Firemack

Great Tour, lots of different models go down the line, I wanted to see how the trucks were assembled so I could use that to understand how to restore the B model as I think they use the same basic assemblies. Do not forget to call ahead to set up a time. Firemack

MoRiver, I keep track of the B75 Fire truck registry for Tom "Fuzzy Buzzard" Gannaway, can you send me a personal email (from this site) with the new owner information? Thanks, Firemack (B75F1011)

Mackahoulic, Welcome, we have plenty of fun on the site, check out the recent painting going on at Rob's neighbors house. I think Mike forgot to ask if you like paiting with small paintbrushes at Rob's neighbors house! Firemack

Allison, The plug placement in the heads is different on either side, so the plug lengths are different so they have the same reach. This is only true on the 707's with plugs on left and right sides, some 707's have them all down the same side, such as the 1960 707c. It takes 12 of the same type of plug for that engine. Firemack

Sue Joe, The F707 A and B engines call for a spark plug gap of .30, the F707C with 7.5 Compression Ratio calls for gap of .25, the F707C with 8.0 compression ratio calls for .30 Firemack

Michael, A. The B68 standard engine is a 540 Cubic inch gas engine. B. You should have a 10 speed transmission, duplex, which is standard in most Mack's for that time, it will need to be double clutched to shift. Their are some posts on the site that go thru the shift patterns with a load and without a load. C. You can get the owners manuals -lots of time they come up on Ebay- I paid about $30 for the little green manual- in addition you should write to the Mack Museum in Allentown PA and request all of the background on your truck, (make sure to include a donation for the time and work). D. In PA you do not need a CDL to drive the truck if it has PA Classic or Antique plates. You cannot legally haul any trailer with a load- however most law enforecement in PA will not stop you with a hobby load for personal use. The best thing to do is get it registered as an antique if you only plan to drive during the daylight hours, also you don't need any PA inspection with an Antique tag. If you want to drive at night, then you need a classic tag and requires a once a year PA inspection. Either way make sure you inspect the truck anyway to make sure it is safe and the brakes are good. I have heard of several hobbyists that ignored the brakes and ended up taking a thrill ride they didn't forget, as these trucks are heavy without a trailer or load, so I always recommend checking the brakes out first before driving it! Good luck and hope to see you driving it in PA to one of the shows, Macungie is a great show here in PA that you can't miss. Firemack

It's Rain or Shine- hopefully the weather forecast is wrong!

16390 Mack used a company in PA called York Corrugating to make many of the rolled fenders. These were used used on many L and B model fire pumper bodies. Looking at your H model fenders they look very simlar to the rolled design used on the fire pumper fenders. York Corrguating is still making fenders and fenderettes. They still have all of the original roll wheels etc to make these fenders and make them for many of the firetrucks and trailers you see on the road today. See the info with the typical fenders they make.Contact Jeff Smith at 888-922-6634 ext 253. Hope that helps, Firemack

Andy Found another E series , a 1945 Mack Type 45 Pumper still in use at Newportville Fire Company in Pennsylvania. Here is a link a picture of the truck on their website: http://newportvillefireco.tripod.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=560&linkpath=http://www.newportvillefireco.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/.pond/hpim0866.jpg.w560h420.jpg&target=tlx_new Still runs, pumps and looks good, going to a muster in Philadelphia with this truck next Sunday. Just wanted to make sure it was on the list. Will get more info later Firemack

Dave, Great Idea- I plan to be there, Barry can supply the beer! Firemack

Gary, Sounds like you need another mechanic, there is no such animal as a dual timing light. I just finished tuning a 707C in a 1960 B95. You might want to consider changing over to electronic ignition to improve the performance and remove any chance of the points and condensor causing any problems. I used a Pertronix electronic ignition module for a 12 volt positive ground system. The parts are still available at NAPA but I like the quality of the parts from Brillman Company- he uses all brass fittings etc. I still purchased plugs from NAPA- AC R45. The points, condensor, (or electronic ignition module), cap, rotor and wires, I purchased from Brillman Company in Mt Jackson VA. Contact John Brillman at 540-477-4112, he is a nice guy, and you may see him a the VA truck meet as he has an old Autocar tractor. Once you install the ignition parts you will need a regular timing light attached the positive (red lead) and negative (black lead) of the battery (and the timing lead connected to number one spark plug wire on one of the distributors at a time). The timing light does not need to reversed for positive ground and will most likely ruin the timing light if not correctly connected. You can use a engine dwell tach or engine analyzer with the red lead connected to the primary wire of the distributor (Ground) and the black lead connected to the ignition hot at the coil. This can then be used to set the dwell (if you decide to use points and condensor) or to monitor the engine rpm to set the idle mixture and idle speed. Timing on a 707C is done on the flywheel under the truck not on the front pulley. You set the dwell and then set the timing. Do one distributor at a time and it makes it easy to get the truck started (on the one you have not changed) and then adjust the timing on the one you just updated. After setting the dwell and timing on both then set the idle mixture for the highest idle speed, then reset the idle speed. I usually set the idle at about 600 rpm but can be set as low as 350 if you like it there. If you mark the wires and send them to John Brillman he makes the original style (Packard 440) wire sets in the exact size of the wire set you send him and is reasonably priced (a little more than Napa). This way you have an exact replacement wire set and not some mix and match from a parts catalog. The B95 pumper now runs great and just went to it's first show in 18 years. Good Luck, Firemack

MoRiver, I did some research before we bought back our B75 Mack Pumper. Tracking down about 10 B model firetrucks that had sold in the previous year, the high was $12,000 the low was $1000, the median was $5000. Discounting for rust and pump repairs, I would estimate your truck should be valued between $3500-$4500. From the pictures I can see the truck has some rust repair needed as well as rechroming as it must of been outside and see that the interior gauges also have some rust and are weathered. We have had 3 models sell nearby in the last year, a 1958 closed cab like the one you have sold for $5000 this past month, an open cab that had been outside for a few years sold for about $5000, and a another open cab parade winner with lots of options and all the gear still on the truck including boots, coats, helmets etc, sold for $15000- it had no rust and had never been outside. I hope that helps- see if we have any other feedback from others on the site that may have seen other B model firetrucks sold in their area. Firemack

What model is the Firetruck? Is it an open cab? If you post pictures will help to determine what it is and some approximate value. Firemack

Albert, Here is the info on the Show: October 2-3 – 20th Annual All Mack Truck Show – Gerharts in Lititz, PA. All ages and types of Mack trucks, buses, and fire apparatus welcome. Call 717-626-8544 or write to: PO Box 405, Lititz, PA 17543. Address is 910 Brunnerville RD, Lititz PA There are usually about a dozen mack Firetrucks from E models to CF's. Hope to see you there, Firemack

Greg I use Kanter Auto Products in NJ 973-334-9575 $80 and $8 shipping- comes back looking and running like brand new, takes about 3-4 weeks turnaround since they re cad plate the parts etc. Firemack

Albert, Are you talking about the Pressure Volume transfer valve? Is the valve operator using engine vacuum? If so you also have a manual lever under the pump that operates the valve. Try to operate it manully. You should have a QL75 hale pump, I can check the diagram and let you know if there is any lubrication point for the valve. Firemack

Albert, New are not available, the easiest solution is to send them to Whitepost Restoration in Virginia, they do excellent work and rebuild the cylinders with brass sleeves and are then guranteed for as long as you own the truck for about the same cost as new. 2 day turnaround. They include all new hardware and rubber etc. Firemack

Tom, I have a Mack Distributor chart from the Mack Museum, it lists a 1112337 as Mack part number 423GB-3102, which I think is used on a Mack 707. I work on another 707 that has a different cap than the one you have but is part number 423-GB-3103. Not sure if that helps, if you can find the mack number stamped in the side of the housing that could be useful. The serial number is usually a date code so your code of 3 B 20 would be 1953, Feb, 20 or could be 1943 Feb 20. Firemack

Allison, They did make a lot of the custom coupe cabs, with the rear panel integrated with the pump body. This was for several reasons, some customers wanted more storage in the cab, more seats, or another access to the cab. You should buy Harvey's Mack books on the B model and L Model fire trucks as he has many of the various configurations in the book as a record of the types of trucks that Mack custom built. I can check with Harvey to see if still has any left, or check on Ebay. Firemack.

Devious 10, Here is a nice looking heavy duty Dayton wheel and hub. The lighter duty version used a hub cap, this one has a chromed plate that bolts onto the hub. www.bigmacktrucks.com/uploads/1244346944/gallery_121_705_148074.jpg Firemack

Alison, First congratulations on taking best of show at the Harrisburg Muster, that is an honor and you should be proud of the work you did to return your truck to splendor that it had when new. I heard a lot of good comments, but was not able to attend myself. I hope to see your truck at another event. I think you may have seen a B model coupe with a custom cab. These used the standard B or L model cab but had a custom roofline to meet the rear pump body. If you have any pictures that you can post I can confirm that with you. There is a muster coming up at the Rose Tree Park in Media PA on August 2nd and would be great to see your truck there. All BMT members, old Macks and Firetrucks are welcome. Great Job on your truck, Firemack

Fireflem, You can go either way, they make 12V positive to negative convertors, which were commonly used for radios for Mack firetrucks for years. Firemack

Fireflem, Best to start with the basics, do a compression test, find out if all cylinders have proper compression and are working correctly, then if OK, go through the ignition system (points, plugs,condensor cap and rotor)- if you want to go hi tech you can get electronic ignition for the truck and will then never need to adjust or change the points again. Mallory has a set for 12v Positive ground; then the last thing is to then the adjust the carb. Sounds more like an ignition problem if it will run but not accelerate smoothly. Also change the fuel filter(s) as that could be another source for poor performance. Let us know how it works out. Firemack

Gary, The center shaft is about 5/8" in Diamater, the 1503 has a rubber center gasket so it slides down on the center shaft a little tighter than the original but fits nicely on the 1960 707 engine. I also use the same 1503 on the 1954 464 Mack engine. Make sure the mechanic knows that the filter doesn't just drop on the shaft,it does need to be pushed (lightly down) to get the rubber to slide over the center shaft. The original Napa 1237 was .625" ID, 4.5" OD 8.25"H The new Napa 1503 is .567" ID 4.092" OD 8.039" H The difference is about 1/16" on the ID and the rubber gasket expands to allow the center shaft to slide on. Firemack

Fire 413, Thanks for posting these pictures, that is a great looking B model mack. From the body and air filter, it looks like a 63-66 B model, it has the full compartments on the rear body and what looks like a diesel air cleaner. Also very rare in the east is the Budd type wheels. Any ideas where that truck is today? Firemack