57 bcr

Yeah Kevin,the "iron moths" got to it pretty bad. Nothing around here is safe from calcium chloride,salt,and time. Al

Guys,found the pics of the last known pieces of Bob Ecksteins "Phantom 309" 1693 powered RL-700. I was at Macungie (year?) when a KW cabinover strolled in.There was some misc. parts and an east coast R-700 on his step deck. I looked up(shocked at seeing the hood & sleeper of Bob's beloved RL) and followed it to the truck corral (over where the campers park now).After talking with the guy,he said he bought it off of one of Bob's relatives in Jersey,after Bob died.The hood had been left open and the head was off of the 1693,so he junked it.The cab was rusted so he crushed it with an excavator! He told me after I said I knew the owner of that truck,"oh yeah,his name was on the horn button,it got crushed when I crushed the cab"! WTF Don't know where this stuff ended up.Hopefully it went to a good home. Al

OK guys found some pics from '89 of Rusty's RL-797S (said RL on it but had steel frame rails?).It started out life as a lowboy tractor for McAnnich out of Des Moines,Ia. It was then converted to a 6-wheeler by somebody in Iowa.Somewhere along the line the 375 V-8 gave out and a 300 was installed. He bought it from Twin Bridges Truck City in Bettendorf,Ia. in like '84 and spent a good part of a year re skinning the cab,repainting it, and detailing it out. He ran this truck until the late '90's,when he caught the Red Oval flu! He still has the truck,but it's in storage,I guess.

The youngster in the picture seems to be saying," It ain't no good,unless it's got that dog on the hood!" LOL! Al

I would think. With the electric fan mounted on it, he should be ok. Heavy equipment A/C units are set up that way.Most do a good job in the cooling department. Al

I was going to say,that might be one of Lowe's RD's pulling away from the transfer station or the recycle pile!! Al

I think you're right Keith. Maybe if the F models were galvanized,we would see more around today. I don't know though,the whole U.S auto/truck industry was using that crappy steel. I would imagine the galvanizing would have slowed it down some,but that stuff would rust as you were looking at it! Has anybody had any major rust through on a MACK cab since they started galvanizing the cabs? I haven't seen anything like the "crap steel" generation,where the roofs and other panels would literally fall off! Al

Nice job,Larry. I also have an Air-O-Matic steering system that I would like to put on the BCR. I like the Rancho boot idea,as mine is dried out too. Al

...most likely the latter,Robert!

Yep,,and an air ride single axle. Remember it well. I think they wanted like 7 grand for it.

Sweet ride! (as the kids say) Al

Sounds like a repower,huh? Popular conversions in the '60's-'70's. Al

Yeah,not a fan of partially finished (?) trucks myself. When you didn't take the thing apart yourself,it makes puttin' the puzzle back together a real chore! Al

Welcome back,whitegold.

Al

Vinny gets 1st dibs on ANY U models! Especially if they are former Flexi-Van units! LOL!! That guy has single handedly, boosted U model values worldwide! Way to go Vinman! She looks like a peach,for sure. Hope one of you guys gets it! Al

Always liked the A's! Wish I had the room for it. Al

I heard Plote bought 2 Granites for 6 wheelers, Mackdaddy. Al

I hear time&time again that the ATCA/ Double Clutch is "All-Mack". Nothing could be further from the truth. It just so happens, many of their contributors(writers) own MACK trucks. I have seen every make represented well at Macungie and in the magazine. Non-MACK owners just get itchy when their not talked about in such volume! I too enjoyed the story of the folks out west with their tour.Just glad some old truck people can still have fun in "The Peoples Republic of California" Al

I think us northerners, are used to the winter. We just get sick of dealin' with it, even though most of us aren't moving anyway! We just like to vent to an audience that is prolly saying,"hey assholes, move south like we did!". Al

Not only that xdudebrahx, the pto / pump would howl so bad when engaged, you couldn't wait to disengage it! Also, I would catch myself hitting the DOWN position on the pump lever quite frequently on the way back after dumping. Jutsta habit,I guess!

I was given an air starter by a guy who trucked in the '70's,last year.Another buddy of mine told me that same starter goes for $2400.00 now, in the real world! Al

HOWD DEY DO DAT? Al