Holy Grail In the House - GMC Astro 95 Turbine

[olsbooks]

• Thanks Danno. I honestly could not recall seeing any production info on this thing. Hype and rumors (mostly at new truck shows for dealers) about it coming but quietly died. I didn't know if they did anything like a joint venture with a common carrier that was out of dealers hands. I am curious if GM ever used them in any regular service even if it was done "in house" like when GM used to do their own trucking from auto plant to plant. A great deal of oddballs and shakedowns occurred in this to get real world testing. I remember visits to Michican where I-75 from Saginaw to Detroit were just loaded with GM owned trucks hauling components from plant to plant and they were not always your run of the mill Astros, Generals, or Brigadiers.

[Rhino1100]

Question. I've got the AMT 38164 (Blue Truck) kit coming. My question is what year is this truck? I would like to find some variations of 1:1 pictures. Thanks for any additional info.

Greg

[Danno]

Greg, The Chevy Titan 90 and GMC Astro 95 tractors were marketed from 1968 (as 1969 models) to 1988. Both were redesigned in 1980 with larger grilles (for improved cooling), so the AMT kits (produced in 1972) reflect 1969 to 1979 trucks.

[olsbooks]

The so called redesign of the bigger grille was purely cosmetic and cost savings just as an FYI. The upper 6" or so was just a single plastic cover plate on a hinge to LOOK like the grille. It was not even hallow and the basic metal stamping behind the grille was unchanged. Therefore airflow to the radiator remained unchanged. It actually cheapened the price going from a metal "slat" type grille with stamped, hinged,latched access doors along with metal individual letters that had to be aligned/drilled and screwed down to a single plastic hinged affair. HUGE labor and materials savings. I have never checked individual sub assembly part numbers but it likley utilized many of the same components or portions/tooling thereof as the Brigadier and General grille assemblies.

It was also a great way to compensate for fatiguing tooling...much like the change to "plastic" doors and paddle type latch catches on the door frame. It (bigger grille) surely looked much better (in my opinion). Not always "bad" changes...sometimes cosemetic improvements and in other benefits resulted (doors fitting better/staying shut and lighter weight). Things are not always what they seem....especially when dealing with GM back then. Ah the good old days????

Edited January 26, 2014 by olsbooks

[disabled modeler]

Very sweet score!... I built one as the Turbine truck as a kid...been wanting one ever since too...very cool!

[mistermodel]

Other than the grill the latest issues can be built as a 1970 to a 1980 for the chevy and 1985 for a gmc with a few changes here and there

I'm not sure if the small grill was available on late models.

The engines would have to be replaced for the later models.A revell cat 3406 or engines from amt general/bison b.j. and the bear, or any cummins will work well.

When I built my gmc I found pictures of trucks with the light on the door and square turn signals like the kit were 1976 only.Earlier ones had low mount round turn signals that are extras in the kits and the door lights like molded. After 1976 the lights were taken off the door and round ones mounted on the lower front corner,with the kit square turn signals.I cant say for sure when the door handles changed,but I don't think that change effected the chevy titan because it was gone in 1980

The kits come with all parts other than stacks to build early out ward mount twin stacks.That style seems to be more popular on early ones,but probably could of been speced right to the end. The grab handles and ladder steps are late mode optionsl only

The wide grills are wider than a general part so if converting to one using general parts you will need 2 .there is a photo etch grill conversion as well.

There is tons of reference available for these.

[Rhino1100]

Wow, thanks guys for ALL the information given. As just getting going on true detail work on kits over the past years I wanted to try and duplicate this kit as close to 1:1 as I could. With my skill level that is. I will continue to do the research and see what I can find. Thanks for the input.

Jesse, where bouts in NC are you? I am a native from outside of Raleigh. Went to HS in Garner, NC.

Greg

[olsbooks]

I seem to recall (and certainly subject to correction) that the "big grill" originally was an extra cost option but later became standard. Chevy had the big grille for while but as pointed out, not for long since they were axed.

All this fluff was originally part of what they called an "exterior decor package" that had stuff like the full "bright" grab rails, tinted glass, "bright" review mirrors, exterior visor, and "bright" full width bumper. In other words, get it all or get none of it. Always tickled me as rarely did they use the term "chrome". I suppose it left them wiggle room to change or substitute aluminum or stainless or the infamous GM "argent" silver paint. With GM you rarely had choices, good descriptions, or even mention of the vendor of small parts. Unlike KW or others where they might offer a dozen different types of say driving and fog lights calle dut by manufacturer like Perlux, Hella, KC, etc. with and without stone guards, different candlepowers, blah, blah, blah. With GM, it was just "Driving lamps, auxiliary, amber, bright housing, bumper mounted - Qty 2. Option code D52" or similar. Very simple, limited, generic.. And as a result, considerably cheaper in price. I look back it now and chuckle. Back then it drove me nuts with their ambiguity..

Thanks for the info about the General grille being smaller dimensionally. Nice to keep in mind for future projects.