots for the Lolo 904. The RRR wires were pretty, but a hair wide, and extra lumpy. Handled horribly! .


Bill next time you try the RRR put Weird Jacks But Uglies on the rear and his bauer tires on the front. A little truing and they should hook right up.

Roger Corrie


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## Dranoel Dragon (Oct 9, 2007)

Tot 904 looks great! I'm gonna have to find another one to give that treatment to. :thumbsup:


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Instant Classics Bill...*

All 3 .... way cool! :thumbsup: nd


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

bill - awesome job man!! :thumbsup:

Wes


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

Bill,

Thanks for posting these fun to look at pics. I am having lots of fun looking. Yippee!

Just looking at that beautiful Blue 904 is just Melting my brain...Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah it hurts. Gotta get to mine someday! Can anyone watch our kids for a month. LOL 

Bob...zilla


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

tjd241 said:


> All 3 .... way cool! :thumbsup: nd


Nuther: Aw shucks man... They were off the rack classics already...just added little spit and polish.

Leonard: The bulk of the mods were on the chassis in the form of front/rear drop axles and wheel voodoo. Other than lightly evening up the ragged factory wells and takin' some skin off the posts the body is unchanged.

Wes: Thanx!

Roger: Thanx for the tip! I'll give it another go down the road.

Bobzilla: The ole 904's are poo pooed by some folks...but they are still reasonably priced, and have pretty lines with a little encouragement. This bod design is very durable and from what I can see has stood the ravages of time.

This one never was mine anyway. It's is goin ba-bye..."Oh of course it is!" Cuz I really like how this one turned out....snivel...wimper...whine...LOL! There will definately be another.


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## Dranoel Dragon (Oct 9, 2007)

Bill Hall said:


> Leonard: The bulk of the mods were on the chassis in the form of front/rear drop axles and wheel voodoo. Other than lightly evening up the ragged factory wells and takin' some skin off the posts the body is unchanged.
> .


I'm dyin' to see how you did the rear. I got a couple cars I'd like to give the same treatment. :thumbsup:


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## JordanZ870 (Nov 25, 2004)

Bill,
Sure they were already classics.....but if anyone could do that voodoo that you do.....Epay would be full of them! These are truely beautiful slot cars, hey! :thumbsup:


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Odd duck million miler*

Here's sumthin ya dont see every day. 

This black speedline had seen better days, but it was on it's original chassis with interior. 

Customer wants it repaired and converted to t-jet. 

The jagged post edges get touched up first. A snip from a Black Elva front spoiler was used for the graft. It had the approximate right shape from the gitgo. The little microscopic "A" pillar grafts are darn near impossible to preshape so I always search for something with the correct angles to start with.

The full side view pic was taken after the bonds had been filed and reskimmed. 

Typically the front screw post is short and the rear is waaaaay long. Looks like I'll take a slice off the rear post and move it to the front post to level the ride.

Entire body recieved a heavy coat of Testors to rejuvenate some shine and start filling the millions of nicks and scratches. This car had been enjoyed. The play wear is massive but other than the busted pillar and a rear tailight "scrape-ectomy"; no major damage save for a few pock marks. Probably start with 600 to cut the pocks out and be able to move to 1200 fairly quickly. 

Some kid ran the hell outta this car, but she stood it well...a diamond in the rough. I gotta get one of these!


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## sethndaddy (Dec 4, 2004)

Bill Hall said:


> Here's sumthin ya dont see every day.
> 
> This black speedline had seen better days, but it was on it's original chassis with interior.
> 
> ...


$3.00 fleabay find
$2.00 shipping cross country
Getting back a showcase car...........priceless
Love ya Bill, thanks again


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## 41-willys (Jan 7, 2000)

Bill



All I can say is your work and craftsmanship are Awesome! You are one very talented person.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Possession is 9/10ths of Ownership*



sethndaddy said:


> $3.00 fleabay find
> $2.00 shipping cross country
> Getting back a showcase car...........priceless
> Love ya Bill, thanks again


Did I imply that you were getting this car back? :devil: 

I love a good hostage situation! ...send in the negotiating team.  

...but seriously Ed...I get to play with some very cool 'lil toys so it's a pleasure.

41 Willy's: Thanks for the kind words...truthfully the real credit goes to Mike Vitale, MEV, who pioneered many of the basic plastic repair techniques that I use. It's easy to follow big footprints.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*The beat goes on*

Finished a couple this week.

Both the blue Splitty and the Mach 1 were A pillar jobs. The Vette was marred from stem to stern with stress marks as well. They were toasted out in the usual Bic lighter fashion. Took several attempts to get them out as the Splitty has a very thick body. They both polished up nicely, especially the Vette. Although not perfect, considering it was boot stomped lump it turned out pretty good. 

Dug out a few of my own for a change and made some minor touches. Had a decent tuffy Bug but no serviceable bumpers. The chassis was a nice but forgotten spare from the resto box. Somehow I happened to put the two together yesterday...duh... obviously I got too much stuff! Always hated Bug bumpers anyway, 1:1 or scale. A front post spacer was added. I'll dress it out later in the week and adjust the final front ride height. 

The tuffy Willys was always one of my favs, had it back in the day. A victim of an Ebay "fubar screwpost" nondisclousure. I finally got around to it...two years later. The poststs were porked out with hairline cracks. In this situation the post is pre-wet internally with solvent and successive drops of goop are used to flesh out the missing material. Air bubbles are worked out with a needle. The following day the semi setup post is vented by dipping a needle in solvent and a pilot/vent hole is worked in. The solvent prevents the needle from sticking and pulling out the uncured core as you create the vent. This little step really helps to get a good cure out on deep screw post fills.

As with my Bug, I'll get back to my Willys later. Thanks for looking! :wave:


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## JordanZ870 (Nov 25, 2004)

You've posted post magic again, Bill! 
Screw posts, glass posts...all perfect! (I have some of my very own that Bill has repaired)

Man, those cars look great, hey! :thumbsup:

Thanks for the "howdadoit" on screwpost repair!


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Truthfully Joe I've taken all the magic out of the post repair part of the program. 

Broke it down to two groups: Those with a good concentric outsides and minor cracks are filled in the manner like the Willys above. 

The other being the out and out amputation and replacement method for posts that look like Bugs Bunny stuck his finger in the end of the gun...then Yosemitie Sam pulled the trigger! The direct replacement is a more reliable fix and about eight hundred times quicker and easier. 

The only exception being the ultra rare cars where a donor post may not be available.
In most cases the "Yosemitie Sam screw post" often has wood dope, CA, or god knows what form of gooberschlobber in the cracks and crannies of the breaks.
Any foreign object will cause the goop to not wick/weld properly, this making an weak bond. I use the taper and cup technique where the post is tapered to fit a cup in the remnant post. The taper provides more surface area for a strong bond and allows some fidgeting room to get it straight. 

In the case of the bug, where a slight addition is needed, the flat but joint is reliable enough.


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## guinnesspeanut (Sep 25, 2009)

Hey, I'm new here. I'm looking for something and maybe you can help. Xlerators had these really neat low profile slicks, right before Aurora came out with the wider AFX slicks. The rim diameter was the same as the AFX fronts, but on the AFX rims, there's a tiny plastic nub that keeps the rim away from the chassis. This nub isn't there on the XL rim. I've heard that Aurora may have used these up on the AFX tractor trailers, but don't collect these so I can't verify that. Anyway, I've been cutting off that nub on the AFX rims and usig AW front tires for this, but if I could get a better quality rubber, I'd rather get those. I don't know if this is your thing or not, but if you could pass this message on to whoever you think might have what I need, that'd be great. I don't know where I'm supposed to leave my email address, so I'll wait for your reply first. Thak you much.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Welcome to HT! Please remember re-introduce yourself in our New Member Introduction thread.

The tire you seek is more than likely the "PVT lowpro" tire. (Penn Valley Tire)

I too experimented with the Xcelerator rims...once upon a time. While they are somewhat representative of a slot dish rim they left me wanting more. They have vitually no detail accents and physically they have a very thin cross section in the central hub area. I personally began modifying and using the AFX Ansen, specifically the front version that came on the four gear chassis. I just call them "baby ansens". Check Slot Car Central out ....Bob has them.


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