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Jim B

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Posts posted by Jim B

  1. Thanks, guys. I had some reservations about adding the air ride suspension with the shortness of the frame, but I think it worked out alright. It doesn't show in the picture, but unfortunately that axles aren't at the same height! Oh, well, take it apart & do it again.

    As for the colors: semi-gloss white frame (I must be insane!), DD Alpine Green engine, tan & brown interior, & cream & orange cab. Does that say 1970s or what? Groovy, man! Far out!

  2. Here are a couple of WIP photos of my 1976 GMC Astro/95 in my folder. I've got a long way to go, but I'm pleased with the progress so far. The onlychanges to the kit are a steerable front axle, replaced the spring suspension with the air ride suspension from the GMC General, & I swapped out the spoke wheels for the General's disks.

    Hope you like it!

    <img src="http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc290/jmbongiovanni/1976%20GMC%20Astro/02Frame.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

    <img src="http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc290/jmbongiovanni/1976%20GMC%20Astro/01SuspensionCloseup.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

    <img src="http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc290/jmbongiovanni/1976%20GMC%20Astro/03Mock-up.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

  3. Thanks for all of your advice, guys. I really appreciate it.

    asterisk, no, I didn't prime it. Probably should have. Well, hindsight is 20/20.

    trucker3216, the plastic in the kit is grey. I didn't think that grey would be a problem (which is why I didn't prime it), but it sure gave the yellow a green tint.

    Aaronw, the yellow I'm looking for is a nice bright yellow. Remember the Ryder trucks of the 1980s? Sort of like the Penske Rental Trucks of today. Nothing too obnixous!

    Once I strip this thing down, and repaint it; I'll try and get some pics posted. Might not be for a while as it's going to get cold here again. Had a couple of days in the mid-60s & low 70s, and tomorrow they're predicting snow. Oh, well. Life in Central New York!

  4. I am trying to paint my Ford LN8000 as a Ryder rental truck from the1970s, so I need a "hurt your eyes" yellow for the cab & box. I tried Testors yellow, and it covered terribly. I tried Tamiya yellow, and after about ten coats it still has a green tint to it from the plastic beneeth it. Now I don't own an airbrush, so I'm stuck with rattle cans.

    What can I do? Does Duplicolor have the "hurt your eyes" yellow similar to the Ryder trucks of the 1970s? Should I strip the Tamiya & Testors off first? How do I get it off? Do I need to use a primer?

    Thanks for your help. I'm quite frustrated here!

  5. You know, Dylan, I think you might have hit the nail on the head. People seem to associate GMC with tough trucks, and Chevrolet with passenger cars. Take a look at the pick-up market: GMC probably sells more Sierras than Chevy sells Silverados, even though they are made on the same assembly line. I don't know if the General & Bison or the Astro & Titan were made on the same line or even in the same plant, but I'm pretty sure they are the same truck with different name plates.

  6. Always impressed by your builds, and the detail you add. It's very cool the "Old Number One" is down at the Peterbilt plant in Texas. I saw on you Web site that you models are featured in a video display down there as well. Is it just "Old Number One" or is it all of your Peterbilts?

    You Web page says that "Old Number One" is missing, but isn't that them in the fifth row from the top in the middle of the row?

  7. That's a possibility, I'm not really sure either. In "Building Model Trucks" by Phil Jensen there are two photos on pages 44 & 45 that show the engine of a Ford LN/LNT8000 The engine is blue (or at least dark colored), and is labeled "Ford V200 Diesel by Caterpillar". I'd like to get that decal for my engine, but I don't know how to make them; and I don't want Caterpiller's lawyers pounding on my door for copyright infringments! The book is from 1973, so I'm assuming that the pic is from 1971 or '72. The engine "looks" like a 3208.

    You might be right that they stopped listing the engine as a V200 and started listing it as a 3208 in 1982. What color is the engine in your sales broshure, blue or yellow? I've got a couple of Fords on the drawing board, and I'm trying to decide what color to make the engines. My curent Ford is a 1973 LN8000 with a blue 3208 (or V200), the others are a 1986 LNT8000 with a 3208, a 1996 LT9000 with a Cummins N14, and a 1986 LTS900 with a Cummins L10 (if I can find one). Would these engines all be blue, oe would they be yellow, black & grey respectively? I just don't know. Any ideas?

  8. I'm pretty sure that Kenworth phased out the torsion bar suspension by the mid 1980s with the advent of the 8-bag air-ride suspension. Maybe even a little earlier. The torsion bar was used on tractors (the actual "Movin' On" KW had a torsion bar suspension). The designation for the torsion bar suspension was W925 for the conventional and K125 for the cab over. It was unique to Kenworth. The designation for the spring suspension was W923 & K123 respectively until the designations were changed in the late 1970s to W900 & K100.

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