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They may not have a 351 but worth poking around and a phone call. www.detroitradiatorcorp.com If they don't, try looking under truck radiator repair. Lots of shops out there with many that do have dimensions posted.

Wow! I go off in the wilderness for 90 days causing mayhem while you have been doing far more constructive things! Gotta go back and read up on this one closely! Absolutely stunning my friend! Peace.

Depending on what style you are after, grafting 2 together from a kit is not all that hard. If you want an an early Double Eagle or Bentz hi rise, something that is really easy is using old cassette tape cases (anybody remember those?) or a hard plastic post card box from Dollar General. A little scrounging and you can often find something for a buck or two that just needs some minor hacking. Flea markets and garage sales are great ways to find something amazingly close and cheap. Lots of good info and pix at www.trucksleeper.com Peace.

And work resumes. Lugnut has always been fascinated by all the little pointers bouncing up and down on the gauges. Heck, I have a hard time getting him away from staring at a popcorn popper. So to keep the peace, a superdetailed instrument panel is in the works. Plans are to backlight the gauges like that done on the 1/16 KW Gold Nugget using a fabricated light tube and LED. Paper will be used as an overlay to recreate the gauge bezels and window screen for the air condition vents. Peace.

I just made them up. That is a 1/16 FYI. Made the flaps out of construction paper and then printed out the Yosemite Sam on cheap printer paper. Cut out Sam with the blade. A little diluted white glue is all. Settles in real nice and was able to go in with a black pen and just color out the areas that were too small to cut. Works pretty well. Good luck. Peace.

I thought you had used strawberry cupcake icing! Of course I would eat it..... I have had real good luck with ALMOST dry gloss black cheap acylic.... I use it to "fling" grease all over everything. Just use a tooth pick to apply.

FINALLY back in the saddle and settle. Ol' Lugnut will be cranking up and gettin' busy here. The General did not make the trip from NC to Montana totally in tact but hey, that just gives opportunity for improvement right? BTW - if anybody has a used little air brush compressor and possibly a decent double action airbrush for trade for ???, I would be real interested. It must be quiet though as I am back in a hotel room. Hopefully the same one for a long time... Just PM me. Peace.

Back in the saddle (now in Montana) after 3 months of bouncing around like popcorn. Just came across this thread. Many may have seen this but this is my salvage job of the highly rare and much maligned GMC Aero Astro from the early 1980's. It was in the equally horrible movie "Time Bomb". It is a hodgepodge of a warped Astro cab (obviously), a well beaten Revell W900 chassis, and lots of paper and styrene. Took about 3 times to finally pull it off. The tanker is an AMT and was my first venture into Vallejo acrylics. Peace.

Just had a few moments to log in and post. Sorry, Lugnut was camera shy this time. A few ditties and hopefully of some for any aspiring psychopath wishing to go down this rabbit trail. The hood has a tapered balsa portion as the transition around the top and front to try and recreate the taper on the 1:1. It is smothered in putty and hopefully is going to work/hold paint. The grille surround is just odds and ends and is a separate piece still removable to get Alclad later on. It is not quite like the 1:1 but should suffice. The cab shell is pretty much done and exterior door skins fitted but not shown in the pix. The dog house cover is still removable and is just out of scraps. It, like the dash will go in after the cab is painted and detailed. One thing done right was the subassemblty of the upper firewall/instrument panel. The aircleaner and luberfiner will cover the joint and will go in after paint. The metal rod remains as it "holds" the instrument panel in place. It will (hopefully) then be easier to fab and install windshields. It will also allow the dash board to be painted separate, lighted, and detailed. The "open slot" seen on the passenger side is for the HVAC vents and applique that will go in. And being a chain smoker, it simply had to have an open ash tray and what will become filled. Still got lots of clean up to do but it is enough to give the idea. The dash gauges will be lit using the same technique as on the 1/16 Gold Nugget KW which worked really well. The fenders, seats, and steering wheel are going to be huge challenges to get right. Another project for another day/week/month. Well, gotta run. Miss you guys. Peace.

Be warned if you are working on 1/16 Revell/Mongram W900. Over time, the frame may start to sag. I got one that I actually shortened and after a year long build and approaching a year on display in a proper environment, the rear drivers are now just off the ground. The second, full length/unmodified and a build in process after several months will no longer pass the straight edge test. Consider adding reinforcement early on in the build process Peace

Yup. A "giveaway" on most compressors like Clayton pointed out is they usually have cooling fins. If you cant find anything that looks like a 1 cylinder B&S engine, try looking for what sort looks like 1 cylinder "jug" on a motorcycle. It might be an eyestrain as the ones supplied by AMT for Cummins engines are far from well detailed. It almost looks more like an old ford style air conditioner compressor but as Clayton pointed out, is gear driven. And if I recall, it does not fit worth a hoot either. try googling "used diesel engines". I cant recall the sites and am too lazy to do it right now, but there is a couple of websites like "auto traders" just loaded with pix of virtually every diesel engine you will ever see in a truck..or about anything else for that matter. Good luck. Peace.

This thing really well done. Impressive! Said it before and will say it again. Definitely one homely looking cab Dodge put on. It just adds so much to it to your elaborate and well executed build. Thanks for sharing all the updates! Peace

Looks really good JT! Good call on the square headlights. You now have the final fling of Diamond Reo Giants during their brief time independent. Don't know if you make decals or not but there was a simple script word "Giant" around the side emblems on the hood, the square headlights, and that was about it until they went the way of the dodo bird. Great job on the wheels, body and boxes too. Another great one to be proud of. Just a thought...one of the big forklifts that transports along with the truck like Lowes and sod farms use or a big knuckleboom for hauling big tanks or beams perhaps? Not a clue where to begin to build either one so take it for what it is worth. Again, great job! Peace.

I have had great success using 2 liter pop bottles. A little waving with the hair dryer and you can sandwich it to make it flat or with practice, even get some good curves. I just made a big windshield for a 1/25 semi and am working on a 1/16 semi now. Being so thin it really comes out well and the effects I think are fantastic. VERY scratch resistant. Also, there seems to be just a hint of tint to it - perhaps staining from the contents? If you use SPECIFICALLY the generic wal-mart brand sodas, for whatever reason, Tamiya extra thin liquid glue works just great even if slopped all over it and even more scratch resistant. Less so with some other generic brands. I don't buy name brand so cannot say. Plus the wal mart are very "smooth". Here is a sample with plastic glued on the surface and the side where I literally slobbered the Tamiya glue all over just to see what would happen. Now if you have the budget, slide glass use on top of microscope slides is incredible for flat glass. Trimming it hit and miss though as this stuff is so thin and brittle. Getting hard to find this stuff anymore though with the demise of Radio Shack and kids microscope sets in general. Peace

Good luck with this. If you follow the above, you should be set. PATIENCE and PRACTICE. There are outstanding youtubes.. TO help save some $, consider trying low cost acrylics from Hobby Lobby. You can use windex as a thinner. Shoot on newspaper and work up to plastic with it just to get a feel for mixing, pressures, and spraying. Just get cheap plastic (like toys from the dollar store). Once you can lay down some paint on that, then you are ready. It is a great way to learn, improve, and give the wallet a breather in the process. And the other thing about acrylics is you can just soak it in windex with a toothbrush to strip it and go again. No nasty fumes, easy clean up, and that sort of thing. Try just simple stuff like "road grime" and that sort of thing first ,and then work your way up. I had always used enamel or lacquer and recently made the switch to acrylic. My only regret is not doing it a LONG time ago. PATIENCE AND PRACTICE. You will get it!

Slicker than doo doo on a door knob! Peace.

Well, we have a cab. I have sort of taken a different twist with this thing that may or may not pan out. By far the most difficult part is going to be the upper firewall, lower windshield channel and instrument panel. It looks like there will be a great deal of travel in my future so this will allow me to work on small subassembly in my travels. At least that is what I am telling Lugnut. The brass rod that Lugnut is resting on is the reference point for all this upcoming assembly. It may or may not remain but adds necessary strength to the upper half of the cab. The biggest flaw was using too thin of stock for the cab sidewalls. Fortunately, they will straighten out. Lesson learned. Peace.

For thinking outside the box and boldly going where no man has ever gone before, you are hereby awarded a highly esteemed (but if the truth be known, essentially worthless) official Atta Boy. VERY original. I really like it. Black would look really good on this! Darn nice looking prototype.

Absolutely fantastic workmanship!

Gonna ditto JT's comments. The Revell W900 (or Pete) are just simply good (other than their tire/wheel arrangement which can be a challenge to get to look right). There so much potential with them and if it goes up in flames, no big deal. Lots of good parts with it can be used on other kits and you are not out big $. But period wise, it is right on the mark. Good luck.

If you are going typical 70's customized van, consider a trip to Hobby Lobby (or similar) and look in the jewelry making section. Those "charms" are in all kinds of cool shapes and even colors you could "drop in".. It might take a bit of work to get a good fit around the doors or side panels, but thinking out loud, seems to open up some possibilities to something unique. Just a thought.....good luck. Peace

Very original JT. Did you scratchbuild the flatbed? Nice! Peace.

Sad but true. Peace

Ditto the above positive comments to which I add whistling, hootin' & hollerin', waving my bic lighter, and assorted other hubbub. Sort of like a Lynyrd Skynrd concert.... BTW - my birthday is in April if you get really bored and want to make up a set of those mudflaps in 1/16. LOL. (I truly believe you could sell a quite few sets) Peace.

I like it! Looks like you are going to have some functioning lights? Very cool. Hopefully the diorama underway for this beast....you definitely got the knack for it! Peace.