question

[blackbeard]

what changes need to be made to the cab and hood to make it into a correct can-do wrecker, and if there are other changes to the rest of the kit

Edited November 21, 2014 by phantom1

[Jim B]

From what I gather, you need to change the cab/hood from a 359 to a 379 (I think Bill Drennen currently offeres a 1/25 379 cab/hood). I think you also need to swap out the engine, but not sure to which one.

[blackbeard]

thank you for the info

[Force]

The engine looks like it could be a Caterpillar 3406B or C with Air To Air After Cooler in the real Can-Do, the kit engine is a Cummins NTC 475 Dual Turbo.

You can maybe convert the 3406 from the Revell snap Peterbilt 359 or Kenworth W900 Aerodyne kits.

Edited November 21, 2014 by Force

[blackbeard]

thank you very for the info

[truckabilly]

Hello Phantom1,

I tried to get to get you a link to a German web site full of CAN DO wrecker pictures but I cannot find it anymore. I think it was trucking24.de but it does not work for me anymore. So, there is just a few pics for you.

The Stepp´s CAN DO Peterbilt 379 is a short hood. Watch out for that before you buy a conversion hood. It is not extended.

The engine is CAT 3406B ATA aftercooler and it can be easily converted from the Peterbilt 359 and Kenworth W900 snap kits by Revell / Monogram.

The lift axle is all wrong. The cross section should be round but it is square. And there are no brakes for that axle either. The suspension is the same as for the drives but that would not work.

The sleeper should not have the full size door on the passenger side, just the luggage door.

The kit is pretty heavy. Maybe you want to reinforce the frame rails with a stripe of brass or at least a plastic sheet. The frame bends considerably on my CAN DO model.

I hope it helps a little.

[mackinac359]

The real CanDo is a 379-119 (119 inch bumper-to-back of cab measurement). The Bill Drennen 379 is a 379-127 (127 inch bumper to back of cab) long hood.

The truck could be replicated easier by combining the Revell Can Do with an Italeri Peterbilt 378 "long hauler" kit. The 378 hood will need to be modified slightly to resemble the 379-119 hood. Plenty of kit bashing and modifying between the Italeri/Revell and Revell snap kit (for the Cat engine) and you could have a pretty nice Can-Do.

Tim

[Hessel Hemstra]

The link mentioned is the following: http://www.truckin24.de

Claus Lassen developed the 'Can Do' wrecker kit for Revel Germany. He also wrote a book about wrecker trucks from the US. With that he give possibilities of what kit to use fro building a particular wrecker. The book is in German language but with a lot of beautiful photo's nice to have.

He also wanted reveal to make the kit more accurate but the company thought the kit would be to expensive when all the tooling was to be made. The hood is wrong and also the engine. If you sent him an e-mail I'm sure he will respond.

Hessel

[mackinac359]

Technically - the the entire Peterbilt portion of the kit with the exception of the frame rails and rear drive suspension is incorrect. The model kit is a 1980-81 model 359, the CanDo is a 1987-93 model 379. In 1986, Peterbilt replaced the 359 with the 379 which had all new hood, grille, bumper, lamps, fenders, cab, visor, cab mounts, battery box, radiator, air cleaner intake routing, cooling, steering geometry and gear, interior, sleeper interior, (exterior of sleeper doesn't had a right hand side door). The only items cosmetically shared between a 359 and a 379 are the cab doors and mirrors, the sleeper roof, left side skin and rear wall of the sleeper. Everything else was changed. The model kit could be as much as 10 years out of date when compared to the real truck. Revell could have tooled a new cab shell, interior pieces, visor, clear glass and hood, air cleaners and piping and "cheated" on the rest and would have better captured the look of the Stepp's truck. <sigh>. With all that said.. the kit concept and wrecker is fantastic, and with the right kitbashing and reworking, a perfect CanDo can be built.

On a different note, looking at Claus' detail photos of the real 379 - the firewall appears to be a dark color - this tells me the truck was originally a different color, and not white. Hmmmmmm. Curiousity piqued!

Tim

The link mentioned is the following: http://www.truckin24.de

Claus Lassen developed the 'Can Do' wrecker kit for Revel Germany. He also wrote a book about wrecker trucks from the US. With that he give possibilities of what kit to use fro building a particular wrecker. The book is in German language but with a lot of beautiful photo's nice to have.

He also wanted reveal to make the kit more accurate but the company thought the kit would be to expensive when all the tooling was to be made. The hood is wrong and also the engine. If you sent him an e-mail I'm sure he will respond.

Hessel

[Hessel Hemstra]

Thanks Tim, your absolutely right.

Edited November 22, 2014 by Hessel Hemstra