Old B questions

[ffp20]

Hello folks. I'm a newbie here. I was always fond of Mack trucks and work with some when i was young. i've worked around and driven Af's, B 505's, R's, and CF's.

i'd like to get an old mack to maybe restore or to just keep as original as possible and enjoy. with that being said i have some questions:

-were b-42's ever supplied with diesels?

-i friend knows of a b-42T with an older cummins in it with a 2 stick 10 speed direct shift. Could this possibly be original?

-Was it common for b-42s to be repowered? would a diesel be too heavy without suspension work?

-what are B's going for depending on condition?

thanks!

[umodelnut]

B42's were gas. B models with the model number ending in even numbers were gas, like B42. And ive seen quite a few repowered.

[2stacksuperdog]

[fxfymn]

Welcome aboard. Check out the classified section for a pretty good handle on B model pricing. Like everything else price depends on condition, how rare they are, and what you are willing to pay. They go from $500.00 to well north of $50K.

Just keep in mind that the better the condition you start with the less it will cost you in the end. i.e. $30k for a well restored truck is a bargain compared to doing it yourself even though most folks here would consider that to be overpriced.

[GreenGiant2]

where in upstate ny

[Maddog13407]

pretty common for a B42 to be repowered. the 401 was a gutless boat anchor and good for 100,000 miles if you were lucky. ive seen a few with 80 thousand on them on the third engine. they were severly underpowered and overworked. have seen Cummins in them, the 413 Chrysler which was a Mack rememdy and kit for replacing the tired 401, have even seen a 549 International stuffed under the hood with the pipes turned up and cut right thru the hood. honestly your best bet if you want a b61 is to find a B42 doner for parts such as sheet metal. they were usually repowered or parked in the weeds . plus the gas job B models didn't ''chafe'' as bad as the Diesels cause they didn't shake as bad and wear out the sheet metal around the hood and cowl. some B42's depending on if it was a tractor or heavy spec could have enough springs to hold up a diesel. a stock B42 tractor had 8 leaf front springs where a stock B61 tractor would have 11. some even had 9 and 12 on the ditch side to take care of the crown in the road. most any fron axle will work as they had 505's and 517's and 522's available in all of them.