Force

I believe the engine parts came from the Jo-Han Ford Maverick or Mercury Comet Pro Stockers, they for sure looks like the engines in them.

Nice work indeed.

Here is a Weld Draglite wheel for those who don't know how they look. http://weldwheels.com/shop/media/product/e01/draglite-0b9.jpg You have to click on the link, I tried every way I could think of to get the picture to show in the post but no success, it was a lot easier with the old forum layout than with this one...I can't figure out how to do it in this one.

The M A N is a 26.321. The power rating depends on what version the engines are but I would think they are in the 320-450 hp range (except for the Mercedes OM 502LA wich are rated higher) as that's what was common in the day these trucks were from. More modern European trucks has engines rated up to 750 hp.But if you know the engine type google is your friend and you will for sure find out what you need to know about them.

Apperantly they had the molds for the John Deere 4430 and 310 Backhoe as they have been reissued in modern time under the AMT/Ertl brand, But I haven't seen the International 1466 and Massey Ferguson 1155 since the Ertl days, and not the wagon and plow kits either.

Great looking dashboard.

There is no engine from Cummins called NTD and AMT miss spelled it on the box art, so it's most likely a NTC 350 and the same engine as in the Peterbilt 359 1100 cab kits, the recent California Hauler Peterbilt 359 Unilite "small window" cab kits has Detroit Diesel 8V-71. The engines in the AMT truck kits are Cummins NHC 250, NTA 370, NTC 350, Detroit Diesel 8V-71, 12V-71T 16V-71, 8V-92 and 8V-92T, Cat 1160, Mack ENDT-673, 865 (MPC/Ertl), ENDT-675 and 676 Tip Turbine (AMT) and they had one optional Turbine engine a couple of years in the GMC Astro. The other Ertl trucks Mack's excluded had Cummins V 903, International V-800, and Detroit Diesel 8V-71. The Revell US Snap truck kit engines are Cat 3406 and in the 1:16 kits Cat 3406 and 3408. The Revell AG engines are Cummins NTC 475 Twin Turbo and Cat 3408 for the US trucks (not the Italeri and Moebius based trucks) Italeri has Cummins NTC 400 (some are meant to look like N14 but are not correct) and Detroit Diesel Series 60 engines in most of their US Trucks. Moebius truck kits has International Maxxforce 15.

Yes, they didn't open the hood in the AG movie as the engine in the car was too new for the time period the movie was meant to be wich was 1962 and the Generation 2 Big Block didn't come out until 1965: So Revell did some "free interpretation" and put in a 348/409 under the hood in their American Grafitti 55 Die Cast model, and it had no flip nose or straight front axle either. I have done some research in the TLB subject as I plan to build one myself one day. Richard Ruth built three cars for Universal Studios and the TLB movie, two indentical cars with a straigh front axle and coil overs, Muncie M-22 "Rock Crusher" gear box, Olds/Pontiac 4:88 geared rear end with ladder bars, Hurst Airheart brakes, fibre glass doors with sliding windows, trunk lid and flip nose, and one stunt car never used in the movie. Ruth got three new big block engines from GM, two 454 LS6 and one left over 427 L88, the Main Car for outside scenes got the 427 L88 wich from the factory produced more horse power than the 454 LS6, the Camera Car for inside scenes got one 454 and the stunt car the other 454 but had an automatic transmission and individual rear brakes. The Camera car originally had the same tunnel ram intake and two 4bbl Holley 4160 carburators as the Outside Scene car did when it left Ruth's shop but it was changed to a single 4 bbl on a low intake for it to run better and be more reliable, and a dummy carb was mounted up in the scoop so it would look right from the inside, that car also got AC to cool the cast down, I have a picture of that setup. The Outside Scene car and the stunt car was repainted and used in the AG movie and the camera car was sold after the TLB movie and disappeared for a time but was found by Walt Bailey and was restored back to the original TLB state by him and Ruth and was sold at Barett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale AZ back in January this year...and I belive it's the car on the second picture in the first post.

Well for a 327 you can use whatever Chevy Small Block engine you prefer as they are all basically built from the same design, but for a 1963 Corvette you will need Corvette script cast aluminum valve covers if you want to do it right as most ,if not all, Corvettes had them back then. If you go the "carburator way" you will need the 1963 dual snorkel air cleaner, and if you want to go the "fuelie way" you need a 1963-65 Rochester FI system, they made 3 different styles for Chevrolet, the first generation was used between 1957 and 59, the second generation was used between 1960 and 62 and the final generation was used between 1963 and 65 and they all look different so you must use the correct one if you want to do it right.

Interesting, I will for sure follow this build.

Very nice!!

I know how it's done but it's not easy to describe to one that had never seen how the beadlock rims are constructed, so the video Steve posted is "worth more than a thousand words" and as you have seen it now I knew you would understand, it's not complicated at all.

This video tell the story good. I have seen this done at the tracks but it's a bit hard to put what I have seen into words so this video explains the process.

The wheels in the later of the Revell Funny Car kits are supposed to be Centerline Convo Pro but they are not very good replicas as Revell took a shortcut and modified the previous wheels from the earlier tooling wich was Weld Pro Star wheels to more look like the Centerlines, so the center section is still Weld Pro Star but the outer rim is the ribbed style Centerline Convo Pro and it's a strange looking combination of the two...you can find a lot better more correct looking Centerline Convo Pro wheels in the Revell 55 Ford and 57 Chevy Pro Sportsman kits. The first issues of the "modern era" Funny Car kits with Ford Mustang, Tempo and Pontiac Trans Am bodies from the mid 80's had Weld Racing Draglite wheels, the next issues with the Oldsmobile Cutlass bodies the kits got Weld Racing Pro Star wheels, and in the next issues with the Dodge Avenger bodies Revell modified the Pro Star wheels to the strange looking Centerline Convo Pro wheels wich were in the kits until the last Pontiac Firebird issues. The Weld Draglite and Pro Star wheels came in the mid to late 80's and the Centerline Convo Pro wheels the early 90's.I don't know exact date but somewhere thereabout. A bead lock rim has two separate outer rings bolted to the rim and many use these bead lock rims nowadays as they work well to keep the tire on the rim and stopping the rim rotating inside the tire due to the low air pressures used in Drag Racing, you clamp the bead of the slick tire between the rim and the outer ring and it locks the tire firmly into place. Earlier many drilled holes in the outside circumference of the rim and screwed the bead to the rim locking it into place, but the bead lock wheels with the bolted separate rings are a lot better, it's also easier to change the tires with this system.

Nice progress Sean.

Don't even consider buying the ERTL Rubber Duck truck, I bought one back in the day and was gravely disappointed as it's a DM 600 wich is totally wrong, the movie truck is a RS 700L and the only usable parts from the ERTL kit is some of the the decals, the Rubber Duck hood ornament, possibly the grille, the bull bar and air foil for the roof, the rest is unusable so it's definately not worth the money, the AMT R 600 is a much better starting point if you want to go the styrene way. But I can only agree with the others on the AITM kit, I bought one a while ago and it's very nice...it's a bit pricey but you get everything you need with the kit and it's not cheap to round up all the bits and pieces needed for the project in styrene either, and It's not that hard to separate the hood from the cab and put in an engine in the AITM kit if you want to. You could of course email Dave and ask if you can get the pieces you need to convert the AMT R600 kit, he is not impossible to deal with and may possibly sell the parts individually. One thing about the hood, the AMT R 600 hood isn't only too short, it's also the wrong style as the fenders looks different from the movie truck, the grille is also wrong. Other things needed are different fuel tanks and air tanks under the battery boxes (2 for each side), the bull bar, the Rubber Duck ornament for the hood and the air foil for the roof...and of course the Able Body 60 Inch sleeper with exhaust cutout on the passenger side. If you go by the sound the engine for the Rubber Duck movie truck was a Detroit Diesel, but that was just layed on on the sound track together with the sound of the air horns (horns as long as the ones on the movie truck does not sound like they do in the movie, they have a much deeper tone) at least one of the trucks used in the movie had a Mack ENDT 676 "Tip Turbine" engine due to the dual intake hose air cleaner seen on the movie truck in several scenes, that engine can be found in the AMT Mack Cruiseliner and the air cleaner has to be modified to resemble a Tip Turbine air cleaner with two intake hoses above eachother.

You are right there Dave, they are completely different kits.

Great work on this model man.

Wheels and tires can be changed and I don't think the frame for the Revell AG K100 is that bad so what kit you want to start from is up to you, Of course you can start from the AMT K100 Aerodyne kit...but they are starting to fetch quite a lot of money too nowadays, not as much as the Revell kits but not that far from it, just now I see a couple on the auction site with asking prices from $63 to $280, the more expensive ones are BJ & The Bear kits and Tyrone Malone Transporter kits. The Revell kit has the normal 180" wheel base and the frame has to be lengthened to do a tri-drive, if you can't find the tri-drive kits, the AMT kit has a longer wheel base as the kit was the base for the Tyrone Malone transporters wich has a transporter body behind the cab, so they don't have to be stretched. The Revell AG K100 has a Cummins NTC 475 Dual Turbo and a manual transmission so it's not the same as the Revell AG W900/T900 wich have a Cat 3408 and a different frame, the AMT has a Detroit Diesel 8V-92T and an Allison automatic transmission.

The rear axle was probably too wide for the body and the Eldorado/Toronado wheels has lots of back spacing and would move the tires inward.

Nice work, I like the old F1 cars.

Very nice!!

Yup, he did a good job on it.

Please Revell, reissue them.

Revell...Monogram...it's pretty much the same thing, Revell and Monogram merged into one company in 1986 but the two brands were kept separate until the mid 90's when the kits were labeled Revell/Monogram, after that Monogram pretty much dissappeared and all kits were labeled Revell, but lately they have reinstated the Monogram lable and a Revell developed kit can be labeled Mongram and a Monogram developed kit can be labeled Revell regardless of origin...I don't like it as it gets confusing if you don't know your kit history well. But all Monogram developed kits are 1:24th scale and Revell has allways been 1:25th scale so the Monogram labeled kits in 1:25th scale were done after the merge 1986 and no new tooling kits from the Revell/Monogram Company after that are 1:24th scale. There are a couple of exceptions, the NASCAR kits, the 80's and 90's Pro Stock and Funny Car kits from Monogram and Revell were 1:24th scale but the tooling for them were originally developed before the merge.