mackinac359

A question was posed on another post about using the Italeri Peterbilt 63" stand-up sleeper from the Italeri 1/24th scale kits on a 1/25th scale Peterbilt 359. For a short time before the end of the run of the model 359, Peterbilt offered a 63" stand up sleeper for the 359 and 349. The stand-up sleeper was slightly different from the one in the Italeri kit - the right side had a full size entry door (matching the left side) at the rear of the right side. The interior layout was different too. Because of the scale height difference, you will need to remove material from the top of the sleeper box (before roof install) so that the roof seam on the sleeper box and the roof seam on the cab are at the same level - keep in mine the bottom of the sleeper and the bottom of the cab also should be at the same level. The 359 sleepers did not have air ride like the Italeri sleeper (the Italeri kit is a later year Unibilt air ride sleeper). I built a Revell of Germany 359 with a resin hood for a 359-27 (long hood) with the Italeri sleeper. You can see the right hand door and the elimination of the air ride mounts. I cheated and just grafted another Italeri left side sleeper door onto the right.. which created an incorrect 'suicide' door. The hinge should be forward and the latch on the rear. Grafting a Revell of Germany door would be a better choice, although it would be slightly smaller due to the scale difference. Eric at P&P resin casts a raised roof cap for the Revell of Germany 63" flat top sleeper. To be year-correct, you would need to move the right side sleeper door to the rear. With all that said, many a 359 was retrofitted with a later air ride sleeper and you wouldn't have to move the door. Here's a real 1986-built 359 with a factory installed stand-up sleeper. Note the door location on the sleeper. The left side of the sleeper is just like the Italeri kit piece. Tim

You're off to a great start! Tim

For those building aa standard fender 351, the step board skirt should be a solid piece, not the split piece (the split is for a tilt hood). The real panel is attached to the chassis at the cab mount and the fender. There is then an angled step inside the corner where the fender and the skirt attach. Here's a nice side view of a 70's vintage 351L Left view... Tim

You're right on target with the fenders ! Tim

351 (depending on the year) would be available with the Hendrickson suspensions, the Western Unit Stabiliare from the original kit and Page and Page suspensions. Engines - Detroit Diesel, Cummins and later in the 60's Caterpillar. (more likley a Cummins). The interior - Peterbilts upholstry was smooth, not the ribbed seats that Monogram/Revell molded the seats in. The clutch comes up through the floor and takes a turn. A auxilliary transmission (twin sticks) was available. This one shows twin sticks.. This one is a restoration I hope these help. Tim

Super nice !

Nice aging ! Tim

Nice work! The windshield 'glass' looks so much better in the right position rather than the recessed look of the kit glass tub. The photoetch grille and air intake make for a much better, more realistic look. I like the step stirrups in place of the pockets and ladders. For Jesse - White-Freightliner offered dozens of exhaust configurations. Single, dual, rack mounted like the kit, wide-spread rack mount, back of cab single/dual, recessed single (like Denis' great build shows here) or dual or under the frame. Air cleaners could be under cab, back of cab, back of cab recessed, rack mounted, rack mounted center, dual rack mounted center. Pretty much anything was possible. Tim

The yellow P'bilt is a model 351L - meant for the logging industry. Tim

Looks great! Tim

Sweet !

This will be a beast ! Tim

Looks good ! Tim

Wonderful build !! Tim

That's going to look tough ! Tim

Very period correct looking. Tim

Lots of interesting show and working trucks. Nice comparison between a 389 and a 359 Big Dog on the lot Cool Brockway 759 Got some left over Peterbilt parts and want to build something military.. combine them like this guy did ! Pete air ride on it too! KW W900 roll off was sharp. Tracy's W900 was sharp as well... Here's the link to the photos.. http://public.fotki.com/mackinac359/truck-shows/richard-crane-memor-3/ Tim

Alaskan Hauler uses 98% of the parts from the W925 kit that had the tool highly modified by Ertl to create the T600. Round2 would have to repair the tool or retool several parts to make the kit viable again. Tim

Wow! Nice. Great color combo too. Tim

I like it!

Looks good.

Of all of the Big Horn resin conversions, the Illini version is/was the best of the bunch. I used the AMT Diamond Reo chassis for mine. Tim

Roof mounted condensers were the normal mounting locations on all Peterbilts from the 1960's until the mid 1970's when grille mounted condensers were developed. Before 1971, the big square looking box (several companies made these, so the shapes are slightly different) were used by Peterbilt (and other makes). In 1971 they started using a low-profile roof unit (same part in the AMT T501 and later reissues). This low-profile unit was a Kysor. It was available until the mid 1980's. The location of the condenser depended on the hood and the engine specified. For example, a 1976-80 model 359 could have a roof mount or a grille mount but no grille mount with a certain due to air flow requirements of the engine. However, a 1976 model 348 could only have a roof mount due to the size of the grille area. The grille mounted condenser protruded from the front of the grille by about two inches. The above photo from the 1975 brochure Class Of The Industry shows a 359-119 (same BBC as the AMT, Revell and Revell snap kits) shows the grille mounted condenser on the 359, but the 352 cabover sports the Kysor low profile unit. The roof unit on the cabovers went away with the intruduction of the 362 in 1981. This 359 has the low profile unit. This is the 359 that AMT based it's T501 kit on. The Revell snap kit is similar, but about 8 years newer with the rounded door corner sleeper, Dash of Class instrument panel and Alcoa wheels. If you had a roof top unit, the hoses to it were plumbed up the back of the cab like this, with a metal cover over the vertical run. In 1977 the front of the grille mounted condenser was being designed to be mounted in front of the radiator (out of harms way from minor damage). This option became available in the early 80s. By the mid 80's the roof-top unit was mostly gone unless a customer really wanted it. In the photo below are two 359's - one is a 1979 from the '79 brochure (bottom) - the '79 has a fiberglass hood and the roof top unit. The '82 brochure (top) has the behind the grille/in front of radiator condenser. This is the look most familiar in the 80's for the 359. Generally, in the 60's and 70's, if you didn't see the rooftop unit, or the grille didn't stick out a bit, the Pete didn't have air conditioning. With that said, a lot of trucks were retrofitted at a rebuild with a radiator mounted unit eliminating the roof unit. In the 'old days' the a/c unit looked like this Most of the construction trucks had roof top units if spec'd with a/c. There's your Peterbilt lesson for today. Tim

A very classic paint scheme. Tim

No photo attached ? Tim