stephenellis

Due to the costs I am unable to restore my 1949 lfsw so it is with a heavy heart I am putting her up for sale. The truck has been stripped back to a rolling chassis with engine, gearbox and running gear all in place. The engine runs, the gearbox selects gear no problem and all hubs are turning freely. I am open to offers and if you want to strip it for parts I am happy to discuss it. Email me at stephenellismarch1979@yahoo.co.uk

glad you are ok. It's just a matter of perspective, you could say it sucks but on the other hand I would say you are a lucky man to walk away unhurt. If it was me I think I would have farted lumps.

cheers buddy. This project is going to be an emotional roller coaster but I am sure it will be worth it in the end. it's 5am and I am just about to go and play with it! my neighbours must hate me.

Good morning my fellow members of the Mack trucks family. I hope this finds you well and may even give you a wee laugh at my adventures. As you all know, I've been having fun with my old Mack for a little while now and that one job always leads to another. Since we last spoke I've been having problems getting her to idle or run for any length of time. I was getting fuel upto the injectors but it would only run for maybe 30 seconds then die. Which after at least 30 years of sitting still is quite good going. But I am a very impatient person and I knew I wouldn't be able to settle until she was running better. So after much head scratching, swearing and getting pi##ed off with the big hunk of junk I decided to go back to basics. First of all I looked at the air side of things. All checked out ok so I moved onto compression, with my not so great experience with huge diesel engines I just made sure that the engine turned over and that the valves were properly adjusted. Lastly was the fuel. I was not so sure about the quality of the diesel and how long it had been sitting in the tanks so I decided to drain, clean and renew the fuel system. Looking at the tanks I thought it best to remove the variable and just run the fuel from clean containers. This done I stripped the rear most fuel filter. What an amazing bit of kit considering that it was built in the 1940's. The sludge that came out of the bowl was quite disgusting and the wire gauze was a bit dirty so a thought clean and put back together. Next was front filter which I was struggling to get a replacement for but in the end I just matched a regular filter to the size of the old one and popped it in. So I tried again to fire it up but the problem was still the same. It wouldn't idle or run for any length of time. By this point the steam was coming out of my ears. Thinking the worst I called it a day and packed in for the night. I managed to get a cheeky wee half day on Friday and when I got home the sun was out and my better half was having way to much fun with the pressure washer to do anything so I rolled up my sleeves and started again. I was convinced that the problem must be coming from the fuel side of things and I remembered that when I first got her home and tried to get fuel up that the valves on top of the fuel pump were stuck so I pulled the fuel pump off. After a little stripping I traced the fault to the main value in the pump. It was stuck solid so a bit of wd40 and a bit of work the value popped out. Who ever thought to put the pump so tight to the chassis rails should be sacked ! All things moving as they should I put it back together and bled the system. This time on startup the motor sounded sweet but the fuel was squirting out the pipe from the pump to the filter. I replaced the leaking pipe and standard the motor. It ran as sweet as a nut and even revved up and returned to idle. I am a very happy boy! !!!! Now onto the drive train. ......Wish me luck. Until next time my Mack loving friends. Stephen

p.s I'm sure people think I'm not quite right anyway. At least I can say I got hit on the head by a low flying locking ring.

I am very glad I asked ! The truck has been lying since the early 80's and when I got to it you couldn't see the passengers side tires for mud. think I will go out and let them down before I go to work today. I will check round the local commercial tire places on Monday to see what they can do for me. I've heard of people being killed by exploding rims but I wasn't sure what type were the dangerous ones. Going to take my time removing the rears now. It's ok though as I'm not in any great rush for tires as you can see by my photos. I am glad I found you guys, would still be standing in the mud wondering how to get the truck rolling. Cheers.

wish I had known this earlier !!!!

Silly question but where would I get tubeless rims ? Are there any trucks that are similar? Think I would rather go down the tubeless route as getting killed would put a massive dent in my restoration plans. P.S are they all stubborn feckers to get off? Took me hours just to get one off.

Good evening my friends, I am hoping you will be able to help me. I am restoring a 1948 lfsw and I have just started stripping the wheels off. My question is this, what wheels do I need for the truck? Are there a common swap? Looking at the front rims they are held on with 6 nuts and lugs, they look like rims with a locking ring? Any and all information will be greatly appreciated.

Good day fellow Mack fans. I have come across a small problem with my end672 diesel. She starts ok but will only run for a short period then cut out, I think I may start with the basics and drain the entire fuel system and start again. I am sure that after many years of sitting around that water and stuff has made its way into the fuel system. Hopefully I'll be able to eliminate that variable before I start throwing money at it. I have bled the system and unblocked all the valves and pipes as I went until I got fuel into the injectors and replaced the leaking injector pipes but I am convinced that there is something there that I've missed. The main tank is almost full of red diesel so instead of draining what I'm sure is a lot of fuel I am looking to bypass that and run the fuel from a clean tank with fresh fuel and go through the process of bleeding and cleaning again. I would love to hear from anyone who can give me some hints and tips and common faults with my end672 diesel engine. Reading the owners manual it keeps going on about draining the system and filling with new fuel. I am also going to take a look at the air chambers and injectors to ensure that they are squeaky clean before I jump in and spend a fortune. I am very impulsive and find myself jumping from job to job but I am learning to take my time as it's not a race. This blog stuff feels like therapy or something but I love it. May have to wait until the weekend to get on with it as work is very busy just now. It sucks that I have to earn money, a small lottery win would be nice or a rich sponsor so I can spend more time at home to play. Anyway I am off to work but just thought I would keep you up to speed. Speak to you later buddies. Stephen.

good morning fellow truck lovers. Just a quick update on my progress, yesterday started with beautiful weather so I took this as a sign to shift my lazy arse. I received my new injector pipes so set about the rather frustrating and fiddly job of fitting them. armed with a 3/4 inch spanner and a large cup of tea I began with laying the pipes out to try and work out which one went where. I am sure you all know the feeling of not being 100 % sure after you have removed things where they go. But luckily for me all the pipes were shaped and labeled. Starting with number 1 or maybe it was number 6 the pipe went on without too much of a fight. Then I worked my way along the rail only tightening the nuts finger tight. Some of the pipes put up a struggle as the shape wasn't quite right so it took a bit of bending and a few choice Scottish swear words to get them all into place. Job done I moved on to bleeding the system which was a bit messy but seeing nice new shiny bits on my old truck made me smile. Taking two old 12 volt car batteries and a length of spare jumper cable it was time to see if she fired up but there was a problem, I couldn't get it to turn over so I removed the starter and turned the flywheel by hand and tested the starter. All was fine so with a bit of head scratching I tried another couple of batteries and and tried again. The motor turned over for a few seconds but without even the slightest indication of life I stopped. Trying again with my girlfriend at the pump to open the throttle while I touched the starter the motor gave a bit of a kick so we kept going. After a few tries she finally fired up. What a beautiful sound the END672 makes at tick over. So we let the oil circulate for a while then I gave it a bit of throttle and she revved up beautifully. I am sure you all know that feeling, the butterflies when you get over what felt like a massive hurdle and all the doubts dissappear. I think most of the neighbours popped round when they heard the beautiful sound and saw the smoke signals. Smiles all round. Calling it a day we tidied up and celebrated with a nice cup of tea and planned the next move. Until next time my Mack loving friends. Stephen.

thank you guys. This weekend I will make a huge push forward as I have my diesel injection pipes back. Will keep you posted. Stephen Ellis

l feel like I have been neglecting you all but life is rather hectic just now. As for the truck there has been quite a few bits done by myself and my girlfriend. The winch has been stripped down and freed off, one of the fuel tanks has been removed as someone who shall remain nameless sanded a hole through it and got my drive covered in red diesel, the cab has been dismantled and it only leaves the floor and bulkhead, due to corrosion the injector pipes have been removed and sent away to be renewed, the mack museum have been fantastic and sent me tons of information to help me understand about the truck, the valve covers have been removed and replaced and we had the motor running for a while until one of the injector pipes fractured. I think that's about it until I get the pipes back and fire up the motor again. Until next time my friends.

good evening my friend. Just a quick update on the lfsw progress. Got it home and with a little bit of drama and I managed to get it running! first time in years. took the truck cab off. I am waiting on new injection pipes as the original ones were corroded through to fire her up again. Have had to put it on the back burner as I have a new job. its a tough life when you can't work on your own truck for working for others.

cheers mate. it is not easy taking one step at a time. With a project the size of mine it's hard to find a place to start.

welcome to the happy place. I have a lfsw. do you have any photos?

I am learning a lot from you guys. I am going to make sure I get the lines from a professional and reputable diesel shop. no point cutting corners and ending up crying in a ditch. I am just away to remove the old ones and start trying to find a good local shop to manufacture them.

cool. won't throw the old ones quite yet.

I don't know what I would do without you guys. so in theory if I took one off and had 6 made the same length I would be ok?

thats great. Thanks. I have a flaring tool at home so will try to source some pipe. any ideas on what pressure the pipes are under?

thanks again guys.