Moebius 67-72 Ford Pick-up news

[von Zipper]

Thank you , Matt

[my80malibu]

I have the engine mocked in place, somehow with the cab in place, the engine appears a little taller than it should be?

Edited July 14, 2015 by my80malibu

[thatz4u]

Ain't that the truth.

But I'm very happy that this generation of Ford trucks has finally been made in 1/25 scale. Bravo to Moebius for undertaking this project .

This kit is a mixed bag for me. It has a lot of good points and a few problems so far. My first big issue is the box art of the '69 . It shows a low end Custom Cab but the kit is clearly more to the trim level of a Ranger Sport . If it was a low trim Custom Cab it would not have the rocker panel trim or the chrome trim down the 'bump' -sure it can be sanded off .

So far I have about 8 hours into a '69 kit, 2 of those hours have been spent cold bending the hood and sanding the edges to make it sit square to the fenders and fix the firewall/cowl , also filled the gap around the firewall .

The chassis was very nice & easy to assemble partially due to the excellent instructions .

I think a few pictures will show it better than words=

This is the look I'm going for with this '69

I pre ordered 2-1969s and 2-1971s on April 7th 2015 , After I got the kits and have been reading the pros and cons....... And actually started building one I got another '69 and another '71 for a total of 6 so far . I'm very happy with my purchase so far and still like Moebius kits .

(HEY-Why does the red line show under the word Moebius like it's spelled wrong ? )

the Revell step side bed fits well on the model king frame

[von Zipper]

Thanks for the tip on the Revell step box, Al , I have an AMT '53 Ford box that seems to fit very nice as well .

I have not tried to mock up the straight 6 , I'm using the 289/302 from an AMT '67 Mustang , but would like to see the issue mentioned above with the 240 I6 fit .

[thatz4u]

AMT 289 looks small in the truck engine bay, maybe it also does in the real truck..

[71impala]

I'm very happy to get this truck, after waiting so long for its release! Is it me, or is that 69 grille off?

It seems like the headlight doors are too wide! I first thought that the headlights were too small, but they measure seven scale inches.

[mike 51]

I'm very happy to get this truck, after waiting so long for its release! Is it me, or is that 69 grille off?

It seems like the headlight doors are too wide! I first thought that the headlights were too small, but they measure seven scale inches.

The grille is supposed to be in 4 equal sections...they missed this measurement and made the headlight surrounds way too big.

You're right, there's nothing wrong with the headlights themselves.

Hopefully a resin caster will offer a corrected grille soon....Moebius doesn't seem interested.

Edited July 14, 2015 by mike 51

[JJ Deuce]

The grille is supposed to be in 4 equal sections...they missed this measurement and made the headlight surrounds way too big.

You're right, there's nothing wrong with the headlights themselves.

Hopefully a resin caster will offer a corrected grille soon....Moebius doesn't seem interested.

-_______-

Edited July 14, 2015 by JJ Deuce

[slusher]

I have been thinking of buying a 69 kit. So are the cabs warped in the box or is it rare??? i hate to waste any money...

[my80malibu]

I have the engine mocked in place, somehow with the cab in place, the engine appears a little taller than it should be?

It does look pretty tall in there. One thing that may help is to flip the oil pan around. The sump should be at the rear. I would also scoot the firewall back and make it flush with the cowl (that's where it should be located) so you have more room at the rear of the engine. I have the six cylinder coming in a trade. Once I get it, I can compare it to a real engine that I have here. The size of the engine looks right. It may just be that it's too high in the frame.

I ddidn't realize that I may have the oil pan on backwards it is pin specific if I remember correctly I am used to Ford V8's with the oil pump & sump being in frontfront.

[mk11]

I have been thinking of buying a 69 kit. So are the cabs warped in the box or is it rare??? i hate to waste any money...

If you buy one online, ask them if they'll check the kit before they send it

 

mike

 

[Badluck 13]

I have a old parts book (64-72 Ford truck) with illustrations and I can check on the 240,its been years since I have seen one but I think the sump was mid-ship towards the front....

Edited July 21, 2015 by Badluck 13

[von Zipper]

One of the things that has been bothering me , from the pictures people have posted of their truck models is the way the tail lights bulge out of the opening , they should be flush of even counter sunk . So I sanded the back side of the bezel and now they fit flush and look a little better to my eye .

  

 

 

Opps=sent the same picture twice *

 

[von Zipper]

One of the things that has been bothering me , from the pictures people have posted of their truck models is the way the tail lights bulge out of the opening , they should be flush of even counter sunk . So I sanded the back side of the bezel and now they fit flush and look a little better to my eye .

That does look a lot better. Are your lenses curved? Mine were curved the wrong way. They fit the bezels better if I turned the detail inside. I sanded the smooth side of the lenses until they were flat, then painted them again. That allowed me to leave the back up lights clear. 

No- my lenses are flat with detail on one side and smooth on the other side . I did not sand the lenses at all .

The back side of the chrome bezel is curved and has a locating tab so I just sanded it smooth with a flat sanding stick until the back side of the bezel/light pocket came thru . The bezel sits back further in the opening and the light sits against the 1/4 panel instead of inside the bezel .

* IF this kit was a true low end Custom Cab as the box art says it would not have the chrome trim around the tail lights  **

  

 

Edited July 21, 2015 by von Zipper

[mk11]

One of the things that has been bothering me , from the pictures people have posted of their truck models is the way the tail lights bulge out of the opening , they should be flush of even counter sunk . So I sanded the back side of the bezel and now they fit flush and look a little better to my eye .

That does look a lot better. Are your lenses curved? Mine were curved the wrong way. They fit the bezels better if I turned the detail inside. I sanded the smooth side of the lenses until they were flat, then painted them again. That allowed me to leave the back up lights clear. 

 

* IF this kit was a true low end Custom Cab as the box art says it would not have the chrome trim around the tail lights  **

  

 

The custom cab package was one step up from the base model, including shiny windshield, door, cluster and tail light trim with the aluminum grill and chrome front bumper. Prior to '69, the chrome front bumper had to be ordered separately. There's actually two different tail light chrome treatments in 1:1; the bigger chrome piece for tutone trucks which surrounds the lens and the custom cab trim which sits on the lens. (pics from fordification)

.

mike

[von Zipper]

In the spring of 1968 my Dad bought a brand new F100 , it was pale yellow with a white painted grill and white front bumper , when he got it there was no rear bumper so he had a Ford step bumper installed-that bumper was painted silver .

The only option that truck had was an AM radio=no power steering or power brakes ,  a 390 with a 3 speed in the column, it had a plain black leather seat with no pattern and black rubber floor - if I remember correct it had a "Custom" badge on the glove box door too .

It had chrome badges on the rear pillar of the cab that said "Custom Cab" and 390 badges on the lower front fenders-No other chrome trim , for sure none around the tail lights and it had a plain stamped tailgate that said Ford in white - no chrome panel there either . I don't remember if it had chrome around the windshield or just the rubber seal .

I'll  try to find pictures of that truck and post them .

[von Zipper]

 

The rear of my Dads truck looked just like this one .

http://www.fordification.com/tech/trim.htm

This says the '68 Custom Cab could have  come with either an aluminum grill or a painted steel grill

Edited July 22, 2015 by von Zipper

[mk11]

I believe that steel grill reference to be in error, Chris. The whole point of the Custom Cab trim level was an upgrade over the plain jane base truck and perhaps your dad's truck was one of those assembly line anomalies, where pieces get installed (like nameplates) that weren't on the buildsheet. Or maybe parts were swapped by the dealer before it hit the lot. Lotsa strange things happen to dealer stock...

mike 

[von Zipper]

I believe that steel grill reference to be in error, Chris. The whole point of the Custom Cab trim level was an upgrade over the plain jane base truck and perhaps your dad's truck was one of those assembly line anomalies, where pieces get installed (like nameplates) that weren't on the buildsheet. Or maybe parts were swapped by the dealer before it hit the lot. Lotsa strange things happen to dealer stock...

 

mike 

O.K-Just for sake of conversation and I'm not trying to start an argument . then I'm going to leave this topic alone.

Beside the fact I clearly remember what that truck was and wasn't=this was taken straight from the Fordification site

Quote : For 1968 Models , Base models got a steel grille assembly and the Custom Cab models could get either a steel grille or an all aluminum version .

Again just for sake of conversation-

In 1972 he bought a brand new F250 Ranger XLT Camper Special that was fully loaded with options and chrome trim . Cloth seat and carpet . 360/automatic trans.

Here's the point I'm trying to make->

In 1976 he ordered an F250 super cab bicentennial version , those only came in blue or white-his was white with gold eagle stripes down the sides, red , white and blue plaid cloth seat and rubber floor - I've had people tell me that Ford never made a super cab bicentennial version OR a bicentennial F250 - they said they were only regular cab/F100s and I've been told that IF it had a cloth seat it would have had carpeted floors but it didn't , he ordered it thru Gorno Ford in Woodhaven , MI - that truck had a 460/automatic trans.

My Dad passed away years ago so I can't ask him but I did ask my Mom what she remembered about the '68 F100 and she said all she could remember was it didn't have a rear bumper when he bought it and it did not come with a spare tire either-that was extra......she said they paid around $2,000.00 for it brand new which was a lot of money for them at the time .

Oh well , just for sake of conversation ...........maybe the "Custom Cab" markings had some thing to do with the 390 instead of a six cylinder or small V8 ?

[mk11]

That bi-centennial truck sounds quite interesting.

Going by Ford's brochures and order books as well as years of looking at these in wreckers and on the street, my own opinion would be that without a shred of chrome on the truck otherwise there's no reason for the c/c nameplates to be there unless the dealer thought they'd look cool on it. The engines weren't part of any trim level but could be ordered across the board. As far as the grills go, I suppose a guy could specially request a painted grill if he wanted a contrast but it still seems to go against the reasoning for the custom cab trim level in the first place. Hope your dad wasn't actually charged for the c/c option package on a bare truck. If you can find the serial number, Kevin Marti can print up a report very reasonably to tell you exactly how it was equipped.   Guess it'll have to remain one of those unsolved mysteries   I'd like to see pics if you can dig them up... 

 

mike

 

Edited July 22, 2015 by mk11

[1972coronet]

...to add to the interior appointments and special orders discussion in general :

- 1978 Ranchero , special ordered with rubber floor mats . Every-thing else was standard fare . (this was a friend's grandfather's vehicle. He said ,  "Carpet has no place in a work vehicle !" I agree .)

- The "XL" trim level ; I have seen it two-three different ways , typically work trucks : (1) vinyl seat w/ carpet (2) cloth seat  w/ rubber mats (3) vinyl seat with cloth inset , and either carpet or rubber mat .

- 1983 F-250 XL , 351M / creeper 4-speed , extended cab , long bed , vinyl seats w/ carpet , and rubber mats for the rear passenger / storage portion of the cab .

[tim boyd]

One of my first jobs at Ford in 1978 was as a car (and later on) truck Scheduler at a Ford Division District Sales Office. We took dealer orders (submitted via a pencil scan sensing form - remember those?) and cleaned them up, fixing each dealer's compatibility order errors if needed, and then sending them on to the respective factories to be scheduled for production.

As Schedulers, one of our reference tools was a detailed compatibility and spec guide, comprising a manual over an inch thick and printed on 11x17 computer paper.  

I never thought to save mine, and I was a Truck Scheduler only for a very short period of time before being move to another assignment, so I can't comment specifically on the subject under question here, but I do recall that when it came to Pickups back then, there was a huge capability to spec and build them to the exact user applications.  So the line of speculation in this thread is certainly possible.  

TIM

 

[mk11]

 

 

 Just because it isn't in a brochure, doesn't mean it wasn't made or ordered. ..

That's true and there's some pretty interesting combinations out there...

[my80malibu]

I have the engine mocked in place, somehow with the cab in place, the engine appears a little taller than it should be?

It does look pretty tall in there. One thing that may help is to flip the oil pan around. The sump should be at the rear. I would also scoot the firewall back and make it flush with the cowl (that's where it should be located) so you have more room at the rear of the engine. I have the six cylinder coming in a trade. Once I get it, I can compare it to a real engine that I have here. The size of the engine looks right. It may just be that it's too high in the frame.

I put the Oil pan on according to the destructions, and it is exactly built the way the instructions are pictured coincidentally. Even if the pan were on backwards it wouldn't change anything because the Mounts, and frame brackets only allow the engine to set at one Heigth anyhow, whichever way the OP is put on.

[Chuck Most]

I had the same thing happen with the straight six in one of mine- seemed to sit just a tad high. I cut off the mounting pin for the oil pan so that it would rest on the frame mounts- it seems like the pin for the oil pan doesn't allow the engine to seat all the way.