Hey all. I signed up a long time ago (Sept, I think) and decided my M2100 Escort Fast Guntruck would be the trick.
I started this in 2004 and I AM gonna finish it by the end of this campaign, so help me!
It all started out as a M21 Halftrack, but all's that's left is the frame. I used axles, springs, wheels and tires from a Quad Guntractor and the cab from a 1/32 monster truck from AMT, the USA-1 Chevy.

I'm adding a big V-8 engine mostly scratched (The whole top end and the oilpan) and the whole engine compartment as well (Radiator, front and rear firewalls).

The end result will look similar to this crude drawing made years ago.



Here's where we left off. The engine in this picture is 1/25 and way too big to even represent a big block 500, which, was my original intention, but the frame and radiator are there.



And here's where we are now...



Here's my engine work.




aaannnddd with the intake manifold and fuel injection.



I have progressed a little farther on this, but, I haven't had time to upload the newer photos yet.

So Far, So Good!

Peace!
Cuhail

Man I'd hate to run into a road rage with it, looks like it’ll obliterate anything in it’s way. Looks great Murph. What are you using for the armor platting.

Joe

Thanks, Ma!

I dunno yet. It will be .10 aluminum or some .050 plastic sheet I gots loads of. I haven't even really planned the floorplan for the back of the truck, much less how the turreted .50 cals will sit! :-) The mechanic's still out on that one!

C

Hey, I took a really crummy pic of the radiator and the front firewall. I hate my phone cam, but, it's what I gots right now.



Might as well throw in an engine pic too. Again, from the POS camera phone.



Horrible, eh?

C

good start. I remember seeing this concept drawing a few years ago here. I like road warrior style kitmashed vehicles.

Hey & Howdy! there Buckeroo!!

Man, haven't yakked at you in a coon's age.......an elderly coon at that!

How ya been pard'? Mighty nice to see you around these parts, and even better to see you're pullin' the old ' M2100 Escort Fast Guntruck ' out of mothballs and finishing her up. I remember her from the first time she peeked out from underneath the tarp.....
Looks like you've done some nice work so far, and I applaud your ability to scrunch all of those non-related pieces/parts into something so cool!......very nice indeed.
I'll be watchin' this one and cheering you on if that's alright.

Tread.

Wow! an amazing project and build. your talent is breathtaking. Boy! The talent on this board is amazing. I'm very inspired by scratchbuilders and you are no exception. Great job. I love to watch others, this way it pushes me to better myself.

Hey guys! Thanks!

Tread! How's it going these days, bud? I haven't really been gone, just over at ModelGeek building cars. I had a obsession with GTOs for a while and had to whip out a few. You should go check out my 70 GTO thread. The car came out awesome! I think I was over there learning how to build an engine just to come back here and build the engine for this Guntruck. Here's a link:
http://www.modelgeek.com/forums/73064&page=1#top

I'm building the tiny, little alternator today. I have some time to focus on it and no visits planned, so I'm gonna finish this engine today. I'll throw on a coat of paint so the white doesn't wash out with the camera shots and I can get a good picture Monday night. I just wish the midwest would warm up a bit pretty soon so I can spray outside. It's been a pretty cold winter and I'm getting cabin fever.

Ti,
Any inspiration you've gotten here, you've put to work well. I've seen a couple of things you've done and ya got it going on great. Thanks for the words, brotha!



More soon. Any comments welcome!

Cuhail

Alright, crappy phone pics, but, I got the alternator on and strung up the fanbelt. Yes, a 1/32 scale fanbelt. Here's the pics.

First, painted without the belt.


And, second WITH the belt, but I took the top end off the engine for a bit, and I forgot to put it back on before I took the picture.


I still have to whip up some kind of exhaust manifolds and the electrical system like plug wires and of course some very small details to finish this powerplant up.

I love this truck!

Cuhail

ENGINE, DONE! Just have to install it before I add the heater hoses and other hoses for the radiator.

Some cruddy photography on a cruddy phone.







More later, dinner time.

Cuhail

Woohoo!
Since I finished up the majority of the engine last night, I started working on the rest of the drivetrain starting with the tranfer case. I've never really looked at a transfer case up close, so I'm guessing on it a lot. It should look like it does what a transfer case should do and thats tranfer power to the front and rear differentials. It all runs down the right side as both differentials are right of center on the axles from the Quad Tractor. I'm also working on new engine mounts. The power steering pump sits almost perfect to run some lines to a steering box, so that's all good.
I do have to cut the Transmission tunnel a bit bigger on the interior tub so the interior fits a bit better, but, it's working out pretty well.
I'm hoping the good camera will come home tonite so I can take some better pix of the engine. I think it came out so much better than the pictures I took represent and I'm dying to show it off.

Look for better pix tonite!

Comments?
Cuhail

Thanks Matt.


C

Alright! Got the Good cam for a few here and immediately took some good pix of the engine. Without further ado or Gilding of the lily, I give you...A 80% Scratchbuilt Big Block!









I scratched out the top half of the engine, the whole front of the engine, added some girth to the oilpan and part of the transmission. I wired it and installed the heater hoses, scratched the pulleys from the rings on the end of a guitar strings and belted it with masking tape, doubled over and painted and then cut to width.

Now I just gotta make it sit on the mounts right and still fit under the hood and we're all good.

Cuhail

Yes.. the new Pics do look better................

Damn Murphy, you even added the transmission! A T10 Rock Crusher to boot! Oh god, Im doing it again, I have to stop thinking about work! LOL Looks good. I think even Mel Gibson as the Road Warrior would get out of that things way. That is unless the cops already had him pulled over for DUI :-) Looking good!

Speed, Power and ordinance! Hells yeah! I think I have the mounts where I need em and the tranny where it is attachable to the transfer case pretty easily. I have to make a new trans tunnel in the interior (I cut it yesterday). I can't wait to work on the bed, but, first things first, I guess. I have a lot of work to do yet before that.

Thanks for the support, guys. It keeps me interested in the subject instead of flaking out and doing something else in a flash of inspiration.

Cuhail

Howdy Murph'

Mighty nice lookin injun ya got there Mr. Cuhail!.....and I really liked your use of the Guitar string ends for the pulleys ...that one's getting tucked away

With all of this super detailing of the engine, I can only hope that you plan to build this project with opened bonnet? Be a bloody shame if you buttoned it up after all that work there pard'

Keep up the good work...we're all watchin'

Tread.

Tread,
Oh hells yeah! The first thing I did was cut the molded-in hood off and keep it pretty enough to go back on with some hinge work. Methinks the driver's door will open as well. I'm gonna split it in two, horizontally, and have the upper part open gull-wing style and the bottom going almost straight down with an integrated step molded into the outside armor panel.
Big plans, me boy, Big Plans!
:-)

Cuhail

Had to actually make an appearance at work yesterday,(Spring's coming!) so, I couldn't work until later on. I did, however, get one of the headers (exhaust manifold) bent. I'm working on the second one now and then I just have to make the collectors.

Took a pic, can ya guess which camera I used?



At least I have some sort of camera instead of none whatsoever.

Laters,
Cuhail

Howdy Cuhail,

Mighty sorry to hear you had to actually work yesterday....my heart bleeds for ya mate But listen to me, I got a freebie day today because of a customer cancellation...so who am I to talk

You said, ".... Took a pic, can ya guess which camera I used?...."

Is that a pic?....I just thought you did some kind of courtroom-style artist rendering or something.......

But, are you telling me you custom bent each individual tube on your exhaust header?? And got that result?

Tread.

Yup. I bent them myself. First try at it too. Here's a rundown on the technique.

First I measure the head that the manifold will attach to and where I want the pipes to contact. I take those measurements and transfer them to a piece of wood, I used 1/2" X 1/2", taped to the workbench. At the points where the pipes connect, I drilled holes (4) in the wood using a drill bit compareable to the pipe, in this case .062 rosin-free solder. I put four 2" long pieces of solder in the holes and starting with the center two, I just started bending them. I used a nail, kind of pushed into the wood a bit, at the points where I needed the bends to be, to sort of be the fulcrum.
After two pipes were bent into the right direction, I CAed them (at the tips) together and moved on to the next pipe. When it was bent to the right place, I would CA it to the other two. The last one went the same.
The pipes, after the CA dried hard, were re-CAed down the parallel joints where each pipe ran along each other. After that dried, I cut the ends off where the collector tube would start
I then glued a 1/4" length of 1/8th" dia. rod to the end cut of the four pipes and let it harden.
I cut some lead foil to make the collectors from into a, sort of, trapezoidal shape and slathered CA all over the 1/8th" dia. rod piece and a bit on the ends of the solder where it met the rod. I then wrapped the foil around the rod and a bit of the pipes snugging the foil in between the pipes a bit to look form-fitting and....

Here's the result:



It was so much easier that I dreaded it would be, I might just write up a tutorial because it worked so well.

But, yeah. I made em!



Cuhail

Well, I installed the right side to see if it would work out okay, and it did fine. I marked and drilled the heads and cut the outside pipes a little longer to go in the two holes I drilled.



C

Well, I threw a coat of semi-flat on the headers, let 'em dry and attached them to the engine. The worked out great. They didn't fit over the frame rails, but being solder, I just bent them out until they fit right.



Today I'm working on the interior. I remade the tranny tunnel to accept the new transmission and I'm making the laptop setup in the passenger side.

More soon.

Cuhail