dodgefever

I would have liked to see the front tyres from the original issue '40 Willys, '56 Ford and '55 Nomad reproduced - the ones Modelhaus knocked off as their T110. Now I have a 3D printer, not so much of a concern, but it would still be nice to see them in a kit.

Still working on the wrecker body, but I got some paint on the chassis.

Nice work. A bit late now, but for future reference or anyone else building one, the front subframe is not a separate part on B bodies, so only the K-member and trans mount would be black; the rest body colour/primer. Also, the '63 has the cowl curve up into the windshield, where '64-'65 have flat cowls and larger windshields.

With Coke decals probably. ? Not knocking, just a joke - they have to make profit where they can.

I decided to tackle the 400, so I've made some progress on the mast and winch. Test print of the bed, which broke, but at least I know it fits...

They will fit onto the '65 body, as will the grille, but the '65 headlight pods are taller, so you'd have a gap at the top.

Here we are then - Steve was correct, the '63/'64 engines are the same, but the '65 was retooled. The earlier ones have a partial Dynaflow transmission. '65 has a passing resemblance to a four speed. The '65 also has a timing cover/water pump/crossover part, which is completely absent in the earlier kits. The '63/'64 engines measure 21.8mm along the deck and the heads are 21.6mm long; the '65 block is 21.5mm along the deck and the heads are only 20.2mm long.

Didn't get a chance to search the loft today... will update tomorrow.

Agreed. Nothing turns me off quicker than airbags and oversized wheels. The original iteration looks cool as it is.

I would have thought they shared the same tooling for the engine, but I have all three, so I can check tomorrow.

Not easily. The 305 is much narrower and has a taller, deep skirted block - nothing in common with the Chevy V8s other than a passing resemblance in the valve covers... might as well start from scratch. I might get around to drawing one, because I need another (already used a Rookie Resin one).

No real progress, after reading @TheBEAUMONTGURU's thread I've been staring at the grille and thinking about how to improve it. Better photos of the mock up anyway... Wheel/tyre fit might look sloppy, but they're only loosely put together here; can't glue them until they're painted. CAD drawing. The sharp eyed will notice the missing U bolts. I couldn't see a way to print them without them breaking, so figured I'd use wire.

Grafted in the chassis and assembled the rear end. The wheels and tyres are just dry fitted to see how it sits. I'll get some better photos in the daylight tomorrow.

The long beds had a 127" WB; short beds 115", so you have to add a scale 12" in front of the wheels i.e. 0.48". Then 0.24" behind the wheels to make it up to a 96" bed. Also, note that the long bed was shared by the C20, so had slightly larger wheel openings than the short fleetside, which was only available as a C10.

Yes, I drew them in FreeCAD and printed them. Doing some research on the wrecker... might end up badged as a '66, because a Holmes 440 looks a lot easier to build than a 400.

Neat work on the bed sides. I'm also working on a long fleetside conversion, so I'll follow along. Sadly, I haven't owned a real one.

I have a pile of the Revell kits, so figured one would be a good candidate for a 1-ton conversion. I'm thinking about making a wrecker body for it. ? Not much to show yet, but I've got a new rear chassis section, leaf springs, HO72 axle and 17.5" wheels to assemble. The kit chassis will be cut off near the front of the cab and this new section grafted on. Front suspension stock, but with the new 1-ton brakes/ hubs.

Dave Zeuschel. Do Slixx need a proofreader? Other than that, nice job, I like it.

In order of preference: '61 Starliner, '62 Galaxie HT, '67 Galaxie HT.

No idea what "level 2" is, but this kit was first issued by Revell in 1957, so you have to manage your expectations.

There was no Pontiac "small block". A 326 looks the same as a 389.

Based on that, I'm guessing the one with the Holmes 850 wrecker body.

Nope, Ram Air.

Period images, or current? I doubt anyone would put whitewalls on one now, but when new, E70-14 whitewalls were standard, even on Mach 1s. Wider RWL tyres were optional.

That green looks just right. What did you use?