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'65 Dodge A-100 shop truck ... 4-4-15 Last photos before I start again


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I know, I know ... what am I doing starting another build when I have 20 sitting in the shop undone. My excuse IS, this is a quick box stock build to get my juices flowing. Of course, It's not another Little Red Wagon but a well used shop truck .. some weathering and probably a new blue paint job at some point in it's life. I have some Auto-Air acrylic Caribbean Blue coming that I want to try out.

This is my first time on the Little Red Wagon and it's been interesting cleaning it up and figuring out how all works. The door hinges look like they'll work, but I'm debating replacing the plastic pin with a brass one drilled into the plastic hinge. It might be a bit more rugged. The door hinges, tail light buckets and rear bulkhead have been fitted to the body and glued. It's sure been some work cleaning this up .. most is ready for some paint! :)

I also plan to cut the engine cover and hinge the top so the engine is more visible. Just the stock engine is going in. The bottom side of the seats had to be filled as they'll be visible with the cover open ... that's the ONLY real bodywork so far!

65DodgeA-100pickupDSC_0593.jpg
65DodgeA-100pickupDSC_0594.jpg
65DodgeA-100pickupDSC_0595.jpg

Edited by Foxer
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I just realized I can't edit the Title to indicate an update and the 2nd line of old is gone also. How unfortunate.

Just a small one as I keep adding things to do ... I HAVE to stop this! I kept looking at the front vents above the DODGE logo and decided they had to open. Drilled a series of small holes and will cut and sand these opening to shape.

I wanted to open and hinge the engine cover but since it's tight the the rear wall of the cab there was no room to swing it open. So it will just be liftoff and added some edges to key the cover on with some .01" strips.

I also added some more parts to the body and decided to cut the door and rear gate hinge pins and replace with some brass rod for strength. The front grill (and bumpers) have been stripped of chrome as this will be a cheap shop mule. Both will be painted in cream.

A100ventsDSC_0598.jpg

Edited by Foxer
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the engine cover "lid" was a little different then how you've cut it. the lid was just that top part with a 1 1/2" flange wide or so flange and it followed that dip in the top. the whole cover was insulated but still got incredibly hot, at least it did in my A100 van. i kept a folded blanket on top to keep my elbow off the hot cover and just in case i had a third passenger.

I did have some photos of an open lid but decided to just do a straight cut on it rather than the dip in front. I AM trying to keep this simple, so I used a little artistic license. I DO appreciate the input, Dave, :)

I may look into an old Army blanket to lay on top! :)

Edited by Foxer
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All the trouble making hinges for my 85 GMC Van must have paid off. Here's the A100 door hinges with new brass pins and the hinges glued in place. I think I'll use the thin common pins I have for the final pins to get the finished look on top that will hold the pin in place and a touch of epoxy on the bottom. :)

I'll take whatever the door gaps I get with a "grain of shop truck".

A100HingewsDSC_0600.jpg

Edited by Foxer
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I just realized I can't edit the Title to indicate an update and the 2nd line of old is gone also. How unfortunate.

You can. Click the "Edit", then the "Use Full Editor" tab at the bottom of the text box.

Dumb me ... I just realized the title can only be changed by editing the first post! I've done it a thousand times but forgot to go back to the first this time, Thanks for commenting, Casey. :)

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Bummer you couldn't get a deal on it. I always liked the look of this kit, but heard nasty things about how it fit together and never bought one, When Gregg put a bunch of kits up for sale to help fund the board I saw this and jumped ... and I'm glad I did. I do like the the job they did with it and think it will end up looking good. It's nice they included everything to make a stock A100, even the 2nd engine. The doors probably have taken the greatest hit as far as complaints but I'm impressed by them. Plastic pins I'm sure won;t last long but replacing with metal pins was pretty simple. I've been taking my time to be sure where and how everything fits together which is a must with this kit.

Next up is the gas cap on the left side .. odd they left this out, but it looks like the 1:1 Little Red Wagon had this hole welded up.

Edited by Foxer
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I've been slowly, but steadily progressing. The first shot shows the left headlight ring missing. I just sanded away the ring and put a plastic rod on the back as a pin to go thru the door hinge to hold it in place. Next photo shows the headlight sitting out. I couldn't locate a photo of a 1:1 with the ring removed so I'll just fake it. It screws into something .. tabs probably.

The white thing in the 2nd photo is a piece I made to go in the trunk behind the gas intake as I've seen in 1:1 photos.
The front slotted vents were also opened. They still need a thin vertical vane at the centers. This was just another primer coat to check the bodywork.
headlightDSC_0601.jpg
headlightoutDSC_0602.jpg

Next is the gas cap made from a chunk of sprue with another plastic rod locator. I sanded a crown on the sprue and used a thin edge of a file to gauge around the edge for the "finger grip". I drilled a hole in the body for the rod and enlarged and dished it slightly with a twist drill.
gascapoutDSC_0603.jpg
gascapinDSC_0604.jpg

Thanks for looking and comments are welcome.

Edited by Foxer
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Next photo shows the headlight sitting out. I couldn't locate a photo of a 1:1 with the ring removed so I'll just fake it. It screws into something .. tabs probably.

Just ask. ;) I've collected a few for my 1/43 A-100 projects, so here ya go:

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After looking more at the photos Casey supplied I decided the headlight bucket HAD to be done. I looked far and wide but could not locate a cone to use anywhere. The tip of my 3/8" twist drill looked close to the right slope and the diameter was right, so last years ice scraper donated it's blade and received a few conical dents. The area was cut out and ground down to fit the headlight opening. It looks like some more grinding to thin it so it recesses more into the bucket and the body is ready for paint!

headlightDSC_0605.jpg

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  • 3 years later...

I was looking at BBodyBlues' A100 Van build and it got me to thinking about the A100 pickup that I had even gotten to paint stage before getting left for something more exciting at the time. The body got it's first coat of rust color before some hairspray and has been sitting next to my photo booth for over a year waiting for a shot! So, I did take some photos and maybe will get my buttt moving on this. At least it shows the piece in the rear left corner of the bed I made that encloses the fuel filler pipe. Looks like I got the cream color for the grill and bumpers on too. I started grinding out some rust areas and I'm going to go some more along the sides of the bed

rust%20base%20DSC_1552_zpsrqruqcg7.jpg

rust%20base%20DSC_1551_zpsdaglxcls.jpg

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Thanks for posting this, I wasn't able to find a picture of the cover in the left rear of the bed and just made something like I've seen on other trucks. Yours makes more since considering how close the gas cap is to the corner. Nice job so far on this, I hope you get back on it so we can see the finished product.

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Thanks for posting this, I wasn't able to find a picture of the cover in the left rear of the bed and just made something like I've seen on other trucks. Yours makes more since considering how close the gas cap is to the corner. Nice job so far on this, I hope you get back on it so we can see the finished product.

I remember it taking a long time to find a photo of an unmodified truck but this is what I found and based it on .. actually, looking at those fender wells and paint, it may be a custom.

gas%20cover%20131_zpsyolidwwi.jpg

Edited by Foxer
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