'64 chevy 2wd to 4wd

[dieseldawg142]

with work slowing down because of the weather, got a little free time on my hands. started out with this 2wd i built approx. 10 yrs ago. pretty plain jane, all stock except for the tires.


going with these rims & tires

[dieseldawg142]

even though the paint is 10 yrs old, i like the color & i am going to try preserve it. disassemble

the frame is reasonably strait, makes life easier, have to cut off a arms

the rims are off a car, have to widen them, also have to widen my 14b a bit to get the stance i want, & make a cover for it (it's on my crew model)

got a couple rims together, 14b puttyed, needs sanding. and it turns out my 44 was not a 44. so my front axle is now a 10b rear axle that i shortened & lengthened the tubes, need to smooth out the tubes still.
also started making leaf springs

[DirtyLarry]

Cool!

[dieseldawg142]

going all spring lift. not crazy 'bout blocks or drop brackets, looks hokey ( i too am guilty of lifting a truck like that once). and when you put big tires on, them stock leaf packs look ridiculousy small. gonna have a beefy truck, got to have a beefy susp.

[dieseldawg142]

with leaf springs like these, out of the box shocks are not going to cut it. need to finish to size after the axles go in

am going to raise the rear bumper, & have duals poking out from under it. instead of dualing the whole system, i'm doing a muffler back style

some shock hoops to attatch them long shocks to

after many hours of staring & then a few more getting it square & level. wasn't sure if my cobbled up axles could take the weight, so i trussed them

front susp. basically in. still need to add steering gear, tie rod, stabilizer, etc

[dieseldawg142]

the rear was a little more strait forward, just a few hours of staring.

a little more work on the front

SETBACK!! when finished for the night, must have knocked a jar of silver paint over. pooled on the bottom, ran down the drivers side & spread out over the top of the roof. luckily after careful hours, was able to get the body clean, but this was the best on the bottom, oh well, throw some more black on it & call it done

getting there!

[dieseldawg142]

my son found this rollbar & pushbar from a '84 gmc kit & wanted to see how it looked. the wheels are just placed, more work to do underneath yet. i think the rollbar is too small & he suggested a 1/8 tube double/double rollbar. (i have to stop letting him read my 4by magazines!). and i'm not crazy 'bout the pushbar. any opinions or thoughts on the bars? split right down the middle at my house. son wants, i don't, wife- (ugghhh!!)either way looks fine to her

pretty much done

[dieseldawg142]

added some plug wires & heater hoses under the hood. if i could find a click pen in our house, i'd have my master cyc. lines too.



thanks for looking!

[dieseldawg142]

told the family to stuff it, i'm going to build a canopy for it instead

[jeffro2]

I'm lovin this and I'll keep watching your work. You could make it RC, they have them that small now, including the components. I think you would get a kick out of it. Keep up the great work !!

[dieseldawg142]

thanks jeffro2. you do some pretty incredible stuff yourself. i have thought about R/C because the detailed stuff for them is so unreal!
after i finish my camper, i will be scratch building 3 atv's & a quad hauler. the trailer won't be a prob, finding proper scale atv tires is turning into a big pia

[dieseldawg142]

started mocking up a canopy tonite. found enough "glass" to go windows all the way around

[dieseldawg142]

only crappy thing about 10 yr old paint, the white on the cab is not white compared to the canopy. guess that will be on the list

[dieseldawg142]

making up some roof racks for it, & ordered a pt boat, mainly for the hull, going to cut it to cartopper size.
even though i have 2 or 3 projects on the go, my mom surprised the heck out of me for christmas & gave me a new project i just have to fit in.
built this revell stepside back in 87-88, totally forgot about it, she put it back in the box & stored it. was blown away to see it again.
blown away by how 80's redneck it is. like the'64, being a 4by fan, i've ordered 44" swampers with steelies, 14b & D60 axles & a 205 t-case. the stacks, cab lights, sunroof & bumpers are going. 350/350 combo is staying, but blower is coming off.
going for the stock look with painted bumpers & steelies, but with big rubber.
'till the parts show up, here's a 25 yr old stepper

[jeffro2]

Excellent job ! That turned out excellent.

[TJ's Chevy]

Very good skill!

[dieseldawg142]

Originally Posted by jeffro2

Excellent job ! That turned out excellent.

Originally Posted by T.J. MCCAULEY

Very good skill!

thanks guys!
set of swampers showed up in the mail today. stepper is coming apart! still waiting for my axles, so i'll use these junk ones temporarily for mock-up
tires scale out to 42's, couldn't control myself & also ordered a set of 49" swamps too, think they will go on a 4x4 chev van i've been screwing with for awhile.

it's getting new paint, so it's coming totally apart. for a 25 yr model, it fought me all the way during disassemble. ditched all the redneck crap, filled the sunroof, my resin grill was a little too wide, but it's in there (still have to open up it up yet), fit my stock bumpers to it & shaved off the cheesy mirrors.


going all stock-ish, have a soft spot for black paint with white grille & bumpers, with white 8 bolt steelies, also seriously considering going woodland green too, matching little brother to the crew!
decisions...

[dieseldawg142]

been a rough weekend modeling. who says building toy trucks aint dangerous?
whoever says models are fragile has never taken a 25 yr old model apart!
decided to make the sb more 4x4 friendly & ditched the blower & changed the heads.
tried to cut the intake & heads off the motor, as seen by the carnage, i'm right handed.


so i tried the knife in the left hand....


finally got tired of slicing & dicing, went outside & took them off in 3 seconds with my 3/4 hp bench grinder


not nearly as glamorous as a 6-71, but it will get the job done

[dieseldawg142]

with "stinging" fingers, didn't get done all i was hoping to this weekend
thought my stock resin bumper was too wide, sectioned it down to a better width


my resin hood, like the grill, is wider than the stock one. would have to take to much off to fit it, & look goofy. filling the hole on the stock hood instead


a little more bodywork on both needed

[dieseldawg142]

happy days today! more junk in the mail!
bigger swamps, 8 lug steelies, axles & a t-case


screw the van, these are going on the stepper!
their not really that shiny, their satin but the camera makes them look shiny(?)


spent a few hrs opening up the grill
it's pretty hurtin' for detail under the hood, started adding some, put a 4 core rad in it too & that stupid looking master cyclinder will be ground off to be replaced by something much better

[dieseldawg142]

just wanted to see what they look like

[jeffro2]

I stop paying attention, and your back at it.. Its looking good, I see the building and redoing bug has bitten..

[dieseldawg142]

Originally Posted by jeffro2

I stop paying attention, and your back at it.. Its looking good, I see the building and redoing bug has bitten..

just that there's nothing out there that grabs me right now, nobody is making much of anything that interests me, except old kits, enjoy them.
aint doing it cause it's cheaper, over $50 for them axles & swamps & stuff!
might have to do like you, more scratch buildin'
i have been thinking about doing the Deora truck on 44's with an expedition type camper body on it.

anyways, only a few updates, been dicking around with new toy wife got me, Badger 155 airbrush. been redoing the shine on my models with it, lays clear very smooth!
the only model my wife ever built, in 1992, 22 yr old paint & this is how it came out


couldn't help myself, dragged 6 more in, only 89 more to go....



most of these paint jobs are between 10 & 15 yrs old btw

[dieseldawg142]

you know that old saying, make one change, & have ten alterations down the line, this old revell is living up to that.
usually revell kits are pretty decent, but this one is sadly lacking in detail & accuracy everywhere.
the door panels are smooth with nothing on them, not even a window crank, baby smooth floor with no peddles, & a gumby molded in seat.
found this AMT 1/24 tub in the parts box, did i mention the revell is 1/25, not much of a difference usually...
new tub is a bit longer & shorter, some sanding & clearencing the cab


you can see the minor size diff in the dashes, had to rework it & the cowl so the windshield will fit back in. seat is a resin one leftover from my crewcab

had to move the motor mounts, trim the tunnel back back a bit, & clearance the bottom of the tub...


which meant i had to take off more than i wanted to from the tranny, so the t-case would fit in there


did find some nice white, shiny, but not to much, kinda white like how they looked from GM

[dieseldawg142]

another big problem with this thing, the frame flares waaay out behind the cab, almost the same width of the axle. more cutting...thought i was just going to have to make some leaf springs for it & be done.
of course i didn't have the styrene i wanted, so improvised with c-channel & strip styrene for reinforcment


getting it kinda in place


you can see how much the old frame flares out, & it got wider more at the rear! i left those pieces in so i would have something to line up with. with the new rails in, i'll grind out the old ones & join & mold the frame together


kinda get an idea of what i'm going for