BRBO 2022. GMC Astro Cabover

[tbill]

Excellent Work on this so far, love the opening vent!

[doorsovdoon]

Almost time for paint. I've narrowed it down to three colour scheme options I like.

 

Edited January 31, 2022 by doorsovdoon

[Mopar - D]

Great progress Gareth and nice details. It’s a hard choice to make on your paint scheme they all look good. 

[doorsovdoon]

5 hours ago, Mopar - D said:

Great progress Gareth and nice details. It’s a hard choice to make on your paint scheme they all look good. 

Yeah, there's so many cool designs. One design alone can look completely different just by inverting the colour scheme, and with so many different designs there's endless options!

[Bronzekeg]

they all look great!

[doorsovdoon]

13 hours ago, Bronzekeg said:

they all look great!

They are indeed. It's always hard to choose a design on these big rig builds. I painted the frame white last night so I'm probably going with the red one, unless something else catches my eye, haha.

[doorsovdoon]

Got the frame painted last night and finished up the engine. Also finished detailing the new wipers I made.

[doorsovdoon]

I think I'm gonna go with the red and white cab, but, I found this picture of a cab with gold trim and black stripe, I really like it! Oddly it has square headlights! It's the only one I've seen with square headlights but I'm really diggin it. I actually have a set of headlights in my spares that look exactly like them

[Mopar - D]

I like this paint scheme the best out of the ones that you have posted. Those rectangular head lights make the truck look 20 years newer. 

[37 caddy]

The one with the square lamps looks like it might be a factory prototype,it looks to be a early one with the "bus" type mirrors,they only used them for the first few years then they had a normal type of west coast mirror.Only the real early kits had those,the later kits didnt come with them,however if you look real close at the cab you should be able to see the little raised lines where they mounted.Also the early kits had a more realistic type of grille,it mounted from the back and was flush with the cab front,the later ones it mounted at the front side and stuck out,it doesnt look right in my opinion. harvey

[doorsovdoon]

16 hours ago, Mopar - D said:

I like this paint scheme the best out of the ones that you have posted. Those rectangular head lights make the truck look 20 years newer. 

Yep, looks pretty cool, and very unique, so have decided to go with that one!

1 hour ago, 37 caddy said:

The one with the square lamps looks like it might be a factory prototype,it looks to be a early one with the "bus" type mirrors,they only used them for the first few years then they had a normal type of west coast mirror.Only the real early kits had those,the later kits didnt come with them,however if you look real close at the cab you should be able to see the little raised lines where they mounted.Also the early kits had a more realistic type of grille,it mounted from the back and was flush with the cab front,the later ones it mounted at the front side and stuck out,it doesnt look right in my opinion. harvey

Yes, I think you're right, it's the only photo I've found that has those lights. I checked the grill on this kit and it fits from behind and looks flush from the front. The kit also has the earlier cab steps on the chrome tree but I'll have to scratch built the mirrors. The ones that come in this kit are not very good anyway, they look very clunky and have ejector pin marks.

[doorsovdoon]

I couldn't help it, the square headlight version is too cool and unique to pass by so I've decided to go with that:) I plugged up the headlight apertures with some styrene, I just have to smooth them out with some filler. The headlights are from the AMT '66 Mercury Park Lane custom option.

[TruckerAL]

I've never seen that style of headlights before on an Astro. Going to be really unique. I love it!

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Great improvement on the wipers!

[37 caddy]

I did a little more looking and i think that truck was sent to Russia? I found a picture of it on a russian website and one where it was coming off a big container ship,England is the only place over there they drive on the other side of the road,Russia is the same as we are here,the headlights would be a European type. Not certain but im pretty sure it was a" export" truck.harvey

[Bronzekeg]

I like the direction this is going.

[gotnitro?]

Glad you chose the unique headlights version

[doorsovdoon]

Thanks guys. I haven't finished the chassis yet, but it's been a while so time for an update. I decided to go with the square fuel tanks cos the braces for the round tanks were an awful fit and looked tacked on. The mods I did to the rear wheels worked out nice to cover the barrel style rims, and that brought the wheels in a little closer to the chassis too.

[Dutzie]

This looks great!

[Mopar - D]

Looks good with the square tanks Gareth. Looking forward to seeing your European version finished. 

[doorsovdoon]

Chassis finished up. The air intake and exhaust pipes were a bit fiddly, but not too bad. I heard the round tanks make it even more difficult, so I'm glad I used the square tanks now.

[doorsovdoon]

Finished up the interior tonight. I opted for all black for a clean look with a bit of wood trim to the door panels.

[tbill]

That looks fantastic, both the chassis and interior, great work!

[Mopar - D]

2 hours ago, tbill said:

That looks fantastic, both the chassis and interior, great work!

X2 …looking forward to seeing more progress pictures. 

[Rockford]

That interior looks bob-on! I love the white steering wheel. If I wrote the rules all trucks would have white steering wheels!!