My Diesel Revolution
It hit me recently... a pretty high number of the scale modeling projects I had going on were diesel powered. And none of them were heavy-duty trucks. Given the fact that light truck and passenger car kits depicting diesels are practically nonexistent, I found it rather shocking when I sat back and took tally of the diesel-powered light truck and passenger car models I had in various stages of completion... nearly a half dozen. And counting. The very first full-detail model kit of a diesel pickup in a mainstream scale, Meng's Ford F-350, came out just a few short years ago. Given the growing popularity of diesel power over the last two decades or so, that's almost an appalling thought.
When that realization hit me, I had already completed two diesel-powered models. The first to be finished was a '71 F-250, fitted out with a Cummins from Trailer Trash Kustoms. The second, which had begun a year earlier, was a '53 F-350 with a 354 Perkins I made myself. Then work began on a Morris Mini, with the kit engine modified to represent a BMC diesel with a junkyard-sourced turbo setup. And then began a rat-rodded '70 Ford pickup with a Ford V-225 (Caterpillar 1160) pirated from a Louisville. And then... there was a 7.3 Powerstroke (again from Trailer Trash) which ended up in a very ratty Ford Model A. As of now, all but the '70 are finished. The '70 took another direction, but then I started on two more diesel-power creations and finished a third.
What the hell is wrong with me?
I'm beyond sick of small block Chevy swaps. Original version or LS. I can see the advantages in full scale, because they're a cheap and reliable engine to build. But in a scale model, a 2.0 Ford Ztec or a Detroit V-12 cost the same amount to build. Reliability and power are also moot in a scale model- any inanimate chunk of plastic is going to be just as reliable and powerful as the next. Why stick with something as snooze-inducing as a small block Chevy in a scale model, then? If you're building a replica of a specific vehicle that just so happens to be SBC powered, by all means, use one. But you have a huge variety of engine choices just from kits... get into the aftermarket stuff and the sky's the limit. I just don't see any reason to go the bellybutton route when there are so many other choices available.
Once you look at it that way, why not go with a diesel? They make gobs of torque straight out of the gate. Yes, they're heavier than a dead preacher and you'll need a burly chassis and suspension to support them, but they'll run damn near forever and there's nowhere to go but up once you start tearing into them. Pretty much anything that can be done, performance-wise, to a gasoline engine can be done with a diesel. Going back to the context of a model... if you want to build something representing a vehicle with loads low-to-mid torque and an offbeat attitude... why not go with a diesel if you can find one? Or make one yourself?
But, there is one annoying thing about diesels. And it's not so much anything with the engines themselves, but rather a certain percentage of their enthusiasts. I'm talking about rolling coal.
Rolling coal on the street is just as idiotic as dumping your airbags and and dragging your bumper, or hitting the hydro switches and bringing a front tire off the ground, or street racing. Perhaps not as dangerous, but every bit as idiotic. There's a time an place for such things... that time is during whatever show or competition you are attending, and the place is within the grounds of that event. If you want to protest what you see as unjust motor vehicle regulations, that's fine, but there are other, far-less moronic ways to do it than to blast soot all over the neighborhood. When you use the street as your playground, you have nobody to blame but yourself when the authorities start cracking down, and I have zero sympathy for people who paint targets on their back and then complain about being hit.
But enough of that...
The '71 F-250 is a bagged and body-dropped beater, which uses the Cummins 5.9 from Trailer Trash Kustomz. Rusty McBride scratch built the master for this engine, which you could probably rightfully nickname "The Small Block Chevy of Light Duty Diesels". The kit comes with two exhaust manifold options- I used the longer one to push the turbo out a little further. The exhaust is a straight pipe, patterned after one I saw on a scrap generator set years ago. Tires are some old Satco wide whites, and the leather buckets came from a Lexus LS 400.
The engine is kind of half buried under the cowl, and one of these days I'd like to come up with a better air intake, but overall I'm happy with it. I need to get better at making my fuel lines look good. But like anything else I'll get it eventually. That's the thing you have to keep in mind. If you think you'll never get better at doing something... you probably won't. Overcome the doubt and bulk up the skills and confidence and you can do pretty much anything within reason.
I scratch built a Perkins 345 inline six diesel for this '53 Ford F-350 welding truck. These were a factory option in Dodge trucks in the '60's, and were used by Massey Ferguson in tractors such as the 1100 well into the late '70's. And they were a somewhat popular swap into earlier trucks as well, though you have to understand that diesel swaps then weren't as common as diesel swaps now, hence why I went with "somewhat". It's all relative. This was the first engine I ever built from scratch, and the truck overall is probably one of the most extensively modified models I've built in quite a while.
I used an old fire extinguisher as an ether can- it's the orange cylinder you see just behind the air cleaner. I couldn't find many good reference pics of these engines online, so I extrapolated using the engine in my father's Massey-Ferguson 1100 tractor. I learned a lot making this engine- mainly the wrong ways to do things. I'll be armed with that knowledge for later, as I'd like to do another Perkins 354 for use in a Dodge tilt cab.
If fuel is scarce, it pays to have an engine that can run on damned near anything combustible. And since diesel doesn't get gummy over time like gasoline, why not go with diesel power in that scenario? That was the idea with this post-apocalyptic Morris Mini scout car. Starting with the Tamiya kit, the engine was reworked to resemble one taken from a BMC Mini tractor. A turbocharger was fitted just to give the tiny little four popper some extra power, and of course this Mini is fitted with dual fuel tanks. And dual steering wheels and pedal setups. The idea is that on a long scout mission, the two occupants of the car can take over driving duties without stopping, or one can engage a hostile target with small arms fire while the other continues driving.
I don't know what, if anything, was shared between the petrol engine in the diesel but they sure do look similar. Close enough, at least, for the Mini engine to be made to resemble the diesel tractor engine. Of course, those never came with a turbocharger, but that's the power of junkyard engineering. And here you can also see the "dual drive" setup through the dusty windscreen.
This '49 Mercury is powered by a 4BT Cummins that I made using a Chevrolet straight six engine block and a lot of scratch built parts. I have no idea why, but one day the idea of a rat-rod-like '49 Merc with 8 bolt wheels and a diesel struck me, so a Revell kit was fitted with the home made engine and 3/4 ton wheels from Scenes Unlimited. Tires are old Satco "lowrider" Dunlops.
Installed in the Merc, the Cummins is barely visible. I'd love to build another one of these for use in a project where it will be more visible. Maybe something like...
In addition to the Cummins 5.9, Trailer Trash Kustomz also casts a 7.3 PowerStroke. The engine is a bit underscale, as it was based on the engine from Monogram's F-250/350 kits. Trailer Trash proprietor Rusty McBride did it this way so that it would be an easy swap for those kits, though the PowerStroke didn't appear until 1994. But many a PowerStroke has been swapped into the eighth-gen '87-'91 style F-Series pickups, so it's still a very realistic modeling project. This is based on a Revell '30 Model A. Well... I used the body and some interior parts from that kit, but most of the rest is scratch built. Just like with the Merc, 8 bolt truck wheels were used. This also has a driver and passenger figure, barely visible through the meshed-over windows and roof insert. The air filter came from an Airfix 1:24 scale Stuka bomber. It's been sitting around waiting for just the right project. I guess this was the one! I'm assuming the real piece would have been aluminum, but I detailed it to resemble weathered steel.
I mentioned the 1970 F100 in the introduction. I ended up going another route with that one, but the engine was pretty much finished, so I decided to build another ratty truck for it. The Moebius 1965 Ford Service Truck was treated to a body drop and simulated air suspension. The wheels are from a USA-1 monster truck, with low profile tires.
I originally had made a scoop for the throttle body, but I opted to go with a turbocharger setup instead. This is the same engine I used in my 1969 Ford Rat Wrecker. That one has already been featured here-
http://chuckmost.wixsite.com/madhouse-miniatures/single-post/2018/02/14/Rat-Rod-Wrecker-Rigs--The-Series-
This engine was co-developed by Caterpillar and Ford. Like most V8 diesels of the era it was a terrible truck engine, and didn't have the longevity enjoyed by the more common inline six diesels. But again... you don't need to worry about power and reliability with a model. It's a cool looking engine and that's really all that matters for my purposes. Hell, I have a third model in the works which will have one.
Here it is mocked up into it's host chassis. I might use the scoop I originally made for the '70, or maybe I'll try something else entirely. I'm still working on the fuel lines- they still look more like wires than lines. I think I'll use solid brass rod from now on. You'll see more this project in the future. I still need to figure out the front suspension, rear portion of the body, and other small but numerous details.
