olsbooks

Thank you for the kind words. Very humbling. Yes, the change from General to Bison was made. It is in conjunction with another novel in the series I am working on which a 1980 black "owner operator" Bison is somewhat center stage. (www.macfixx.com) Besides, from a modeling standpoint, the Chevy grille and a bow tie is easier to whip up in 1/16 than a bunch of lettering and the more complex GMC grille. I am still yet to figure out how to do the emblems on the side of the hood but may see what emerges with a bunch of solder blobs and poking/pressing/digging it with a tiny screwdriver and old dental pick. Peace.

Just goes to show I for one have no idea what tomorrow holds as a window of opportunity presented itself over the past weeks instead of the opposite as expected. The windshield is made out of a 2 liter pop bottle cut and warmed with hot water to shape. I am still not satisfied with the grille but so far it is the best I have been able to come up with using scrap wire and straightening it. Might try it one more time as it seems it takes 3 times on everything to get it "right". Functioning headlamps will be going in at some point and bulbs have been scrounged. Ditto clearance lamps. Nothing is glued in yet and a sleeper is still to fabricate. Need to see what I can find in the bargain aisle at Dollar General or the flea market to get started on it. Peace

It was often called "inside/outside" air filtration by most builders as I recall. Fresh air comes in under the hood. Sadly I have no pix of one with the hood tilted but it seemed the under hood routing was improvised though first hand exposure to them was few and far between. Yes, they typically were found in snowy climates to prevent snow packing. Most non cookie cutter OEM's offered the option and was quite popular in Canada well into the mid 80's. From what I recall, it was a VERY pricey option for what it was. It was also helpful (so the marketing sorts claimed) in high dust environments like grain and coal hauling. I recall a few coal haulers in Appalachia with it. The theory was sound; actual effectiveness? Debatable. Some swore by it....others at it. Dealers were after GM to offer it on the General and Bison but honestly dont recall it ever showing up in the data book instead dinking around with all kinds of caps and pre cleaners that simply bolted on top of the can not affecting the hood or underneath though I am confident SOMEBODY offered them as "universal kits" for dealers and owners to apply themselves.

First off thank you all for your very kind words and encouragement. I have been remiss of offering my own to all of you with no valid excuse. The works I see unfold continue to amaze and inspire. While totally inadequate and impersonal, an across the board "wow" to you all. Anyway, it appears life is such this project is going to have to sit but wanted to try pulling the pieces of putty together as perhaps a parting shot for a bit. Tape and toothpicks holding it together and paint yet to polish out, but provides a pick up point for in the future. Regards to you all. Peace.

While to far too fresh to be polished out as that will come in a few days, the first color is applied. I am a fan of Wicked Colors paints. Not too bad for a largely junk/scrap conglomeration in my less than humble opinion. The grille surround is going to be tricky. The want is there to use BMF but the compound curves at the top front pose trouble avoiding seams/cuts/overlap given my clunky skills. I may go the with Alclad but that talent needs honing as well. A battle for another day I suppose. While black was not the originally planned primary color, it was in the resource box and is part of a second novel underway hopefully out by the end of the year (along with this thing). Peace.

2nd try seems to be a little better..... Peace

Thanks. Been fussing and expanding my vocabulary in less than eloquent way with the headlight buckets. They are not spot on so some artistic liberty will have to suffice. Headlights will have all bulbs lit. Lots of cleanup remaining but hopefully enough to get an idea. Tricky to not have this thing not evolve into a Superliner hood which it seems to want to do. I think if I can get the styling lines back in the hood sides it will help. Peace

A bit of rambling and ranting here on old Detroits.... For what it is worth, external dimension wise the "bare block" on the 71 and 92 are the same. The letter after the cylinder/configuration/ci displacement designation reveals a great deal about it as well. N, T, TT, TTA, etc. There were probably a dozen or more variations. There were a few rigs that had 92 series 2 strokes with DDEC in the 80's (electronics that were to be the cornerstone of the series 60) but not many as by then the self destruct button had already been pressed within GM. If you really want to find out about hot rod old Detroits, Johnson and Towers in NJ were THE masters of hopping them up for yachts builders. They were by far the industry leader in terms reputation and production numbers getting HP and RPM's out of 2 stoke Detroit's that will blow your mind. Google some engine rooms on yachts in the 40-70 foot range from the 1970's (Egg Harbor, Post, Viking were but a few of the high end yacht builders sourcing from them). Impressive numbers and darn good looking and running stuff. There are lots of forums on these older yachts with great close up pics and info. Just remember the cooling system is totally different using heat exchangers instead of a radiator. Most were painted white and kept clean which is great for spotting details on in the pix. And if you want to get "weird" look into side by side version of the 12V71. Basically two 6-71's built Saimese twin style with two cranks.

Yup. Cummins. Hard to tell HP but likely between 290 and 400 given age. You may notice the "Formula" decal. That is an "authentic" Cummins sticker. I can only guess it was applied at overhaul/repair a bit sloppy. NTC series (which most opted for) engines were governed to 2100 RPM. Formula series engines (which externally are basically identical) run up to only 1900. Fuel savings in the day was the idea. Ahhhhhh.....amnesia alley. Peace

Sure....Lugnut is eager to make a reappearance....

Something I have done on custom decals is actually take a jpg and crop it the best I can and then "fill in" using the background paint color in MS Paintshop. (Free). Then I just print it on WHITE decal paper. (unless you have the ability to print white) It is a little tricky to not "crack it". I have tried various clears and even hair spray all with mixed results. It is not perfect but is cheap and gets the job done until something better comes along. I prefer paper like the below far more than Testors and what is found in Hobby Lobby. http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/decalpaper.html It is how I do my "looney tunes" mudflaps and a few other things. If you can find a good shot of the cartoon character give it a try. It is trial and error obviously so I just use "draft mode" in black and white on cheap paper until I can size everything right. With regards to your Fredrickson Logo, check this is out in the model RR world. Maybe you can find one, get some good pix or ?????? http://www.wig-wag-trains.com/Athearn-Pages/Athearn Pics/Vehicles/Mack/T-T/12187_Fredrickson.JPG Good luck. Peace.

You remain in the thoughts and prayers of many friend.

Thanks. Nice to be back. Had a few other pix "under the hood". I had to considerably redo the engine due to damage moving around and hit the scrap box hard to come up with "something close". For those not wishing to go back, it started out as kit supplied 3408 and is removable. The camera flash seems to make the belts look silver in some of the pix but they are flat black and all "double belted". Leaks to be added. The piping from the turbo to the manifolds is made of "flexible" drinking straws". Mud flaps are construction paper and scrap wire. Still to decide whether the flaps will have Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, or ????. Wires coming out the rear will be for functioning tail lights. Oh and if anyone was wondering, the fenders are not attached to the hood and the fuel tanks/battery box just "hang" on the frame so I can play with their positioning and if a move comes, not have to worry about them breaking them/getting banged up yet again. Ditto mudflaps. Might try using Lego's for cab and sleeper mounts for the same reason and the hood will "hook" in place. I will try and dig up Lugnut for the next post. Peace.

Back on the bench. Lots have been going on in the past two years but this thing has been SLOWLY progressing. Writing a novel among other things that is to go into print in the next few days. Hope all of you are well. Everything is obviously just set in place. Fuel tanks are made out of lug nut covers obtained at a local truckstop. Fenders were formed out of plastic sprues and then laid over with scraps. They are not perfect but for pennies and scrap will suffice. The hood top and front edge "frame" is formed with coat hanger wire and then side and top glued in. The "cut" you will notice on the cab is the dash board assembly (which will be lit) and will also allow installation of the windshield. The air cleaner and luberfiner will cover them. Hope to work on some headlight buckets next and then on to the sleeper. A basic 34" flat top. The grille itself I have been piddling on for months. Long and short this thing will likely become a Chevy Bison as the grill bars are all horizontal and much easier. Peace

Well, I am hijacking this thread. This just has to be built! What an absolutely wonderful way to throw away what would amount to a million bucks today! In my time with the General, I surely don't recall ever hearing a peep about this thing. Probably did second hand and dismissed it as a bad joke. . 25 years too late for Woodstock but would blend in nicely still in Sausalito, Roswell, and that other "weirdo" town in NM that slips my mind with all the hippie burnouts. If he had built this thing available in the mid 70's in the golden years of trucking, you can sure bet it would have been in a movie. Hollywood would have loved this. Convoy's Pigpen would have lost the Cruiseliner to this for sure. If I ever thought there was not a single cell of discernment left in that fried gray matter remaining between my ears, it has just been validated it still exists and works. "Not even I would do this". Thought about similar? Absolutely. Now maybe I do bounce back and forth between genius and insanity but this guy crossed the line and never looked back. But hey, he created "something" (potentially) useful and engaged the brain and hands. Far worse things have been done with that much time and money. The call will go out soon for hopeless glue bombs and cleaning out of your scrap boxes! Meanwhile, I might just see if this dude is still around. He might like a 1/25 version of it. Then again...... Oh, did anybody notice what appears to be a double bunk IH 4070 beside it? Peace.

Being a former GMC guy and junk scrounger to boot, I just got to try and build this one day. I thought my Aero Astro project was a morphidite! . Can anybody make out the area code of GIA Equipment/Truck Undertakers on the pic or know where this thing actually is? Don't know how old the pic is, but its days look numbered and would fun to chase it down if has not gone way of the dodo bird. Though that would be a mercy killing. Heck if I had some money, what a perfectly wonderful way to flip off those that insist on conformance and go bankrupt at the same time. SURELY it has a Detroit..maybe even a 12V with straight pipes and dripping diapers wrapped around the bottom half of the engine with bailing wire. It has absolutely nothing good going for it and probably has driven more than 1 owner to ruin. Like the 3 legged, blind, dog with the mange and incontinence problems named "Lucky". Yes, I REALLY like this thing. Thanks so much for sharing. Peace. Peace.

Just a brief progress update. Starting to take shape. Really need dimensions of seat cushions from a 1/16 KW or Pete if someone can. Lugnut is getting to the point of wanting to have a place to sit. Dont need base dimensions as a functioning suspension is planned. For what it is worth, the trick of ultra thin superglue over balsa works great. Peace.

Must admit a partialness to the "true" White Western Stars. Growing up in the southeast US back "in the day", to see one of these was a definite "WHOA!". Even more of a treat than Brockways, Diamond Reo's, or Marmons. And that black/rainbow scheme was just so cool. WWS had some truly original paint jobs on the conventionals and COE's. Well done pulling off a very complex scheme! We had a huge construction company that had scores of White "Construcktors" in dumps and mixers. About the same as the above Autocars appearance wise. Anybody ever rebrand an Autocar into one of those? Thanks for the memories and sharing the great works. . Peace.

So sharp and crisp one could cut themselves looking at it! VERY nice job. Peace.

Looking good! Trucktrader.com usually has some good pix. Be sure and look at their "auctiontime" section as well. Hanks Trucks also is a good ones. Or just spend some time looking at some of the multipage posts on "workbench" section here. Don't get hung up too much specifically looking for a Pete COE. The basics are the same regardless of make/model. One thing I noticed. Might want to double check your exhaust manifolds. Looks like they may be flip flopped. Keep it up! Peace

Well, curiosity killed the cat. It was back to the cab and seeing if Lugnut could hang a door without hurting himself in the process. Door panels are just laying in place for paint later on. "And how did curiousity kill the cat?" you may ask? Look close at the outside of the door. Seems someone forgot to cut the hole for the exterior door handle before mounting it. Nice to be able to blame it on Lugnut. Raggafraggabragga...... Overall, certainly not as clean as many of the precision works shared by others, it has the much sought after PRIMARY objectives. DURABLE and CHEAP. The "drip rail", like the weatherstrip, is a piece of baling wire and while hopes were to run it down lower in the front, due to hinge placement and resulting door swing, interference became a problem. Hopes of an external "fake" piano hinge to help hide the resulting cutout also fizzed as it would result in a door bind. Geometry was never a strong suit. As this thing is pretty largely a free hand, hack job full of hip shooting, it might come down to having a dark color "stripe" or something to help cover the exposed portion. On the good side is that if the door is "open" it is not visible. Thoughts are to use some magnets to help keep the doors closed if dreams of having it an RC come to pass to keep them from bouncing open. We certainly would not want Lugnut to fall out and suffer further traumatic brain damage. And more brainstorming on the fenders continues seeking something to "repurpose" as a starting point.. A stroll through second hand stores and "kitchen plastics" in the dollar stores are getting us closer to finding something. Some kitchen utensil storage trays (like those used to hold forks, spoons, and knives) might have potential. Or possibly some funky looking shampoo bottles. Getting closer........ Peace.

Great works! Here are couple of KW's done over the past few years. Peace.

VERY sharp. The "shop" looks great too!

Thank you for all the kind comments. Moving forward, managed to get a bit of paint on the instrument panel so now it is on to putting in some lighting and gauge faces. In bigger news, giving the cab and doors a rest and trying to hack away on the hood (less fenders and grille surround). Closer look at the 1:1 hood reveals a long forgotten taper. So I took the existing sides (just sheet plastic), plopped a second layer on top and went in with a piece of balsa to try and recreate the taper. A model airplane buddy suggested slobbering the balsa in ultra thin superglue and then sanding for better paint finish. I may go back and do that but will do a bit more before getting to that point. Anyone ever done this? He is definitely a high end RC flyer with some nice works so who am I to poo poo it. I think you can figure out where we are going on the air cleaner. The cap is a frame bolt cover picked up at a truckstop for such a time as this. It is a little "big" compared to the chunky little thing standard on GMC's, but works just too well and does not look like the ones used by KW or Pete. JC Whitney air cleaner perhaps? It may not fly as the fenders will have to clear but it would not be too hard to make a bit shorter. Meanwhile, Lugnut is dumpster diving and calling in favors trying to find something to repurpose for use as fenders. Peace.

This is really neat. Was unaware of such a beast. Look at the bright side. Fishing a toy out of toilet beats the typical alternative.. Kids and cars.....groan. Yes indeed, pray we must that they will heed some advice, engage the brain, and turn off the cell phone. Look forward to seeing this come along. Peace.