My latest project

[Rick]

Hi Everyone! It's been a few days since anyone has posted anything here, So here is my attempt to get this one going again. I finished this one a few weeks ago from a damaged kit I found cheap on ebay. :wink:

I used it to try out a few new (to me) techniques, and a nice tutorial on working suspensions posted by Southgate on another site :roll:

After I finally straightened out the partially crushed cab and realized it was worth using and not just good for parts, I built the whole kit in a week!! ( A new record for me )

Thanks for lookin'

Rick

[BIGTRUCK]

You did a fine job on that ole IH Rick , how bad was it if it was only good for parts ?

[mackinac359]

Rick

That's a nice, clean, typical Transtar II. Well done!

Tim

[Rick]

Thanks Guys!! I was going for the whole typical thing. The kit was crushed by something, don't know what, but when it arrived my inspection showed only the cab was damaged! The windshield posts were bent real bad and broken in a few places, and the cab roof was pushed down to the lower windshield frame and twisted to the left. A few hours with a hairdryer (Don't tell my wife I used her good one for this!!) and replacing the left and center windshield posts with ones cut from an old glue bomb I built years ago, it looked good enough to try and build!!

Thanks Again,

Rick

[Mal.au]

Hey theres a truck that Hauls containers from the warf here in Melbourne loos just like that just a bit older

[mrglubaum]

Nice save, Rick! Those old I.H.C.s are getting hard to find!

[Trailer Mechanic]

That turned out good!

[Old Albion]

Rick,

This is a great build. Another of those trucks you feel you could just jump in and do a days work!!! Liked the operating suspension. I think this is a great feature. On the Ertl International kits I found that the front drive axle does not sit down properly. Building the suspension as a "working" system certaily gets around the problem. Did you encounter any problems when you built it or was it straight forward? Great Truck!!

Regards

Dave Bates

[Wildrice]

Great save on that truck. Nice added touch with the working suspension.

[Rick]

Thank you for all the nice comments!!

On the Ertl International kits I found that the front drive axle does not sit down properly. Building the suspension as a "working" system certaily gets around the problem. Did you encounter any problems when you built it or was it straight forward? Great Truck!!

I have built quite a few of the old Ertl International kits, and most use this same rear suspension. I found to get all the tires to touch requires some trimming of the forward drive axle and the beam it attaches to. The conversion to a working suspension was very straight forward, with just a minor alignment problem which was my fault.

Thanks Again,

Rick

[Casey429]

Nice rig. Dad hauled many loads in a Transtar like this with his 26 ft Dorsey dump trailer. Ah, yes "The Stove". Cool build, one truck I wish would get reissued.

[Rick]

Thanks!!, I lost a few gallons of sweat in a few of these myself

Rick

[SpreadAxle]

The start of my illustrious truck driving career was in one of these. A white and blue 1979 with an NTC 350 and a 13 spd pulling containers. One of the other drivers wrecked it. Since I was till working in the shop as well, I was one of two guys who salvaged it. Sad ending for a good truck, but yes, it was an 18 wheel oven!!!!!!

[scummy]

G-day, that is one fine tranny. Well that's what we called them in australia in the 70's, I drove the earlier model when I was young from sydney to melbourne 3 time's a week . Yep freezing in the winter and oven's in the summer , but loved that 8-71 gm screamin through the night ! Cheer's

[bsoder]

Great lookin' IH Rick..nice save ...b

[Rick]

Thanks again for the kind words!! :oops:

Yep freezing in the winter and oven's in the summer , but loved that 8-71 gm screamin through the night ! Cheer's

I really don't know about freezin' in the winter, luckily by winter I had moved up to one of the 4300's they had!!

Rick

[scummy]

G-day rick, yer the 4300 never really took off over here in oz and the coe transtar was far and few between. The coe I had , had hardly any interior in it, it had a thin layer of vinyl over the engine cowl , cardboard roof lining and thin material around sleeping area . The door panel's were metal screwed on so yep you froze in winter , but it went like the clapper's and that's all that mattered to a young bloke so when I saw your transtar I had to make a comment . It truly is a very clean machine and show's the true workhorse's they were . Cheer's mark .