JumperAndSon

As an authority on Iron City Beer, I can assure you that my sensitive palate prefers I.C. Light over regular red-eye. Growing up in Braddock Hills, my parents neighbor was Mike Karota, the brewmaster of Pittsburgh Brewing Co. So, after 21 of course, I was awash in Iron City Products as Mike was sure that my friends and I were the future of beer drinking (he was right!). My 21st birthday party had 4 half barrels that I picked up from the brewery that afternoon. My wedding had 17 cases of beer that I also picked up from the brewery. Any new recipes were brought home in unlabeled bottles for our approval(disposal?). One of Bens project trucks is a 68 Diamond Reo cab over that was an Iron City Beer delivery truck. I brought a fresh 30 pack of I.C. light to Macungie for everyone's enjoyment, but had no takers! Next time y'all are near Pgh, I'll buy yinz one! Tim

I guess that we missed Martinsburg! Hopefully some other guys from my area will be heading out on Thursday morning as well. I expect the rain to be over with and the temps to be comfortable or else we will be quire disgruntled! If you haven't seen it yet, here is our rig!

Tom, how the heck did we not see you last year? You must have been in some super secret disguise! Ben and I will be there yet again this year and we are hoping to see everyone there! We're probably heading out Thursday morning.

Maybe I could bring the other #11 over for a similar treatment ! Tim

I'm fairly certain that the GMC is Detroit powered as the wimmins are usually in that condition of undress around such displays of power. And I think that the "plow light" is really one third of a roto-ray. Just my observations, Tim

Brought back some unsavory memories for sure. Prayers to the families.

More great progress!!

And General Ike, yes, it currently has a top speed of 64mph but that is with a 4.33:1 rear end ratio. We are going to switch it to a 4.10:1 which should get us right around 70mph which would be perfect. Ben

Made some big progress!! Tank is removed! We are hoping to have the pump and body off by the end of the day on Sunday Ben

We considered that but there are several problems. We could take the sides off because they are bolted to the top of the boxes but if we did that, it would be too high to tow our camping trailer. Plus it would be too long in the back so it would tear up the front of the trailer. Plus, regardless of that, we are trying to make the truck as small and light as possible so it is as maneuverable and efficient as possible. We will be using some of the boxes in our new truck bed for it though. We want as much storage as possible. Ben

Progress is kinda slow but quite steady. Everything around the tank has been removed and is ready to come out. We are working on getting the pump exposed and ready to come out. If we are lucky, the pump, tank and body will be ready for removal tomorrow! Ben

And Reuhlz, just make a western hauler out of that B model you have! Ben

Oh heck no. That would be a huuuuuge waste of space, weight and fuel economy. We just have to get a new driveshaft made and Point Spring and Driveshaft Company is literally 4 minutes from our shop and they are really great with stuff like that. Plus, we should be able to sell the pump setup for enough $$$ to cover the cost of the driveshaft. I will be posting more pictures later this evening! Ben

In case Randy's explanation wasn't in plain enough English for us non-firemen. The cab is split into two parts. The front part is like a normal daycab cabover. Driver on the left, engine in the middle, passenger on the right. Has a hydraulic tilt setup for the front part to access the engine. Then in the back, it has four seats facing backward and four seats facing forward. Because of the raised roof, any normal sized man can easily stand up in the rear passenger compartment. It is a reeeeeeally nice layout and will work great for us. Ben

Btw, here are a few pictures of the vehicle it is replacing. 2001 GMC/Bluebird 66 passenger, shortened 17 feet and made into a western hauler. 8.1L Chevy gas engine, Allison auto. It was absolutely perfect for the past two years, we took it on a lot of vacations and it was awesome. Just kinda lacking power. But the nicest, most comfortable, coolest ride ever. But unfortunately, we were bobtailing on the way back from the PA State Farm Show three weeks ago on the PA Turnpike when we came into a complete whiteout around Mile 110. We slowed down to about 35MPH and followed at a safe distance behind a semi truck. Well at 106.7 The truck in front of us stopped because of an accident blocking the road. We also stopped safely behind it. But there was nobody within eyesight behind us. Visibility was about 75 feet. So we just sat there and waited. About a minute later, another semi truck came along, and of course could not stop in time, and slammed right into the back of us, crushing us intothe semi trailer in front of us. Luckily nobody was severely injured and we are all fine now. But quite unfortunately the beautiful bus is ruined forever. But we are making progress on converting the fire truck and it will be just as awesome as the bus was