Maindrian Pace

Yes. Welcome Michael, that should be an easy name for me to remember. -MJS

Maybe MBL was on AMW a few weeks ago. -MJS

Correct. -MJS

Let's go back a little further: -MJS

1981 in China? I thought that started much later. -MJS

The link doesn't work for me, but here's a link to an Edmunds' video that would seem to show that the car was not a rebody, but a restoration with all new sheetmetal where needed, and it needed everything. http://www.insidelin...eneral-lee.html It'll probably bid real high, possibly to a foreign buyer. -MJS

Apparently they didn't all crack, I know a guy who has them on a '69 Charger 500, and he's been running them for ay least ten years that I know of with no issues. It's too bad that they had problems, because they really changed the character of the cars and were a nice looking wheel. -MJS

Ha! I was wondering if someone would catch that. Absolutely right, they are black plastic caps on the real wheels. My thought here is that these Budd wheels were made in a number of backspaces which were used depending on the brake and hub combo used on the 1:1s. Some I've seen looked like this, with the lugs out further. I probably should have added a little filler around the cap to blend them together better, always something to add to the next dually build, and there will be a next dually build. Roger, now that's a great idea that I never thought of, but it's too late now. Shoot, I even have an old photoetch interior set with several window crank styles. The door panels are very sparse and plain on the AMT kit, so they have the right work truck feel to them. I guess we can say that the company ordered it with power windows and locks, which was fairly common. Finished interior, paint is again Plastikote primer, lightly buffed with a paper towel, basic paint detailing, kit supplied era-correct hard wired cell phone, and the shift and turn signal stocks added from the Monogram kit. I'm not sure what this thing from the parts box was, but now it's an A/C accumulator. The chassis is mostly finished. Paint is Duplicolor semi gloss chassis black with a coat of Testors flat, suspension and rear end are the semigloss without flat, engine is Ford grey, transmission, exhaust, and other details are Plastikote cast finish aluminum, the best rattle can silver ever. The spare wheel is a Monogram front, stripped, lug nut holes drilled, and painted like the others. Tire is a '70s era Monogram from the parts box, center was much too big for the wheel, so I cut a chunk out of it and glued it together. The tire bracket hides the seam. Next: paint. -MJS

Any pics of the resto of Lee 1, is it certain that it's rebodied? It sure was rough, but I've seen worse brought back. -MJS

I guess they were right in a way, anyone can polish a diecast. But only a modeler can do a conversion like that, and they doubtless didn't have a clue that it never cane as a convertible, or of all of the additional details added. Next time, it would be fun to take a small photo album of the build along just in case you run into any more diecast snobs. Just nicely tell them, "May I show you something?"... -MJS

Mark, that Dodge is great, love the details in the bed, and I might borrow the dirty tire idea. Very realistic. Roger, the engine swap wasn't too hard. Some trimming to the chassis around the back of the trans, lower the rear cross member a couple of millimeters, and bring the radiator and shroud forward were the only real things. All of the hoses had to be cut and sectioned, Monogram exhaust worked but with several mods, pretty much everything connected to it needed a little tweaking. With the Monogram cross member, it sits right on the factory mounts and centers up well. Yes, I'm going to use the F-350 fender emblems, I just have to remove the tiny XLT Lariat lettering from under the numbers. -MJS

Try taking the pictures outdoors. Natural sunlight makes all the difference on dark colored cars. -MJS

Engine was a tight fit, but it's all finalized. I didn't use that intake duct to the air box because I found that the '92-up trucks didn't have them. To fit everything in, I tunneled the radiator and fan shroud into the core support. Two piece center bearing drive shaft, a combination of kit parts and Plastruct rod. A finished rear wheel with the Tichy lug nuts, paint is Plastikote T-235 grey primer with Testors semi-gloss clear coat. The center drive hubs were cut from the Monogram wheels, stripped and painted black, and the valve stems are cut sewing pins. Finished Hydroboost and firewall with some plumbing. -MJS

They pull sea planes and pontoon boats out of the water. They are usually based on 4wd trucks with the front axle locked, and I've seen one made from an early '70s Eldorado. The Cuda would have to be converted to fwd to work, was that done here? Still cool and a very unusual subject. -MJS

First mockup, Looks nice except I think it's still riding a little low for a commercial cab/chassis. Second mockup, shims added to the suspension, rear springs moved slightly lower. Looks more like the picture now. The Monogram front axle assembly turned out to be precisely the right width for the AMT cab with the Modelhaus tires and wheels. And making some little things. I have 1:1 Hydroboost experience in diesel pickups and street rods, and it was an option in the commercial chassis, so I shaved the vacuum booster off the firewall and made this unit from scrap styrene, aluminum sheet, and the AMT master cylinder. It will be fully plumbed with pressure and return lines to the P/S pump and the steering box. Made a headliner with the Monogram sun visors, and tinted the windshield top: Finishing the chassis and engine coming next. -MJS

Just reporting what I have seen. And 350s aren't particularly happy about hauling 10K+ pounds around when the truck has a load. -MJS

A friend of mine bought a '95 Eddie Bauer SWB F-150 new, and it was loaded with almost every option, except it had a 300 six, five speed manual, and manual windows with power locks. Yes, you could order them ala kart back in those days. -MJS

Well darn, Art, I wish you still made those tires. And all the other cool stuff you had too. -MJS

I went to Hobbytown Gilbert a couple of weeks ago with a list of detail parts for them to order, Detail Master and Pegasus mostly. They didn't have distributors for any of that stuff, so I had to order it through the Detail Master website. I would have preferred giving the cash to the LHS, but not an option. I did buy some paint and the latest Model Cars magazine there, however. -MJS

Thanks Ben, I think I know where a few of those are. -MJS

Great idea, and already done. Wheels: The Modelhaus dually wheels are modified Chevy duallie snapper/promo from the early '90s. They are pretty generic, so they will work just fine here. Their tires are Goodyear Wrangler ATs, identical to the Explorer kit tires, but with an enlarged I.D. to fit the wheels. Cast in black rubber, and nice. Why am I not using the Monogram duallie wheels? They are too small for 1:24, even a bit on the small side in 1:25, and the Modelhaus wheels are about 1.5mm larger, so they have the right look. One thing they do lack is lug nut detail, and something had to be done about that. I went to my local model train shop and asked the guy if he had plastic nuts/bolts molded on a tree, and he took me to a display of metal hardware, all too big. He said he didn't have the plastic nuts, so I looked around and found them on a wall about ten feet away. They had several sizes, so I picked these. Just right I think, and for three bucks, you get ninety six of them. You'll be in lug nuts for quite some time. I drilled the wheels and tried a lug in one: I then cut all four wheels down to faces to use the Monogram wheel backs so the truck would roll. -MJS

Casey, from what I can tell by looking at local trucks, the '92-'93s had the adjustable headrests on the XL, and the '95-'96 and '97 heavy duty had the non-adjustable. Don't know about the '94s. I thought about changing the upholstery pattern to the plain pleated, but I may not go that far on the interior. Roger, the 460 has been mocked up a few times, and it will sit a little bit forward of where the 351 sits. Fan clearance is going to be sketchy, I may have to get creative there. I have an AMT short box F-150 kit, and I want to build it as a hunter green 4x4 with a set of big Satco tires, or stock tires with black steelies. I wonder which old Bronco kit has the best 4x4 parts for the conversion? Probably the MPC unless the Monogram 1:24 can be used. -MJS

Small block in a 6k lb tow truck? Not. Whenever you saw one of these beasts in the wild, it almost always had a 454 in it. -MJS

Ronnie, Sounds like a great idea. But the thing you may find with the promo chassis is that you won't be able to get the ride height up far enough, because of the rigid axles through the one piece chassis. It already looks like a lowered F-150, too low for an F-350. If it doesn't bother you, you could make tabs to mount the axles below the suspension/rear end, which wouldn't break the unwritten curbside rules as far as I know. -MJS

No kidding. I really miss those days. -MJS