Just a question. If the scrapheap challenge is going to be filmed in the USA then that makes it tougher for the UK teams to know what they are doing. Most car build/bodgeaholics can instantly recognise cars and know their engine specs and know what they will need to use it (drive sizes, gear ratios, etc). USA cars have different sizes for everything.

-- Trevor Mander (webmaster@deepscience.com), February 06, 2001

Answers

So how is that any different than the american teams that competed in the UK scrapyard????????

-- joe perdue (sus806@a0l.com), February 06, 2001.

I havn't seen any of the JunkYard warz version of the show. I thought that the American version had started up so it avoid the problem not just shift it. My question is, is it an issue or do other factors far outweigh the presence of non-standard scrap?

-- Trevor Mander (webmaster@deepscience.com), February 06, 2001.

Frankly, having people in slightly unfamiliar terrain can create it's own interesting set of challenges... plus hopefully the expert will be from the country of origen for the junk...

-- David Henry (dbhenry@hotmail.com), February 06, 2001.

Trevor. your point is noted. However, if you stuck me in an unknown junkyard I would do my level best to create something based on my background. I'll bet even the better of any the mechanically minded within the teams don't have ALL the specs to ALL the engines etc. One has to improvise and there is where it starts. Anyone of us here has at one time or another questioned a design or build. Wouldn't we all like just one chance??? LOL

-- Jerry Johnson (jjohnson20@home.com), February 06, 2001.

Torch! Welder! Bodgeneering! Bubbaneering! It's what the show is all about! Waddy, "Wreckspert" for the "Rusty Juveniles"

-- Waddy Thompson (cthomp3851@aol.com), February 06, 2001.

What I find amusing with the US series is the British Gas land rover with its logo sprayed out, or the Yorkshire Water LDV van. And the right hand drive. They have thrown a few US gas guslers around to make the colonials feel at home. ;-)

-- Paul McGrath (J.P.McGrath@cancermed.leeds.ac.uk), February 07, 2001.

Junkyards in the US have tons of foreign cars including all types of British cars. The UK doesn't have as many American made cars, so I think the series in the States will have an advantage of setting up a better all around Scrapheap for all the "Bodgers and Lil junkyard doggies."

-- John Gap (mindthegap64@hotmail.com), February 07, 2001.

While the car bits have a lot in common, a lot of the building materials are quite different. For example, the yellow pipe that we made the sub hull from is unknown outside of the UK. It turns out that we could have fusion welded it. (clean it, and just melt it together) Having never seen the stuff, we didn't use it to its best advantage.

That pinned joint could have been welded, instead of carving clearance for the motor lugs, we could have softened and bent the stuff, etc.

We coped, I expect the Brits will not have a big problem either.

-- Jeff - The NERDS (tm) (dp@the-nerds.org), February 07, 2001.

Jeff, the yellow pipe is high pressure gas pipeline pipe, and they are installing it in the next town from where I live. It's ABS plastic. They do have it here in the States, but it's not common in scrapyards here, as (sadly)we don't recycle plastic as earnestly as we do metals in this country. We wanted to use it for barrell material on our pumpkin launcher, but there was a safety concern with attaching it to the steel part of the cannon. It was a bit large in diameter for what we were doing anyway. Waddy, With the "Rusty's"

-- Waddy Thompson (cthomp3851@aol.com), February 07, 2001.

They used that yellow high pressure gas line in front of my house a couple of years ago. then attached smaller flexible yellow line to it and pulled it through the old line into the house.

JustJay

-- JustJay-Captain-Three Rusty Juveniles (justjay@neo.rr.com), February 08, 2001.