Old Albion

Thanks for all the comments! The 1693 TA was a unique engine, if I remember rightly it was billed as the first 1,000,000 mile engine (Provided you maintained it correctly). 40 years ago 425 HP was a lot even by todays standards and no hocus pocus electronic wizardry to go wrong. The truck uses the AMT T502 kit as the basis with some aftermarket and scratch built parts.

Its been a while since I posted anything so decided that it was time to do so. I have been working on a couple of builds (matching Pair) of Peterbilt trucks one a 352 Coe and the other a 359 conventional. Progress on the 359 is slow with not much done but I have been making progress with the 352. The truck will feature a Clatterpillar 1693TA engine. This is a big engine and took a lot of carefull "adjustments" to get it to sit in the frame and not clash with the dog house. With the big engine (Probably the biggest horsepower engine (425HP) available in a pacemaker in 1970) I needed a larger air breather unit and bigger exhaust stacks. It will also need a bigger radiator. You will note from the photo's that the exhausts are not fitted to the cab rear. Instead they are fitted to the "Eiffel tower" frame. This looks quite pleasing and in keeping with the rest of the build. This frame did not appear until 1973 (I think) so mine being a 1970 model has had the exhausts removed from the cab and the Eiffel Tower retro fitted at a later date. The frame and the bottom half of the cab will be dark blue, middle of the cab white and the top of the cab light blue. Thanks for Looking! Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/peterbilt-352-pacemaker/

Excellent work so far. The engine is very interesting looks like a 2 stroke diesel.

Ben, Jamie, A superb build. This would be a great kit to build. Will it be available for sale?

William, The WF is a great subject to build. But can be troublesome if don't think and plan the build through. The width of the front axle on many AMT kits is a problem. I tend to use the 1/25 metal axle from KFS because its about 3/16" narrower so wheels sit under cabs and hoods. This gives a much more realistic appearance. The only down side is that you have to buy an axle kit. I know one or two people who have used the kit axle. To get the wheels in the right place they have trimmed the actual hubs. This can be very effective and is at no extra cost.

Aaron, An excellent topic and build, its great to see how you have gone about the works so far.

Mike, Your making good progress on this very interesting truck. With regards to the single headlights. I used the lights from the Tamiya mini car for my WF heavy hauler. They were about the right size and looked right. Its a pity Tamiya don't make model trucks, the detail and finess of the parts is excellent! Dave

Craig, Excellent work! Dave

Ben, The details on the axles are superb!! Very Impressed. Dave

Ben, The Cummins looks real!! Great detail and workmanship. Hope you enjoy building the Kitty Kat! Dave

Jim, This is a very impressive looking truck and trailer, they go well together.

Wow! This realy is impressive.

Bill, A very nice addition to the fleet!! I like the frame extension and the colour scheme. Great work!

Kurt, Another superb build!! I have enjoyed following this and look forward to seeing your next build. Thanks for sharing with us.

Excellent progress on a very interesting build. Great work.

Jarda, The green generator set is scratch built. I used a resin N14 Cummins (from Auslowe??) as the engine. Its just my interprotation of a field generator. Dave

Mike, Thats a very nice looking build so far. I like the modifications to the frame and the choice of paint work is perfect. I will certainly look forward to seeing this finished. Dave

The details in this build are superb and the standard of workmanship is outstanding. Dave

I bought an Oshkosh resin conversion from Spalding Trading and Shipping some years ago. I think it was a Griffin one (not sure). It might be worth sending them an E-mail to see what happened to the mold etc. Here is the one I built! Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki http://public.fotki..../6-x-6-oshkosh/ Dave

Kurt, You are doing a great job of this difficult kit. Well within the capacity of a very capable Model Engineer (See Kurt McLucas). I'm interested to see how this turns out. I have the Bison and the General and it gives me some indications of the pitfalls and also the good points. Keep up the good work. Dave

Charles, This is a superb build. The whole thing looks real awaiting someone to restore it to its former glory. Great Work. Dave

Did GMC use Caterpillar engines as an option in the General? With regards to the use of the Detroit! Perfect!! Dave

The Smokey and the Bandit trucks were discussed some time ago on the ATHS web site. According to the comments one of the trucks had a Cummins KT450. I could be wrong and got mixed up with some thing else as it was a long time ago. Dave

Check the Model Car Garage web site below, 5th item down is the piano hinge for butterfly hoods and doors. I have used these on 3 model trucks with pleasing results. http://www.modelcargarage.com/store/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=28 Hope this helps. Dave

Check the link below: http://www.kitformservices.com/tq.html Look at the bottom of the page. Howard has the yellow 1693TA for sale. Check the link below for details of the build and photo's of the finished engine. http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/project-4-14/ Hope this helps Dave