1/25 Jeep Gladiator

[slusher]

Casey what kits did those Goodyear Wrangler tires come in?

Never mind...

[Casey]

I lengthened the cab floor so it now reaches the rear cab wall, and added some longitudinal ribs which will be sandwiched between the frame rails and cab floor. I also added four braces which extend outward from the ribs to the rocker panels, on top of which I will add the cab mount braces/brackets:

 

I filled in a bit of the rear cab wall's bottom edge and opened up the driveshaft notch to match the cab floor's tunnel, so there should be plenty of clearance now. I decided to use a Dana 20 transfer case, which will move the rear driveshaft back inline with the engine/trans centerline, rather than being offset to the right side:

 

The inner rear cab wall will be mostly hidden by the bench seat, but I still need something to help locate the door panels and support the dashboard, so that's where I'm starting on the interior, with door and kick panels to follow:

[disabled modeler]

NICE...!

[Davewilly]

Its coming together nicely!

[Chuck Most]

[Fabrux]

Casey,  I have to ask out of affinity for the venerable six cylinder: have you considering putting the AMC 258 in this from the MPC Pacer?

[martinfan5]

Very nice work , you are making it look easy.

[71_Sears]

Casey,  I have to ask out of affinity for the venerable six cylinder: have you considering putting the AMC 258 in this from the MPC Pacer?

I second that! That would make for an awesome truck!

[Casey]

Casey,  I have to ask out of affinity for the venerable six cylinder: have you considering putting the AMC 258 in this from the MPC Pacer?

Sorry, no Tornado six for this one. Maybe if I build another (or a Cherokee) I would go that route, but I wanted to use an early AMC V-8 on this project.

I have seen what you suggested done though...somewhere...by someone... http://offroadmodels.proboards.com/thread/1599/1980-jeep-j10 

[Casey]

After looking at many, many early AMC V8 pictures, it was time to start modifying the Cadillac engine block. I added some material (well, the long walls of a 1x1x3 LEGO brick, to be exact) to the bottom of the block, the added a thin strips of styrene vertically on both sides to create the block skirts. I sliced of what remained of the molded in timing cover, sanded front block faces flat, then rummaged through my engine parts bin to see what I had available in terms of oil pans. The JO-HAN late AMC V8 oil pan wasn't great, and I ruined the Cadillac oil pan sanding the front corners too aggressively, so I found an AMT '70 Monte Carlo BBC oil pan which was just right. I removed the molded on oil filter, filled a gap on the pan's lip, and installed it. I dug through the FE-series(?) engine parts from the AMT '67 Mercury Comet and found nicely detailed timing cover with a bottom edge which seals against the oil pan (like the AMC V8's), and also a nice water pump, too, which I plan to use. After some block prep the timing cover was plastic welded into position. I think I'm going to use the Cadillac's water crossover/bypass, as it looks close to the AMC V8's. Here's that piece, and the water pump:

 

Timing cover installed on the block:

 

The engine so far:

 

I need to add some engine mount brackets and freeze plug details, as well as engine block ridges on which the front and rear edges of the valley pan rest. The distributor hole will need to be relocated, and a new valley pan formed, as the Cadillac V8's valley pan is quite different.

[Casey]

I worked on the bed today, adding a front wall which was made from the Revell '65 pickup's rear cab wall, shortened (vertically) a bit. Not exactly correct, but it'll do:

 

The off-white filler pieces were necessary due to the box-stock kit's too short wheelbase. When I originally cut the bed free separated from the cab, it made the gap between the front of the bed to the cab even greater, so I knew I would have to make that distance up at some point. I should've made some resin copies of the rear bed caps/ends, but I glued those to the bed sides, so that was no longer possible. I wanted to add some type of boxed in structure to the front vertical corners of the bed anyway, so this is a good start. The bed is as square as I could get it, and it matches up well with the cab profile, too. I left the filler pieces and front bed wall wider than necessary so I could sand them to match the bedside's profile:

 

Below is the cleaned up frame in front of the cab and bed, with the rear axle centerlines aligned:

 

The green marks on the front end of the frame are where the box stock axle centerline was located, which is a good 1/4"+ too far to the rear now:

 

No biggie, really. I will add a filler piece to the frame rails to get thing realigned, and since I'm not using any of the kit's suspension, new mounting points are required anyway.

I found a deep-dish style 5-lug, 5-slot style wheel which fits well inside the Goodyear Wrangler Radial tires, so I will probably narrow them a bit and add some hub detail.

[Olderisbetter]

I'm not sure what year you are trying to replicate. But about 1968-71 J series had 350 Buick engines with a Turbo 400 and a Dana 20. Might consider that option.

[Havamodeler]

I love see these more detail orientated builds. Keep up the awesome work!

[Chariots of Fire]

Casey what size photos are you posting?  I'm having some trouble getting mine in for some reason.

[Casey]

Casey what size photos are you posting?  I'm having some trouble getting mine in for some reason.

The above pic of the body and frame is 1600x1000 pixels, so a fairly good size image.

I'm not sure what year you are trying to replicate. But about 1968-71 J series had 350 Buick engines with a Turbo 400 and a Dana 20. Might consider that option.

I'm going for something a little earlier, which is why I am going with the early AMC V8...though the Buick engine would be easier for sure.

[gatorincebu]

Casey,

         Awesome work on this project. And it is looking better all the time.

 

 

 

  Be Well

    Gator

[Casey]

Well, despite my effort creating a rear cab wall, I was never 100% satisfied with it, so I decided to use another Revell '65 Chevy rear cab wall. Not only is this Chevy rear cab wall a decent, easy-to-find-inside-a-kit piece, but it matches the forward bed wall, too...even though that's not really true to the 1:1 pickup, either.  The good news is you can see almost none of the rear cab wall once the cab and bed or mounted to the frame, so I think I'll be at ease with the decision to use the Chevy cab wall.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must confess to replacing the original rear cab wall I made with a cab wall from an AMT '60 Chevy Fleetside kit, which was a not very well thought out decision in hindsight. While the '60 Chevy wall was better than what I came up with and had nice stamped recesses, the wall section itself ended up a bit recessed, instead of flush with the cab edges, and it didn't match the forward bed wall, so it had to come out. 

With another '65 Chevy rear cab wall in hand, I did some measuring (twice!), cutting (yep, once), and sanding until the new wall fit well enough to permanently attach to the cab. Now I'm happy:

 

I also did some fitting and sanding along the joint where the rear cab wall and floorpan meet, so that's pretty close to finished, too:

 

I set the cab parts aside and did a little work on the bed, too, adding a small piece of C-channel into which the front edge of the bed floor will slide like so:

 

Adding this piece provides a more positive locating method for the multiple bed floor-to-bed test fitting session which lie ahead. The wheel wells are going to be a challenge fit-wise, so I will make everything slightly oversized, then sand, test fit, and repeat until they are just right. Here you can see my first failed effort at a bed floor, but also how the floor piece fits into the bed itself:

 

The top rear edge of the bed floor should be flush with the top edge of the valence panel, so I will add a piece of right angle channel underneath, again to positively locate the bed floor. So far, the bed floor is trimmed to the correct length:

 

One last shot of some (very minor) sanding progress on the shim piece I added to the front of the the bedside. I can't recall off-hand if the fuel filler on the bedside needs to be changed or moved, but I'll leave it for now:

[mikemodeler]

That is looking very good Casey. makes me afraid to build mine because I don't have the patience to improve it like you have.

[jeffs396]

Looking good!

Casey, this is a '65. You'll have to change the fuel filler, and taillights to match your small window early truck like this one. Mine is a '74 and still has the small flush filler, but large window, and large tails...

 

Edited January 28, 2017 by jeffs396

[1972coronet]

Not sure how or why I missed this WIP  the first time , but now it's got my attention and interest !

Wasn't the  Tornado 6 an OHC engine ? Not that you're going that route ; I just thought that the Tornado was similar to the Pontiac 230 / 250 OHC ?

[gatorincebu]

Casey,

         You ought to cast the cab back wall. i would go for two !

 

 

 

Be Well

  Gator

[mikemodeler]

I am reviving this thread because the reissue should be out in January and maybe that will spur Casey to finish this one! 

Lots of good information here along with some helpful tips on creating a more realistic looking Jeep Pickup.

[dino246gt]

This is a great project, are you doing the early style front grill area as well? Great work so far and I can't wait to see more!

[Chariots of Fire]

I hope that this kit gets reissued pretty soon!

[mikemodeler]

On 12/9/2017 at 7:15 PM, Chariots of Fire said:

I hope that this kit gets reissued pretty soon!

Last I heard it was to be out in January, we can always hope the ship gets here early from China!