426-Hemi

I'd go the 429 Boss in this one........... just seems..................... "Fitting"???? Just my 2 cents worth, OR do the Ford 428 SOHC, if ya got one!

So you lived there for a bit then? Or was visiting? I'm sorry, I got confused a bit on the comment about Mass! I'm in NH so... the land of snow (at least this past winter anyway).

Ford 429 Boss??????

SO, now that you all have seen what I've gotten myself into, how about a bit more to add to the fun!? So with the "computer area" in place, working and so... the Shop Dog "Tuffy" got a shop bed of his own. looks ot me like hes REALLY enjoying it! Yepper, I might leave it under there, BUT it might have a better place under the adjoining bench! We'll see, (He'll lay/sleep anywhere I put it really), so.... -We'll see! THEN, off to get the area cleared out enough to add the next modular bench.... 2x4 framing, old scrap "pallet strapping" for wall cleats (cut to be straight and level by me) and 1/2 inch Melamine as an "end" for solid support......3.5 inch long "deck" screws (got them for a REAL deal!) to assemble it all....... Top made, and mounted, and the NEW location for the Unimat! This whole area id for "machine tools"..... I had to finish this top and get all in place. The 2 tools to occupy this area, is well as you see the Unimat milling center, and the Dremel "work station, drill press", (I've had this tool for some time and just not used it!) Thought it was a GREAT time to get it out and dedicate it to some place! -A lot of the time, I simply sat the Unimat up as a drill press, BUT when you need it to be a metal lathe and have it set up for lathe use, BUT another project needs a drill press, I hate tear down "set-up" just for a quick thing when the lathe set-up is at times sat up for an on going project...... A bit better cleared off! I since this picture was taken have mounted up all those "hanging" wires seen under the bench from the controls of the Unimat..... I can't STAND "hanging" wires..... SO, I made the bench top to have recesses in it, to hold the wires AS WELL as Office computer "Wire Looms" to house any extra, and direct it, without being permanent to the location as some of the wires, will need to have give in them for different machine set-ups..... Part of the Dremel "area" has been placed on the wall (NOT sure thats going to stay there BUT its a start!) I been thinking I got the means, so, the wall here will have a cabinet on it to house all the attachments to the Unimat, BUT around that, I may add continuous "peg-board" as I have PLENTY of it to go around (I bet I could cover 3 out of 4 walls with the supply of peg-board I have!) SO, using some might be in order here.......... I have several other locations that are slated to have peg-board added to the walls, BUT, I got several part organizers that are wall mount (little cabinets with the sliding draws in them) so..... A bit of planning yet to do and see what I need to make for it all to come together! And needless to say, a good ole bench power strip in the front..... This may stay where it is, OR it may be moved up further on that front 2x4, so that, I can add a hinged bench extender to the far left side of this bench just before the computer area, that will have 2 hinged legs, under/behind it, but hinge and hang down in front of the bench, as I have a roll around tool chest that will be just behind it..... -As you'll see in up coming updates!!!! Thats it for now! Enjoy! More to come.

-Lookin AWESOME Mike! Waht ya plans to power this beast!?

Chris, your originally from Mass? DANG! A LOT on here from the New England states, and yes, hell with SNOW!

Thanks Charlie! I want it to be a bit better, as it was just a jungle mess! (I simply can't live with it like that no more!) The shop I got the paint racks from was 106 Race Park Hobby Shop..... When Dave was the manager there..... He & I were and still are pretty good friends! I must have bought thousands of dollars worth of paint from the store over the years since hes been in that position, SADLY hes moved on now, took another job about a month ago (I'm gonna miss him at the shop) him and Jody, as well as the young kid, all 3 left in about a 2 week span of time to better them self, as all 3 were there for over 6 years each, and I think Jody was there the better part of 9 maybe 10 years!

So a little update, not much mind you, but a little..... As you all should know by now, I'm remodeling my shop, and most of the work benches..... Which will make model building and all a bit easier once done! BUT, in the evenings when the noise has to cease, I work on Dads truck in this build, just to keep it going, and not stop on it completely..... SO, what I have done was searched out a "junk" drive shaft, as Dads truck would have had whats known as a Divorced transfer case, meaning it had 3 drive shafts! One from the transmission, to the transfer case, and then one each, to the front axle and one to the rear axle. The transmission would NOT be bolted to the transfer case on this truck, as it was on mine! BUT, because, I didn't want to cut up a good one, I took the donor frames "front" drive shaft (not the best of quality of details), BUT had half ways decent "u-joints" to be salvaged from it to make the needed one to go from the transmission to the transfer case! REALLY short one I might add, there is no real "shaft" to it..... Mostly all "U-joint" detail! Notice, the engine? Its upside down! WELL I had to get the plug wires to the locations in the head in order to make this part happen, the loose plug wires would NOT have allowed me to flip it over like this to "fit" the first drive shaft to the frame! SO, that was a pre-step, I had to do in previous postings of the build, as it all goes together like a jig-saw puzzle! Thats it for now, More to come on this build as I am able and have the shop in somewhat of a orderly fashion! (I got my work cut out for me!) Enjoy, for now.....

Thanks Stray. my wife actually has her own "work bench" for crafts up here too! LOL its on the far left hand side of the room...... BUT she knows her areas is the rest of the house I get 1/2 the basement, and the entire 3rd floor. as per our agreement LOL

SO last but not least...... I got an offer I just could not refuse...... I stopped by the local hobby shop to pick up some paint. The owner asks HEY John, you interested in some paint racks!? My ears right then and there begin to grow pointy. WHY yes, I would be, what ya got I ask. He says we just got new ones from Testors, and the old ones are out back. go have a look, let me know. so I go have a look, sure enough 3 racks, 30 inches wide, 4 feet tall. 2 of them and then a table top "check-out" or impulse buy rack that would normally be be by the cashiers..... WELL, I go back in, yes I'm interested he goes, load 'em, they're yours...... (My jaw hits the floor!) These racks are NOT cheap, by no sort of the imagination..... WELL I got all 3 of them, one out of the 3 in place, in a walk in closet in my shop (an "eave" area that was unused, and unfinished, till I seen it!) NOW, I got a "stock room", AND extra storage space, so these racks will be in there, the most used paints was the first rack to go in place...... This "area" originally looked like this: Notice, to the far right, is the milling area...... This is at the top of the stair case to the 3rd floor, The gray filing cabinet has been moved, INSIDE, as I made a doorway here! Laid a sub floor, and then a final layer of plywood, smooth side up, and began adding..... REMOVING from the shop area..... That paint rack picture is right inside the doorway I made to this area! This area, I found, is 9 and half feet wide, by 18 feet long.. ALL open, unused space! A walk-in closet for the most part, a rather long, narrow one, with a angled ceiling but, I don't care! Insulated nicely too, (was already in place), I just covered it with heavy plastic to keep the itchyness to a minimum! -AND I added my own lighting, all Florescent, to keep down any generated heat..... I did that to all the lighting I've added, its all florescent, to keep down any added heat on the 3rd floor, PLUS, better for the electric bills! LOL As for the paint racks? With me, I got something to the tune of 2,000 bottles of paint, averaging 800 different colors..... I needed something to store it all! This shelf, is OLD, mater of fact, NOT any I've seen recently have "Testors" painted on them such as this! Its not a slide in section of cardboard like what the new ones I've seen got, I'd say, this rack was new in the early 1990's...... BUT its filling right up! Due to this remodeling, I've post-poned ALL my builds, weather is way to nice not too. plus it will allow me to organize, and add space and might even make modeling a bit better and much faster..... Thanks for looking! -More to come when I'm able or have time to snap pictures!

Then you have other areas of my shop.... this is the Machine "area" currently: This is my Unimat.. It transforms from a Metal Lathe to a Milling Machine..... Seen here its the lathe! Now its the Milling Machine..... I use this machine A LOT, (I love this little thing I have to say!!!!!!) This "area" is going to be re-located..... Its going to sit on a newly built bench, here: Right on the end/corner of the new bench I plan to build! I'll be also making a cabinet, that will mount on the wall right about where the black one is hanging now! To the left of this tool, there will be a drill press, between the Unimat and the computer area. The computer area, however is 6 inches higher then the machine bench, AND will have a section of plexiglass separating the 2 areas to keep "chips from the computer! The whole "wall" is machine is at right now, is a total mess. Mix matched shelving, bench work, you name it, I just can't live with it like that anymore..... See: A few years ago..... Today...... Yep, thats ALL gonna change! So far..... This is how it looks with the bench I currently use and the new computer area, with tools relocated notice the Dremel suspended from the ceiling..... That is a Dremel Flex Shaft seen next to the little bench seen here! ALREADY looking better! Yep..........a bit to go, but lookin' good and I have to say much more user frierndly, and its only gonna get better! More to follow after these short messages!

Guys, I had post-poned my modeling to remodel my work benches in my shop..... WAS a mess (still sort of is!) BUT there will be a few things to gain doing this. One, I'll have a dedicated area for different things, such as my shop computer, spray painting, machine tools, electronic, etc.... The number two thing I'll gain, is organization, and some "space"!!!! So, I'm not sure I had said it before, but, my shop is on the 3rd floor of our home, which originally, was a "storage area" I had a choice, either the basement, or the 3rd floor. I choose the 3rd floor as the basement has Granite foundations most of the "walls" SO I'd had to stud out the entire "area", and at the time, I didn't and still don't have the funds to do such. SO at that time, I took the attic, I got a window, and a nice A/C up there, and its unheated but, if the lower door is left open it gets 65 degrees OK in the winter (real cold, I have an electric heater for up there for a cubical that does well and goes "off" when the lights go out and in the summer I put it away! The A/C, is on a different circuit that remains "powered" like a regular room outlet so......... BUT the walls up there are old horse hair plastic and lath. NOT in the best of shape BUT gave me something to mount things to on the wall without having to stud out the walls like the basement would have been! ANYWAY, I have NOT refinished the walls, it be a lifetime to allow me to get the needed materials for that plus, I rent, (my land lord is AWESOME and is OK with the whole thing as I have shown to him. But anyway, I had old dressers for benches, and storage, and placed them as I could (in a hurry) when we first moved in, NOW some 5 or 6 years later, I'm rebuilding them, to my own spec with my own set up to be more user friendly, and have some sort of order, and some sort of organization to them. SO, I took this: Computer area kinda "stuffed" into the far right corner, next to the storage shelving on its left..... to this: NOW, the storage shelving will remain where it was originally placed on the left of the computer area..... BUT the right of the computer area was, well. something in-question..... It did look like this: WHAT a MESS! BUT it worked for the time, NOW I'm a bit more organized..... That picture is an old one! This is what it looked like a few years later: I merely worked off the "corner" of that low dresser seen here. THEN..... just yesterday, this is that SAME area/location: STILL as of yesterday, a dang mess! TODAY however, DIFFERENT story: Starting to look a bit better! As for the computer area, I took the old computer "desk" (if thats what ya wanna call it, and used it for parts, and a LOT of it went through my table saw...... thats how I built all of this: Top "draw "in" Lower "draw" (keyboard, shelf) "out"..... Keyboard still out, and top shelf only out half way! Was FUN making that all "work" but, looks pretty good! NOT finished tho...... I may paint some of that bare wood, BLACK to match the rest of it to hide it a bit, just for "looks" sake! MORE to follow these short messages!

I vote for the wiggle wagon dumps.......

Dale, Thanks guy! I tell ya, my middle name ought to have been "Scratchbuild" LOL I seem to be ALWAYS doing something whether light scratchin' or heavy scratchin'.... BUT in some form, I'm always seeming to do it..... I have to say tho, give me the materials, and watch as things just "happen" always been that way too! I have to look around and see if there is a "shop" or work area place as the next pictures will be of the work I'm performing in the shop for bench work! As for the scratchin' tho. what ya mean from one strength to the other? "strength to strength" Not sure I follow that one, but thats me I bet, being a bone-headed Big Ears LOL But yes, you'd be right knowing what the build means to me....... Just nice to remember Dad & I having 2 Dodge trucks at the very same time! Matter of fact, when he passed away, he had am '84 Power Ram....... My cousin owns it now..... Thanks tho ma, MUCH APPRECIATED!

Thanks Carl! MUCH appreciated! Just to give you guys a bit of an update. Not much has happened to either of the trucks. Sadly. BUT the good part is why.... I got the means to remodel ALL the work benches in my shop to my own "specs" and having good weather, and so, I've begun the transformation. They won't be anything real special, BUT what they will be, is more "user friendly" AS WELL as have a "system" to them, not have a "building" bench here, and my "tool" bench there, and have a "general" bench here, and have no rhyme or reason behind them, As well as the walls they're going to be cleated too, will be in respect of the bench thats in that location..... The "paint" bench, will have paint bottle racks on the wall. General bench will have peg board wall behind it. Machine tool bench, will have cabinetry to hold machine tool accessories..... Computer bench, will be, well thats like a desk really, (made for an existing one I had anyway) BUT made to house things for design on CAD, and "light" drafting (Nothing serious)...... BUT because, I have been patient, I've finally collected up all the needed materials over the span of 3 years to make this happen! THEN, to add to it, I got 3 Testors paint racks given to me for the taking from the local hobby shop, that one is in place, but I have 2 yet to fit or make space for and using up the materials I've collected, as well as organizing all at the same time, with the new bench work, I will be able to get the last 2 into place. -and utilized!!!!! So model building for now is post-poned for a bit, (I do however work on small things at night), IF I have cleaned up good enough, OR have no "silent" organizing to do (which I'm finding goes a bit better at night when I'm up) WHICH, that reminds me. I did get the spare tire rim, lug nut holes drilled out, and touched up as well as the openings in the steel wheel itself. I have yet to get a good color coating of paint on this, and then maybe a thin shot of clear coat to protect it from possibly yellowing...... -No pictures tho! (the next pictures I'll be taking is of the work bench progress I've been making!!!!!

Stray, you got a point on that one! And with the detail I'm adding and the work I'm doing, I'm NOT going to jeopardize the model being build because of the time frame. Dad wouldn't so I'm not, he loved some of the wild details I put into the models he seen me build so....... He'd be against it, just to "complete" the set..... -Just the fact its we're both "fathers" now, and wasn't back then is kinda special in the way I'm doing it....... My Fathers Day gift, is to sit and work on HIS truck in this! -I want to see if that can be done on Fathers Day.....

NIICE! I got all "CAT" Norscott has made in 1/64th to date..... I'd LOVE to find a elevated track dozer, and a articulated dump truck in 1/64th in CAT livery, but..... thats a long shot (I don't believe Norscott makes them!) So..... I do however got a few Cat model motors in 1/24th -1/25th to make so I'm looking for some Cat "yellow" for the engines...... -AND I have a old Ertl D11T to restore.....

Les, and Vince, Thank you!!!!! I appreciate it, and yes, I am moving right along....While I'm at it this time around, I have to go dig to see what all bench seats I got, as I need to come up with something for Dads truck..... He did not have bucket seats in his, (Mine didn't come with bucket seats), BUT I added them to my truck as the garage owner told me I could salvage the stuff out of the old cab out back which I was surprised (even to this day) that it was in the shape it was in, and he just wanted a reason to "scrap" the cab as the interior really was in really good shape! Needless to say, my Dads truck interior was dang near mint so..... BUT to make the model as Dads would have been I got to fill in the hole in the floor that was to have the gear shift placed there, and add a steering column gear shift (Dads was an automatic truck) so...... I got some details to make, and add, to this one for the interior. But thanks guys! Vince will do if I come to find I need anything then I have!

Yeah the 392 was a GREAT engine for its time..... I LOVE all the different intake types thats available for them..... just something.................different!

-Thanks for posting that Tom! I got a couple from my childhood I'd like to restore! Anything "CAT" as well?

Thanks guys! I got a little done last night too, (I got to get pics of it yet) BUT, a bit more detail is coming! -NOT sure I'm gonna make my "Fathers Day Deadline" tho.....

Last for now..... I began replicating the firewall. Just like how mine looks, Dads truck was pretty much the same! A little bit of wire being done, BUT a lot of holes drilled for wires from the engine, and hoses for the heater.. and battery lines as well.... This is almost ready to have it "fitted" to the frame, like mine was done in my truck! BUT a little detail yet to be done and some touch up paint as well! Thats it for this quick update, but I guess, something is better then nothing! ENJOY!

SO..... it has been a few days, the rain stopped and the weather got nice, and ole John had some out door stuff to do and yet got more to continue out doors but I did get a little done! I took the engine and got the plug wires, and boots in place.... I also got the valve covers on the engine too (I almost forgot that the last I posted), the engine had no valve covers or anything for details up top! The valve covers ALSO got wire looms mounted to them to hold the plug wires! The wire looms are how I "directed" the wires to lay as they are too! Just the opposite side! Back of motor, showing the coil wire "loose".... BUT the coil in place! (The coil, is a in-shop made part! This model (just like my truck in this build) did not come box-stock with a "coil" detail.... The "silver wrap" (mount in real life) was made using scrap BMF! Coil wire in place! Up next, is short and sweet (I did not get a lot done to the build so far this week), but one more post to follow, right after these short messages!

Where on Gods green earth did you get the decals to restore that!? NIICE Work man!

I do something similiar to this..... (I got those "spring" type benders from K&S USELESS!!!) I do plan to machine out a bender such as thise with my lathe, as I'm finding, I need to bend more and more..... Source of bending materials.....Go to the Dollar Tree store, (If one is near you) and look in their "craft" section, for "Floral Wire"...... SOLID aluminum, and easy to bend, and not "kink"....$1.00 for 6 feet! I use it alot for exhaust pipe designing...... My first truck in my "Father & Son" build uses this stuff for exhaust pipes..... I also invested in a pair of Necklace "craft" pliers, also good for bending.....