Fat Brian

The Lindberg 34 Ford wrecker has those wheels in it and it's currently in production so it's easy to find.

I got there at 2 o'clock just as everyone was packing up but I still scored some nice built ups and met a few people. I hope to get there earlier next year so I can see some of the contest builds up close.

I do agree that when I really detail something I try to make it look like the real thing. To me it's a waste of my effort to add details that, if real, would detract from the functionality of the vehicle. I try hard not to judge others by my standards for myself but sometimes modifications that are clearly unworkable do bother me.

The Ferarri FXX has the same arrangement. Ferarri will ship it to just about any track you want and crew it for you but you can't take it home.

It looks like a W900 A needle nose that has had the B lights added like a late eighthties Mexican A. W900A needle nose Mexico production W900A with B lights

Crazy people don't know their crazy, that's why they act like they do. They think of themselves as quite normal.

Wow, those guys are crazy. It's one thing to race on a track but to go 170 through two lane streets and between houses is just insane.

Dang if that ain't weird looking.

We have to find the Martian Indians first.

I guess it depends on what mods you want to make, if you want to use a Revell kit the first two are the ones to use. The snap kit has a different cab that isn't correct. I believe that the 353 thats out now also has the 359 round fenders in it but you should try to find out for sure. You would still have to lengthen the hood a quarter of an inch and fix the aircleaner piping among other things.

But there are poor builders in every area of the car hobby not just rats. There are plenty of guys that "restore" there cars with incorrect engines and wheels and finish it off with a Maaco paint job but their poor effort don't detract from the actual concours correct cars out there. No one is claiming that all rats are the paragons of automotive perfection and safelty but don't judge them all by the bad ones.

There are other changes that make a 359 to 379 conversion a challenge, the firewall is wider on the 379 and I believe the doors are different not to mention aircleaner piping is routed through the cab instead of notching the rear of the hood like a Kenworth. I would start with an Italeri 378 and either buy a long hood 379 conversion or build it yourself. Since it looks like it will be a while before I post a how to on getting the hood right I will post the measurements here for you. I have always wanted to get the perfectly flat hood top as seen on most 379 Petes and no kit or conversion has gotten it completely right so I paid a visit to my local Peterbilt dealership. Cruising around the service center I found what I needed, a 359, a 378, and many 379s. First I measured the grill on the 359, it is 50 inches wide and 45 inches tall. Then the 379, it is 50 inches wide and 46 inches tall. And the 378, it was 50 inches wide and 41 inches tall. This is why using the 378 grill doesn't get you where you want to be, it's too short to make the hood flat. According to our resident Pete expert the 378 cab also sits 3 inches higher on the frame than a 379. What you need to do is make the 378 grill taller by a little more than an eighth of an inch then cut off the top of the hood and raise and rework it to fit. Ideally you would make the hood flat on top and then lower the cab and sleeper to make it match the new hood since it's too high to be correct for a 379 anyway. The Italeri 378 cab sits on small raised tabs that are about 3/16 tall so you have some room to bring it down a bit. It will take some test fitting but the results should be worth it if you are as insane about getting the correct hood pitch that I am.

The General Lee was a 69 with the split front grill opening. I believe that they did use some 68s but changed the front and rear ends to 69 parts, they went through so many cars they kind of took what they could get after a while.

See, I like rat rods but have to agree with you about these two. But I also believe you shouldn't judge a whole class of cars solely by the poorly done examples. Back in the eighties when prostreet was the craze the purists where screaming about how the tub guys were destroying the hobby and hacking up valuable cars, the song remains the same today. There are works of art in every niche of the hobby but there are twice as many cars that miss the mark, some due to poor styling and others due poor construction. In a hobby where anyone with some tools and place to work can build a car the results are always going to be hit or miss.

I don't think so, is the song you are asking about a Cake song? If so try Rock n Roll Lifestyle, that may be it.

When done correctly rat rods are rolling art, almost caricatures of real automobiles with outlandish proportions and piles of creativity. But with any trend you get the copy cats who want to be with the in crowd but don't quite get it. There are tons of poorly done and downright dangerous "rat rods" out there that are more rolling piles of junk that anything else. There are also people who have plenty of money but no sense of style who build cars that just miss the mark. Here are some of my favorite inspiration pics.

I'll see your stick shifts and raise you some safety belts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3i7EFYk-_c

I would advise against the nontoxic tube glue, it tends to not ever fully dry and the parts get gummy and weird.

The Revell 69 Shelby has a 428 SCJ motor in it, you could also use the 390 out of the AMT 67 Comet. The 390 and 428 shared the same block so externally look almost identical. It looks like the valve covers should be the stock stamped steel painted ones with Powered by Ford scripting and I'm not exactly sure where to find them. I'm having trouble finding any pics of the correct valve covers but check out this 67 Ford Custom 4 door to get an idea. The problem you get in to searching for Interceptor stuff is that just because a motor came out of a police car doesn't make it an Interceptor motor and most of the stuff out there is just a regular engine pulled from a cop car that people call and Interceptor but it isn't. http://www.streetlegaltv.com/news/to-catch-a-muscle-car-1967-ford-police-interceptor/

For 1970 the inteceptor motor was still a 428SCJ variant. The 429 was available in regular Thunderjet form in non chase police vehicles. From 71 on the interceptor otor was 429 or 460 based. On a side note, my dad had a 68 LTD with a 428 PI motor and a C6 in it. He said that car would pass everything but a gas station, the only thing around here he couldn't hang with was an L88 Vette. I imagine the extra thousand pounds of LTD had a good bit to do with that.

That is the Monogram 70 Chevelle engine.

I believe I've seen all three front ends under 250s and I'm not sure what you do to get any specific front end on a particular truck. A guy at work had a 92-96 250 with a Powerstroke that had the leaf style TTB but another guy had the same body style with a 460 and a straight axle.

Yes you can, the parts aren't a perfect fit but it can be done. The TTB front end is correct for an F-250.

You will have to do some mods to the hood since the 378 has a sloped nose, you can either buy a resin 379 long nose conversion or do the mods yourself. The truck pictured on the long hauler box is a 379 but the kit has the 378 nose with a bigger sleeper, it will get you close but it still needs some work. I took some measurements from a 359, a 378, and a 379 and I've been meaning to do a post about making a correct 379 hood but just haven't got around to it yet.

The headers on the box lid look different but the piece in the first post is whats in the box. Here is a pic from ebay of a built Thunderwagon, click on it for a larger version.