Zil 130 Thing

[Tommy R]

Hey y'all,

I've been wanting a King Kong RC ZL-130 for quite some time. The detail looks amazing and it looks like it could be a fun rig that looks like it may fit proportionally with 1/14 trucks, though it claims to be 1/12th scale. So I picked one up and it showed up this afternoon.

They make a version with a 5th wheel and one with a wooden bed. I got the former.


I was surprised that I could find so little info. on these online. So I figured I'd share my thoughts thus far through the assembly process. Overall, I'm pretty darn impressed! There's so much metal and much of it is die cast. And those fuel tanks? Machined aluminum! The wheels are aluminum, as well, and the tires are a much softer material than the standard Tamiya tires. The rear axle has an open diff and while I haven't cracked it open yet, it appears to have a 2.6:1 ratio. The leaf spring packs are plastic and surprisingly compliant. The build quality is certainly not Tamiya quality, but for what you get I wasn't disappointed. Everything hasn't lined up perfectly, but it's been better than I anticipated. Anyway, here's pics of the process thus far.








So my plan for it? Honestly, I'm not yet sure. I'd really like to make it into some sort of vintage US truck. It shares remarkable similarities to a 1956 International so maybe I'll make it into one of those? Maybe I'll leave the body stock? Maybe I'll convert it to a 4x4?

And here's a couple pics to show the scale of the truck and chassis.

[jerry56]

I like the look of the older trucks I've been thinking about the King Kong just haven't pulled the trigger yet, to many other projects in line.. Looking forward to seeing this one done...It looks pretty big next to the Tamiya

[Tommy R]

Yeah, it does look a bit big, but I think it's close enough so it won't look too out of place next to Tamiya rigs. That's my hope anyway!

I've got some build updates to share...

I got the 80t HH motor installed and also installed a Savox steering servo (not pictured).


By the way, the fifth wheel is on sliders so you can move it fore/aft. It only locks into the rearmost position, but I'll change that so I can move it forward a bit. Should help with wheelying with heavy loads. It also has a handle to release the kingpin.


And when's the last time you saw rubber shock bushings on an RC vehicle? Cool!


In stock form the intent is to have the drag link go from the servo to the driver's side spindle. I don't like this, but fortunately, the curved mount that attaches the drag link to the spindle is removable so I swapped it to the passenger side. I had to get creative with the servo arm and a "custom" drag link, but I like the outcome.




Next up was to address the very open diff.


Very small snap ring pliers are needed.


Familiar looking.


I cleaned off the old grease and installed some Bad Horsie diff goop. Works much better now, but not fully locked.


Looks like ample room under the hood for a basic electronics setup. Probably has room for a Beier unit, but I'll need to determine where I want to put the speaker and battery.


Now a bit of bad news. I got the body put together and the hood was very warped. I've reached out to Asia Tees and to King Kong RC to work on a replacement. I will likely also try to heat/bend this one back into position.




Other than the warped hood, I'm still pretty impressed with this thing. No, it's not perfect, but it's pretty darn good. Now that it has a bit of weight in it, it even has respectable articulation!


And yes, I've begun looking into the possibility of putting a TLT in the front. I'd change the color, of course.

[frizzen]

That truck's already looking pretty nicely detailed!
With that condition of hood i'd be about tempted to heatgun straighten and probably dent it up, then that do that battered rusty patina thing...

I know someone had one of those cabs on a truck at a lebanon IN meet a while back, and it didn't really look out of scale with the Tamiyas.

Cool box art. What do you think of the "Highly fine parts" and "Strong driving force"? Does it really "needs to assemble by yourself", or can you have someone watch and help?

[jerry56]

When we had a warped slot car chassis we would drop them in some boiling water for just a few seconds them get them out and put some weight on them to straighten them out.... with the curves in the hood it might be a challenge but just hold it flat until it cools.
I really like the way it's turning out, looks like it has plenty of detail to me...

[jerry56]

Have you seen this guys Zil 130...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdt0riQQ1Gk

[egronvold]

Cool project!

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by frizzen

That truck's already looking pretty nicely detailed!
With that condition of hood i'd be about tempted to heatgun straighten and probably dent it up, then that do that battered rusty patina thing...

I know someone had one of those cabs on a truck at a lebanon IN meet a while back, and it didn't really look out of scale with the Tamiyas.

Cool box art. What do you think of the "Highly fine parts" and "Strong driving force"? Does it really "needs to assemble by yourself", or can you have someone watch and help?

Uh oh, I wonder if the King Kong police will be after me for sharing my progress pics?? LOL!

I've considered the patina look, but kinda want to do my rendition of a restoration this time. It'll be old school looking, that's for sure.

Originally Posted by jerry56

When we had a warped slot car chassis we would drop them in some boiling water for just a few seconds them get them out and put some weight on them to straighten them out.... with the curves in the hood it might be a challenge but just hold it flat until it cools.
I really like the way it's turning out, looks like it has plenty of detail to me...

I'll try it, but as thick as the hood is and with those curves, it'll definitely be a challenge!

Originally Posted by jerry56

Have you seen this guys Zil 130...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdt0riQQ1Gk

Of course! I considered doing something simliar, but figured this'll be my short wheelbase rig and I'll likely convert it to 4WD. I plan on a Globeliner soon, though, but it'll remain RWD.

Originally Posted by egronvold

Cool project!

Thanks!

I started filling the holes in on the back of the cab. Still debating what other body mods I want to do. I've determined this looks pretty close to a 1956 International S-120 so that's what I'm going to pretend it is. I won't do much to the body, but just a thing or two to make it more reminiscent of a corn binder.


A little skim of filler and some more sanding and these holes should be a thing of the past.

[Tommy R]

Have been working on the Zil a bit and doing some bodywork. These light holes annoy me so they're going away. They also don't fit with my eventual plan for this truck. So...








The plan is to do a couple things to make it slightly more resemble a '56-'57 International S-120 truck, some of which were HD models.






And if anyone knows how I can attain a rear wheel hub, please let me know. I'm wanting to convert this to a 4x4, but want to keep the stock wheels.

[Mikem]

I like what you are doing

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by Mikem

I like what you are doing

Thanks!

Body work is nearly done. I need to get some fill primer before final sanding, but I'm pleased so far.




I've also been working on the tweaked hood since I have yet to hear back from King Kong RC or Asia Tees regarding a replacement. Vidal Sassoon to the rescue!





Driver's side still has a bend in it that I've still got to work on more.

[jerry56]

wow looks way better.... I like how this is turning out I love these older trucks...

[Tommy R]

Been out of town for a few weeks with the new job, but when I returned I decided to move forward with making this thing a 4x4. I mean.....it was inevitable, I guess. LOL Anyway, since I pulled the TLT out of my 6x6 Pete I decided to give it a new life in the "International". I picked up a King Kong leaf spring kit from ebay and used F350 leafs and then drilled and/or tapped some holes in the frame (some existing holes were re-used). You can see some of the parts still need the blue paint removed.


The front hole for the hanger was already there. I just tapped it for a 3mm. The second hole is angled down simply to avoid interfering with other holes on the frame.


I did similar in the rear and re-used an existing hole. This was after I drilled a new hole that didn't work quite as planned.


An overall chassis view with some mock-up wheels/tires on the passenger side.


For those who are curious, I really wanted to use the orig. wheels, but the fronts are bearing and I needed hexes. So I have a set of rear wheels on order and I basically only plan on using the hub from the set and will put them on the front axle. Anyway, here's a few pics with the body on.






Still have to iron out some details like steering and such...

[DuelTruckDriver]

Man that thing is awesome! Super detailed going to half to check one of these out.

[Tommy R]

New rear wheels showed up today. Turned out they're machined aluminum, as opposed to the stamped steel wheels that came with the kit. The long hub is also integrated so it's good I don't need to use these up front.




This is now how the rear looks. The 8 bolts in the center hold a cover over a conventional nylock underneath. I plan to replace all the hardware with scale hardware from Locked Up RC.


The front uses the old rear hex hub to attach to the TLT axle. A conventional nylock nut is recessed in there. On the ground is the hub/nut that came for the original bearing hubs.


Now the original hub/nut is purely for decoration. I really like how far the hub sticks out. Makes it look much more authentic to a driven front axle...especially one from ages ago.


The front mounted up and centered perfectly!


I'm loving the way this thing is looking! The front wheel/tire/hub combo just look spot on. I even love how the tire is clearly a bit too wide for the older, narrow wheel!

[Tommy R]

I found a problem with the rear suspension tonight. You see, the primary leaf spring pack is relatively soft, but once the overload springs make contact with the perches on the frame the suspension stiffens to the point where it doesn't feel like it moves at all. And even at ride height the overload spring is just starting to make contact.


After some experimentation, I found out the issue is actually at the rear shackle. As the suspension compresses and the shackle swings rearward, the shackle was making contact with the mount on the chassis. It just so happens to make contact at the same time the overload springs touch their perches. So that was merely coincidental.

It may be tough to tell, but I clearanced the shackle, but in order to remove the interference I had to remove one of the chassis mount's holes. 3 should be fine....I hope! LOL


Now the rear suspension has full movement and it'll compress until the overload springs invert and make contact with the main leaf pack. Another option would've been to move the rear shackle mount rearward a bit.

[jerry56]

It looks like there are another set of holes to do just that, at least one anyway.. if you need to. It looks like your way will work just fine.

[Tommy R]

It looks that way, but I think the spacing is different. But I plan to use that location for brake lights anyway.

[jerry56]

LOL...this may have to be one of my projects next winter. I really like the look of the truck. Looks like you got the hood to fit better, are they sending you a new one?

[Tommy R]

Thanks! Yeah, I spent some time tweaking it with a hair dryer. It's way better, but still needs work. I was completely unsuccessful getting a reply from King Kong RC, but fortunately Asia Tees (where I bought it) contacted them and there's supposedly a new hood en route to me.