vanscottbuilders

Excellent story Randy, Thank You! Paul Van Scott

Tom, Reminds me of an old line from a movie; "After terrifying himself a few times, a man rarely forgets what he was flying!" Paul Van Scott

Julien, The Mack Truck Museum can help you out. The information may take a couple of months to receive. Be sure to send them a donation. Paul Van Scott

I have some general questions about dual ignition Mack gasoline engines and their operation. We have a 1937 Model 75 pumper truck in our shop for a thorough restoration. The truck runs beautifully with a freshly rebuilt carburetor. Part of our job is to get a new set of wires on it. My Mack experience is exclusively with diesel engines - so I am really at a loss here. A) Do these engines always run on both ignitions simultaneously? Does anyone know if an ignition wiring set is available for both the magneto and the distributor? C) Is there any trick to threading the new spark plug wires through the original tubular wire guides? This looks like the toughest part of the whole project! Thanks for your help. Paul Van Scott

I know GMC had a front air suspension system used in a very few tractors at that time. I have never seen another truck from that period with one either. But - we learn something new every day. Is it possible for you to find out any more about the truck?

Happy New Year to everyone here - And Thank You all for your advice, information and questions. That's what makes this a great website. And Other Dog's photos, especially the good ones - they help too! Best Wishes for continued good times and good friends. Paul Van Scott

Nice stuff Mike - Thanks for the pictures! Paul VS

Dele, The picture looks like a pretty nice old work horse. What are you planning to do with the old girl? The Thermodyne diesel engines, like your 250, were pretty much bullet-proof. They were very dependable and worked well, particularly in dump truck usage. One of the reasons that the Thermodyne engines were so reliable was the fact that they didn't develop a lot of horsepower or torque for their size. Mack's philosophy was to use gears instead of high power engines. And it worked really well. Hence the 18 speed Quadruplex in your truck. That truck will regularly move 20 tons or more almost anyplace you want to go. And it will always come back for another load. You might not get any speeding tickets, and you will become an expert on shifting that transmission - but that truck is a very good truck. The DM Macks were economical to operate, cheap to maintain, ran forever and still look good. How much more could you ask for. Good luck with whatever you are going to do with the truck. Paul Van Scott

You have all the advice you need in these first two posts. After you have done about a dozen of them - I think it gets - harder! These are not easy, especially if you are trying to be neat and scratch-free. But they do indeed come out and go back in, and they will work when you are done.

Real bad - but that's not the point!

The C model cabs that I have seen are the same non-metallic green as the early (pre-1973) R and DM cabs.

Mike, I watched you check in with the G model. Wish I knew it was you - I would have said hello. Paul Van Scott

The fellow who owned that big blue KW says it was originally designed by Thiokol as an off-road missile hauling tractor, which makes sense. The numbers on the side panel behind the driver's door looked like Air Force ID numbering. Sure was an impressive monster, albeit with a surprisingly light looking driveshaft and U-joints. Massive rear ends, massive transmission, huge engine and a really weak looking driveshaft. Strange - but I'm sure there was a reason. The same fellow also owned two other very unique trucks - one was a half-track ski vehicle that supposedly was a school bus in Canada during the winter season. Pretty interesting. All in all, this was probably the best venue I have ever attended for one of these big ATHS shows. Very nice facility and a very nice turn-out of trucks. Paul Van Scott

I have learned that the hinge itself is not unique to Mack, rather it was used on many manufacturers hood panels, including automobiles and pick-up trucks. Someone here will know more about this than I do, but the hinge was a standard molding in the automotive industry. Earlier someone did suggest that the DM hard-nose hood hinge might work, and I think it would. And Mack should have it available. The price should a little more reasonable if that is true.

For anyone interested - I think this an LT or lightweight tractor, which is very rare in the H series trucks. Also, this truck appears to have a triplex transmission, rather than the more normal duplex. The cab appears to be in great condition, and it has Budd hubs. This would be a fantastic project for someone so inclined. These trucks are very hard to find in decent shape.

Nice find indeed! Great cab condition. I think I have a radiator louver for that, if and when you are ready. Paul Van Scott

Leon, I agree with Mike, that cab can be salvaged. A good sheet metal fabricator can make new panels and weld them in place. And it is probably less expensive than having us ship you a better cab. If you do decide that you really need a new cab, I have a totally rust-free cab from the dry country in New Mexico, complete with fenders and headlight panels that I can package up for shipment to you. E-mail me directly at vanscottbuilders@rochester.rr.com I think I still have your shipping info here. Paul Van Scott

Have you tried Kevin All? Kevin has had a couple of B-20's. If all else fails, yours can be restored, or even remanufactured. But it probably will not be cheap. I don't know if other Mack models might have used the same cap, but you might also check that out. Paul Van Scott

Good to see business is doing well Randy! Paul Van Scott

Why don't you call Kevin All at AllMacks? (607)434-1063

Mike, Glenn is absolutely right - it is literally just nuts and bolts. And you might want to take photos of each step, just so you don't forget where everything goes. Disassemble the fenders, headlight panels and hood from the truck. Unplug the headlight wiring harness and the main harness. Remove all the air lines at the foot and dash air valves, the wiper motor and the air horn. Take the steering wheel off and be careful not to pull out the horn button wire from the steering column. Remove the clutch pedal, tach and speedo cables, throttle linkage, shut-down cables and any other miscellaneous connections. From underneath, you will see the two front cab mounts. They are accessed from inside the cab at the kick panels on each side just ahead of the door posts. These are long, fine thread bolts - just keep loosening - they will come out. There is an assembly of upper and lower rubber insulators that will fall out also. For the back mount - just look at the rear cab cross support beam. Near the center of the beam inside the cab you will see two bolts that are fastened through the frame support directly below. Same type of rubber insulator assemblies, and same type fine thread bolts. My own experience has been that while these bolts can look pretty rusty, a little penetrating oil and some loving persuasion can get them apart in good shape. Lifting the cab involves being able to lift high enough to clear the steering column and the shift levers - keep this in mind. There are a number of bolted panels in the floor - take them out for easier access to the transmission, throttle and clutch linkage. Personally, I have had good results lifting with wide nylon straps run through the door openings. We now use a spreader bar to reduce the "squeeze" pressure on the cab. Once off - four good healthy guys can man handle the bare cab quite easily. Again, I have found that mounting the cab on a temporary dolly with wheels can make life a lot easier. And we have evolved our cart design to include a hinged front cab mount for the dolly so the underside of the cab can be easily accessed. If you build a cart for the cab, keep in mind that many overhead doors are only eight feet high. If you are sending the cab to a body shop, the height can be a limiting factor. Keep the temporary cart mounting as low as possible. As with most of the steps in a B model restoration, this will make a lot of sense once you are into it. I hope this helps. Keep us posted with your progress. Paul Van Scott

Leversole - I love that truck!! Paint or no paint, I would be proud to have it just like it is. It's as straight a B73/75 as I have ever seen. My point earlier, although taken poorly, was simply that we don't know who owns the green B-Mack. And it may be the best paint he could afford to put on the truck. If it were mine, and I were proud enough to take it to a show, and a bunch of know-it-alls publically ran it down, I would be offended. Insulting people is not we are all about. Joking about our own trucks between us is one thing - talking about other people's trucks in a negative way is quite a different thing. If you all decide that this how we should behave - you can count me out of here. Paul Van Scott

Jason, As someone said earlier - start with the chassis number and get it to the Museum for individual truck info. Just FYI - keep your eye on E-Bay (Motors - Vintage Parts). Quite often there are service and/or maintenance manuals up for auction. Just beware that you are buying a usable book for your truck. I have also had some success by contacting retired mechanics, or shop owners in my area and asking if they had any of the old books that they might sell. Happy New Year - and Best of Luck with your new truck! Paul Van Scott

Ellis, I need to look at my inventory, but I think I have two brand new headlight rings, and several used ones for the R/DM type steel front ends. Give me a few days and I will PM you here on BMT. Paul Van Scott

If this truck runs and drives reasonably well, and looks as good in person as it does in the photos, it is probably worth every penny. Try finding a nice B-61 in decent shape and driveable for much less. I really take offense to this habit of running other people down at every opportunity. Let's try to exercise a little better judgement. Paul Van Scott