34 Hot Rod Pickup

[bill-e-boy]

Looking back at my photos of this stalled build the chop was done way back in August 2018 and the photo spread was over the subsequent 2 years before it got shelved.

The build started with an unpainted partly built AMT 34 PU glue bomb. The build is one I have always wanted to do but was put on the back burner as the 34 PU was not available for quite a few years and at that point I only had the one unbuilt kit so it stayed in the stash. Things changed when Lindberg somehow got a hold of the old AMT moulds. Then along came the glue bomb so my old unbuilt can stay squirreled away for another day. They are low quality kits IMO anyway so it will most probably stay there.

I have just finished my Model A Bange build so I thought it would be a good idea to bring this off the shelf. I did a quick look through the boxes and there are parts from the 34PU, Revell 29 A roadster, a Revell Model a PU and some other bit from the parts box

A quick mock up of where this is at - 

There was so many tires in the boxes, big'n'little, wide whites, narrow slicks. The build note originally has skinny cheater slicks but they got used on another build. So the thought is now wide whites - rears from a Moebius 56 300B and the fronts from the parts box - not sure where they came from

The chassis is the Hi-boy from a Revell 29A Roadster with a massive Z in the rear. Body has a 4" chop and is channeled deeper than the frame rails

Compared to the original clunker

And I found these gems so will definitely be using these too.

Next couple of posts I will put up pix of the build. It will be a good memory jogger as there has been quite a bit of work done to get this far.

Thanks for looking

[NOBLNG]

Looking forward to more Bill !😎 I have a glue bomb that I chopped and it is sitting beside my bench patiently awaiting its turn.

[Bullybeef]

Well that is a fine “restart” Bill. I have a soft spot for those old amt/lindberg 34 trucks. I’ll follow along as you may have some ideas that I can use for a future build. I’m not apologizing for the care package of bench squirrels, chasing them has led to more build fodder for me.

Bil

[bobss396]

I have some old stalled builds like that. One is a Lindberg '34 truck and another is a resin '30 Ford chopped coupe.

I shelved them maybe 15 years ago due to not having enough goodies for them. Now with better parts available, like 3D stuff, I have to dig them out.

[Zippi]

I like where this build is headed Bill.  Love the ole pickups.

[bill-e-boy]

In the beginning -

Getting ready for chop - at least 4" marked off with masking tape

Next up with the top chopped and ready to be glued back together. The 34 PU is a simple chop as all the pillars are straight up and down, not like the cars where the A pillar is raked back a bit

And glued.

Next installment - chassis works

Thanks for looking

 

 

[Kit Karson]

[Dtimmerman89]

Keep her rolling. I have the same exact kit in the same stage of progress. I wont be able to move on with it until I finish my 66 F100 and 32 sedan. But she is slated to finish third. 

Edited Thursday at 03:56 PM by Dtimmerman89

[bill-e-boy]

6 hours ago, Dtimmerman89 said:

Keep her rolling. I have the same exact kit in the same stage of progress. I wont be able to move on with it until I finish my 66 F100 and 32 sedan. But she is slated to finish third.

Boom, boom😀

[bill-e-boy]

Moving on to the chassis. As can be seen in the first pix above the frame has a serious zed in the rear. The chassis started out as the Lo-boy version from a Revell 29 roadster. The Z has been pinned top and bottom for strength as there will be a lot of handling before the is completed.

A comparison.

Also at the rear the axle locating tabs have been removed and part of a Model A rear cross member added for a buggy spring and has been moved forward to have the spring above the axle - one of the reasons for the big Z

The front cross member has been removed and replaced with a flat cross member to get as much lowering as I could with out resorting to other methods. It would have been easier to double pie cut the chassis at the firewall and closer to the front end to get the front of the car in the weeds but the flat cross member is enough I think.

I made the cross member by milling a groove into a piece of rectangular bar stock

  

And in the frame

At this point the transmission cross member has been removed after being glued into place to accommodate a gearbox change. This will be moved forward. 

The pickup box has been shortened a fair amount as well. This mockup shows where this was headed when I started the build

Un fortunately those narrow slicks got used in another build so moving to the big'n'little cross plies in the original pix

Next post is where this is now headed 

Thanks for looking

 

 

 

 

[bill-e-boy]

A thought was to use the PU as a tow vehicle for a recent build - just not so sure now after seeing it mocked up. A way low tow car ahead of a way high drag car. Be a sight to see on the road. And I have enough left over LMG metallic blue for the pickup too. This is what happens when you mix scales - coupe is 1/24th

Before I put together the mock up the thinking was that the nailhead motor from the 29 roadster is still a good tow engine choice but the slush-o-matic was not. I needed a period correct gearbox choice - in the parts box is a nailhead from the AMT 40 coupe - aha it is a flat motor gearbox with an adaptor - just what I need. Some surgery called for. The green motor in the background is a Ford 427 with a flathead gearox. There were a lot of optimists back in the day - but flathead gearboxes were cheap then

And now together. 

The centre crossmember will now need to be moved for the shorter motor combo

And then when I cut that out I noticed a little twist in the frame A tweak and a breakage - the front cross member broke out. Well a chance to get it glued back together - straight this time. This may have been one of the reasons for shelving this in the first place

I am going to carry on with this build - it may not become the tow vehicle but what a support car. Just imagine a race car with tow truck and entourage all decked out in the same colour scheme

Thanks for looking

[Dtimmerman89]

She's going to be looking real cool with a nailhead in it. It's comical how different the two scales are next to each other despite only being one scale body length in difference. This is exactly why I do not build Monograms, minus their race cars and why my Japanese cars and kits get their own shelf. 

I also did a little playing around with mine for a bit earlier and ended up cutting some slots into the fenders to channel the body over them.

Edited Saturday at 10:01 PM by Dtimmerman89

[bill-e-boy]

1 hour ago, Dtimmerman89 said:

She's going to be looking real cool with a nailhead in it. It's comical how different the two scales are next to each other despite only being one scale body length in difference. This is exactly why I do not build Monograms, minus their race cars and why my Japanese cars and kits get their own shelf. 

I also did a little playing around with mine for a bit earlier and ended up cutting some slots into to fenders to channel the body over them.

Hi Dan - looks like your build is at a similar stage to mine. That's a big task - putting fenders on a lo-boy.

I know what you mean about 1/24th - there is not a heck of a lot of difference in scales between 1/25th and 1/24th but put the same subjects side by side - what a difference.

I may need to change the tow vehicle to a 1/24th to keep the scales looking right - but I have precious few Monogram kits mainly for the same reasons you have. The other reason for a tow vehicle change is that an A is smaller than a 34 truck but with the scale differences the truck looks a lot smaller. A rabbit hole I will need to plug

 

[Dtimmerman89]

Monogram does have a 29 A truck. They can be found for about $30 on ebay. 

[Dtimmerman89]

I just had a wild hair up the rear and wanted to give a go on a fendered lo boy. I have a resin chopped grille with photo etch to go along. However, in keeping the hood and using the grille, I will have to cut the whole support and move it back, trim and adjust until the flathead and radiator fits right. Using the kit supplied grille like I usually do, would require more cutting and modifying to fit. 

[Bullybeef]

Looks good there Bill, great tip on the early ford trans with adapters, I’ll be adding that to the memory banks. 

[bill-e-boy]

19 hours ago, Dtimmerman89 said:

Monogram does have a 29 A truck. They can be found for about $30 on ebay. 

Or in my stash🤪

[bill-e-boy]

2 hours ago, Bullybeef said:

Looks good there Bill, great tip on the early ford trans with adapters, I’ll be adding that to the memory banks. 

Thanks Bil.

Most of the early AMT 3n1's had motors with trans adaptors - just most of the hot rod motors got used. I had a friend who built vintage stockers and I he gave me all the excess hot rod parts. But in this case the nailhead was ditched for a big rrrrs shotgun motor when I built the 40 Coupe 

[Kit Karson]

[Bullybeef]

Well Bill the tow vehicle may not work for the model A, but maybe you can just do the trailer anyways and you may get an inspiration for another build to fill the spot!

one thing I noticed in your mockup with the engine, it sits very forward, I’d dress the engine and mock the cab before moving the engine m/trans mounts. But you are a pro and you know all that anyways😊