Firemack

Hey Morgan and Family, Congrats, that makes it way easier to have a playmate for the older brother, and now they can play and soon work together on building hot rods and restoring old macks with their Dad and soon to be their OLD man! Firemack

jgraham, I had a similar problem with a 707 starter last year. I used a large drift pin and 2 pound sledge and hit the bolt on dead center to break the threads loose. It took a few minutes of hitting the bolt and trying the long breaker bar to finally get them loose. If you have 2 people then have one person put tension on the bolt with a wrench and the other hits the center of bolt head with the drift pin and hammer. Also try tightening direction first then backing them off. You can also try an impact tool with a hammer instead of just using the air gun. I actually think some air gun jockey had torqued them up. If that didn't work the next step was going to heat them with a torch, but then you need new bolts. Good Luck, Firemack

Pavrguy3 I bought 2 new caps and rotors for the 1960 B model 707 from Napa last summer, they are still available, and were good quaility with brass contacts not the cheap aluminum contacts. Let me know if you need the Napa part numbers, I should be able to have my local Napa parts guy look them up if your local guy can't find them. Firemack

E7 I had to replace the tie rod ends on our B75 Mack pumper, but the old style female tie rod ends are not available, so Barry at Watts Mack found that you can replace the entire tie rod with a light duty R model tie rod with the new style male tie rod ends. The total cost was about $350. I think if you speak to Barry he can check to see if the same parts will work on an E model. I have occasionally seen the old style on Ebay but have never been able to win the auction as they have the auto bid option and just out bid me at the last minute. So depends on how much time you can wait to replace them- if you have time keep an eye on ebay and you might just find a pair- if not you can go with the faster more expensive "new version" that I suggested. You can also check with John Chalmers- he has a lot of old E,L and B model parts, or Matt Pfahl also has a good supply of used parts and may have a good set. Good Luck Firemack

Rob, I looked into this and by 1954 Mack was not using any gasket only the gasket sealer, so I would use the Purolator UltraBlack sealant now. Firemack

Rob/ Challenger RT I looked closely at both the Gas and Diesel B models, as we have the B75 Fire Pumper, and I also work on a 1960 B95 Pumper, 1955 B85 Aerial and 1965 B95 Pumper. I compared all of these firewalls, to the B61 Diesel Tractor at the Mack Museum and took pictures of the B61 to use a reference for restoring our B75. I found that the cab firewall on all had the same access holes for the external air cleaner, and also had access for the heater. These are not used on the B75, B95 and B85 as they have the air cleaner mounted under the hood, but since the access is there could use the external air cleaner- in the later 1965 B model (Gas powered) B95 they did use the external mounted air cleaner. It appears that the cabs are interchangable, and the only items that changed were the floor pan and brake mounting (for hydraulic or air). Firemack

I think Watts Mack has done a great job of finding good parts guys that can find the old parts we need to keep the Old Macks on the road as well as looking for good replacement parts suppliers. I try Watts Mack before I try other sources. Just as an example I had to find the old aluminum wire ties, and they were able to find and get them- not a lot of money but made the truck like it was when it was new. Firemack

Yuengling is the oldest brewery in America, and still putting out the best beer. And like our Mack's it's built right here in PA. The 2nd best beer is Sam Adams, then Miller Genuine Draft.

David, Thanks for posting the Superliner, it is a rare piece, I don't ever remember seeing one built like that.Nice truck. Firemack

Todd717, The 1968 CF was very early in the CF run, and your truck appears to be in very good condition. It is great that you got the truck from a company you served with. I always like to see them returned back to the original look that they had when they served with the original company if possible and looks like you can do that with a little more work. There are lots of CF's on the site so if you need any help with CF parts or Fire equipment that can be saved for getting your truck to have all of the original equipt etc. Firemack

After seeing the latest on hauling the 110,000 pound earth movers with the old 1975 DM897SX this one came in my email and got a laugh about this driver and his permit request!! Three Questions For a Redneck Engineer.. 3 Questions for a Redneck Engineer Question # 1: How much does a house weigh? Question # 2: How much weight can a rural two-lane bridge Hold??? And Question # 3 WOULD THIS BE COVERED BY HOME INSURANCE, CAR INSURANCE, OR, DOES IT COME UNDER ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE ??? Y' ALL HAVE A GREAT DAY NOW, YA' HEAR!!!!!

Hi NIck I work on a 1960 B85 F 707C with a Zenith Downdraft. Do you still have the carb, if so it can be professionally rebuilt for about $250-400, If not. there are still New Old Stock (NOS) Zenith carbs available for around $900-$1000. Let us know and we can get you the info on the right contacts. Good Luck, Firemack

HK I remember driving a brand new 1986 Mack R Model Econdyne with a twin stick set up as a rolloff. I remember it having 5 speeds forward, and the other stick was a hi, lo and reverse, and I also remember upshifting in reverse. I was specing out 3 new rolloffs and the Mack sales guy brought me that twin stick demo model. I had seen the mack duplex etc. but never seen that trans before. I think it was considered a seven speed. Also I work on a 1960 B85F Pumper that has a spicer trans- so even back in the day you could order a spicer if you wanted- it had full synchromesh in 1960, and the Mack 5 speed trans still needed to double clutch, so the fire company ordered a Spicer. Firemack

STL Mack Welcome to BMT, I also work on our 1954 B75F and we had a cracked exhuast manifold, and cracked head at the water manifold. I was able to find another 464 manifold and used the last section (to the header pipe) to repair mine, I still have the other 2 parts (mid section and front section) which part of your manifold is cracked? Also check to airbox on the intake as they crack also. How did your boys enjoy their christmas fire truck ride? Firemack

shuvlhd69, There was one N series aerial ladder truck that served in our area, and the truck is still around, however they refurbed the truck in the 70's and put on an international CO9070 cab. I may come up with a picture of the truck if you need to see the cab, the rest of the body was built as the aerial ladder body and was built by Mack in Allentown PA. Firemack

Mack b53, You can find most of your parts here on this site, under the B model store- the site is hosted by Watts Mack and they have plenty of experience and knowledge with B model parts. If you cannot find the part you need in the B model store then post what you need and most of the members on the site can help you find it- if it is still available or have it rebuilt if needed. You can find the paint code for the Mack B model green if you do a search on the posts on this site then have it mixed at your local auto paint supply. Firemack

Blue Point FD John Wolfe & Co. will make a new sending unit- Cost is about $95. Phone number is 440-942-0083. You can send the old sending unit and the gauge and they will test and repair or make a new unit for you if needed. Takes about 3 weeks turnaround. Firemack

62bmack, Some Mack Fire trucks do have dual fuel pumps, one electric pump at the tank and the mechanical pump on the engine. Our 1954 B75F has only has one mechanical pump on the engine so that is the one I was monitoring as it would run but then run out of fuel when under load. Firemack

Luke, Most guys here have sent them out for a rebuild, the cost is about $100, and it is hard to find the right parts to do it yourself. I used Arthur Gould in New York $109, they did it right the first time- no problems at all. Firemack

Hi Luke, Welcome , we have a prety good bunch of Firefighters (or retired firefighters) and their trucks (and retired firetrucks) on the site, plus plenty of help from the general truck forums, watch out for a few of the really helpful guys like ROB and Other Dog! Firemack

62Bmack I had a similar problem with our B75 Pumper, I added a T in the fuel line and connected a fuel pump pressure gauage to monitor to fuel pump pressure while driving the truck, it ran out of fuel and the pressure dropped going up long hills, I sent the pump out to Kanter (in NJ) and had it it rebuilt for $88 and reinstalled it, since then never had the fuel presuure drop again. Problem solved. Maybe just to be safe send it out for a rebuild now anyway and then you know that is not the problem (if it has not already been rebuilt by a reputable shop). One other item to check is the fuel filter, I did have it run out of fuel with a clogged fuel filter, change that first and see if that is the problem before changing the fuel pump. Firemack

Heres a ball park Assume the 707 gets about 5 miles per gallon at road speed of 50 mph 5 mpg at 50MPH =10 gal/hr 10gal/hour= 10gal/60 min= .166 gal/min Hope that helps, you can most likely get the actual GPM from the Mack Museum. Firemack

Our B75 Pumper was always hard to steer from the first day it was delivered. Just use the old armstrong steering! Goes good with the 2-35 air conditioning (2 windwos down- 35 MPH) Seriously- You might consider going to radial tires as they have lower rolling resistance and should make it much easier to steer, Firemack

ATL Mack For the 1970-1980 period, The CF Mack is most desireable, then R, then MR. Engines- the best would be a 350 HP turbo w/automatic and all Macks from that period will have a waterous pump. The best pumper body would be Full Mack Pumper body, however most other brands are available as Mack refurbs, Pierce, E1, American Lafrance etc. all have been refurbed on Mack chassis. Look for rust at the cab behind the front wheels and wheelwell, above the rear wheel and compartments just in front and behind the rear wheels. 300 HP is a good engine and the 237 is also good but not much on power. Some cabs are canopy cabs, some were built like FDNY 4 door enclosed cabs, and some were refurbed to look like the FDNY cabs. Post pictures of trucks you are looking at and there are members on this site that can help you evaluate the truck. Firemack

Cxn613 I don't think they need five, I know it was only 4 in the group I went with. Give them a call and find out. I am sure they can set it up with others if needed. Firemack