Quote:
Originally Posted by Private_collector
These are some of the pics I have of F60T.
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This is a replica too, shortened from F60L. It's a pretty impressive job, but they've sure made a mess of the rear chassis. For starters they've chopped off too much, so it's missing the end bits as Keith says. They've made up a new rear crossmember, but haven't bothered to drill the correct holes in it. It's also a little too fat in section, because they've left off the fishplates. The top one (ie. the little one) fits between the crossmember and the chassis rail, so if it's not there, the crossmember has to be a fraction fatter to fit snugly. Not by much, but enough to look wrong. The eye is very sensitive to aspect ratios.
The problem may be compounded slightly, because this is the point on the F60L chassis rail where it starts to taper. Forward of this point, it becomes wider in section. You may find Tony that even with top fishplates fitted, a geniune rear crossmember may still be a bit sloppy inside the chassis rail. There wouldn't be much in it though, maybe 1/16" at most, which you could pick up by making some new top plates out of 3/16" flat, instead the original 1/8" plates. Alternatively, make up a new crossmember 1/16" fatter. With fishplates and chassis rail ends present, the result would be infinitely better than the job they've done here.
Of course, the chassis rail itself will always look wrong, because of the overly long midsection - ie. the straight section before it starts to taper. This is the only point of difference b/w the various CMP chassis rails. The rearmost 7 foot or so is identical on all wheelbases. Hence you can only replicate a shorter wheelbase faithfully by chopping out a section in the middle - which is generally considered a little unwise!
If I'm not making any sense, compare the images below. The first two are both F60S wheelbase, but the B&W one is a shortened F60L. Note the overly long midsection, extending beyond the front spring hanger, instead of tapering a foot or so in front. Likewise the second pair of images - the replica chassis is virtually ALL midsection. By chopping a massive 43" off the F60L chassis, it's lost the entire skinny section at the rear. It has no shape, so it lacks that distinctive blitz chassis look.
A better result would be an F60S shortened by 19", or possibly even F15A lengthened by 14". Not that I'm suggesting it here!
In every other respect it's an excellent replica, with things like the walkway and vacuum tank all present, and they've even riveted the spring hangers. The fuel tanks are wrong - they appear to be repro, but they're not 21 gallon. Clearly they've tried to get everything right, which makes me wonder how they screwed up the rear chassis so badly.
The chassis drawing is quite interesting Tony. I can't see too much wrong with it, except the rear spring hangers which are definitely out of alignment. That handbook is a gem Keith, I imagine you'll be hanging on to that one!
Tony, if you PM me your address I'll get those fishplates off to you. Shouldn't be any problems in the post I don't think, I've mailed similar stuff before. I just need to find the little ones, which I seem to have hidden from myself!
Cheers