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I checked into using Morton, but they came in at what i considered to be a pretty high price. It seems to me it was going to be right at $60K for the finished building without electrical or finished walls. For my 36x36 stick built using 2x6 walls, scissor trusses to get a full 12' ceiling height, and fully insulated I ended up spending about $45K including a propane fired heater and now the split system heat/AC. The DW and I framed it after I had the walls poured and the slab installed. I ended up using 6' poured walls all around due to a sloping site and I had to put about 200 tons of gravel under the floor to build it back up to level. A friend that had access to a crane set the trusses for me and another friend came by to help set trusses and get the roof sheathing on. We started framing on Monday morning and had it under paper by noon on the following Sunday. I did all of the electrical work, but we subbed out the concrete work, ceiling drywall, vinyl siding, roof, and garage doors. Like you I had a certain door style in mind that limited me to a specific door size. Since the vast majority of what you see in a garage is the doors it is important to use something that looks good IMO. All three garage doors are fully insulated and I went with a wall mounted door opener that eliminates the overhead mounting of the door operators. (No whacking your head when you stand on the truck to work on them.) I highly recommend that style of openers.

It can never be too big, but the one advantage you will have is that it is only big enough to store the two trucks in so you won't tend to clutter it up with a bunch of other crap. I agree; 10 foot doors are tight. I have a Mitsubishi split unit in my 36x36 building and it does a nice job of keeping it warm at a reasonable price. I think it is much easier on the trucks when they are kept in a heated space.

Asking $6500.00; only 20k on the speedometer which is probably accurate if it was a fire truck all of it's life. The body looks like a Bruco or more likely a Swab. The body has been re-habbed as well. My bet this puppy came out of PA and someone on this board will know a lot more about it.

There is a pretty nice Mack Jr. hubcap for sale on eBay. I guess you could start from there.

Welcome aboard. The B model hubcaps that Watts carries should fit the A40 even though they are not quite the same as the originals.

It is not out of a fire truck. A factory original fire truck engine is an ENF510 and would have dual ignition with 2 spark plugs per cylinder.

It finally stopped snowing last night after a couple of feet came down. I'm on my way out now to do a couple of the neighbor's driveways and to give the road one last clean up. Here is a pic of the plow rig I took a couple of years ago.

Another great resource for you would be to reach out to Doug Klink at the Reliance Fire Museum in Estes park, CO. Doug is active in fire truck restoration circles and does restorations at his shop in CO. He has been featured on the PBS show that I believe is called "Restorations". Very nice guy and I'm sure he would be helpful to you. http://reliancefiremuseum.org/

I was wondering the same thing. None of my friends who subscribed have gotten it yet and neither have I.

Yeah right; July in central Mass is a cool spring day around here. But I seem to remember at least once when the white stuff flew in that part of the world on Columbus Day. I hope it works out for you.

or headlights.

$150K should buy you a "Let me write you a check(s), and call me when it is done" restoration. If you decide to go that route don't be constrained by your location as it may be less expensive to ship it out to a shop that specializes in truck restoration that is not in your area. If you decide to go that route PM me and I will give you the contact info on an excellent restorer I know in NC who will probably come in at less than $100K for the work you want. But, if money is tight, and isn't always, you can come in at around $50K if you are willing to do some of the work yourselves. It does not take a lot of skill to remove the bright work from the truck and send it out to a plating shop and you can save even more if you are willing to buff the parts out before you send them out. If you are dead set on a body off restoration than you can save by doing the body removal and having it blasted. Just make sure you thoroughly document everything as you remove it and "bag and tag" every item, not matter how small. As a friend once told me "Anyone can take them apart, it's when you have to put it back together that most folks fail." Top quality paint is probably going to run anywhere from $15K to $20K depending on how much body work is required. if you keep it to Mack factory gold leaf that should run around $4 to 6K. Plating can run up to $10 to 15K depending on how rough the items are and how much prep work you are willing to put into them. I spent around $300.00 per wheel to put brakes on. That included re-sleeved wheel cylinders, new master cylinder, re-lined shoes, and new hoses and lines. i did all the work myself. Obviously you will not need wheel cylinders, etc. The re-lined shoes were about $50.00 per wheel. Same for the parking brake disc linings. A re-built water pump was around $150.00 last year and I have had clutches done at the same shop for around $200.00. As for the engine; if it is running well now don't mess with it. clean it, paint it, re-do some of the accessories such as the carb, water pump, etc. and leave the rest. You mentioned the exhaust manifolds; unless they are leaking I would not remove them. They are prone to cracking and messing around with them is just asking for trouble. Don't mess with the fuel pump. Add an electric pump and regulator and then by-pass the factory pump. Cost; less than $100.00. Is it a TR6710 transmission? If so mine has a whine when you let off in 5th gear and another unit I drove with the same tranny did the exact same thing. Could be the nature of the beast. I re-built the transfer case and rear end and it did not cure the whine. Lastly; PM "firemack" on this site. He managed the restoration of Radnor's 1954 Mack B model and I'm sure he can offer better advice on what you are up against. Good luck and feel free to PM me if I can help out in any way.

was this one of the St. Louis R models that ended up in that part of the country?

You can also check with Paul Romano who is on this site occasionally. The brackets can vary, so make sure you have a template of the hole pattern to compare the bracket you are buying to what you currently have. You will find them on eBay every once in awhile as well as at FD flea markets. Expect to pay anywhere from around $700.00 to $1000.00 depending on condition. And just like everything you get it will be cheaper to get one in top condition than it will be to have it restored. If you locate a bracket I have an original bell that I might part with. It has a B model bracket, so I kind of hate to split it up.

I have often wondered why the IAFC did not have some kind of an on-line exchange for departments that need gear so they could pair up with those places that would be willing to help out.

Great! Please set a date asap so we can plan to try to attend. The calendar fills up quickly that time of year so you will need to jump on it if you want a good turn out.

Matt Pfahl had a B model school bus for sale awhile back. You might check with him to see if he still has it.

Love the old school tiller seat down inside the ladder beams.

My guess is it will be the same as a B or H model. If all else fails a shop with a water jet can reproduce it.

You probably know this, but just in case. If you use grade 8 bolts make sure you check the torque spec for them. They are torqued much higher than a lower grade bolt and may strip the threads if that is not what the factory used.

This is probably old news for you mid-west folks, but it is not here. This is the lowest fuel prices I can remember in quite awhile. Just off of I-95 at exit 131 in Fredericksburg, VA. Of course who ever figured we would get excited about $1.80 fuel?

I was at that auction with the intention of bidding until it opened at $30K and ended at $57K. This is not that truck. That truck was totally restored with the exception of the gold leaf.

It's funny how you never see these trucks and then two or three will pop up in quick succession. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1933-BQ-Mack-Fire-Truck-/151946947807?forcerrptr=true&hash=item2360be6cdf:g:UAAAAOSwa-dWlAUP&item=151946947807

great. Can't wait to see it at some shows.

At least he had some propane to keep warm with!