1950 Kenworth Needlenose

[TRUCKMAKER]

Looks good Nathan. It will be interesting to see the " highways" of wiring fit inside the cab!

[SmallHaul]

Nathan, that truck sure is turning out great. Very nice work.

[Supermario]

Nice work Nathan. I curse when dealing with a sleeper full of electronics never mind a day cab
So I guess the doors get dark windows eh? I really like that speaker mount you used. I purchased what looks like the same size as yours but no mounting plate. Did you make or purchase?

Mario

[Semi Crazy]

Your workmanship never stops amazing me. I'll be watching for your next installment! I'll be back at mine soon...I hope.

[dmess62]

man the 5th wheel mount looks awesome very real and scale looking

[JAMMER]

Very nice job Nathan well thought out and it should be a show winner when you get it done. Ed

[Espeefan]

Originally Posted by thercfreak2012

nice progress nathan well done dude

Thank you thercfreak! Lots more to go yet.

Originally Posted by bowtiebuba350

It's fun size

Oh it's fun all right!

Originally Posted by TRUCKMAKER

Looks good Nathan. It will be interesting to see the " highways" of wiring fit inside the cab!

Kent, it will be pretty interesting. I would like to use a couple terminal strips to route and keep the wiring job tidy, but we'll see how much space I have. I will most likely need to branch multiple circuits off the same terminals...either those on the M20+, or off a terminal strip. Might do a combination of both.

Originally Posted by Semi Crazy

Your workmanship never stops amazing me. I'll be watching for your next installment! I'll be back at mine soon...I hope.

Thanks for the kind words Steve. You've got some nice trucks in your collection, so if you have something planned for the future, I'll be sure to watch out for it!

Originally Posted by SmallHaul

Nathan, that truck sure is turning out great. Very nice work.

Thank you Scott!

Originally Posted by Supermario

Nice work Nathan. I curse when dealing with a sleeper full of electronics never mind a day cab
So I guess the doors get dark windows eh? I really like that speaker mount you used. I purchased what looks like the same size as yours but no mounting plate. Did you make or purchase?

Mario

Mario, yup, the windows are going to be all tinted on this one, but I decided having lights and sound was worth loosing the interior. My speaker mount is home made. One half is actually part of my battery tray, and at the front half has a real simple spacer with a screw passing though it. Servonaut does make a speaker box for this particular speaker, but it's to big to fit under the hood, so I'll save it for another project. If you are looking for some posts to mount your speaker to, take a look at McMaster-Carr. Do a search for 'stand offs' and you'll get a lot of results. You can also search for 'spacers' and you'll find round ones like I used. I'm going to be changing mine out, in the front. I haven't ordered the stand off I want to use, but it is a post with a male threaded portion on one end, and a female on the other. That way the male end can tighten down my battery plate, and stay there. If I want to remove the speaker, I can thread (or unthread) a screw into the top of the stand off post, since it's a female thread.

Here are a couple better pictures of the speaker. The earlier photos were a little hard to see what was going on. The acrylic plate I used still had the protective paper on it, and the electronics hid some details. Take a look at these....

Originally Posted by dmess62

man the 5th wheel mount looks awesome very real and scale looking

Thank you Dave! I appreciate it.

Originally Posted by JAMMER

Very nice job Nathan well thought out and it should be a show winner when you get it done. Ed

Thanks Ed. Let's hope! I've certainly got enough time stuck into it.

[kingbob]

*bows*

Stunning is the only word i can think of to describe the work in this.

[Mama Sue]

Originally Posted by kingbob

*bows*

Stunning is the only word i can think of to describe the work in this.

I have to agree!

[RodneyO]

I've just started following this build.I have to say it looks great.A lot of custom parts and fab work.

[Claus]

Holy cow Nathan! Looking better than I ever imagined, keep it up!!!

[Espeefan]

Originally Posted by kingbob

*bows*

Stunning is the only word i can think of to describe the work in this.

Thanks Bob. I appreciate that, considering your great bodywork and painting skills.

Originally Posted by Mama Sue

I have to agree!

Thanks Sue!

Originally Posted by RodneyO

I've just started following this build.I have to say it looks great.A lot of custom parts and fab work.

I appreciate the comment, Rodney. Thanks for checking my build out.

Originally Posted by Claus

Holy cow Nathan! Looking better than I ever imagined, keep it up!!!

Thanks Craig. Hopefully it will continue to get better, the closer I get to being finished.

[Trucker_Jo]

Hurry up I can't wait to see some paint on this baby. Or how about some chrome chimneys Definitely one of my top favorite builds.

[RCP57]

So ummm ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ? you been sleepin or what? We all deserve an update.....

[Espeefan]

Sorry Reg, nothing new to show on this project right now. I ran into a case of having to remake some new parts that I am not happy with, so until I can figure them out to my liking, there probably won't be much to talk about. Remaking parts three times over starts to kill my motivation, but once the cold weather hits, I'll get back into the swing of things.

[RCP57]

lame!

[Burnt Rubber]

This truck is an amazing build the work your doing is awesome

[Stuart]

Very impressive! your machined parts look amazing, looking forward to the next update.
Stu

[Espeefan]

Hello guys, thanks for the nice comments. As always it's appreciated. I know some time has passed since my last update. The truth is I got a little side tracked and lost some motivation for this project truck, but I'm slowly (as always ) working on getting back some momentum, starting off by finishing up a new cab visor!



Turns out making a great cab visor is not very easy. It was kicking my butt for a few months. I must have made 4 or 5 of these things, at about two hours a piece. The more I made, the better they got, but it was a bit frustrating putting all the time into making visors that never quite fit right, or looked good. Finally I have one that I am happy with!





It's a big show truck looking drop visor, with a little bowtie mixed in, cut and formed by hand out of .032" thick aluminum. I mounted the visor to the cab with four 0-80 screws. It's pretty fun drilling and tapping small screws like this in aluminum (not!). I had to do it by hand, and thankfully all the holes lined up great!





This thing 'ought to match the big fat stacks pretty nicely, when the truck is all finished up! Thanks for looking.

[wolfws6]

Bad ***, that all I can say!!!