14 replies to this topic

[Johnag4004]

Hi all,

Hope this is the right section, may I ask if anyone knows if there is a GMC kit of this semi please...



I have no idea what the model is sorry, I just loved driving her...

Many thanks...

Andy...

[BigBad]

Andy, that truck you were driving was a GMC Topkick. As far as I am concerned, I haven't seen any of these produced as a kit but... I think there is a hood that was produced in resin by Plaskit. I'm just not sure they still produce it and I don't think it's the same model year as yours. Maybe somebody else could input here... So you could start with a Ford Louisville Tractor or dump truck for the frame and suspension, the Chevrolet Titan 90 for the frame as well and for the correct wheels. You could use a kit for any 1973 up to 1987 chevy or GMC pickup truck for the cab at the same scale, the fenders and front grill could be reworked to look like the Topkick. For the engine I think it gets more difficult because the Topkicks were not class 8 trucks, they used smaller engines from Detroit Diesel and Caterpillar. Come to think of it, you might be able to use the ones off a Ford Louisville and adapt it to look like a 3208 Caterpillar. That's for the tractor, somebody here sure has an answer for the tanker trailer.There is work to be done for sure, it's far from impossible and it would be a worthy project! Anybody could correct me on this.

Edited by Z06Bob, 16 March 2012 - 09:56 AM.

[jacobus]

resin aitm
hope this helps
jacobus

[Michigan Madman]

Jacobus- that resin kit is a Brigadier. Totally different animal from a Top Kick.

[jacobus]

sorry your right i haven look very good
my excusses
jacobus

[Johnag4004]

Andy, that truck you were driving was a GMC Topkick. As far as I am concerned, I haven't seen any of these produced as a kit but... I think there is a hood that was produced in resin by Plaskit. I'm just not sure they still produce it and I don't think it's the same model year as yours. Maybe somebody else could input here... So you could start with a Ford Louisville Tractor or dump truck for the frame and suspension, the Chevrolet Titan 90 for the frame as well and for the correct wheels. You could use a kit for any 1973 up to 1987 chevy or GMC pickup truck for the cab at the same scale, the fenders and front grill could be reworked to look like the Topkick. For the engine I think it gets more difficult because the Topkicks were not class 8 trucks, they used smaller engines from Detroit Diesel and Caterpillar. Come to think of it, you might be able to use the ones off a Ford Louisville and adapt it to look like a 3208 Caterpillar. That's for the tractor, somebody here sure has an answer for the tanker trailer.There is work to be done for sure, it's far from impossible and it would be a worthy project! Anybody could correct me on this.

Hi Robert,

Thank you for the info Sir, very much appriciated, trailer wise I have a couple of tanker trailers that I can try to modify... I remember that this had power steering and an auto gearbox, so driving this was like driving a Rolls Royce compared to what we had...

Many thanks everyone for the help...

Andy...

[Johnny]

Put more than a few desert miles on one back in 1991!

[Truck parts]

I may be wrong about the resin kit,but I think it's the GMC 9500 short or long hood set up?

[Jim B]

Yes, that's the 9500. Porky (http://ppvintagekits.com/) offeres a GMC Topkick. Not sure if he has it listed on his site or not. Best to email him. Eric's a good guy, and makes top quality stuff.

[steve7119]

Either Perrys resin or P&P offer the tall GMC Topkick/Chevrolet Kodiak cab. I have the plaskit hood conversion and it is a great looking piece and includes very good instructions for the cdonversion. Apparently the Chev Kodiak/GMC TopkickIt came in two cab heights. The Plaskit conversion is for the shorter one and uses the silverado cab as the basis. It appears that the shorter version would have been a 1 ton size truck with the taller version for the bigger trucks

[BigBad]

Your truck isnt a topkick, thats a GMC Brigadier. That resin kit is an older version of the Brigadier.


The hood on yours is different but its still a brigadier.

No. His truck is a Topkick. The front end looks a lot like the Brigadier but it was one size smaller than the Brigadier. The heaviest Top kick was a 7500, the Brigadier actually replaced or rather was an upgraded 8500-9500 series GMC. Looking at Andrew's picture carefully the headlights are 4 square units mounted directly below the radiator grill, unlike the Brigadier which has two round units mounted on the fender assembly. So that is one way to differentiate them. As well notice the cab side creases on both cabs, they are deeper on the Topkick. The Brigadier did not share it's cab with any other model than the Chevrolet Kodiak. The Top Kick on the other hand shared it's cab sheetmetal with all the GM pickup trucks from the 1973-1987 era.

[Johnag4004]

Put more than a few desert miles on one back in 1991!

You never know we may have met or passed each other on the road/sand...

[lapazleo]

Actually it's not a Briga deer either it's a mh 9500

[Michigan Madman]

Actually it's not a Briga deer either it's a mh 9500

What's the difference? (And I don't mean that in a sarcastic way... I really want to know! )
Reason I I.D.'d the resin truck as a Brigadier was because a neighbor of mine had a '78 that looked just like it, and it was a Brigadier. It was a '9500', but it did have Brigadier nameplates on the hood sides. Were the MH 9500 and Brigadier 9500 all that different?

[lapazleo]

Forgot to respond. The milatary truck in question is a Topkick, sort of a Brigadier style hood with a GM pick up cab. The Brigadier had the old heavy truck "J" cab introduced about 1966 in long and short hood versions. The short hood versions were updated about 1977 and called Brigadiers a very small few had the old butterfly hood but most had the newer tlit hood. As far as the long hood version goes like the resin mh9500 Jacobus posted it was replaced by the General. The Topkick was powered by a Cat 3208 in various ratings although I can't say about the military version in question. I agree the AMT ford Lnt 8000 would be a good start even the 1160 Cat engine resembles the newer 3208.