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I have used 2000 grit extensively to repair a less than stellar paint job someone did on the 52. After many hours of wet sanding it brought the paint back to like new by removing orange peel, small sags, etc. After doing the rig several folks told me that they thought I had re-painted the entire rig. I did all of the sanding by hand (Yes; I'm a wuss who is afraid of burning through the paint with a power sander) and I use a spray bottle of water to keep it wet and to clean the surface of grit when I want to check on my progress. After sanding I use an air powered DA sander equipped with a buffer pad to apply progressively less aggressive compound/polishes and I finish up with a high grade wax. The DA is less aggressive than an electric powered polisher so there is less chance of burn through. I buy the pads at HF for a couple of bucks for three pads and change pads with each grade of compound or wax. Plan on buying plenty of pads if you do a large area. As Rob said, take your time and it will work.

Money well spent compared to putting off the required service because it's such a PIA to do with jugs etc. When I pulled the wheels on the 52 I made up a wheel lift by modifying my pallet forks to fit on the 3PH of my small tractor. The tractor is small enough to get around inside the garage and it makes lifting the wheel assemblies a breeze. Think creatively and you'll figure out a solution. As to the seals: If you go through all the work of pulling everything replace them. They are rubber and do not last forever, so even if they are good now they will need replacement long before you wear out brakes on a show truck. And is it worth doing it all again if the old seals leak when you get it back together?

Body work is not as easy as it seems. Like most skills the pros and DIY shows make it look a lot easier than it is. The body work & paint are going to be the first thing folks see, so If you want the rig to be a crowd pleaser you may want to get some help. Unless you are passionate about doing it yourself I would look for a high school shop class that might take it on or at the very least get a quote from a shop. You might even try Craig's List to see if you can find a body guy looking for side work. Having said that I do most of my own stuff, but I would not want to have learned on a valuable antique. If you are adamant about doing it buy a beater and try out your skills on that first.

You may want to PM heavyhauler aka John for more information about how to get the history of your truck. He has a very neat LJ that was also a former government owned rig. I don't know how he did it, but he was able to come up with a very complete history of his rig.

I wonder if the way to go would be to start a Mack Chapter in the ATCA? Who says chapters have to be geographically based? That way we would have the support of a national organization while still being able to pursue our own mission as well. What do you think Doug?

I'd love to see some kind of a Mack club get started. Something with the mission of helping to maintain the Mack museum and preserve the heritage of Mack Trucks.

I use J.C. Taylor. I think their rates are fair and any contact I have had with them has been well handled. However, I have never had to submit a claim, so I can't comment on that part of their business. I do know of one claim for a fire truck that rolled out of the owner's garage and hit a tree. The truck was considered to be a total loss and Taylor paid the claim in full. The premium is based on the stated value of the truck. I told them the Dog was worth $12K and my premium is right around $100.00 per year. Taylor does include a policy rider for fire apparatus that specifically excludes coverage for anyone riding in the hose bed. I do not have towing on the truck, but I do on the trailer I haul it on through Good Sam. I am on the road so I cannot check the policy to see who the underwriter is. Sorry I missed you at the Macungie show. You have a very nice piece.

I did forget to ID myself. 3rd from the right, front row wearing sunglasses around the neck. If anyone wants a copy of the pic PM me with an e-mail address and I'll send you a copy.

CBDINC, Do you still have the original? If so a part number search might turn up a replacement number. Using a PN from the old part I have turned up some parts at places like Amazon that I never expected to find there.

Here are a couple of shots of the group get together at the Watts tent on Saturday at the Macungie show. Eveyone was a little shy at first, but thanks to the DW we got organized enough to pose for some shots. Thanks to Doug and all of the hard work from everyone at ATCA for the show. What a great take in.

I watched them tape the segment. Doug is a brave man to be around while she attempted to drive the White.

If you are trying to locate trucks that served in the Philly area you could use CarFax to try to track any particular model or year you are looking for. The Mack chassis numbers are pretty simple; 75A-1... or 85B1..., so you could guess model years by the relative chassis number. It would be laborious, but I believe CarFax offers a subscription so the expense should be minimal.

Yep, it's a disc. I ended up having to totally disassemble it because I believe the chatter is being caused by either a bad transfer case bearing or bad drive shaft carrier bearing. I'm going to have the pads relined and go from there after I get the transfer case issue fixed. I'm stil interested in hearing any recomendations on the correct adjustment procedures.

Try checking with J.C. Taylor in Upper Darby, PA. My 52 Mack runs about $50.00 per year less than you are paying for a stated value of 12k.

See all of you at the Watts tent on Saturday. For those folks who are staying in the camping area: Look for a blue Chevy crew cab pulling a Cardinal fifth wheel with a couple of kayaks loaded on the truck. Believe me, you can't miss it. Stop by and say hello.

My Type 75A fire truck is equipped with a disc type of parking brake. The pads are "chattering" against the disc when I let off of the power. My Mack manual does not cover this type of brake so I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to adjust the brake to take the play out of the pad assemblies.

Thanks for the offer, but I haven't figured out how to tow the fifth wheel RV and the GN with the Mack on it at the same time.

There is a great article in the latest issue of Enjine!-Enjine! by Harvey Eckart about Mack's 100 year fire apparatus anniversary. As Harvey points out it is really not a 100 year anniversary since Mack stopped building fire apparatus in 1990, but it's still worth celebrating. Has anyone ever tried to get a Mack Fire Apparatus club going?

The DW and I will be there. We are also staying in the camping area. I wanted to bring the 75A, but I need to be in New England the following week and I just couldn't justify the fuel money to go from VA to PA back to VA and than on to MA. Oh well; there's always next year.

Contact your DMV office and ask them what the rules are for NY or look them up on their web site. In VA antique tags allow you to use the vehicle for special events, etc., anything but routine everyday use. At one time you had to get an affadavit notarized that you had another vehicle and you would not use the antique as your daily use vehicle, but the DMV dropped that rule. My insurance is with J.C. Taylor. You state the value and they insure to that value. I gave them a value of 12K for the 75A and I pay about $100.00 per year. The insurer limits the miles and the use to basically the same rules as DMV.

Great rig; I especially like the twin exhaust stacks.

Why not point the swivel section up? I'm sure you know this, but being able to quickly dump to the side really speeds up the whole operation and keeps the fold-a-tank out of the traffic pattern better. Is the dump valve air operated?

You can always rent it out to the highway department to use as a traffic blocker! Is the rear dump going to have a swivel so you don't have to back up to the fold-a-tank? Or does it have side dumps as well?

Change the Port Norris sign to North Jersey Mosquito Control Inc. and put her to work. It'll help pay for the rehab.

We had a good turn out on what turned out to be a pretty cold day. Berryville VA Ender's Fire Company brought their absolutely beautiful B Model and Chris Oliphant had his open cab CF600, ex-Cumberland, MD there as well. The open cab CF is pretty rare as Mack only made 14 CF600s and one CF700.