Muncie

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.

My go to for polished aluminum is rattle can chrome - either type, auto parts store or craft store - sometimes available in the small cans - not really as bright as chrome so it makes a good polished aluminum -easier than Alclad and a durable finish that can take some handling during assembly. covers well, minimal prep. There is a slight variation between brands. Someday I will try Alclad for a comparison, but for now happy with rattle can chrome.

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.

never mind... might be useful for somebody else... and it' possible the bushing in the end of the trans is worn.... I still wouldn't totally discredit the internet for information - there are a lot of these vehicles out there so a lot of good information is available. I don't own one, never worked on one - just trying to help. like I said, 2 cents

This vibration seems to be a common problem... There is enough out there that a lot pops up on Google 2002 fourrunner vibration. things that worked, and things that didn't work... might take a look at the driveline slip joint . The driveline has a slip joint rather than a yoke that moves in the transfer case. The slip joint may be worn or need to be lubed.. or too much lube can also bind the slip joint by preventing the slip in the driveline from compressing. just 2 cents

I know Ford used some sleepers made by Able Body - possibly factory installed but I'm not sure which model Able Body sleeper they used, if they were unique for Ford, or on which truck models.

a couple of thoughts - checkout the aftermarket sleeper boxes at AITM - http://aitruckmodels.com/product-category/model-truck-parts/sleep-boxes/ Most sleepers on an LN8000 race would be from the aftermarket - either factory or dealer installed. I don't believe Ford had one and on a custom race car hauler anything goes anyway. The installer would modify the back of cab to fit.

that's pretty cool! - neat to know - you found something that I wasn't aware of. do you have a link for the truck for sale? by the time my Freightliner time started there weren't too many 8V's around - almost zero 8V-71's and only a handful of 8V-92's.

very nicely done - good stance and color - easy to imagine that one on the street or at the summer cruise-ins. love it!

I agree with Casey - always enjoy your reviews - I look for what's in the kit and you cover everything. On the Olds, I didn't know the kit had the stock version and extra grilles - probably what I need for my Warren Johnson 1984 Pro Stock project - so your review was exactly like what I was looking for and much appreciated. now I'm off to look at that ZZ Top review...

have to agree with everybody. The brasswork on the chassis and front axle looks great.

great looking brochure - there is a lot of good detail in the pictures A couple of things to be aware of --- As noted before, the AMT kit is a "raised" cab, it can be quickly identified by the vertical bar in the center of the grille. The truck in the brochure is a "stretch" cab quickly identified by the two vertical bars and important to note that it is 4 inches wider than the raised cab. The extra width is in the center of the cab - engine tunnel, grille, radiator are among the affected areas where things are a little wider. The front axle is an FE970 series axle with center point steering. Notice how the hub is thru the center of the wheel. The steering kingpins are further into the wheel and vertical to reduce steering effort - kind of a poor man's power steering - not very common for general freight applications. So, between the extra cab width and the narrower wheel track with center point steering, the front tires are located and appear to be much further inboard than the more common front axles used in general freight applications. This is not a good picture for modifying the AMT front axle assembly to move the wheels inboard. Farr Dynacell air cleaners with frontal air intake thru the nose skin like the AMT kit and the brochure were (probably?) not available with the 8V-71 engine. The Farr air cleaner mounted easily on the inline Cummins engines but the main problem is that they didn't flow enough air to meet Detroit Diesel Engineering requirements. I know for certain that it wasn't enough for the 8V-92's but at best they would have been marginal for the 8V-71 - maybe OK for the naturally aspirated 8V-71, but not for the 8V-71T - not sure about it on a 1971 to '73, but I'm sticking to it. Some of the high horsepower 8V-92's that came later even required dual 16" diameter air cleaners - yeah, try to locate that where the trailer doesn't hit it. I think your reference truck has stationary air intake with the air cleaner mounted on the exhaust cross braces - that would be correct for the 8V-71T. The alternative with single exhaust is to frame rail mount the air cleaner under the cab ahead of the fuel tank.

yeah, I could have mis-read the question - they include nine shifter balls - description below is straight from Detail Master's web site... hope this is better. but I agree there are other sources for the knob - I think I would try to source the knob or handle from something else anyway. http://www.detailmaster.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Session_ID=e9a357b41d8f0a32801ed9454902676a&Screen=PROD&Store_Code=detailmaster&Product_Code=DM-2531-2&Category_Code=HS DM-2531 Hurst Shifters (9) Quantity in Basket: None Price: $12.99 Quantity: This etch parts comes with 1 etch part and 9 shifter balls. Please use gloves when handeling the lead balls.

that is a good question - it looks like nine - the sheet has 18 shift handle parts to make 9 shifter handles - they can be paired up back to back so the lettering shows on both sides and they build up to scale thickness.

isn't this the second kit from the '71 Satellite - different hood and a couple of other minor changes - the GTX has been reissued a couple of times

That's another one that would be good to have - Maybe Detail Master has more in the works with the bench seat Chevy and pistol grip Mopars.

a shift boot can be made by stacking rectangles of .020 or .030 Evergreen plastic to fit the shift boot retainer.

aaaaarrrrgh.... looks like all of the Hurst shifter sticks except the most important one - the curved stick for four speed in a 1955-57 Chevy with a bench seat... looks like a must have deal anyway

thanks Casey, appreciate the reply - maybe Round2 will get to it. The old MPC flyer is way cool! - neat archive piece. Steve

An automotive hydraulic brake system uses a hydraulic cylinder to push the brake shoes into the drum. Cam air brakes use a rotating S-shaped cam to move the shoes. In wedge air brakes, the brake chambers push triangular wedges at the end of the shoes to move the lining into the drum. S-cam brakes - the cam is the s-shaped part on the right side of this picture. Normally (what I've seen), the brakes are installed with the cam at the top. The slack adjuster is a lever that rotates the cam. The brake chamber attaches to the other end of the slack adjuster and is mounted on a bracket to the axle housing. When air is applied to the service brake chamber, the cam rotates and pushes the linings into the drum. (when air is released from the parking brakes, the spring in the parking brake chamber applies the brakes). Wedge brakes - there are a few more parts involved. Basically, a wedge is pushed against the end of the shoes to move the linings into the drum. This diagram shows the orientation of the service brake on the axles - two wedges, two brake chambers per brake. The brake chamber tube is almost perpendicular to the brakes so it pushes against the wedge. Note, in my search for diagrams I found another great thread on AMT Freightliner questions - Brian (Driptroit) and others have posted some good information - unfortunately, photobucket has done some serious damage over there but still worth a good look. http://hankstruckforum.com/htforum/index.php?topic=62775.30 This is a cutaway of the brake chamber with for the service brake and parking brake with no parking or service brakes applied. As-shown, air has been released from the service brake side, air pressure is applied to the spring brake chamber to compress the spring and release the parking brake. Most dual-drive truck-tractors have parking brakes on one rear axle and service brakes on both rear axles. There are some youtube videos out there that have a lot more detail.

you're going to be sorry that you asked, because I don't know (I forgot) and don't have a simple answer... if you can find a copy of the Bendix Air Brake Handbook, it's the best air brake reference out there. Everything for the brake valves and air brake controls are there. Get one as old as you can find so it has the single air brake system. Dual air brake systems with front brakes became standard in the mid 1970's to comply with new regulations in (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard) FMVSS 111. The handbook is probably out there on the internet. An original Freightliner owners manual would also have operating information. The brake system in the AMT Freightliner kit is kind of an oddball - it has brake chambers set up for wedge brakes instead of cam brakes. Wedge brakes were very rare - basically only CF used them. Wedge brakes supposedly had better lining life - CF liked them. The first issue of the AMT single drive day cab kit was made to represent a CF tractor - It was incorrect in other ways because they came up with the sleeper cab dual drive from the same basic puzzle - so there is a mixture of CF components in the dual drive and vice-versa - and a lot of the specific CF stuff was left off. That's my story about wedge brakes in the AMT dual drive kit. Most dual drive tractors in 1971-1973 had cam brakes and were not built with front brakes - so I think the front brakes also carried over from the single drive CF kit. If I built one of these, I'd delete the front brakes and switch it over to brake chambers from another kit for cam brakes. sometimes I get on the soapbox and can't stop...Hope this helps and isn't too confusing -

the cab roof was also upholstered with the diamond pattern - the roof beam across the cab was painted - I believe it was painted the exterior cab color, but may have been black. - Leather sounds cool - but don't fall in love with it if it doesn't work out - leather can be difficult to make look to scale. The real trucks weren't that nice...

more on the trailer over here...

yes, referring to the Luberfiner - required by Cummins, available for other engines - DDE had engine mounted oil filters similar to large automotive spin on filters. I hope you are confirming some of this on your reference truck - most of this is as clear as yesterday but time has taken a few memory cells.