Bills72sj Posted November 17, 2019 Posted November 17, 2019 I bought (2) White Freightliner 75th Anniversary COE kits. The stock options are Day cab single drive (SD) and Sleeper cab dual drive (DD). I have chosen neither of these. I am building one as a Day cab DD and the other as a Sleeper cab triple drive. It has been slow going but I try to work on them a little bit most every day. I have painted the stripe (under) color on the cab and masked it off in preparation for the black top coat. I researched photos of the proper engine colorings but it was too boring so I went artistic on it. I modified the frame to keep the DD length but provision it for the day cab mounts. Since I needed extra wheels and tires for the triple drive, I got some Moebius aftermarket wheels and tires for this one. My cat lost my front axle and center link so I robbed them from a Ford Coca Cola straight truck kit. I got the brake backing plates from the Ford kit as well. Oh, and I converted the headlights to rectangular ones from Auslowe using just a file (no putty).
TECHMAN Posted November 18, 2019 Posted November 18, 2019 ??? Great start!!!! Look forward to seeing your progress..... DJ
CRUSADER2 Posted November 18, 2019 Posted November 18, 2019 Interesting builds, following your progress, looking forward to the next photo's
Bills72sj Posted November 19, 2019 Author Posted November 19, 2019 Got the stripe color on the body then attempted to mask it. The thin white vinyl tape did not want to stay in the crevasses. So, I burned up some BMF for masking the valleys and steps. Since it was working so well I went ahead and used it to mask/fill the wide stripe. I am itching to get the black on it but I have multiple issues holding me up. I can't paint in the house and it is too cold and humid to paint outside. If I had a basement I would sneak it in when the wife is out shopping but I don't. My previous house had a hobby room on the opposite side of the garage. I miss that room.
Bills72sj Posted November 20, 2019 Author Posted November 20, 2019 Finally got the pesky frame together enough to do a mock up. I like the beefy Moebius wheels and tires. With the day cab on the dual drive frame, I'll have plenty of room for a scratchbuilt headache rack. I will have to move the exhaust stacks outward which means I'll have to move one of the fuel tanks rearward. Such as the price you pay when you choose to deviate. The trailer in the background will eventually be built to go with this truck. I have mods planned for it as well.
redneckrigger Posted November 20, 2019 Posted November 20, 2019 Very nice work so far! The day cab is more interesting to me than the more commonly seen sleeper. Keep the photos coming!
Bills72sj Posted December 1, 2019 Author Posted December 1, 2019 I work a little bit on it today. Steering linkage attached and did some touch up paint on the frame. Nothing photoworthy.
Bills72sj Posted December 19, 2019 Author Posted December 19, 2019 A little more progress this week. The fuel tanks are hung. I started working on capping the battery boxes with diamond plate. I put one fender on to see how much space I have on the frame for accessories. I hope to spray some remaining chassis items Saturday. I may shoot the cab with another coat of underlying gold to seal down my masking. The hope is, when I shoot the black, I will not get bleed under. I have seen a lot of ideas for a headache rack but will likely have to wait until the cab is finalized on the frame.
Bills72sj Posted December 22, 2019 Author Posted December 22, 2019 Made some progress today. I was looking at where the exhaust stacks attached to the frame and I am not liking their location. They block the (nearly useless) back windows and make placing a headache rack awkward. Also the mounting brackets seem awfully wimpy for the stacks (which also seem too tall). I fabricated some braces to move them both outboard to line up with the cab sides. The top pipes have lots of flash and do not really fit to the brackets. I happen to have just the perfect evergreen tubing to make hollow angle cut pipes at a slightly reduced length. I am reusing some of the cut off stack piping to fill in for the additional spread of the exhaust.
Bills72sj Posted December 30, 2019 Author Posted December 30, 2019 It has been raining here at least every other day for a MONTH so the humidity is always too high to paint. I have done a small amount of assembly and prepped a bunch of parts for painting. I am getting frustrated finally having the time but STILL not being able to spray paint. Here is my progress so far.
Bills72sj Posted January 4, 2020 Author Posted January 4, 2020 On 12/29/2019 at 9:32 PM, Sam I Am said: Looks awesome Bill ! Thanks Sam. I finally got to paint some parts today. I have been waiting since Thanksgiving (when I built my booth) for the humidity to be low enough to paint. It turned out both good and bad. I got a lot of parts painted so I can do some more assembly. Unfortunately the additional layer of gold to seal the masking has a TON of dust stuck to the invisible adhesive from masking materials removed. I'll try to clean it up when it is cured but we all know gloss black isn't very good at hiding flaws.
Bills72sj Posted January 6, 2020 Author Posted January 6, 2020 Made some progress this weekend. Interior started, grilles blacked out, 2nd battery box glued to the frame. The cab paint is still too tacky to determine if I can sand the dust out or if I have to strip it and start over. Started assembly of the modified exhaust too.
Bills72sj Posted January 12, 2020 Author Posted January 12, 2020 Made more progress this week. Interior detailed and assembled. Fabricated diamond plate deck plate between crossmembers.
72 Charger Posted January 12, 2020 Posted January 12, 2020 Nice little detail with the deck plate. I like the way its shaped to drop in the cross members
Bills72sj Posted January 13, 2020 Author Posted January 13, 2020 9 hours ago, Pete68 said: I like those battery boxes With the 75th anniversary kit you get extra parts. I also go the diamond plate for free. Why not use 'em? ?
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