mattb73lt

Most L model parts are pretty rare. A lot of my searches were fruitless, causing me to fabricate and get creative to solve issues. I shared almost all the parts I had accumulated with people restoring L cabs when I had my cab done, Dean can attest to that. What I had helped about three other restorers with their projects. Even my go to for parts, Matt Pfahl, said "Good luck!". He was only able to help me with some minor door and vent window parts. One of the FaceBook pages I'm on had some NOS parts posted for sale and they were gone almost instantly and for some insanely expensive prices. A NOS lower back panel that was still in the factory shipping crate went for $1K, A brand new LT hood for $3K(!!!) a stack of NOS floor mats for $500 each. Passenger side door skin. I've never soon anything like that before and I did and still do a lot of searching for L parts.

Mark, that horizontal line just goes over the top to the other side, just behind the radiator and in front of the cowl. Scroll back there's a pic of it fixed that way.

I was back and forth on that, too. But it seemed simpler and more straight forward with the right angles. The first draft had radius' in each corner of the lower door panel.

Damn, that's going to take some effort to close up that void, but one repair/problem at a time will get you there!!

Those look very workable and certainly better than what you were starting with!!

Here's a closer view of the right side during the second draft work. Some of these pictures are pictures of her computer screen as she was having issues sending them to me so they're a little degraded. I also notice whenever you post pictures they end up losing some clarity.

So, I'm trying to do a New England style, period lettering and striping job on the truck. I've taken lots of photos over the years and scoured the internet keeping photos of trucks that were original and restored. I think I've come up with a pretty good plan and I'm always looking for input. The basic plan it to "frame out" most of the panels and fender edges. Then letter up the doors. Most of it will be a two stripe plan, a yellowish main stripe and backed up in the inside with a thin green stripe. Colors I'm thinking are Cummins yellow for the main stripe and Emerald Green for the thin stripe. On lettering the doors, since I don't have a company I'll just use my name. This will probably be the only thing done in gold leaf and engine turned. Things get expensive quickly with gold leaf and added art work. I had a phone meeting with the artist today for about an hour and a half, which was very productive as we traded ideas and photos back and forth. We more or less finalized the plan and set a date for the last week in September that's her next opening. The main point of posting is to make sure I haven't gone off the reservation too far. The truck was heavily striped and scrolled all over by the original owner. Not my style and a little too crazy for my liking. It's sorta the last step in the restoration and the finishing touch. Trying to do two things, not have it look like a fire truck and not have it too cluttered up.The "KRACKERJACK" nickname I was on the fence about. But after sending it to the nephew of the original owner, who I've been in touch with shortly after I found the truck, said that it was awesome to put that back on the truck and several here thought it was a great idea. I'll post some pictures of the second draft from today. Bare in mind, that they're just drafts and may be missing some details and have some alignment issues. If you look at the picture of the left front fender, that one has the two stripes on it, yellow/gold and a thin green stripe. The side view of the cab does too, if you blow them up.

I don't think I'm going to do that. Over time it'll get used and would be much easier to touch up or respray if needed to keep up appearances with out the added expense of re-striping it.

First draft on the artist’s rendering of my ideas for striping and lettering my truck. Pretty spot on with most of it, just missing some stripes for the hood and back corners of the cab. Going to put the nickname “KRACKERJACK “ back on the bumper for a little tribute to the original owner and a play on the name of Krajack Tank Lines out of New Jersey.

Really, it's on the label and I've seen it referred to elsewhere. It's an option and a very close match of the original shade, with a modern and usable paint code. It's his dime and choice of what he wants to use.

This is the paint code for Mack "Fleet Red", it crosses to American LaFrance Red. I got this from Matt Pfahl and it's what he uses. It's PPG Concept, which is no longer available I'm told. The paint code is still good and would cross to other manufacturers.

I'm with mechohaulic with a higher tension return spring. It sounds like a driver induced osculation. If you're hard on it it's smooth, but with a lighter touch or partial throttle your body movement is causing it. I've had it happen in cars, especially my little BMW when it's cold. Tried taking off a few times and it coughs, throwing me forward and then back harshly. So I'm pumping the throttle in 1st gear laughing my ass off for being in a rush. I've also had some pilots I was training do that. Give them the controls and have them do a maneuver, like a slope landing or trying to hover over an external load and the aircraft starts hopping around, getting progressively worse. I take the controls back and it smooths right out. Give them back again and it starts to build again. I'd take the controls again, then tell them to reach down and tighten up their seat belt because they're hopping around in the seat. Actually gave me a few laughs messing with them that maybe the aircraft was about to come apart catastrophically and we're all going to die.

I'm glad the R model Brackets fit well. I lucked out in finding a new set of stainless brackets an L cab. When I unboxed them I thought the were for a B cab, due to the curves on the upper brackets. But, when placed on the doors the angles were definitely for the L doors. I still have the original brackets which do fit the doors better. They're painted steel and aren't suited for chroming due to age. I would say the shift to "West Coast" mirrors started in the mid to late '50s and were more or less standard by the early '60s. My '60 B73 had only the factory brackets and never upgraded from the small single arm mirrors. There were a lot of aftermarket kits judging from period pictures of trucks so they could be upgraded to more effective mirrors

Yeah, the wheels came off the cart for a bit. One of the guys asked if I would adopt him, LOL

Why is it that everything breaks at the same time?? The right side fuel tank on the B42 finally sprung a leak in the step area. I've been watching it for a while and it finally started dripping. I had it repaired, but haven't had the time to paint and remount it. So that's out of service. Saturday, I went to use my BMW and it started skipping and running rough, with the dashboard lighting up. Tried to diagnose it myself, but it's beyond my capabilities. Found a place that specializes in BMW's and hauled it to them to fix. Now I don't want to touch anything else for fear it might break, too. I did get to use my new strap system on the B73 and play with it. The BMW is difficult to tie down, due to the low hanging bodywork. I moved it with no damage incurred.

I did a quick Google search for 28-30' Mack roll backs and had numerous hits. Newer tandem ones are certainly available. Average price is $100-150,000. Cheaper ones could be found, I'm sure. If your looking for something vintage, like the one posted above, the pickings will be pretty slim and you'll probably be looking at building something to suit your needs. Also, while convenient for loading and unloading, roll backs can be tough to load fire trucks due to the distance from the axle to the end of the tailboard which is usually pretty long. Cribbing and ramps will help soften the angle when the body is up. A lowboy trailer and tractor arrangement might be another and cheaper option.

Yes it was. I can’t recall the length, but it looked in pretty decent shape.

28-30' is a long roll back and not very common. 20-24' would be more common. I've seen numerous ones mounted to R model chassis over the years and the longer ones are usually tandems. They're out there if you look. I did see a Weld-bilt mounted to an 80's tandem R in PA a few weeks ago for sale. Being more specific in your wants and a geographical area of you search would help in your search?

The more this comes together, the better it is looking!! A really unique paint scheme is coming to light and some history along with it. Much better than it all being one color, too!

I few places come to mind, eBay motors, several pages on Facebook for mack truck parts. Just by posting your needs there you may get some interest from someone who has what you need. I would think also, that any reputable upholstery shop could do a decent job replicating the cushion. Bring your good cushion with you for a materiel and pattern match.

All set for the Brooklyn Truck show tomorrow. Got my load all secured!!

That's going to look fantastic!!

Paint looks awesome. I love that combination. It sure will be unique to see it all together.

Were those for 1961H67's L model he's working on?

So with that great tragedy, here's a real kick in the gut for the family. In terms of survivor benefits he was not vested in his position, he had about 9 years on the job, so the family gets no pension benefits. All they get is his contributions towards his pension back, which for nine years is not a lot. No sustained income to live off and raise those two children. What they do get is the insurance and any other survivor benefits. A lot of which are not really enough to live out your life, college for the kids and so on. That's where all these charities come into play and individual donations towards the family. There's even been kids running lemonade stands donating money to the family. Tunnels to Towers has been in touch with the family, so the burden of a mortgage will go away. There are several big charities that are getting involved to help out the family. This is the first Trooper that I recall having a very young family, that was killed in the line of duty. Others had no children or they were nearly grown, so survivor benefits were geared towards the spouse. There is a state law that enacted several years ago that if you were seriously injured on the job and medically retired, you would get automatically promoted in retirement to Master Sergeant's pay. But there seems to be a failure there if you die and or were not vested. Regardless of what you do for a living, make sure your loved ones are taken care should the worst happens.