Sneak Peak - 1959 - 1963 Kw 900 Series Conventional

[Porky]

The reference for this resin set was 1959 - 1963 900 Series.... For all you "custom" guys out there....THIS is the cab you wanna use for doing custom Kennys....It has the small split screen; and the roof is about 4" shorter than ANY kit cab. ( That info was added to the post by Matt Burnett, he is the maker of the masters for this set )

I have just bought alot of stuff from Budd Ricker, he was running Rivers Edge Resin and has decided to call it quits for now. I also tracked down some of the master parts that Matt Burnett ( monkeyclaw ) made when he was doing 1/24 - 1/25 scale truck parts, some nice pieces in the lot. This KW was one of them, mastered by Matt. So stay tuned for some new cool items from Porky

The under door boxes are not part of the old KW parts set, they are for the KW studio just used them to prop up the old KW for the pics

Edited January 9, 2010 by Porky

[Jim B]

It's definately 1950's variety, and it looks very well cast. Illini Repleca Conversions has a couple of early Kenworths as well, but he just lists them as a 1955 & a 1959. No model number. I have a funny feeling that it's a 500 Series (521, 523, 524, 525), but I'm not positive. I've also seen it listed as an RB.

Look here to see what I'm talking about. You might want to contact the American Truck Historical Society. They might have an answer. Or PM Matt Burnett.

[disabled modeler]

Hi Porky....thats sweet!

[mr moto]

I'm no expert on old KW's but I do know that headlight laws were not changed to allow quads until mid '57 so they first showed up on road vehicles for the '58 model year. I don't know either if that's when KW started using them but it tells that this isn't a '52. Maybe it's the '59 model that was mentioned in another post.

I just located this link that shows a '59 KW model A. Don't know if that's your truck but it's similar. A place to start anyway. Keep scrolling, it's way down the page!

http://www.hankstruc...06/dsc_2250.jpg

Edited January 6, 2010 by mr moto

[rronning84]

That is sweet.

[Jim B]

Hey Porky, forgot to ask: you said thet you have a lot Matt's molds. What sort of KW stuff do you have? Do you have the torsion bar suspension set? Matt offered it in 1/25 several years ago. I'll be in the market for a tandem set in the near future if you do.

[falcongeorge]

fiberglass tilt nose debuted in '59. Prior to that they had butterfly hoods.'63 the newer cab came out.

[falcongeorge]

By the way, do you have a mold for the predecessor to this truck, with the butterfly hood & more rounded fenders? I know Illini does, but for reasons I am not going to go into here, I would prefer another source.

[SpreadAxle]

Hey Porky, forgot to ask: you said thet you have a lot Matt's molds. What sort of KW stuff do you have? Do you have the torsion bar suspension set? Matt offered it in 1/25 several years ago. I'll be in the market for a tandem set in the near future if you do.

Hey Porky, make that 2 customers for this item. Thanks. The year for that hood is 1959/1960 vintage.

[monkeyclaw]

Nice to see some one get that old guy back out. The reference for that resin set was 1957 - 1963 W923 model.... For all you "custom" guys out there....THIS is the cab you wanna use for doing custon Kennys....It has the small split screen; and the roof is about 4" shorter than ANY kit cab....Nice work eric..................matt

Edited January 7, 2010 by monkeyclaw

[Porky]

Nice to see some one get that old guy back out. The reference for that resin set was 1957 - 1963 W923 model.... For all you "custom" guys out there....THIS is the cab you wanna use for doing custon Kennys....It has the small split screen; and the roof is about 4" shorter than ANY kit cab....Nice work eric..................matt

Hey Matt, Thanks for the good words on the casting and for the info on the model of the truck, I will revise the post to fit. You done a great job on this one Matt !!! I plan to do a couple more things with this cab & hood, stay tuned !!!

[falcongeorge]

Nice to see some one get that old guy back out. The reference for that resin set was 1957 - 1963 W923 model.... For all you "custom" guys out there....THIS is the cab you wanna use for doing custon Kennys....It has the small split screen; and the roof is about 4" shorter than ANY kit cab....Nice work eric..................matt

According to "Kenworth, the first 75 years" the tilt hood wasnt available till '59.

[falcongeorge]

According to "Kenworth, the first 75 years" the tilt hood wasnt available till '59.

To be clear, that doesnt necessarily mean its correct, there are TONS of mistakes in books. Just saying where I sourced the info.

[Jim B]

Looks a lot like this one Kenworth 923, except the model has a wider screen split.

[Porky]

Hey Porky, forgot to ask: you said thet you have a lot Matt's molds. What sort of KW stuff do you have? Do you have the torsion bar suspension set? Matt offered it in 1/25 several years ago. I'll be in the market for a tandem set in the near future if you do.

Hey Jim, Are these the parts you are talking about ???

[Jim B]

Yep!!! Those are them. Looks like in the coming year you'll be getting a lot of my money. This is a gold mine for a Kenworth guy!

[falcongeorge]

Looks a lot like this one Kenworth 923, except the model has a wider screen split.

This is the newer style cab that came out in '63. Its taller & wider than the earlier cab. Still has the narrow grill shell & a butterfly hood.

[Porky]

By the way, do you have a mold for the predecessor to this truck, with the butterfly hood & more rounded fenders? I know Illini does, but for reasons I am not going to go into here, I would prefer another source.

Sorry, I don't have the masters for the truck you are talking about, wish I did.

[falcongeorge]

I have two unbuilt KWs (Yes, one is a Transit mixer, Yes I am a happy camper, and no, it is not for sale<g>)with the torsion bar suspension. what sort of applications was this setup mostly used for, and what time span? Anyone have any good info?

[Old Albion]

I bought the narrow nose KW conversion and the torsion bar set up from Matt some time ago now, have done nothing with it yet. But I will get to it one day. The torsion bar suspension was a standard option on KW trucks. Not sure of the dates when it was offered but certainly through the 1950s-1970s. It was a good suspension, but required good preventative maintenence to keep it in good working order. To find one original today is getting pretty scarce. Many have been converted to air suspension. I took some reference photo's at the ATHS convention in Hutchison in 2008 for some future projects.

http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/aths-convention-08-/trucksatathsconvent-31.html

http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/aths-convention-08-/trucksatathsconvent-32.html

http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/aths-convention-08-/trucksatathsconvent-33.html

http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/aths-convention-08-/trucksatathsconvent-43.html

http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/aths-convention-08-/trucksatathsconvent-44.html

http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/aths-convention-08-/trucksatathsconvent-45.html

http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/aths-convention-08-/trucksatathsconvent-46.html

http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/aths-convention-08-/trucksatathsconvent-47.html

I have also seen some trailers with Torsion Bar suspension. Revel made a couple of kits many moons ago which I think were about 1/43 scale. The KW tractor had torsion bar suspension and the trailer did as well. (Bekins van lines and Sam II misile or something like that).

Hope this helps.

Dave

[falcongeorge]

I bought the narrow nose KW conversion and the torsion bar set up from Matt some time ago now, have done nothing with it yet. But I will get to it one day. The torsion bar suspension was a standard option on KW trucks. Not sure of the dates when it was offered but certainly through the 1950s-1970s. It was a good suspension, but required good preventative maintenence to keep it in good working order. To find one original today is getting pretty scarce. Many have been converted to air suspension. I took some reference photo's at the ATHS convention in Hutchison in 2008 for some future projects.

http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/aths-convention-08-/trucksatathsconvent-31.html

http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/aths-convention-08-/trucksatathsconvent-32.html

http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/aths-convention-08-/trucksatathsconvent-33.html

http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/aths-convention-08-/trucksatathsconvent-43.html

http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/aths-convention-08-/trucksatathsconvent-44.html

http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/aths-convention-08-/trucksatathsconvent-45.html

http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/aths-convention-08-/trucksatathsconvent-46.html

http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/aths-convention-08-/trucksatathsconvent-47.html

I have also seen some trailers with Torsion Bar suspension. Revel made a couple of kits many moons ago which I think were about 1/43 scale. The KW tractor had torsion bar suspension and the trailer did as well. (Bekins van lines and Sam II misile or something like that).

Hope this helps.

Dave

Thanks for the pics, Dave. I saved the torsion bar pics and the V-12 pics for future reference. Appears to be mostly used for long-haul, over the road applications rather than heavy duty or on-off road type applications. Any thoughts, am I on target here?

[Old Albion]

George,

I would say that your about right with the duty rating of the torsion bar. Its important to remember that the air type suspensions were a relatively modern design from the late 1960s onwards. These with their lower maintenence, smoother ride and better handling sounded the death nell for some of the older design suspensions. Kenworths torsion bar suspension was a good light weight robust system. It worked and worked well. If you wanted to go off road a walking beam system, or a Mack Camel back suspension would be the most preferable. When building a scale model truck it is a very important aspect of the build. For example if you are building a Mack DM800 dumper. You would not put an air suspension on it unless you wanted major problems. The Mack Camel Backs are the ones for that duty. Similarly if you are building a truck trailer combination that hauls china, pottery, glass etc, You will not put a walking beam or a camel back suspension on the rig. An air system is the one. Many restored trucks have had the suspensions replaced with air systems to make the ride smoother.

Incidently the DM in DM800 stood for Dumper Mixer.

Hope this helps

Dave

[falcongeorge]

Of course. I am working on a Peterbilt 353, thats getting a rubber block walking beam, six-spoke wheels,and some old Mark Savage tires . Wheels, tires & suspension make the truck. Nothing looks dumber than a mixer with highway tires and an airbag suspension.

[falcongeorge]

I am doing a '63 in Watkins colors with the Griffen needle-nose tilt hood, should have used one of my torsion bar chassis for that woulda been perfect. But its too far along to back-track now. Early days on this one, air lines are plumbed, chassis painted, home-made 5 hole aluminum wheels on front, home-made resin re-pops of the wheels from the paystar on the back. Sorry about the pic, my wifes little Fuji digital is the pits. This is a mock-up to make sure the pipes were tall enough to clear the top of the reefer trailer.

Edited January 18, 2010 by falcongeorge