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OK - long time no updates, partly because I've had a pretty busy summer with racing, family, holidays, and all the other things that we do when the sun shines, but also because I knew I had some tough decisions to make re: body design and some hard graft to do of the sort I generally don't enjoy and aren't very good at.

Firstly I have temporarily opted to abandon the 'drag racing truck' idea, for (again) two reasons: one, I wasn't really happy with how the aero package looked, and right now it's beyond my skill with styrene to do anything about it, and secondly because the whole concept got some bad third party feedback* when it had its first public outing.

*that's feedback that you overhear someone saying to someone else when they probably know you can hear it but are pretending you can't.

So right now the rig is getting more of a street-legal lowrider / hot rod look.

Either way, the bit that bothered me the most was the front arches.  That huge gap left by the LoRider tyres has always bugged me.  I considered all manner of things, but nothing was going to be possible without hacking off the stock arches.  So, out came the Dremel, and off they came.  No turning back now!

I considered grafting on some big swoopy arches, I even bought a couple of Kamtec '32 Coupe bodies (1:12 scale and a snip at £5.99 each) to have a go.  I got as far as cutting off one arch and lining it up before I realised it was going to be hella work to do it right.  It looked kinda cool, but right now beyond my skill.  I'd love to do another King Hauler in the future, so maybe it'll get a revival at some point.

Still, the '32 body comes with a lovely set of rear tubs which were just right for making some smaller arches.  A handful of evenings with the craft knife, snips and sandpaper and this happened:

Right-angle brackets made from aluminium section from B&Q.

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Arch fabricated from ABS tub cut from the '32 Coupe body:

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Plenty of space under the stock arch for these to turn

img15729_812201990123_3_1100_.jpg

 

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The whole thing fits in a neat package.  Final fit will use neater colour-coded hardware

img15729_812201990123_4_1100_.jpg

Left-hand side shows the stock steps fitted.  I'm not sure I like the look.

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But at least the arch fits nicely over the wheel and everything works properly

resizer.aspx?uid=15729&w=1100&h=&pic=img

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I need to work out a new front bumper and grille, but I love this shot

resizer.aspx?uid=15729&w=1100&h=&pic=img

Left-hand side doesn't have the step fitted, it has an ABS panel with a bracket for my own step.  I think I prefer that.

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Everything looks neat once fitted up

resizer.aspx?uid=15729&w=1100&h=&pic=img

 

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So - there's still loads of work to do, but I feel now like a real touch sticking point has been passed.  I've been worrying about this arches for months and now they're ready for a final tidy-up and paint.  I still need to order loads of new stainless hardware to finish the rig properly.

I now need to add some lights to the front end.  A friend gave me a roll bar set for a pickup truck which came with a set of lights, which I should be able to hang from the nose.  He uses them on all his hotrod builds and they look awesome with a little bit of work.

I think I'm going to remove the steps and fit my own.  The truck has a very minimal look and the steps detract from it.

Right now it has no fuel tanks at all.  I tried hanging the stock fuel tanks behind the steps, but they were way too big.  I swapped the end caps for those off my Globe Liner, so they will just about fit between arch and step, but it looks way too busy.  I think I'll make some smaller square tanks (probably out of the old steps) to hang either side of the chassis rails.

I've way overspent my August budget because I've decided to start racing again (Buggyra Fat Fox is on order ;) ) and I've bought some cool new cars from a friend, but next month I need to think about getting a trailer leg kit so I can work it into my Arduino MFC code.  After that I might not be a million miles away from wiring it all up and throwing some paint at it :o 

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The huggers for the front wheels look great - but equally I thought your original concept with the slammed front end, skirts and dragster wheels looked cool too!

I wouldn't listen to gossip at meetings ;o)

Either way, it's going to look great with some paint on there... if it were me I'd be tempted to rust it up a little and have some faded haulage logos on the doors - in a rat-rod stylee...

Jx

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On 8/14/2019 at 2:31 AM, JennyMo said:

The huggers for the front wheels look great - but equally I thought your original concept with the slammed front end, skirts and dragster wheels looked cool too!

I wouldn't listen to gossip at meetings ;o)

Couldn’t put it better myself, so i quoted @JennyMo :lol:

i liked the previous dragster look but totally lovey the wheel huggers that you’ve made. I think you’re right for using your own step too, it just looks a lot more minimal 😎

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