New Here - My Story

[Todd W. White]

Hi all!

Well, I'm new here, so I'm supposed to post some info on myself and why I'm here, so here goes -

My dad was Fleet Services Manager for Cities Service Oil Co., then headquartered in Tulsa, in the 60's-early 80's. He was friends with Perry Harper, who owned Mack Truck Sales of Tulsa. When the "experts" (READ: MBA's who came in to CS as VP's of everything) wanted to divest the company of all of it's trucks (and brother, they had a LOT of them), dad made a presentation to the Board showing that leasing was NOT a viable option for the Company (no real equity when the lease is up, not to mention what would happen should there be an economic downturn - which did happen in the late 70's). The Board overruled the "experts" and authorized dad to develop a program of purchasing, amortizing, retiring, etc., the fleet, and he did so, primarily, using trucks.

When I turned 16, "It's time for you to get a job", Dad said, so, Perry Harper, who needed another person to work night shift and clean the shop, hired me to assist the older man who had worked there for many years.

I worked there full time in the summers, and 4 hours a day during the school year, and did so through my high school years.

During that time, I converted my grandpa's 1965 Chevrolet 1/2-ton pickup that I drove into a something of a "Mack, Jr." - by the time I went to college, everything on it said , and precious little said "Chevrolet". The only thing left to changeover was the tailgate and the hubcaps (which I had planned to convert to status by using the round, flat ones from R-model's, covering the Chevy logo in the middle of the "dog dish" hubcaps).

In college, disaster struck - when I was a Junior, one of the University's 2-ton flatbeds, which was driven by a fellow band student on the equipment crew, was driven over and through the bed and part of the cab of my "Mack" truck. The Band Director, not wanting the Band Dept. or the student to get in trouble with the school, made the kid promise to fix it (his parents were loaded), but he never did.

That was 1982 - and I never had another truck again.

Until now.

I found another 1965 Chevrolet 1/2-ton that is almost identical to my grandpa's (which had been the only new vehicle he ever owned - Dad bought it for him), and bought it.

I've spent several months getting it mechanically sound and up to spec.

Now, I'm beginning the "Mackification" of it - I started Saturday by putting the Bulldog hood ornament on it - I started there because it just didn't "feel" right driving a truck like that without the Mack bulldog on the hood.

Now I'm looking for more things to convert it:

* Horn button from an R-model (fits perfectly!)

* Accelerator pedal, base, and pin (also works perfectly)

* An old speedometer with the decal having B-style sideview of the bulldog on it - I'm going to place it where the "HighBeam" word appears on the Chevy dashboard.

* Cab lights.

* Fender lights - front & back, probably from an R-model.

* Fender 1/2-cut bulldog emblems.

* Letters that say "MACK" for the valve covers on the vintage 283 I'm going to rebuild and put it the truck (when I paint the engine after having it boiled out, I'll use Maxidyne Gold).

And on, and on, and on I'm going to go.

Oh well, now you know I'm nuts...

Todd W. White

Sapulpa, Oklahoma

[theakerstwo]

Hi all!

Well, I'm new here, so I'm supposed to post some info on myself and why I'm here, so here goes -

My dad was Fleet Services Manager for Cities Service Oil Co., then headquartered in Tulsa, in the 60's-early 80's. He was friends with Perry Harper, who owned Mack Truck Sales of Tulsa. When the "experts" (READ: MBA's who came in to CS as VP's of everything) wanted to divest the company of all of it's trucks (and brother, they had a LOT of them), dad made a presentation to the Board showing that leasing was NOT a viable option for the Company (no real equity when the lease is up, not to mention what would happen should there be an economic downturn - which did happen in the late 70's). The Board overruled the "experts" and authorized dad to develop a program of purchasing, amortizing, retiring, etc., the fleet, and he did so, primarily, using trucks.

When I turned 16, "It's time for you to get a job", Dad said, so, Perry Harper, who needed another person to work night shift and clean the shop, hired me to assist the older man who had worked there for many years.

I worked there full time in the summers, and 4 hours a day during the school year, and did so through my high school years.

During that time, I converted my grandpa's 1965 Chevrolet 1/2-ton pickup that I drove into a something of a "Mack, Jr." - by the time I went to college, everything on it said , and precious little said "Chevrolet". The only thing left to changeover was the tailgate and the hubcaps (which I had planned to convert to status by using the round, flat ones from R-model's, covering the Chevy logo in the middle of the "dog dish" hubcaps).

In college, disaster struck - when I was a Junior, one of the University's 2-ton flatbeds, which was driven by a fellow band student on the equipment crew, was driven over and through the bed and part of the cab of my "Mack" truck. The Band Director, not wanting the Band Dept. or the student to get in trouble with the school, made the kid promise to fix it (his parents were loaded), but he never did.

That was 1982 - and I never had another truck again.

Until now.

I found another 1965 Chevrolet 1/2-ton that is almost identical to my grandpa's (which had been the only new vehicle he ever owned - Dad bought it for him), and bought it.

I've spent several months getting it mechanically sound and up to spec.

Now, I'm beginning the "Mackification" of it - I started Saturday by putting the Bulldog hood ornament on it - I started there because it just didn't "feel" right driving a truck like that without the Mack bulldog on the hood.

Now I'm looking for more things to convert it:

* Horn button from an R-model (fits perfectly!)

* Accelerator pedal, base, and pin (also works perfectly)

* An old speedometer with the decal having B-style sideview of the bulldog on it - I'm going to place it where the "HighBeam" word appears on the Chevy dashboard.

* Cab lights.

* Fender lights - front & back, probably from an R-model.

* Fender 1/2-cut bulldog emblems.

* Letters that say "MACK" for the valve covers on the vintage 283 I'm going to rebuild and put it the truck (when I paint the engine after having it boiled out, I'll use Maxidyne Gold).

And on, and on, and on I'm going to go.

Oh well, now you know I'm nuts...

Todd W. White

Sapulpa, Oklahoma

welcom Todd i live not far from you ilive south of Bixby and worked for Perry 65 -68 and have worked on trucks up until 2 years ago and now i have slowed down and run the road which is much more easy for me than working on them. glenn akers

[95k1500]

Oh yeah! It sounds like you have a disease! LOL!

[bulldog man]

Sounded like a cool truck sounds like the current bowtie will be just as cool to BMT

IVe been around the since birth im named after a B model HAVE DRIVRIN, worked on & Owned them & wouldnt mind building a R Model pickup so ive got the virus just as bad

& since the death of my granddad in 05' its been a long wait of owning another DM But next spring looks like im finally back in the cab of a THAT I OWN Everday

later

Bulldog

[Todd W. White]

welcom Todd i live not far from you ilive south of Bixby and worked for Perry 65 -68 and have worked on trucks up until 2 years ago and now i have slowed down and run the road which is much more easy for me than working on them. glenn akers

Hi Glenn!

I can't say enough good about Perry Harper - he treated me like a grown man (of course, he expected me to WORK like one, too, which I did), and never played favorites with me, just because my dad ordered lots and lots and lots of trucks from him. Once, he even fired a shop forman who cussed me out by the water fountain for doing my job the way I'd been told. This poor man didn't know Mr. Harper was watching him from behind and up the stairs by the Parts Window. The louder this fellow got, the redder the end of Perry's cigar got. He soon turned on his heel, went back to his office, the man was summoned and summarily fired.

Later, Barbara Harper, Perry's wife, told me he said "NO ONE treats my employees like they're lower than a dog!", or something like that.

Maybe we can get together sometime, Glenn - got any old parts for my project?

[Todd W. White]

Thanks bulldog man!

It's going to be a slow conversion, as I have to do "pay as you go", but it will be worth it!

[theakerstwo]

Thanks bulldog man!

It's going to be a slow conversion, as I have to do "pay as you go", but it will be worth it!

Todd i have a old R model that you can have parts off of all but the headliner for the taking off of them. glenn

[Todd W. White]

Todd i have a old R model that you can have parts off of all but the headliner for the taking off of them. glenn

THANKS! Give me a call - let's get together after the rainstorm passes: maybe next week.

Edited October 17, 2007 by Todd W. White

[Barry]

Welcome to BMT! I hope you enjoy the forums!

[Todd W. White]

Thanks Glenn! I'll be over soon to see what you have!

[Todd W. White]

Hey guys!

Got the pic's of "Mack, Jr." when we picked him up in Arkansas City, Kansas posted in "My Gallery".

Check 'em out.

I'll be posting more photo's soon - I'm thinking of starting a thread on the "transformation."

What do ya'll think?

- Todd

[Todd W. White]

Got to go over and meet Glenn (theakerstwo) the other day - super great guy!

THANKS for the accelerator pedal and older R-model dash, Glenn!

Plan on wire-wheeling the pedal and putting it on "Mack, Jr." soon.

Will be posting pics as soon as I can find the cable that connects the camera to the computer...

Edited December 5, 2007 by Todd W. White

[Todd W. White]

OK - found the camera cable, and have posted new pic's here:

My Gallery

I've already begun the "Mackification" process, and will add more pic's as I go along.

My next (planned) step is to get the metal MACK accelerator pedal I got from Glenn off of the old R-model wire-wheeled and installed...

Let me know what ya'll think...

[Todd W. White]

Hello fans!

I've added some more pictures to my gallery!

Here are pictures of my new CB rig -

The Hustler RG27 Antenna's:

My vintage NOS Johnson Messenger 123B 23-channel CB Radio:

Check out my heater restoration project here:

Heater Restoration Project

Hope ya'll like them!

- Todd

[Firemack]

Todd,

Nice work, looks like a lot of work, that should keep the truck warm for awhile,

Firemack

[Todd W. White]

More pictures of the transformation of an ordinary 1965 Chevrolet pickup into "Mack, Jr." -

My Gallery

Additions can be found in the following galleries:

* "Mackification"

* New Engine

* Rear End Rebuild

Let me know what ya'll think...

[Todd W. White]

Well, it's been a year, but I FINALLY got the old engine out and am getting ready to put the "new" one in.

Check it out here:

Engine Rebuild Gallery

[Ironman]

Welcome to BMT

[Todd W. White]

Hello All!

Well, I'm making progress!

* The SM420 transmission will be back together next week, then we reassemble the engine, clutch, and transmission, then start installing it.

* I've finished rebuilding the Instrument Cluster for the dash. I'm converting to Gauges from idiot lights, and made some, well, Mackifications to it.

Below is a pic of the finished product, replete with NOS gauges.

Check out the rest of the pictures here:

http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?app=gallery&module=user&user=1766&do=view_album&album=412

[other dog]

Hello All!

Well, I'm making progress!

* The SM420 transmission will be back together next week, then we reassemble the engine, clutch, and transmission, then start installing it.

* I've finished rebuilding the Instrument Cluster for the dash. I'm converting to Gauges from idiot lights, and made some, well, Mackifications to it.

Below is a pic of the finished product, replete with NOS gauges.

Check out the rest of the pictures here:

http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?app=gallery&module=user&user=1766&do=view_album&album=412

Looks great Todd. That dash reminded me of my Dad's '66 Chevy pickup,first brand new vehicle he had I think. Had a 292 6 cyl. in it,3 speed on the column. I used to drive it to school.

Remember-don't use cinder blocks for jackstands!

[Todd W. White]

Hi Other Dog!

Yeah, it seems like a LOT of people bought them new. Most wish they'd kept them.

No, we won't make that mistake again...

[mackmixer]

Remember-don't use cinder blocks for jackstands!

One of my friends had 2 cinder blocks break on him while under his Ford F250 and pinned him to the floor. A neighbor found him about 2 hours later. He only had 4 cracked ribs. Lucky to be alive!

I personally like wooden blocks 4x4's and 6x6's stacked up.

My son inherited his grandfather's 69 Chevy 1/2 ton stepside long bed truck. It is the 6 cylinder 3 speed. Sloppy column shift is hard to shift. There is so much room under the hood you could set up a picnic table.

You are doing a great job with your truck.

[Todd W. White]

How AWFUL!

We've never done that before or since - thanks for the warning!

The progress on the truck is slow - everything takes money, and, unless I win the local $10,000 "Buy Local" drawing on 12/18/10, we'll keep on doing things as funds allow.

Right now, the goal is to get it back on the road...

Thanks for your interest!

[Todd W. White]

Hello All!

After 2 years, I'm almost ready to put "Mack Jr" back on the road. My son Seth and I are trying to get it roadworthy before Thanksgiving. I'll be posting more as we get things done.

I've added a few photo's here:

http://www.bigmacktr...album&album=412

[vision386]

Hi Todd,that truck looks great,nice attention to detail! i especially like the old Johnson "messenger" CB they were one of the best radios made in my opinion,i still carry the one that was my dads in my sidebox as a "spare" if to Cobra gives up the ghost. Good luck with the project,and as always keep us posted with plenty of pictures!........................Mark