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Spent a few hours behind the wheel of a 1000 series in the 70's. 8V-71, 5 sp. The rig was exceptionally fast and did not hold the road well at all, especially on wet roads. Not a good combination, though I did get to go NB, SB, NB, SB and finally NB on I-95 one night in about a 5second span.

I was following an RD the other day that obviously had been hauling asphalt when I noticed the gate latch had been left open. I remember thinking this will not end well.

Electrical troubleshooting on something this old is like the proverbial box of chocolates "You never know what you are going to get." Most repair shops don't bother with troubleshooting wiring issues; they just run new wires and boom! it's fixed. If it is like most fire trucks of this era you will find a number of wires that don't do anything. The best thing to do is to remove them as you find them. (I pulled a five gallon bucket worth of wire out of mine and everything still worked!) Going away the most common problem with older wiring is poor grounds. Carry a file and wire brush to give yourself a clean ground wherever you choose to test a circuit. I also try to have one hot wire with me so I can test my test light with whatever ground I'm using. When I troubleshoot tail light/brake light circuits I like to use a trailer wiring harness that comes with a cheap trailer light kit. It is long enough to reach from the switch/firewall to the lights, has all the wires you need, and is color coded. Just add alligator clips to each end to make it quick and easy to use.

Did you check the service manual that the museum sent you?

I have some older Hale valve rebuild kits. What PN are you looking for?

Follow the wires from the lights forward to see if there is a switch located somewhere else. If there are two wires under the pedal touching the two together should cause the lights to come on, if that fails use a jumper to put voltage to the wires under the pedal to see if the lights come on.

Almost everyone is going to tandems for the extra braking ability. The bad thing is all of the extra compartment space that get's created gets filled with crap you really don't need just because there is a place to carry it. I'll bet you never wished for some tool on an extrication that you don't carry on your present rig. When the new rig comes in it will have twice the compartment space and it will be filled within a year with stuff you will never use.

"Carl, I think the bolts you are looking for are known as step bolts You can't get them at your local Home Depot but any industrial supply should be able to get them for you. Ron" Thanks! I knew somebody here would have the answer!

Good luck. My 25AB also has Bloomfield on it, but it didn't come from there. That story kind of reminds me of a friend's story about buying a 700 series in Jacksonville, FL.

A squirt of PB Blaster might go a long way to fixing the problem.

Nice find. I am in the process of restoring a 25 AB fire truck. I am going to need valves for the engine and I am sure as I go through it I'll find other needs. Do you have any sources for engine parts? I am also looking for the carriage bolts that were used to secure the fenders to the frame. They have a much wider and shallower head than a normal carriage bolt.

No, I do not, but I'm sure someone has a "F" parts book they can check for you. I'd try posting in one of the general interest sections.

"Nice Truck Albert, but But was is the total of the resto from start to finish? Is it something that most people can afford to do? I am in the same position with a couple of thr cf's that I have/ I am being told it's not worth spending tens of thousands restoring a truck that is only worth $ 10,000 or less. Whats your opinion? Take care, and again GREAT looking truck.. George" This topic is probably worth a separate post, but in a nutshell you will never, ever, get what you put into a truck out of it. That is why you are always better off to buy the best truck you can find, even if it costs two or three times what the average rig is going for. My analogy is that owning an antique truck is like owning a boat. Buy it, enjoy it, but don't ever plan on getting your money out of it. Most professional restorations start at $50K on the low end and usually go north of $100K unless the very minimal amount of work is needed. My experience is that unless the truck is a rare and desirable model you can expect to get about 30% of the money you spent if you sell the truck after restoration.

They are the same as the F models. The CF is a modified F cab that uses most of the same parts from the B post forward. Have you contacted Watts yet?

One of our own, Albert, aka Al Jacoby recently won the Joseph Gindele Best in Show at the Philadelphia Fire Safety Exposition and Muster with his 1954 L Model. Additionally, he won the Dick Baus Award for Best Privately Owned Apparatus. Al's truck is absolutely beautiful. He has done an outstanding job of restoring the rig and any fan of Mack L models should make an effort to check out the truck if they can. Congratulations Al! Well done.

If you put enough miles on a fire truck it is always a matter of when, not if, you will fold something up. Driving under emergency conditions with a rig that is big enough to have it's own zip code while every other driver looks like they are the adversary in a video game is almost always going to result in some type of wreck sooner or later. The first station I worked in also had a "new" back door courtesy of a driver who put the rig in reverse instead of first and "responded" through the back wall of the building with the base of the ground ladders. The powers to be decided to just add a new entry door instead of fixing the wall.

Congratulations on the finds. Nice to see an organization willing to work with what they can get and appreciating it as well. The 68 is a pretty collectable piece because it is an example of the early CF's. I'd try marketing the cab, even if it is rough, because they are relatively rare.

Pet rocks for sale?

Just remember Thanksgiving isn't a holiday in China. Boycott , boycott, boycott!

May the turkey be the only soul having a bad day in your house. Happy Thanksgiving

Nice man cave! I'd love to find some storage room near my place so I could have more room to work in the garage-mahal, but it would have to be big enough to live in after the DW threw me out for renting it.

How about it guys? Somebody must know of a better off VFD that could help these folks out. The truck that a VFD sells for the $20K used to pay for the annual banquet would be a godsend to them. I have taught classes in KY and believe me they are hard up for any help they can get. (For example one student I had was paid minimum wage to work as a career firefighter; 56 hours @ $5.25/hour)

You need to develop a relationship with one of the volunteer companies the Mid Atlantic area that could help you out with apparatus and other equipment that you need. Many of the volunteer companies in this area are quite well off and could provide equipment to you that they no longer need. There are quite a few volunteer firefighters on this site. I'd ask around to see who might be willing to help out.

I have been told by someone that knows the Chesterfield fleet pretty well that this CF is one of the last CF chassis that Mack built. Chesterfield ordered five chassis', 4 pumpers and one RS, and had Grumman do the body work. Allegedly they retired them early because Mack stopped supplying the front brake discs and the County Attorney would not allow them to use after market brake parts.

How about a toterhome style vehicle? It has the seating you need and gives you a place to stay at shows. Are you planning on hauling two rigs at a time? If not a shorter trailer would work fine. Never owned a Landoll, but a friend has one. They require quite a bit of care to keep the hydraulics, tires, etc. in shape in comparison to a regular trailer. I'd be more inclined to go with a step deck with hydraulic ramps or a regular detachable lowboy setup.