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Hi all,Iv been meaning to do this for a few weeks now but just been too busy.The transformation of our Cruiseliner to how we want it began about 8 weeks ago.We got the use of a machinery shed on a farm through a friend of a friend and work on the truck is going on at a break neck speed.We working every hour we have to spare on the truck.....So what have we done??? So far we have reconditioned the rad and Intercooler,new wheel seals,checked over the brakes,steering,removed a homemade hitch off the rear and remade the frame to original lenth,rebuit the 5th wheel,striped the frame back to bare metal and repainted it along with a thousand other small parts and painted the engine and gearbox and fitted new alternator.....My brother who is retired,my son and myself are exhausted!!!!! We have use of the shed for another few weeks and hope to get the cab painted and chase down a few electrical faults....Heres a few pics... Paul

Wow great picture.Keep him at it.25 years ago I was restoring 4X4s and cars and my then 5 year old son was always in the garage with me He'd get covered in oil and dirt and his mom would explode at me...25 years later he's a time served mechanic and last year he got his degree in mech.engineering through his job and was appointed engineering manager.He has not left where he came from behind and still picks up the tools with the guys he works with.When appointed I turned to his mom and said"bet your glad he came in covered in oil now".....keep your granson at it,great things await him..... Paul

Here's a few pictures from a photo album that I hadn't seen in several years. Possibly because it was on Zina's desk under one of her computer monitors to raise it up a little. Here's a big Mack water truck, up at the old shop at F.L.M. Here's a Cruise liner in Roanoke that I used to pass going to and from the concrete pipe getting place. There used to be 3 of them sitting there with "For Sale" signs in the window, but 2 of them must have finally been sold. I stopped and looked at them and they all had V8s in them and 10 speed Mack transmissions. I saw this Mack a mile from where I used to live, it came from the same place my old mixer did- Concrete Ready Mixed in Roanoke.And this A-40 was sitting in a field in Moneta, VA. just up the road a little ways from where we used to load treated lumber. I don't know what ever happened to it, it was there for a while, then it wasn't.

YES!! Tom Warren and his son Bub of Amarillo TX did the 3 year frame off restoration. Finished in 2009. It now has some scratches, especially in the bed as being the chapter show coordinator it gets loaded with tables, chairs, tent, and misc handouts so I do not have to drag the out of my trailer.

Attached photo was taken at this show. Left to right: Rich (66DC75), yours truly, Matt (MattB73IT), and Hippy (70MackMb). Bronco on left is mine and one on right is my son's who snapped photo. Blackdog showed up later with three of his beautiful red and white Macks. Oh, I'm an old 6'.1, so never post anything bad about Rich's trucks!

Other options......

Mack’s had their own photographer at the 125th Celebration, They sent me these . 75 years from the LJ to the Pioneer , and Dawson with his photo album.

Was surfing Marketplace Saturday and came across an ad that caught my eye. RTLO 18913a $3500 Out of power unit that only used one gear. Low hours. Was super clean inside, sliding clutches all looked untouched. He has three, I bought one for my truck for when the 300+ gets installed. Overkill?? Absolutely. But won't have to ever worry about hurting it. And I am good with that. Double OD so it gives me longer legs.

My Grandson and Me had a great time at Mack Trucks 125 celebration at Truist Point Stadium in High Point,NC last night, Many Thanks for all the people who put it together, and all the employees of Mack who showed up with their families .It was a honor to bring the LJ and be a part of it. I think my Grandson or Me must have talked to about all the 5,000 people that showed up, and the hundreds of kids that had their picture taken behind the wheel of the LJ ,, Hopefully great memories! Here are some pictures of the journey and the fun event. Great talking with Stephen Roy , Mack Truck President,Global ( Pictured with us ) And Jonathan Randall ,President of Mack North America and Many more Mack Engineers and employees about some of the years of change between the LJ and the Pioneer.

For anyone in the Northern Nevada area our local ATHS chapter is having a truck show Sept. 20 at 75 Hudson Aurora Rd. in Smith, NV. Usually have several nice old Macks along with the usual mix of old iron. Lunch and a raffle also.

the fire station around the corner from me asked me to move a small shed from the church to the station. It went well. I had a Presidential escort.

Started with $50/ month back then. Now it is $500/ month. Growing quite well now. 30 yrs making 10%/year has worked out.

Getting all cleaned up for tomorrow

Thank You, He should have some good memories helping me rebuild the LJ , it’s hard to believe it’s been 5 years since we pulled it out of the shed in pieces. He should be able to write a book when he’s older on the restoration of a LJ Mack . This was the first picture I took when we uncovered it and pushed it into the shop. March 2020 . 5 years old.

Alright guys, I went ahead and installed new cups and injectors. The truck now sounds a little quieter and isn’t quite as strong as before. It’s not slow by any means and I believe it pulls about as strong as our other trucks, but there was a noticeable power decrease right after the injectors. My theory is that maybe the injectors it had on before were off a d13 with larger nozzles? I have no idea, but I’m happy with the results. I will be giving an update in a couple of weeks when the truck works for a bit and let y’all know if this healed the oil level rising problem.

Latest issue of Double Clutch is out. Big write up on the Macungie show AND..... a little paragraph and photo of my truck!! That was so much fun to do the drive and participate in that show. The only downer was Saturday's rain.

I thought it might be interesting to share some pictures and history of the Old Bulldogs I have collected. Truck 1 B-63SX 3156 Truck 2 B-61S 54843 Both formally owned by Latrobe Construction.

Truck 7 B-63 SX 2485

Just a little update on our progress so far.The frame has got 2 coats of CIP (rust stop primer) and 2 coats of coloured primer.It is now ready for 2 top coats of finnish paint.It took 2 weeks to sand clean and apply the primer coats.The cab has been stripped and prep for paint has begun.A small window in the sleeper,added by the 3rd owner is being removed and new aluminum is being welded in.5th wheel,5th wheel mounting frame,battery boxes and air tanks have been stripped and primed along with fuel tank brackets and straps...man this is the biggest resto Iv ever undertaken...... Paul

A little bit of progress on the RW 753 , I’m multitasking it seems lately, I’ve went to a few truck shows, hauling equipment, and trying to get this one back on the road, I got some time today to shoot the cab , hopefully I can get the hood painted next week, i don’t have a good place to paint, and I’m not a professional painter , So I kinda do it in steps, this is a work truck so I didn’t strip it down.

Finally for this update, Installed the solid-state 3-Phase rectifier to replace the selenium one. Mounted it to a piece of aluminum and for added measure, added an addition small heat sink to the back. It's mounted on the inner fender. The B-model fender insert hides it well. Plan is to fake out that we still have the old one hooked up, for looks. Note: we and going to be rewiring the truck real soon, so forgive us using the old wires for now.

l-r Rich, 66dc75 - Bob, Red Horse - Matt, Mattb73lt - Hippy, 70mackMB With Bob's "B" and Broncos. blackdog2 was at the show also. .....Hippy

Farmington Ready -Mix

The u model does have 6 spoke hubs but 11r22.5 tires all the way around.

Yes, I'm a big fan of law and order myself. Too many people have gotten away with too much for too long. Remember all the riots because the thug and criminal george floyd died of a fentanyl overdose while the policeman had him pinned down? The policeman is still in jail as far as I know, all or most of the rioters went on their merry way. People who protest by blocking a highway, and pulling truck drivers out of their trucks and beating them, like the gang of thugs did in Ferguson, Mo. when a policeman shot the thug who had just robbed a store tried to take his gun, if a few of them got flattened maybe they would think twice about blocking a highway. The police are too nice to them, the mobs throw rocks at them and spit on them, and the police pretty much just take it. That's when the police should knock them into the middle of next week. I guess they're afraid of the department being sued if they hurt somebody. My opinion, if they're out rioting, which they call a "peaceful protest" of course, but it's a riot, they do it at their own risk and shouldn't have the right to sue anybody.

These are some pictures that I just posted to Flickr. I don't think I posted them before, but I might have. They were all in photo albums and I took them out and scanned them all, that's what i've been busy doing. And I sure did take some crappy pictures then!

I had my Watt's Mack shirt on at the Stonewall show. Zina's dad asked me when when my hair started turning white, and I said "I don't know, probably about 20 years ago."

Truck 5 B -63 SX 3148 Truck 6 1951 A-40 2848 Also From former Latrobe Construction

Truck 3 B-63 SX 3155 Truck 4 B-63 SX 2528 Both also from former Latrobe Construction

For the last picture Geoff posted you can pop off the rubber cover, and with NO AIR PRESSURE in the system, Pop out the snap ring behind the rubber cover and pull the plunger and spring out. Then clean all the parts and barrel good with WD=40 or similar. I have done this along side the road to get back under motion!!!!!

If you still need to move(trailer)it , then leave some sort of guarantee for controlled stopping. whether drive train/ parking brake system. DO NOT rely on a couple of 4x4's behind wheels for stopping. a truck or any motor vehicle rolling off trailer can jump over 4x4's. that statement based on experience.

Here's some dogs in the hall. Here's some dogs on the bed Here's a pickup we saw yesterday. Here's a car Zina's dad built. One of several actually but this is the only one he still has. They used to go to a lot of car shows, took it to Macungie to car shows several times.

Friend retired about 15 yrs ago from Food workers union. He had to get out before all the youngins gave away all their bennies. They want cash today!! Not for tomorrow. All this instant gratification crap. I don't have any real retirement so I have been putting money away myself for 30 yrs. Won't be rich, but will have significantly more then SS to survive on.

I remember when l was a wee lad riding with my mother in her '59 Ford wagon. She saw a snake crossing the road and ran it over, stopped then backed over it, pulled ahead running it over again. Why l remember this l don't know. lol .....Hippy

I’m unsure how many Cruiseliners Ryder had , They would by a fleet if a customer wanted them. Then some times they would just buy a bunch for the rental fleet. A lot of there trucks had no power steering when I started. And they were Big on Cummins. That’s actually how I got started with Ryder, I was working in the truck shop at our local Caterpillar dealer, Wilsonart moved some trucks here from there Texas fleet ( 1983 359 Pete’s , 3406As ) there were 12 , Leased through Ryder, they had no one or tools to work on them,so they brought them to Cat , after a year they offered me a job, I left Cat making $7.25 , went to Ryder for $7.35 ! Wilsonart ( kitchen counter tops ) increased their fleet, built a plant , warehouse. I stayed with Ryder 32 more years managing that fleet of trucks. Ryder and Wilsonart were good people. When I retired and decided to start hauling heavy equipment with my Son and a friend of his I had 2 retirement party’s , one at Ryder and one at Wilsonart. My son a few days old, 1990 , My wife and Me, Last Day 2017 . From a 1983 to a 2017 I saw a LOT of changes with those Red & White trucks!

Lets make things right again! .....Hippy

“Effective immediately, we are pausing all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers. The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2025/08/21/marco-rubio-denies-new-visas-migrant-truckers/

ok.....das racist!!!!!! but only because it is the truth.

Yes ! It’s only 25 years, it will go by fast! I already told Dawson that’s his Responsibility, he’ll be 35 !

Thank you, yes my Grandson told a lot of people about it surviving the flood and showed them all the pictures in his album. Hopefully he will stay interested with it to take it to shows when Mack turns 150 !