B.R.B.O BJ and The Bear Custom

[highway]

I needed a little "relax" time tonight, so I spent a little time getting the frame together and currently waiting for the glue to dry so that I don't lose the "square" to it, but I hope to have it in a roller tonight before I have to go to bed and go back to the daily grind in the morning. I also possibly have a "BIG" surprise going in those frame rails thanks to my twisted mind!  

[highway]

Well, didn't quite get it into the full roller I would have liked, but do have the frame on its way to being ready to paint. It will be painted red as the original BJ and the Bear rig was, but much longer.

Paired with the trailer for now from my big Ford custom since I haven't started working on the trailer for this yet, it will have the nice long frame look I like though. The frame has some nice flexing capabilities thanks to the weight of the trailer shifting everything loosely mocked up just before I took the pic, and that is nice for the reveal that is coming up.

   

Now for the reveal that is lurking under the cab. I wanted to make sure the frame would stay square and was going to use the engine to help, and was going to use the engine I had from the old blue rebuilder that I had the first "idea" pic of paired with the Ford's trailer, but couldn't find it at that moment. I did later find it under the hood of my Ford, but I remembered that I had another partially built engine in the hutch of the desk that would fill in without having to quickly assemble the kit's engine to do the job. Well, that and my twisted mind led to this:

The 16V71 wouldn't fit under the hood for the Ford and it was already too far along to make it fit in the Ford, but this project became the perfect place for it since there is no hood to fit under and I don't have a $20 paint job on the frame to mess up! I will have a little modification to do to make it fit here, but at least there is plenty of room under the cab and it does fit with the addition of some C channel to serve as mounts much like the kits "L" shaped mounts on the frame rails. The only problem so far:

I am either going to have to shave a little off the crossmember or the transmission housing itself, but with the engine sitting level, you can see the slight gap between the bell housing and the transmission in this pic, so just a little massaging should do the trick.

Of course, that beast needs to breathe, and thanks to them not quite giving me the look I quite wanted for the Ford by being a little short, the 8" stacks I got from Rhino's Custom Model Truck Parts are going to be at home on this! The lower have are the muffler halves from an old original issue Pete 352 that was missing so much it has always been a parts kit. The stacks fit tightly over these, and will allow me to adjust the height for the look I want then a little strip of BMF will help replicate a band clamp. 

[gatorincebu]

 

   Matt,

        I like your motor. That will be a beast.  A suggestion on the motor . Why not just add a thin piece of plastic to the front mount and have the motor sit at a very slight angle???

That way you are not going to weaken the chassis.

 

 

    Be Well

    Gator

[gino]

lookin good matt !

[highway]

 

   Matt,

        I like your motor. That will be a beast.  A suggestion on the motor . Why not just add a thin piece of plastic to the front mount and have the motor sit at a very slight angle???

That way you are not going to weaken the chassis.

 

 

    Be Well

    Gator

lookin good matt !

Thanks Gino and Gator. 

As for your question Gator, to make the engine fit with your suggestion, it would be sitting at the angle as in the pic, and the fan would not fit in the radiator shroud and not even sure if moving the radiator to match the fan at the new angle would work because that would possibly make the radiator hit the bottom of the floor. The engines that I used for this beast are two 8V71 or maybe even 8V92 engines from other AMT kits, and since this kit has the 8V92 in it already, all the front pieces should swap right over or at least the finished engine should fit just like the kit 8V92 would have. I thank you very much for not only the suggestion, but looking at the pics again has just given me an idea that should give me the clearance I need without taking anything out of the crossmember or trimming anything off of the transmission housing. It looks to me that there is enough space in the bellhousing between where the engine mounts are placed and the transmission that trimming that to the rear mounts should move the transmission forward just enough that the rear tailshaft housing should slide right up in front of the crossmember. 

[highway]

There's not much to report since the last update since I've been at work and finally freight is picking up some so after spending the day with my honey Cassie at work, it's been work, come home, eat, go to bed, get up and repeat.  I was hoping to be able to at least get some things in primer today before I spend the rest of my weekend with my better half at her place since it doesn't feel much like winter here at the house in Wintersville OH , but the warm temps and sunny day is accompanied by too much wind to paint outside and I can't spray paint inside my apartment. Also, I didn't get the rest of the frame finished like I wanted to last night after I got home from finishing my week thanks to talking to a modeling friend on the phone and hunting parts for him to take with me when I go down there before going to the better half's house! 

That discussion with my friend last night did yield yet another idea for the slight trans/crossmember clearance issue, and it was one that had been running through my mind anyway, adding just a little more length to the frame. I'm not sure which route I'll take, but this beast will be made to fit in this truck, I've already had to throw it out of the big custom Ford because it was too far along, it WILL be in this one even if I have to get out the shoehorn!!  

[purepmd]

Matt, this build is going to be very cool! As much as I like the TV truck, a custom version is just awesome.

[gatorincebu]

 

     With that extra large motor you are going to need extra large? long fuel tanks. fortunately the chassis is long enough ! lol

 

 

 

       Be Well

         Gator

[highway]

 

     With that extra large motor you are going to need extra large? long fuel tanks. fortunately the chassis is long enough ! lol

 

 

 

       Be Well

         Gator

Yeah Gator, already been thinking about adding a couple more, I just have to see if I have any extra still laying around or steal a couple from this! 

[highway]

No updates as of late, I've been spending too much time with the 1:1, and it's about time! In the past couple weeks, I've went from doing more sitting than running to running almost full 14 hour days, but with Easter around the corner, the stores need Easter eggs and hams!  I'm definitely not complaining, I love running as much as I can handle, and I'll get a day off or two eventually.  

[highway]

Well, thanks to Mother Nature being a little temperamental (or maybe just mental ) here in OH today and not knowing what "spring" is, I'm taking advantage of my day off to get a little more progress done. I did get a chance on a warm day before Mother Nature's April Fools joke today to get the top and bottom of the trailer painted, and still working on getting the frame complete for the return of spring to at least get it in primer, and need to get the cab and trailer walls prepped and in primer as well. At least the frame is in a sort of roller form, the rear axle is in place. At least I don't have to use my Ford's trailer for mock ups anymore since I have the roof and floor painted, even though I'm borrowing it's suspension until I get this one built. 

I also have one BIG problem solved, the engine and transmission FINALLY FITS!!!

I got the Dremel out and carefully ground out some of the crossmember that gave me enough clearance to get the trans to slide in. 

There is still a little gap in this pic, but it is just because of just being set into place. 

And without the flash washing out the image. 

 I was considering adding a little more length to the frame to make the trans clear the crossmember, but that kinda flew out the window when I started looking at the instructions to see how important all the holes around the area were. It turned out they all were VERY important, the two vertical lines are the front tank mounts, which also locates the hoop that the bottom cab mount locates to. The "T" shaped holes, which are a little hard to see because they are right where the crossmember mounts, are the locators for the mounts that hold the stacks and stack supports and mounts in place, so that left the only choices of clearancing the crossmember or not using the V16, and the last was not going to be an option. I already had to give up putting it in my Ford because of being too far in progress, I wasn't giving up again!!

[Mopar - D]

This is shaping up to be one tuff truck.  

[highway]

This is shaping up to be one tuff truck.  

Yep, and giving me more ideas!  

It's going to be tough in another way for me too when it comes to paint, it will be the first two tone paint job I've attempted in a very long time. 

[gatorincebu]

 

       Matt,

              You've made good progress and it is looking good. i am sure you will get the paint job laid down and looking good!

 

 

      Be Well

       Gator

[Tesla]

Nice work Matt, you're doing a great job! 

[gino]

looks great matt !

[extmcdriver]

Great job so far, I am sure this will look outstanding once you are done.

[highway]

Here is the May update, hopefully not the only one of the month, but thanks to an upper respiratory infection giving me a few unwanted days off work yesterday and today (so far) and getting bored watching TV and playing on the computer, I decided to try to spend a little time at the bench. I got a set of Moebius Big Rig wheels and tires to replace the kit wheels and tires, mainly because the kit wheels are showing their age and the chrome is not really chrome anymore and wasn't plated very well to begin with. 

They almost fit the kit axle stubs, but almost is the operative word, so I came up with an idea to fill the small size difference and maybe add a little if probably never seen detail to the wheels, using the kits wheel backs as brake drums. The top is the kit wheel back, and the bottom is the modified "drum".

 

This is a VERY rough idea of the paint detailing I'll put into the drums after I get all of them modified and painted with the frame. 

And finally, a quick mock up of the frame wearing a few of its new shoes. 

I also got a bottle of Alclad Polished Aluminum and Alclad Gloss clear coat at the same place I bought the wheels from, I'm hoping that will prevent the issue of the fingerprint that is occurring in the roof of not only this but my big Ford's trailer as well. The "Chrome" paint I used wanting that nice shiny look for everything is driving me nuttier than I already am!  I did see in an old thread that got new life from the time around when I started my Ford another idea for the shiny aluminum look I want too, I just need to find something that will give me the shiny look I want and with the protection of a clear coat and not dull to a dull silver in the process the way the "Chrome" does. 

[cowboy rich]

The truck is looking good to me, the Alclad though I've found is REALLY fragile. Take a look at my 1/16 Pete scrap yard build the wheels are Alclad without clear coat and I've done them a few times becuase it came off on my fingers!

[highway]

The truck is looking good to me, the Alclad though I've found is REALLY fragile. Take a look at my 1/16 Pete scrap yard build the wheels are Alclad without clear coat and I've done them a few times becuase it came off on my fingers!

I did, and I know from a friend that has used it before it can be fragile. That's why I'm hoping that their clear coat will help in durability. I'm going to try it on something small first, since this will also be the first time I have ever used an airbrush for anything.

 

[cowboy rich]

I know the more I use an airbrush the more I like it. Hard too beat how you can control it.

[Tesla]

Matt,

This is looking good! If you want to use a good chrome paint, I suggest Krylon premium original chrome. I've been using it since JT mentioned it in one of his posts. It holds the shine really well.

When I handle parts painted with it, I wear cotton gloves. Let it dry for about two weeks. I purchased mine at Michaels.

[highway]

Matt,

This is looking good! If you want to use a good chrome paint, I suggest Krylon premium original chrome. I've been using it since JT mentioned it in one of his posts. It holds the shine really well.

When I handle parts painted with it, I wear cotton gloves. Let it dry for about two weeks. I purchased mine at Michaels.

Thanks Dennis, I'm pretty sure that was what I used on the bullrack my custom Ford was originally going to pull, and had the same issues. The gloves are a good suggestion for the fingerprints, but the other reason I'm looking for something I can clear for a more durable finish is for dusting, especially while this and the Ford are still in progress. Anything I've tried to clean the roof for either trailer has destroyed the shine. It may be my only choice is wait until everything else on both trailers are finished and paint the roof and floor of both just before final assembly, and then quickly get a case built for both.  

[highway]

I spent a little more bench time tonight on hopefully my last day of an unwanted "vacation" thanks to the upper respiratory infection I've been fighting for a week now, and got all the little bits finished to finally get the frame into a roller form and almost ready for primer and paint. 

I think I'm going to build some custom stack mounts, I'm not really happy with the kit pieces, and I'm going to see about getting another set that are longer and with elbows from Rhino's Custom Truck Parts so I don't have to piece these together with anything, but the size will stay 8" to let the big 16V71 Detroit breathe. 

A mock up of the complete unit, without the reefer unit yet. The nose and doors will remain chrome, and the reefer unit, landing legs, and suspension will be all the same red I'm going to use for the cab and trailer body. 

I couldn't resist taking a couple pics with this sitting alongside of its big brother. 

I think if the KW had a hood, it would be as long as the Ford!

[gino]

looking good !