Just so you guys don't think I've been a total slacker, here are some pics of my latest creation. This started life as the 1991 issue of the Monogram Kenworth Aerodyne (the orange one). What I've done so far is replaced the Caterpillar 3406A with a Cummins NTC350 Big Cam III. (Can I call it a Big Cam III even if it only vaguely resembles one?) Still need to add the AC pump, and figure out the air intake. Painted it gloss black with a semi-gloss black chassis. I have added KFS P/E logos to the hood, and they will go on the sleeper as well. KFS P/E stacks will replace the kit stacks.











Lots more to do.

Great start. Are you going to have a trailer to go with it? I have been thinking about getting one of these myself. Any issues that I should be aware of?

Cool Jim...you gonna leave her all black or add some stripes or something?
Are those wheels the same as the snap Pete's...almost looks like it....{3 prongs thru the tire}

Dave, no plans for a trailer as of yet. Might stick something behind her eventually. As for fit issues, this is the 1991 issue of the kit. I haven't built the 2009 issue yet, although I do have one in the stash, so I really cannot comment on how that kit fits together. If it's anything like the 2008 issue of the Peterbilt 359 it'll fit quite well. Frame is a little sparce on detail, there are no brake cylinders, and the tires are too narrow. The kits Caterpiller 3406 is quite well detailed, though.

Bob, no, she's going to stay all black. No stripes, no lightning bolts; just black. Yes, they're the same wheels/tires that are in the Revell USA Peterbilt 359.

Lookin' good Jim. That black looks a bit like Tamiya metallic black ice.
Any particular reason you axed the 3406?


Hermon

Thanks.

The black is Dupli-Color Gloss Black with a Dupli-Color Clear coat. Nothing too fancy.

Why did I ax the 3406? I just wanted to see if I could do it.

Jim

Hello Jimb on your big cam three is that your primer color still or do you remember what color the big cam three is supposed to be, were they that Cummins light brown or were they them black colored ones that came out with the red tops because all I can remember is my light brown small cam 350 I used to have in the Kenworth I used to own before I changed over to a full blooded Bull Dog.

Kerry,

Engine colors in Kenworths & Peterbilts are always a hot topic of discussion, so here goes! By about 1980, Kenworth stopped paintng all engines white, and went with the OEM color (Caterpillar was the last one to stop delivering white engines). The correct OEM color for a Big Cam (or Small Cam) Cummins in this time frame is Cummins Beige. The only exception to this seemed to be the V/VT903 which was dark grey. Cummins didn't start delivering engines in black until about the early-1990s (I think) with the M-11 & N-14. (A Cummins N-14 with red valve covers was a CELECT Plus). The Signature 600 was the first Cummins delivered in red from the factory as an OEM color. I'm pretty sure now all Cummins truck engines (ISX, ISL, etc.) are delivered from the factory in red.

What color is the engine in your Mack? They used to be gold, but aren't they grey now? What do you drive?

Jim

Yes the engine is gray it is a 1991 CH 613 with a E-7 400 in it without the electronics that is why the bulldog on the hood is silver because in order to get a gold bulldog on the hood you had to order the electronics package that year on your engine, and at that time the electronics were to new for me when I ordered it new because the electronics on all the other engines that I was talking to the owners to them kept on shutting down the engines for no real reason.

Now myself I always kept a good eye on my gauges so if it needed to be shut down I would shut it down myself and not worry about the electronics shutting it down because of faulty wiring which happens all the time as you know. Like on mine shortly after I bought it the shut down light and buzzer stayed on but nothing was wrong with it so I had to take the light out and disconnect the buzzer to keep it from driving me nuts and if I had the electronics instead then I would of had a bigger problem to try to get it fixed because I took it to several different garages and not a one of the mechanics were able to find out why that light and buzzer stayed on.

If I'm not mistaken Jim, in the early 90's International and maybe Ford both went from the L-10 (tan) to the M-11 (grey/black) as their small to medium engine line-up. I do know that in the late 80's a couple of our trucks had the L-10 and we never had a problem with them. The first batch of M-11's we had were real powerhouses but suffered from fuel injection problems that I believe were traced back to the computer.



Hermon

Good point, Hermon. The L-10 was tan until about 1990 or so, then they were black until Cummins introduced the ISL in 1999 (which is red).

I actually want to put a L-10 in a 1986 Ford LTS9000 plow truck. (Update the AMT kit from a 1973) Should be able to get the L-10 from Chris @ Sourkraut. He has the M-11 & Signature600, too. Somehow I don't think the Signature600/ISX will fit in the Ford. Guess I'll put one of those in a Kenworth W900L AeroCab. And, no, I'm not a big fan of Caterpillar; although you can get an aftermarket 3406E or C-15 from Evan @ Melbourne Model Truck Accessories.

Jim

See, this is why I stick around here...while I may build a nice truck from time to time{and some crummy one's too} I know squat about correct engine colors. Good thing I have you guys here to rely on.

Bob,

Your trucks are very nice.

Jim

Yeah, what Jim said. Besides, didn't one of your "crummy trucks" win the model of the quarter award?
Oh, and speaking for myself only, if you're relying on my knowledge base.....as we say here in the south "you're pi**ing up a rope."


Hermon

I'm sorry I only know up to close to 2000 before I got disabled but the company I was leased to at the time we only had like 20 or 30 vans like I pulled then the rest were flatbeds and a few had the special heavy hauling trailers but I think there were only like a few hundred flats when I left, but out of all the friends I knew their engines were mostly cat or cummins very few had detroit but with all of them close to the size of my Mack they were surprised how a Mack engine could run.

Now with the Cat and Detroits I ran against them engines that were 425 HP and when they couldn't out run me the ones with the cats kept on changing their fuel filters saying they must have water in them but after they changed their filters they still couldn't out run me, but the ones with the 425 Detroits they admitted the Mack 400 HP was stronger then theirs on climbing the mountains and the ones with the cats kept on saying there must be something wrong with their engines when they lost.

Now for cummins none of my friends had the smaller engines they had the 460 or 500 HP or more and of course they beat me up the mountains with no trouble but they were at least 60 HP or more then my Mack. I was hoping someone bought that 500 V8 Mack because I know it would of cleaned their clocks the only reason I didn't buy the 500 HP was because of the extra weight and then I would of had to change from the CH to the CL and I didn't know how good that CL rode because the main reason I bought that CH was because it rode so much better then all the other trucks I have rode in, but years later this one friend of mine bought one of them new Volvos that had the intagrated sleeper and he had a 500 HP Cat that was so quiet that while we were all going to lunch in his tractor to this restaurant we all agreed to when our coordinator called all of us and we could all talk to her on his cell phone on speaker phone with no interruptions, and we had 3 people that were setting clear back in his sleeper while I was in the passenger seat while each of us talked to her about a load that was coming up out in LA, Ca. and I would say his tractor rode as good as mine did.

James I got to thinking about engine colors and the only white engine I ever remember seeing were the old cats in the old Military series like the 1693 cats when this new guy to our company lifted his cab over up to look at his engine and I knew it was the 1693 series by the way it sounded when it was idling when he had it running because when they are idling they sound like they are ready to come apart but that means they are fine because that is just the way they are because the last time I ever heard any of them old 1693 series was when I was leased to this other company when we hauled Auto parts back and forth between Mexico and Canada.

So it's been a while since I posted any progress on my 1980 Kenworth W900. I haven't managed to get a lot done, but I did make some progress. Since the last post I've finished the interior (some of the "Old Timers" like Bob might recognize the book on the bunk), mount the hood & cab, and break the drive shaft while mounting the cab! It's always an adventure.

I think it's just stacks, radiator, roof lights, & horns. Then we'll call it done.









Jim

Love the interior. The truck is turning out beautiful

Thanks. Did have a "minor" set back today. Turns out the engine is mounted too high to get the aircleaner piping to fit. So, I had to remove engine, and mount it lower.

See? These are the things you learn when you do things like this.

Jim

Awesome job Jim, the interior as Dave pointed out looks great as well.A minor setback for you would be pack it away for me.Keep up the good work,nice to see someone getting it done.

Thatnks for the encouraging words. I'll get then thing done eventually. I'm in no real rush; so I'd rather take my time, do it right (well, kind of right), and have it look good; than rush through it and have it look terrible.

Jim

Jim, she's lookin really nice!!!!!! If you button up this and the tanker are you done?
I wish I had a 12v charging cord for my camera!!! just got back from the dells and on highway 39 north and south it was a sea of trucks and trailers - the boy and I were quite busy pointing these out to each other...even the daughter from time to time. There were at least a doz trucks with neat paint jobs that I would've loved to nail on camera as well as the army truck convoy. Problem is it's hard to nail the shot when they're going 55mph the other way and the wife is "afew" over in our direction! I snapped a few of the wisconcin ducks since the kids want me to do a build of that.

Oh, and for the record jim and hermon...while I can kitbash and paint pretty well, I honestly have no clue about real colors of semi motors{till now- THANKS JIM!} or OEM rig colors...if I made it look good on my build, it was by pure accident. Thank you for the kind notes though...

Now, button this bad boy up and let's see the tanker built!

So, I mananged to get some work done on the W900 this weekend. After a minor set back of the engine being mounted too high; I managed to get that corrected, the radiator mounted, the stack heat shields on, the logos on the sleeper, and the lights & horns on the roof. It's not much, but it's something.









Jim

Well, I managed to get some more done on the W900 over the last several weeks. One of my major hold-ups was making new exhaust elbows. I tried bending aluminum tube, plastic tube, nothing seemed to work right; so I broke down & bought some Plastruct elbows. Problem solved.

So I managed to get the stacks completed, the air cleaners on (yes, Dave, the fenders do hit the air cleaners), and some chrome details (mirrors, grab handles). I corrected the marker lights that mount on the top of the headlight buckets (that was bothering me). Now I need to finish the air intake piping (I hope SourKrout comes throught for me here), mount the fender mounted turn signals, and mount the wing. That should take about four months!

It turned out beautiful Jim. Nice and clean. The paint has a very nice shine to it.Bravo!!!