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44 minutes ago, mistermodel said:

I'd like to ad a few things.the single bar grill is a series 61 cab ,nothing to do with raised or older configuration.I think a twin bar grilled series 71 is 7 inches wider.The interior padding could be virtually any colour for the kits vintage.The kit has a sever duty cab option,if memory serves me correct the boxed under door steps were part of it if they were ordered.The angled raised panels on the front are part of the sever package.|AMT missed a few delails,the headlight location ,the angle on the side profile is too high. I guess it has to do with the headlight measurements being off. The front axle as with most amt kits is too wide,exaggerated by the narrow 61 series cab.There should be a window gasket instead of rivets around the peep window.Also the doors should have 3 ribs instead of 2.Freightliners were purely a custom built truck so almost anything was a go.My favorite truck and kit,so I don't mind dealing with the cab seams

The AMT Freightliner COE kit is a  61 series raised cab. Like you say, it is easily identified by a single vertical "bar" in the grille.  Raised cab refers to a later model 61 series cab which is about 3" higher than the first 61 series cabs which were later called low profile cabs to distinguish the two versions.  The 61 series low profile weren't any lower than the original 61 series but they were not raised.  So the original 61 series became low profile and the raised cab was the 61 series raised cab. Sometimes the Freightliner world can become confusing.  61 series cabs were built at 90.38" wide from exterior cab skin to exterior cab skin.  The low profile cab had a solid plate below the grill and the raised cab had a panel perforated with the grill pattern.  The raised cab also had room below the door for the integrated box step instead of the previous loop step design.  Just a quick note on the optional severe service panels on the front of the cab in the AMT kit - the noseskin panels were made of steel and riveted over the standard noseskin.  The AMT kit measures right on for width.

as you've noted, the 71 series is easily identified by  2 vertical bars in the grille.  Also known as a Stretch cab, The 71 series is 4" wider than the 61 series at 94.38 (F/L Sales Data Book dimensions)  The extra width is in the center of the cab to make the engine tunnel wider for larger radiators in the Super Cooling Power Package required for more horsepower.

Although Freightliners were (and still are) custom specced trucks, the Interior colors available from Freightliner were limited to a standard selection of colors, but custom upholstery after the truck was delivered could be anything.  Not common, but also not unusual - some dealers had things set up with upholstery shops to do the work before the truck was delivered to a customer. 

I have to build one of these things someday so the building tips and details are helpful and much appreciated.

 

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I sure am gleening a lot of info from this column, I was always wondering about the grille differince . I always thought it was just the Powerliner that was a 4inch wider cab. And thanks to the info on the two story, I never thought about a trap door!

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33 minutes ago, PettyKW43 said:

I sure am gleening a lot of info from this column, I was always wondering about the grille differince . I always thought it was just the Powerliner that was a 4inch wider cab. And thanks to the info on the two story, I never thought about a trap door!

had these saved ,just had to find them

wflpenthouse.jpg

wflpenthouse2.jpg

wflpenthouse3.jpg

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3 hours ago, mistermodel said:

found these.my dad had one with orange interior

wflinterior.jpg

 

 

 

Ok, I'll go with that.   Thank you for posting the color chart. I learned something.  My familiarity with Freightliner starts with the late 70's and the color selection was much more limited by then.  Most of those colors were gone.  

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On 1/3/2018 at 5:05 PM, Muncie said:

My Freightliner knowledge is based on what I saw in the later part of the 70's, but Freightliner didn't change the interior colors very often so I would say it was the same in 1971-73.

The diamond pattern upholstery in the AMT kit is the Brougham option.   Brougham colors available were blue, red (kind of a burgundy), saddle (tan), and  green (dark avocado - it was the 70's).  I don't remember black upholstery in Brougham but it may have been possible.  The dash and console on the tunnel were molded in black ABS (semi-gloss) with woodgrain instrument panels - black instrument rings.  There were custom shops that could stitch up interiors in other colors that were not offered by Freightliner.  Vintage Freightliner brochures on the internet are the best guide for detail colors.  The letter "C" stitched on the sleeper curtain is an option for a specific customer - it's a rare custom option so I wish AMT had left it plain diamonds.  Brougham came with a metalflake plastic steering wheel to match _i'm not making that up.

The Custom interior level had smooth pattern vinyl upholstery in black or tan. no diamonds.  The standard interior - only specced by a few fleets was able board - probably black in the early 70s - production changed in the mid/late 70's to turf tan.  Able board looked very similar to painted cardboard.  Custom level and standard interiors came with an ivory colored steering wheel.

 

 

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6 hours ago, mistermodel said:

had these saved ,just had to find them

wflpenthouse.jpg

wflpenthouse2.jpg

wflpenthouse3.jpg

That makes a lot more sense than what I was thinking. Great photos of a pretty rare truck configuration.

 

6 hours ago, mistermodel said:

found these.my dad had one with orange interior

wflinterior.jpg

wflinterior2.jpg

wflinterior3.jpg

wflinterior4.jpg

These charts are so cool! If only we still had a selection like this today..

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Well thank you Mistermodel, that’s fabulous info on that truck and thanks to all for their input! That’s what makes this hobby great!! As soon as the KW Road Train project and the 50’s Peterbilt 351 coe haywagon project are done I think the two story White Freightliner needs to be done! Not sure if I will go horizontal or vertical Cummins yet , depends on how much in the way of chassis shots of how the sideways engine mounts and plumbing I can come up with. Plus I don’t want another two year project!

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On 1/22/2018 at 12:12 AM, PettyKW43 said:

Well thank you Mistermodel, that’s fabulous info on that truck and thanks to all for their input! That’s what makes this hobby great!! As soon as the KW Road Train project and the 50’s Peterbilt 351 coe haywagon project are done I think the two story White Freightliner needs to be done! Not sure if I will go horizontal or vertical Cummins yet , depends on how much in the way of chassis shots of how the sideways engine mounts and plumbing I can come up with. Plus I don’t want another two year project!

I haven't seen many pictures of a horizontal Cummins engine, I would also like to see how these engines worked.

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Looking under the pancake engine heading I have a good idea now of the mounting, plus all the plumbing part of it the only thing I haven’t seen yet is the actual chassis, did the rails kick up or down to accommodate the engine . I could speculate or guess but I want to be as accurate as I can before I start this project ! But a big part of the fun for me is the research and the engineering of these things! I looked at a lot of pictures of Australian trucks before I began the road train project. If I can find out how to post pictures off an IPhone I will start a post if anyone wants to see it.

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5 hours ago, PettyKW43 said:

Looking under the pancake engine heading I have a good idea now of the mounting, plus all the plumbing part of it the only thing I haven’t seen yet is the actual chassis, did the rails kick up or down to accommodate the engine . I could speculate or guess but I want to be as accurate as I can before I start this project ! But a big part of the fun for me is the research and the engineering of these things! I looked at a lot of pictures of Australian trucks before I began the road train project. If I can find out how to post pictures off an IPhone I will start a post if anyone wants to see it.

It would be really cool to see any pictures you have for progress or reference! I wish I could help you with posting from an iPhone, since I have a Samsung and I don't know if it is different or not.

Edited by TheSDTrucker
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  • 3 years later...

My last build I had too sand down the peepwindow a god bit and the lip on the  Interior for it too fit in the cab.

On 1/2/2018 at 4:03 PM, Jim B said:

Good luck with your build.  Stuffing a 8V71T under there should be interesting.

It will be. I tryed it my self and gave up.

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