This started out as the 1:16 scale "Rat trap pick-em up" by minicraft. I used the engine and trans set-up out of the t.d. 1:16 scale Muscle Bug and I mounted it in the bed backwards. I got the engine from an e-bay muscle bug that Bill Jenkins wanted. He wanted the body, I got the engine.

I started by lengthening the rear of the frame with plastic rods to support the weight of the engine. I cut out the floor of the bed to fit around the monsterous hemi. Getting the engine angle right, and ligning up the rear axle with the center of the fenderwells was a bit of a challenge. When the truck is up doing a wheelie, the engine sits level. I made up engine and trans. mounts out of some plastic rods. Once I got that done, I tore the engine apart, and re-painted it competition orange. I polished all of the chrome plastic parts and drilled out the 4 hole injector. I made some fuel lines out of blue craft wire, and I ran them into a scratch built fuel log (made from an old suspension shock). I ran a single fuel line out of the log, and into a scratch built fuel pump. I ran another fuel line out of the pump, and back to the scratch built moon tank. I made the moon tank out of a plastic marker cap, wrapped with pop can aluminum. The ends of the tank are stainless steel interior buttons, the fuel cap is from a 1:8 scale motorcycle tank and the mounts are rubber o-rings. I drilled out the valve covers and ran plug wires to a distributor made from a 1:16 scale dist. cap, and the bottom of the magneto that came with the engine. The spark plug wires are craft wire, with the inside hard wire pulled out (I just used the insulation). I sprayed the chassis, ladder bars and front axle aluminum, and the brake drums flat black. Once the chassis and engine were done, I mounted the engine to it and cut the bed floor out to fit around it. I made up a new bed floor out of pop can aluminum so it would fit around the engine.

I sprayed the body and bed with Model Master bright yellow, and coated it with clear laquer. I masked off the vinyl roof insert and sprayed it flat black along with the running boards. Since there is no radiator in this truck, i made a grill insert out of pop can aluminum to fit the chrome grill shell. The doors are supposed to open and close, but i could not get the hinges to fit right so i glued the doors shut. After getting the body painted, I started assembling it, and I found that the chassis was twisted to the left, and the front axle was twisted to the right. i had to straighten them both out before I could mount the bed and the body. The rear slicks and wheels came from a 1:18 scale hot wheels v.w. drag bus, and the front tires & wheels are kit supplied. I cut the header pipes all apart and turned them around backwards, and I used some stainless steel air line inserts for the trumpet ends. The wheelie bars are from the muscle bug, and the tail gate hold downs are stainless steel wires. I sprayed the interior flat black, and added some simple silver details. I had Dan Warford make up the decals for this one and the name came out of thin air. Once again, Dan did a fantastic job on the decals.

I have to thank Bill Jenkins for the muscle bug engine, and Dan Warford for the decals.