Chuck Most

Awesome.

That's how low it will sit. That's the plan anyway. I want to depict it as it would look with the airbags fully deflated, kind of like a modern custom pickup on display at a show.

Gorgeous! Cannot wait for this one to come back.

It's actually worse than that... the whole time I was working on the cab and hood of the LoneStar, I was thinking about the Transtar...

Well, I'm afraid the engine in this will be rather dull by comparison. It will run a CAT 3400- though I might install more than one turbo if I get ambitious. I thought about sticking in the engine from a Payhauler 350, but since Detroit diesels like to wear their oil on the outside rather than keep it in the crankcase, it would be a poor choice for a clean, polished show truck, no matter how audacious an engine choice it would be.

I'll second that!

Started this two years ago. Here's how it looked until about three days ago. Skip ahead to earlier this week, when I added some etched brass screen to make a new grille insert. And then came some serious body work... I had wanted to stretch the hood, and I ultimately decided to go with a so-not-subtle two feet. Trouble was, this made the hood look way out of proportion to the cab. So I decided to chop and graft a second Transtar cab onto the first cab, creating a 4-door crew cab. Front wheels are the Transtar units, I cut the center out of an AMT Rides Magazine kit to make them a bit larger in diameter and fit the RM tires. The truck will feature a fully adjustable air suspension- this will be 'show height'. This truck will represent a no-holes-barred, no-expense-spared show rig- something built simply to turn heads at a truck show. It'll obviously be a long-wheelbase rig, and I'm toying with adding a sleeper box but I'm not 100% sold on that yet.

Taking a short break from this one for a bit. I'd planned to finish this, then get to work on a custom Transtar show truck, but working on this made me want to get started on the Transtar. So that's what I'll be doing.

Not that I need to jump in on another CBP, but I think I can manage something for this.

Thanks! Should have enough info to at least get started on the truck.

Thanks for the info guys! One last question... what materials are the cab and hood made of on the model AMT's kit represents? Fiberglass hood with an aluminum cab? Fiberglass/steel? Steel/steel? Or some other combination?

I've never seen a real Aussie Ute in person, but I saw a fiberglass-bodied street rod years ago with a body modified like that. Lovely looking little roadster! The conversion work is great.

I just bought the Diamond Reo reissue, and I'm thinking of bashing it with the plow, dump body, and sand spreader from the AMT Ford Lousiville plow truck when I can get one. But I have a few things nagging me... 1. Would using the parts from the LTN-8000 be consistent? I'm assuming the two kits date from roughly the same era. 2. All of the 1:1 DR plows I've seen had a set-back front axle. I've never seen an exception to this myself, either in person or in an online image search. Moving the front axle and fenders would not phase me, but I'd like to keep the front end of the truck the way it is represented in the AMT kit. Would doing so violate any serious "accuracy laws". 3. If I do set the front axle back, would the hood be the same length? Also, the set back axle trucks all seemed to have butterfly hoods. Was such an option available on the hood style depicted in the AMT kit? 4. Could I keep the turbocharged Cummins engine supplied in the DR kit? I've seen very few turbo plow trucks from this era, though I'm sure there were a probably quite a few around. Leaving the turbo off the NTC-350 would work if I needed to. And last one... 5. I know some DR trucks and tractors had aluminum frames, but were they all aluminum, or was a steel frame also offered? I do plan to weather the truck a bit, and rust on an aluminum frame rail just wouldn't look right! I guess the bottom line is- would the type of Diamond Reo the AMT kit represents even be a good choice to start a plow truck project? I understand I'd need to lose the sleeper, probably shorten the frame, etc.., but none of that should be a big deal. I'd appreciate any answers/tips/insights you guys could provide!

Here's what I have at this point- Glass, mirrors, air cleaners, visor, and lenses are in place, and the cab is permanently mounted. Still need to connect the air intake ducting under the hood, but it's technically a only battery and at least one fuel tank away from 'drivable'. Speaking of, that's the next thing I have to figure out. I don't plan on using the stock aero skirts, so I need to plan out the tank, box, and step setup for each side. I'm leaning toward leaving it a tractor, but I might put a body of some sort on the back. As always, we'll see.

Now imagine it with the grille from the Ford Bronco concept truck from a few years back...

I was there, I saw him do it. I can vouche for this man's wherabouts and actions at or around 1:15 PM Monday, August 20, 2012. Looking sweet! Bed looks awesome. (Heh, heh. Wood...) Is that Scale Motorsport upholstery pattern decal on the seat?

Got a sweet billet steering wheel today- and on that note... the interior is finished! I've also painted the inserts in the seats black, to break up the yellow islands in the otherwise mostly black interior. Hope to have the cab on for good tomorrow.

I was headed up US-127 earlier today, when something in the southbound lane caught my eye. What caught my eye was what a P-series Scania cabover, bright red with a chrome grille, pulling an enclosed trailer. No camo or dazzle paint, no disguise of any kind- this thing was a Scania, plain as day. I know that Scania does sell some product in the US, but I never knew they sold their trucks here. Anybody know when this happened? Or could it be a test rig? I've heard some European truck makers are trying to crack the North American market.

Why, that would be a weather vane. I have one similar to it on the peak of the old barn out back. That particular one could serve double duty as a lighting rod.

Just bought some of this today, and immediately plunked a set of '52 Hudson steel wheels into it. Within 15 minutes, the chrome was disappearing. Moebius doesn't seem to have such a thick enamel undercoat for their plating, so I'll check tomorrow and see if it's gone.

That came out beautiful! Never knew there was a 4200 kit until now.

Minor report... I now have not one, but TWO '52 convertibles in my possession. Hope to have some more substantial updates soon.

And just for fun, here it is in the morning sunlight.

I'll be keeping an eye on this for sure- I'm planning on starting a custom Transtar Eagle once I finish my custom LoneStar. Looks like you are even using the same engine as I plan to use. I'm thinking I might stretch the hood on mine, though.

This or the LoneStar- the cabs are the same on pretty much all of the modern International trucks. I've been toying with the thought of converting one into a WorkStar or TerraStar.