Force

Now we're talking, looks great!

Some newer engines are available from the aftermarket, Moluminum has the C15, Auslowe has both the N14 and a "Signature" 600 Engine, and A&N Model Trucks has the later ISX15, as most of the AMT truck kits are from the early to mid 70's these engines are too new for most of them but can be used for later re-power. Otherwise the newest engines available in US truck model kits are the International Maxx Force 15 in the Moebius Lone Star and Pro Star, and the Detroit Diesel Series 60 in the Italeri Peterbilt kits.

Kenworth had mostly all engines white up to 1975 and Peterbilt up to 1984, most were white but I have seen engine manufacturers original colors before and white painted engines after those dates...so it's up to the builder what color he want to use. Original engine manufacturer colors back in the day were yellow for Cat, Cummins were beige, Detroit Diesel were Alpine Green.

I just got my first order from KJ the other day and I have to agree with everyone here, super nice parts and absolutely perfect service, I will order more from him in the future.

Maybe the owners doesn't want to put up the money to make the quarter mile track safer, after all it was at Raceway Park, Englishtown Scott Kalitta lost his life 10 years ago. They shortened the competition distance for the nitro classes to 1000 feet after that but they go faster and quicker today at 1000 feet than they did then on the quarter mile, the difference is 320 feet longer braking zone, but that may not be enough in the future.

There is not that many 1950 Mercs done either (one or two), no coupe and none recently. It's relatively easy to do a '50 from a '49 but the grille with parking lights, the dash, the rear window,, the side trim, the hood and trunk trim, the hubcaps and the rear bumper guard and some other small things is different from the '49 so you have to get that from somewhere...and The Modelhaus is no more for parts. To do a '51 from the '49 tool involves more work as the differences are a lot more. I think the '50 is cleaner looking than the '51 because I don't really like grille, the rear window opening and welded on rear quarter panel extensions on the '51.

Well an eight-mile is better than nothing at all.

Yes...and make it a 1950. I saw that car at Bill Papke's shop in Huntington Beach, Ca in 2012, under restoration when a friend of mine bought some parts for a 1950 Merc 4-door hi just bought...But Papke died from cancer very soon after so I don't know what happened to the car after that.

Tragical, I read Irwindale in California wich was up for demolition was saved for now, but I didn't think Englishtown would close down with the herritage that track has, 48 years with National Events it's one of the oldest in the calendar.

I meant stronger than the 700R4/4L60...the 400 is strong enough. The 700R4 was too weak for the 454 torque, that's why they used the 400 the first year.

I like them too. I built my first AMT truck kit back in the mid-late 70's as a teenager and several more after that, and have allways been able to put them together....challenging yes...but not impossible.

3D has the fronts and the more sportsman style Weld Magnums but not the Weld Magnum PRO rears used in the alcohol and nitro classes. Here is a couple of pictures so one can see the difference. 3D Model Specialties Magnum Wheel from Shapeways Weld Magnum PRO from the Weld Racing website As far as I know no one does correct up to date Magnum PRO's, the centers on them are solid since some years back with no holes except for the wheel studs and the center hole, the closest wheel available for models are the Pegasus/SoReal wheels with small triangularish holes between the round depressions where the lugnuts are...not correct but close, but they were correct for the time they were done. The Pegasus/SoReal wheel for comparence.

Me too!! Great start.

As far as I know no SS 454 Pickup came with 700R4 (later named 4L60-4L60-E), the 1990 model was only available with 3-speed TH 400 and the stronger 4-speed 4L80-E became available for the 1991 model year.

Well you can only do one model from most 2 'n 1 kits, it's very few you get 2 complete models.

You can only build one complete truck from the 2 'n 1 kit, so you have to decide if you want to do a day cab or sleeper cab, long or short chassis, single drive or dual drive.

Very nice!

The FE came 1958 and was made up to 1976 in several different versions and in trucks it was often called FT. The most common displacements for Ford and Mercury cars were 332, 352, 360, 361 (1958 Edsel only), 390, 406, 410 (Mercury 1966-67 and not the MEL 410), 427 and 428. For the truck FT wich was a little beefier than the regular FE were 330, 360, 361 (not the same as the Edsel 361), 389, and 391.

You are not the only one that wish this kit would come back, it was as far as I know only issued once in 1971. If you want to do one like the original from a recent reissue W925 and aftermarket parts and combine the costs I think you would come close to what an original cost.

You generally cannot tell what CID and version a FE engine is simply by looking at casting numbers without checking bore and stroke and some other things, the block castings is a mishmash of numbers and marks that can be missleading as the same casting numbers can be used for several engine versions. But most of the 406 engines has C2AE-J, C2AE-K, C2AE-V, C2AE-BD, C3AE-D and C3AE-V and they were only around about a year and a half. The 390's with casting numbers starting with C2AE were all some kind of high performance engines, the regular 390's before 1963 had C1AE casting numbers.

Of course you can use that engine if you want to but there are much better versions available. The engine on the picture above is custom with many modern aftermarket parts, the other engines you show are more close to stock but the 390's looks like HP versions, the more regular 390's have different simpler exhaust manifolds.

Late 406 blocks had cross bolted mains like the later 427 and the number of cross bolts are three on each side for the middle three main caps, the first and last don't have any. The AMT 60 Starliner 2 'n 1 and Custom kits has a very nice FE and the correct chrome plated Thunderbird and "baldie" valve covers as well as the 3X2 bbl intake system and short cast iron headers the 390 HP and 406 had, the long cast iron headers and 2X4 bbl intake system are also in these kits but they arrived with the 427, the 406 was the Ford race engine 1962 and early 63 and was replaced with the 427 well into the 1963 model year (at the same time as the fastback roof for Galaxie wich are called 1963½). Some additional information, the 406 has the same 4.13 inch cylinder bore as the 428 but the same 3.78 inch crank stroke as the 390 wich only has 4.05 bore, the 427 had a larger 4.23 bore wich were the largest on any FE but still with 3.78 stroke, the 428 wich came in 1966 was cheaper to build than the 427 had as I said 4.13 bore but 3.98 stroke...and if you put a 428 crank in a 390 you get a 410.

I don't know of any AMT 1:25 scale Kenworths with Detroit Diesel 12V-71 other than the Tyrone Malone Super Boss and Bandag Bandit, the different versions of the W925, T600A and K123 has Cummins NTA 370. AMT did 5 different versions of their K100 Aerodyne, the Tyrone Malone Papa Truck and Hideout Truck transporters, the BJ and the Bear TV show truck and two generic trucks with different decals and boxart, but all had the same Detroit Diesel 8V-92T and Allison automatic transmission as far as I know.

Otherwise you can get a spray can of Detroit Diesel Alpine Green at your local auto parts store.

I haven't seen the Pegasus (former So-Real Concepts) Magnum PRO wheels for a while, they are listed on Pegasus website but no pictures. Someone did resin copys of them but I can't recommend him and I don't even know if he still is in business. I also searched the Shapeways site but I didn't find any Weld Magnum PRO rear wheels, only Magnums for street cars.