R. Thorne Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 As the title suggests, I am going to build a couple of early model (1955 chevy) D and F GAS and I am looking for the common 3/4 ton early GM truck rears. Resin or kits availability? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 Like this old Eaton HO-52? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 (edited) 17 hours ago, R. Thorne said: As the title suggests, I am going to build a couple of early model (1955 chevy) D and F GAS and I am looking for the common 3/4 ton early GM truck rears. Resin or kits availability? No such luck in a kit, unfortunately, as most commonly available truck kits which would be era appropriate ('50, '55, and '60 Chevy, and '50 Ford) are light duty (1/2 ton) with five-lug wheels. I think the Revell '41 Chevy rearend might work, though-- see below post. Edited January 29, 2020 by Casey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 Not available in truck kits, but there are period heavier truck axles in several vintage drag car kits. One source of a six-bolt (wheel) rear end looking a lot like the Eaton is the Revell Stone Woods Cook Willys gasser. The Revell Anglia and Thames have similar rear axle housings. There's a bigger one, possibly over-scale, in the Revell Miss Deal Studebaker funny car. You can make the brake drums up from styrene tube, and the wheels and hubs to match your photo should be available from one of the dirt-track aftermarket resin sources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Thorne Posted January 29, 2020 Author Share Posted January 29, 2020 Thank you gentlemen. Much appreciated. I don’t know what the rear end was called but it was used in 49-55 or so 3/4 ton trucks. The wheels they used were 8 lug I believe. These rear were used for the ease of flat towing (just remove the bolts and the axle(s) slid out and you are ready to tow) . Also, the rears came stock with really low gears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 (edited) 46 minutes ago, R. Thorne said: ... I don’t know what the rear end was called but it was used in 49-55 or so 3/4 ton trucks. The wheels they used were 8 lug I believe... That would be the Eaton HO-52 then. Here are 8-bolt wheels with center hubs from BNL Resin too. http://www.b-n-lresins.com/shoppingopencart/Aftermarket-resin-cast-1-24-1-25-scale-hobby-model--wheels/resin-cast-1-24-1-25-scale-model-8-Lug-4X4-Wheels Edited January 29, 2020 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Smith Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 (edited) Kind of weird the lack of full floating rear ends in model world... Joseph at Fireball Modelworks has 8 lug full floater in his Ford 3/4 conversion kit - he might sell just the rear wheels. I don’t know if the axle would be appropriate or not. Edited January 29, 2020 by Erik Smith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 (edited) Here's an image of the parts tree with the axle from the Revell Miss Deal kit. With a little research and a little simple arithmetic, you can easily compare the dimensions with known dimensions on the 392 Hemi block to check it for scale accuracy. Edited January 29, 2020 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 (edited) Here's a shot of the rear axle in the Revell Anglia and Thames. Same design as in the Miss Deal kit, but smaller, though still the appropriate style housing for your application. This one looks to me to be more scale-correct, but I don't have time to research the real full-scale dimensions right now. Edited January 29, 2020 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Thorne Posted January 29, 2020 Author Share Posted January 29, 2020 Bill, Erik, and Casey, you guys are the greatest. Thank you very much. Ron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 (edited) 11 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said: Here are 8-bolt wheels with center hubs from BNL Resin too. Those are 1/20 scale wheels-- too large for 1/25 scale. Correction-- the Revell '41 Chevy pickup has a rearend which I think would work for you: Edited January 29, 2020 by Casey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 4 minutes ago, Casey said: Those are 1/20 scale wheels-- too large for 1/25 scale. Then perhaps you can explain why they say 1/25-1/24 right there on the selling page, and even in the web address for the page...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Smith Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 (edited) Forgot that Scene’s Unlimited has some really great 8 lug steel wheels with full floating hubs - in 1/25 and 1/24. One with separate hubs and one with molded in: Edited January 30, 2020 by Erik Smith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Thorne Posted January 30, 2020 Author Share Posted January 30, 2020 Once again, thank you, guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 14 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said: Then perhaps you can explain why they say 1/25-1/24 right there on the selling page, and even in the web address for the page...? There is no listed actual diameter, so sure, they could pass as 18" wheels in 1/24 scale, with a bolt circle diameter of 7.525", too... They are the 1/20 scale MPC wheels from the 1/25 scale Baja Brute Dodge Pickup, which have a very distinct cone shaped front locking hub. There is at least one five slot Halibrand style six lug wheel, too, but I'm not sure which kit it is from. I can post a pic of it in a day or two if you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul alflen Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 What about the axles /wheels in the Tommy Ivo 4 Buick engine dragster "SHOWBOAT"???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 22 minutes ago, paul alflen said: What about the axles /wheels in the Tommy Ivo 4 Buick engine dragster "SHOWBOAT"???? Those are Haibrand quick change style axle assemblies, and the wheels are five-lug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul alflen Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 Thanks Casey, the thought came into my head this morning at work so I didn't have time to check out the kit at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 (edited) On 1/30/2020 at 1:49 AM, Casey said: There is no listed actual diameter, so sure, they could pass as 18" wheels in 1/24 scale, with a bolt circle diameter of 7.525", too... They are the 1/20 scale MPC wheels from the 1/25 scale Baja Brute Dodge Pickup, which have a very distinct cone shaped front locking hub. There is at least one five slot Halibrand style six lug wheel, too, but I'm not sure which kit it is from. I can post a pic of it in a day or two if you like. Thanks for posting enough additional info so the "they're 1/20 scale" makes sense. The rear wheels in the first Revell SWC Willys are 6-bolt 4-slots. EDIT: I just used 'em as the pattern to drill the Revell parts-pack wheels I'm using on my M/SP Corvette build, which runs a light truck rear end. Edited January 31, 2020 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boss 302 mustang Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 Aren't the Anglia, Thames and S-W-C WIllys using Olds rear ends? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 (edited) 6 hours ago, boss 302 mustang said: Aren't the Anglia, Thames and S-W-C WIllys using Olds rear ends? The Revell SWC Willys was the first in the line. The real car used a truck axle when it was modeled, and the model correctly reflects that with six-bolt wheels. It looks like Revell elected to copy the axle tooling for the Anglia and Thames, but the kits have 5-bolt wheels. Other carry-over tooling is much of the engine, and gearbox. Though there's a lot of talk around about the Anglia and Thames having Olds axles, to the best of my real-car remembry, the desirable '57 and later Olds axle does not have a removable rear cover...as the Anglia and Thames rear ends do. The '56 and earlier Pontiac/Olds axles do have removable rear covers...I believe. EDIT: Maybe not EDIT 2: SEE 2nd POST BELOW So the Anglia kits can probably be said to have pre-'57 Olds/Pontiac rear ends. EDIT: Apparently not...still checking. EDIT 2: SEE 2nd POST BELOW BUT...file the bolt heads off the rear cover on the Thames and Anglia rears, and file the right half of the rear cover flat, and they'll look close enough to a '57 and later Olds/Pontiac to pass. Like zo... For what it's worth, there's plenty of confusion in the real-car world when it comes to positively identifying these old rears, even when there are cast and stamped-in numbers as clues. EDIT: I'll happily be corrected by anybody who actually knows. Edited February 1, 2020 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Thorne Posted February 1, 2020 Author Share Posted February 1, 2020 Once again, thank you all for your efforts to help. Bill, the 1950-1956 Oldsmobile and pontiac rear ends are “hogs head” style (no removable rear cover and center section comes out from the front). I had a 1953 Oldsmobile NHRA stocker and actually pulled a 4.30 gear from a 1950 Pontiac hearse and put it in my car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 (edited) 45 minutes ago, R. Thorne said: ... Bill, the 1950-1956 Oldsmobile and pontiac rear ends are “hogs head” style (no removable rear cover and center section comes out from the front). I had a 1953 Oldsmobile NHRA stocker and actually pulled a 4.30 gear from a 1950 Pontiac hearse and put it in my car. Thanks. Now I'm going down the internet rabbit hole, trying to get a few good pix. I could almost swear I remember a Pontiac housing in those years that did have a bolt-on rear cover, but I could very well be wrong. It's been a long, long, long time since I've had my hands on one. EDIT: I found a Rodder's Journal article identifying the Olds/Poncho housings and pumpkins. Looks like the pre-'57 housings had a round rear cover stamping, while most of the later housings had the cover with the stamped in ring-gear clearance dimple. Pumpkins on the right. Close enough for model car work. Edited February 1, 2020 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Most Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 (edited) Just here to verify that the Miss Deal rear axle is, indeed, a tad too large to look convincing. It seems closer in size to a 40's 1-1/2 ton axle and would probably be more suitable for something like that, if it were a 2-speed. Reworking one of the aforementioned Revell Anglia kit axles might be the way to go. On the plus side? 8 bolt wheels are the easy part of your search. On the left are the W28 1:25 scale wheels from Scenes Unlimited, and on the right are the W44 1:24 scale units from the same caster. The separate floating hubs are below the wheels. Here is the W28 in an AMT M&H slick, with the W44 in a Revell M&H slick. The W44 is just a tad small for the Revell opening, despite the wheel being 1:24 and the tire being 1:25, but it would work if the wheel back pushed it out far enough to look seated on the bead. On the other hand, the W28s fit the AMT slicks like a tailored suit. The BNL castings of the old MPC 4x4 wheels were mentioned. Here's a comparison of them with the W28 in the AMT slick. You can see how large and deep they are. Now, Ford did offer a 19.5" wheel as an option on the F-250 in the '50's and early '60's. In a pinch these might be passable for those. But they were rare and much narrower than depicted in the MPC wheel. Sure, you could say they're widened Ford wheels but I doubt anybody was making a racing slick for a 19.5" wheel in that period, or today. Much less one that had been widened. Edited February 1, 2020 by Chuck Most Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Thorne Posted February 1, 2020 Author Share Posted February 1, 2020 Chuck, that info is very much appreciated. Bill, your answers are always accurate and appropriate. Thanks to all that have replied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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