55 Pete 281 DUEL W.I.P.

[DuelTruckDriver]

Well I finally got enough fabbing plastic/styrene done to justify a thread of this build. I'm really going all out on this build, gonna try to get every detail as close to the movie truck as possible. First I had to raise the cowl panel up, then chop the A-pillars down and angle them foward. Also had to make all new front window channels to get the vintage look of the old Petes.





The roof had to be sectioned a bit and new cab corners made out of styrene. I wanted the roof to be overlaped on the corners and in the middle just like the old trucks. So I had to make a center support for the panels to lay on. Also had to drill and peg all the but glue joints so they would be stronger but very time consuming

Got a bunch of putty work done on the roof and fill in some minor areas. Goind to cover the entire body w/ .010 sheet styrene to give it that extra realism of overlapped panels.
















I accidently ordered a reefer tag axle Travis is gonna hook me up with the right length housing. Thanks Travis!




Cut the bumper way down, haven't got to make the railroad tie bumper for it yet.


Also got Steve making me some 5 and 6 slot wheels for it can't wait to see them Steve! >Marty<

[sneaky-pete]

WOW...this is already cool!
Nice work Marty,I will be following this one for sure!

[diddys trucking]

Hi will you be biuldin the correct tanker for the pete to .Ive always loved the duel rig /film .Have you looked at the st louis dump truck site there is some realy good pics of the real rig from the film I cant wait to see this rig come together youve made a good start that cab looks very close

dave

[Espeefan]

Wow, very cool! I'll be watching this one! You already are off to a great start.

[DuelTruckDriver]

Hey thanks for the compliments Troy and Nathan.

Originally Posted by diddys trucking

Hi will you be biuldin the correct tanker for the pete to .Ive always loved the duel rig /film .Have you looked at the st louis dump truck site there is some realy good pics of the real rig from the film I cant wait to see this rig come together youve made a good start that cab looks very close

dave

Dave, Thanks and yes I'll be building the correct tanker. But, I'm only using the stills from the movie for referencing the tanker. Because, the one from St. Louis dump truck is the only surviving of like 3 or 4 trucks leftover from the actual movie. And they were different from the main movie truck, as were some of the added scenes to make the movie 90 mins.


So far my plans are for it to have a fully working butterfly hood, opening doors, working headlights, and turn signals.

[Brian in PA]

Looks great so far!!! I really appreciate your attention to detail on the cab.

Brian

[BRICKNICK]

Brads classic trucks in NC has the original movie truck in his personal collection. There might be pics on the website.

[SonoranWraith]

Originally Posted by DuelTruckDriver

Dave, Thanks and yes I'll be building the correct tanker. But, I'm only using the stills from the movie for referencing the tanker. Because, the one from St. Louis dump truck is the only surviving of like 3 or 4 trucks leftover from the actual movie. And they were different from the main movie truck, as were some of the added scenes to make the movie 90 mins.

It has been a long time since I have seen the movie but I think because of the several trucks aren't some of them slightly different too? Details details details! Looks great so far.

[diddys trucking]

Those damd film companys its much the same as convoy i think thay used 5 different trucks in that and none of them were the same lol more pics please

[CAT29]

Looking sweat! Can't wait to see more.

[diddys trucking]

Any new pics yet im ithcing to see more
Dave

[Dreamweaver]

The cab is looking good Marty. I want to make a 281 one of these days so I will be watching this one.

~Mike~

[Claus]

Nice build. Just curious, why the tag axle?

[DuelTruckDriver]

Originally Posted by diddys trucking

Any new pics yet im ithcing to see more
Dave

Not yet Dave, I've been working pretty much all day yesterday and today on getting the doors made up. Next I'm gotta get the new cab mounts done so, I can start on the fenders. I hope to have new pics up this weekend.

Originally Posted by Dreamweaver

The cab is looking good Marty. I want to make a 281 one of these days so I will be watching this one.

~Mike~

Thanks Mike

Originally Posted by Claus

Nice build. Just curious, why the tag axle?

Thanks Claus, I'm just making the Pete movie accurate no other reason. As the one from the film has it too. I was kinda bothered by the idea at first, to take a perfectly good drive axle out >Marty<

[Izzy]

nice fab work on the cab - nice and precise .....

[Claus]

Just curious, where in the movie did it show the truck having a tag axle, I don't remember that but it has been a loooonng time since I watched it.

[Espeefan]

I read the same thing about the real movie truck having a tag axle also. Not sure where in the movie it's readily visible, but I would have still made it a twin screw drive, myself.

[DuelTruckDriver]

Thanks Izzy

Originally Posted by Claus

Just curious, where in the movie did it show the truck having a tag axle, I don't remember that but it has been a loooonng time since I watched it.

Originally Posted by Espeefan

I read the same thing about the real movie truck having a tag axle also. Not sure where in the movie it's readily visible, but I would have still made it a twin screw drive, myself.

Claus and Nathan, there are 2 spot in the movie that I've seen, there may be more if you really search.

First, shot I seen was at the ladys gas/snake station. Where Dennis gets in the phone booth the truck starts up and stars to roll. It shows the undercarriage just enough to see there isn't a rear drive axle if you pause it and slow motion it.
Second, shot is after the truck has went off the cliff. It shows the wreckage of the truck ontop of the car you can clearly see the tag axle there.

Also, when you get to see close side shots of the truck you can see that the rear axle has a grease hub cover, instead of the drive axle nuts holding the axle into the hub.

oztruck, man I hope my tanker turns out as awesome as yours

>Marty<

[DuelTruckDriver]

Hey guys, finally got a new update for ya on DUEL I had to totally redo the 1st set of doors and move the hinges foward more because of clearence issues. These doors broke my b@llZ's to get the real 1:1 look and function properly without hitting the cowl. Heres a pic after I cut the cowl and a-pillar more.





Heres a pic of one of the sets of hinges.




Got the belt line applied around the roof used some half round rod. Man, of all the styrene I've worked with this was a real pain in the a$$ to get perfectly straight around the top.



Heres my 2nd set of doors they are gonna be overlaped of .040 for the inner which will fit flush inside of the cab door cut outs. And .020 for the outer skin which will over lap the outside of the cab.





Incase you guys were wondering about the green painters tape on several spots of the frame. Thats actually were I'm gonna cut the frame down too. But, I'm gonna wait and do that when I get everything mocked up.

I made the cab mounts out of angle styrene doubled up for strength. And then it they were pegged glued to cab. Also backed all the glue joints w/ .040 sheet cut to fit patterns and made a partial fire wall. Since the doors are gonna open I was afraid of the structural integerity of the cab. I know its way over kill but I just couldn't help myself





Heres what I had to do to the cab floor, cut the sides down and, use alum. strip to bolt under the floor so that the cab would be at the correct height. And also to bolt the cab to the floor with.







This shot here you can see that I used some strip styrene and glued to the underside of the cowl panel for the top and sides of the hood to rest on.



Some shots of the cab on the frame. The cab may half to be moved foward or back. Depending on when I get the fenders mounted to get the right length of the hood.







>Marty<

[DuelTruckDriver]

More pics of the tag axle installed it turned out really good Thanks again Travis for the housing






I did move the front axle foward and made some shims to raise the front end back up. When you move the axle foward it lowers the front end about 2-3mm.





Got the front grill sketched up, gonna be a good bit of work involved in making it also. Notice how much taller the old grills are compared to the more modern ones. One reason was that the front frame horns were angle cut so the grill pretty much all the way down to the bottom of frame channel.



>Marty<