Muncie

Same here - communicated with Jim Haught by email - same response you got - I considered SAE to be an accomplice. The ads continued so I cancelled my long term subscription and requested a refund. MCM to their credit had dropped those advertisers but SAE would not.

https://www.modelhaustires.com/

Snake, thanks for posting. A very interesting list Top 500 music lists will always be a subject of debate. My top album topped put at 413 but it's my favorite because so many things were happening when it was on radio playlists. Always cranked it up! I found the Rolling Stone list helpful. Before things shut down, I was thinking about some of the bands that I missed in the golden days of my youth - Need to make a list and visit Music Millennium, I've heard that they do curbside delivery.

Interesting picture. Notice the purple anodized rims on the front wheels - leftover from Kenny Goodell. Steve McGee only ran the wedge for a couple of races and then removed it. Too much hassle to work on the car for basically no performance gain.

this may help - a good Freightliner discussion here -

me too!

Sorry, I can't recall right off which kits have the Hendrickson suspension... Odd place for it but maybe the Kenworth T600... there are probably others.. The walking beam is a two axle suspension. https://hendrickson-intl.com/Truck/Vocational/RT-RTE A pusher non-drive axle ahead of the tandem could be added. For tri-drive, see Bill72sj's beautiful Freightliner - looks like a four spring with an additional spring suspension for the third axle.

Not the final answer, but here's more information. Wikipedia says the Payhauler curb weight is 36 tons (86 tons loaded). The normal weight capacity for an axle with 4 tires is 20,000 pounds - but it was a little less on most of the trailers that were around at that time. - let's say 18,000 pounds per axle for this heavy duty application. But the axles also have to carry the weight of the trailer. I think what we are not seeing in these pictures is the dolly at the front of the trailer that distributes the load between the dolly and the rear of the tractor. Here's another picture that shows the dolly. Three axles at the rear of the trailer, two axles on the dolly, plus two drive axles on the tractor. Since this truck will have some off highway miles, I'd probably go with a tractor kit that has the Hendrickson walking beam rear suspension rather than a four spring or air ride. hope this helps

pretty cars, but I agree with those that have said demand would not cover the expense of bringing these to production They aren't as close the the 1955-57 Chevrolets as they look - so pretty much all new tools would be required for the kits and no way to combine tooling for one make to another. Wheelbase, engine and chassis are also different 1955-57 Chevrolet wheelbase 115" 1955 Buick wheel base: Special, Century - 122" Super, Roadmaster - 127" 1955 Oldsmobile 88 - 122" Oldsmobile 98 - 126" -- there may be more... 1955 Pontiac 122", there may be other wheelbases I doubt that the 122" wheelbase chassis have many common parts between Buick Pontiac and Oldsmobile. GM didn't work that way then. In the end, I'd rather see something newer or something else that would have a longer life in production for the next generation of model builders.

Steve, Great tip on the boots - I have a couple of MAD distributors that I haven't used - was wondering what that extra material was for. Larger hole means I won't break as many drill bits.

I was drafting this when Steve was posting I defer to his experience and knowledge. The models that he has posted show his techniques work. In fact, I was going to suggest looking at some of his how-to posts for using Bare Metal foil. Here are my thoughts --- I'm with you - CA doesn't give me a comfortable feeling for adding detail bits. I have difficulty controlling CA and accidents will always cause damage in the most visible places. How a drop of CA can find it's way to the top of a painted hood across the work bench is a mystery. So, this is a job where I like to use a clear windshield adhesive - Micro Kristal Clear from Microscale is a good one. It's easy to apply where it is needed with the tip of a toothpick. It won't damage paint and can be cleaned up easily from places where it is not wanted. Kristal Clear is a little bit tacky so the part can be moved to position it. It will work on anything I see in the picture. Most hobby shops carry it. Drill holes in the engine with a small drill bit (#72) in a pin vise for the plug end of the wire. The hole will hold the wires in place. Install the plug wires with a little extra curve to simulate the way gravity bends a real plug wire.

No word from Car-Tech yet on the pre-order, but I've received the two books that I ordered with it - so I know I'm on the list. patience, patience

Alan, I am extremely honored by your gratitude. You built something that had been on the shelf for way too long. I am grateful to you for putting it to good use. This is beautiful, the color absolutely pops and the whitewalls are the missing part from the original kit that makes it come to life. Well done. Looking forward to meeting down the road. Steve

two thoughts for less than a penny - and that may be all they are worth. You've probably already looked, but it's worth mentioning - for whatever car you are building, if it's an early Ford, a Mopar beast or a tri-five Chevy..., darn near everything has at least one forum on the internet like this one for your car. There will be people that have already been where you are and have figured out the good parts or bad and they will post their stories. The answers may be two clicks of the mouse away. Probably a good place to ask questions. Most reliable manufacturers have good tech support - just a toll free call or email away. The last thing they want is upset customers spreading bad words about their products so they will gladly get you headed in the right direction. It's not a knock on anybody that's been there, but cooling systems are one area where the aftermarket technology and parts are changing/improving rapidly.

1/16" diameter rod - cut to length - best to use a cutoff wheel on a Dremel - the hobby shop steel rod will damage cutting pliers. -- or use brass, and file the end smooth so it doesn't damage the wheel. The hobby shops and ACE hardware stores around here carry both.

A scoop that is almost good enough is in the Monogram 1966 Malibu Street Rat. It measures 1-5/16" wide, 1-23/32" long and 1/4" tall. I think the base part needs to be a little taller.

You reading the internet again? Oh wait, this is the internet too... I'm glad you understand my English - I hate working to write correctly by the grammar book rules. I'm glad you are putting it into a table -will be glad to see it. Turbinliner - ah yes, well before my time but interesting and sadly, most of the people who would have known about them are gone. That is another thing that I should have learned about when I had a chance. I believe only two were built as test trucks, at least one with a Boeing turbine. They may have had some test runs with a customer but it never made it to production. Consolidated Freightways owned Freightliner at the time so some assumptions are probably accurate about who was interested. They that didn't have the performance or fuel economy. Don't know until you try. Several other truck manufacturers were also giving turbines a try at the time. They made tremendous press for everybody even if combustion engines were still king. I've been trying to find a technical paper at SAE but haven't spent a lot of effort looking. All of the cab lengths for the 61 and 71 series are below - they were not all available at first. Some were added for special customer applications or to make larger cabs available as customers wanted more deluxe accommodations. I think the other cab sizes are earlier, probably non-tilt cabs, based on what I saw on the internet yesterday... had to look 48" special customer application 51" The 51" has more than a family relationship with the conventional. The FLC conventional was derived from the 51" COE with some cab common parts. The left and right cab decks are basically the same but the floor uses a lower and narrower tunnel for the conventional - much lower, much narrower (The 56" is maybe a typo but at Freightliner??? it's may have been something earlier) 63" - this is the AMT kit day cab single drive, common for fleets. Most common size for non-sleepers. 72" - very small bunk - probably useful only for storage. This worked well when trucks had an optional air intake and/or exhaust that routed inside the cab at the rear corners. Check the air intake bonnet on the red and white truck at the beginning. I bet there is something like that for exhaust on the other side. 75" sleeper, a little more room 86" - we know this as the AMT kit sleeper cab dual drive sleeper. Most common option 96" and 104". Cab Width (outside surface to outside surface, give some tolerance for the way they were built or designed depending on who's saying it) is 90.38" for 61 series, and 94.38" for 71 series. Steps mirrors, turnsignals, grabhandles were excluded from overall width measurement. The AMT kit is right on. An assortment(13", 18" and 24") of baggage doors was available. 18"x18" was most common with a single door on each side for the 86" cab In the days of the COE before 1982, cab size was driven significantly by the size and weight regulations. Vehicle size and weight were controlled by the states - size was governed by the overall length of the combined tractor and trailer. A larger cab meant less freight, meant less revenue. Trucks were tools to do a job. After the Surface Transportation Assistance Act in 1982, the Federal Government specified that the size regulations would be based on just size of the trailer. The Federal government couldn't directly tell the states what the regulations would be but they could be persuasive by connecting the regulations to economic assistance thru the interstate high way system. Pretty effective. Interstate fleets wanted the change because it basically changed 50 different state regulations to one. They had to have different trucks in some states. Overnight, the truck market changed to conventionals.

As I remember it, the original Treatment product in the late 1970's was sold to do-it yourselfers to restore auto finishes. It was a wax that had a bit of polish in it. The polish was not as aggressive as the abrasives in most of the auto parts store polishes. You could get a really good shine with it. It's kind of both - somewhere in-between a wax and a polish. The polishing rag would come up with the paint color. The Treatment was a really big thing in the market for a while but it went away quickly. At this point, I agree that it will probably cause more problems than it will solve - especially with the decals. A general rule - polish for shine, wax for protection. No wax on model cars.

Good questions, You caught the obvious detail that I missed. Prior to 1958 The cab did not tilt. Engine access was thru the tunnel in the cab but there were several custom variations.. You're right , I am misidentifying what I've been calling the the 21 series. I'm learning also - I did some checking on the internet. I agree with you and the red and white truck with the solid plate below the grille in the first picture is a 61 series - prior to the 61 series raised cab. My good knowledge, what's left, starts mid 1970's. and is for the 61 series raised cab, and 71 series. I try not to talk about things that I don't know but I also make mistakes - not many (I hope) but it happens. I should have picked up a few pieces of the old documentation for reference long ago when I had the opportunity, but who knew. The Powerliner was it's own animal. The outside cab dimensions were the same as the wider 71 Series. Detroit Diesel, Cummins and Caterpillar came up with with some big power engines in the 1970's. Way beyond the normal 250 to 300 for the time. At first, Powerliner was minimum 400 horsepower but later became minimum 600 HP. A huge 1200 square inch radiator to cool all that horsepower was behind that big grille. They were expensive trucks. Mostly an owner-operator truck but there were a couple of small fleets that had them.. Very few were built and each one took a lot of custom engineering work. The front of the chassis was unique. As you can see in the photos, Powerliner owners loved their trucks and all of them were well taken care of. Looking at the photos I found one more thing. The licenses plate bracket on the cab is hinged so that it doesn't interfere with the steering gear. The pitman arm goes thru a notch in the cab in a hard left turn. The license plate bracket could be ordered in several sizes - one to match could be added on the passenger side, also hinged - and one below the bumper could be ordered in various sizes, also hinged. what fun that was

Roger, your trucks are really cool, well done, and the time that you are putting into the stance is paying off - looks great. I've been enjoying this build and following along because I have a '63 that is close to the workbench. It's just going to be a shelf-sitter so I won't do the chassis swap, But I've seen several things on your truck that are on the must do list. Thank you for the tips and inspiration. Steve

No worries, I'm glad that you are interested. Your questions were intelligent questions, very specific and the (very helpful) photos would have taken me much longer to find - that all made it much easier to respond. It was a pleasure to go back thru some memories. There are a lot of people here willing to provide information, don't be afraid to ask.

Hi Torsten, your questions Two another questions are following - is cabin 61 simply a little higher compared to 21 due to an extension at the lower edge? And is the radiator inlet of the various series 21/61/71 different in heights and widths? And if so, do you know the measurements? I would have to say that I don't know. The 21 series was before my time but I believe it was considerably different from the 61 series. The 21 series is probably smaller than the 61 series. I think Freightliner had the same goal in mind - more horsepower, more cooling and took the opportunity to do a major redesign. Drivers were probably also looking for more room and comfort. If my memory is correct, the 61 series raised cab has a three inch taller grille opening than the earlier 61 Series (not raised). The 71 Series is four inches wider that the 61 Series - right down the middle - grille, windshield, dash, tunnel, roof, back wall... driver space was the same in both 61 series and the 71 series. So we've quickly covered COE models. 21 Series, 61 Series, 61 Series Raised cab, and the 71 series also known as Stretch Other things that you will notice - The location of the door handle changed at some point in time - from the center of the door to the lower corner - easier to reach. Grab handle lengths- longer grabhandles were an option on the 61 Series, 61 series Raised Cab, and 71 Series. but became standard late 1970's (?) Round corner doors - Rounded on the rear lower corner were an option that became standard - also sometime in the late 1970's (might have been early 1980's). Speaking of doors, the gray truck in the last picture has the "new door." which was a bulkhead design and both front a rear lower corners were rounded. The new door went into production in the early 1980's and is the same door that was used on the FLA and FLB COE's. The AMT kit has the optional noseskin reinforcement. This is a steel panel that is riveted over the noseskin above the grille. Consolidated Freightways and otherwise very rare. That is why the front of the AMT kit looks different from most photos that you will see. I've seen some model builders convert the AMT kit to the standard noseskin - lot of work. COE cab sizes: for 71 series, bumper to back of cab, nominal, not exact and varied with bumper options - non-sleeper 48", 51", 63" (AMT single drive), - sleeper 72" (bunk was usable only for storage), 75", 86" (AMT dual drive), 96" and 104" The Sales Date Book was huge. Freightliner was known as a Custom truck builder. There were some common specs but you will see a lot of different things. Trucks will be modified as they go thru new owners. Hope this helps,

My best answers are posted here - Thank you for posting pictures

Very Cool! well done