Charlie Hatfield Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 I decided to start a restoration on my 29 Mack BB. I took the hood off, dismantled it into 4 separate pieces, brought it to work to clean and sandblast them.It was originally green from the factory, but was painted red when it was changed to an open cab fire truck. So it was green on the inside and 2 different colors of red on the outside. I put the parts in a huge parts washer that we use for cleaning transmission and differential gears. I run it for 3 30 minute cyclesand took them out. All the paint was removed from them, but imagine my surprise when the original stamp of the steel manufacture was still on the sheet metal after 85 years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Hatfield Posted February 15, 2014 Author Share Posted February 15, 2014 The 3rd picture was the backside (painted green) Does anyone know the color of green used in that era, it looks to be a bluish green but I cannot find any color chart or names of the colors used in early Mack's. I have the build record from Mack on the truck, but no mention of colors were listed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superdog Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 The build sheet for my '25 AB says the paint color was #33 Green Lead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxidyne237 Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Thats amazing that the stamp survives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joemac Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Is this a fire engine?If so, it should be red.Fire engine red.Green is for shamrocks and Christmas trees. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
609albert Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 and green for the money you'll put into it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loadstar Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Charlie, Looks like your off to a good start...the sheet metal looks to be in great shape. Best of luck with the rest of it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxfymn Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Very interesting, but it really makes a lot of questions come to mind. Was the truck originally built as a regular truck and then converted to a fire chassis? Is the chassis number for a fire series chassis? Did Mack sell it as a fire truck or was the truck bought by another builder and then converted?Since I'm starting down this road on my AB. What paint system are you using? I'm really concerned about having to prime the panels as I sand blast them and having them sit for a long period before I can get the finish paint on them. Did you find a paint that allows you to do this? Quote Money, sex, and fire; everybody thinks everyone else is getting more than they are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Hatfield Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 The truck came off the assembly line as a cab and chassis in the fall of 1929. It was sold to the city of Webster NY on Dec 29th,1929. Who or how it was changed to fire truck is unknown. It has a Prospect pump, hose bed and seat. The hose bed was 6 foot and extended 2 feet to 8. The seat was widened to fit the truck. Since there are no records from ProspectFire Apparatus in Ohio, what little information I, have gathered is that it was not built at Prospects factory, but serial tag on the pump matches the timeline of fire trucks built at factory of the same period. So I can only assume that it was changed over from truck to fire apparatus by someone local. They kept it till 1937 and was sold. It was bought by Davenport NY fire dept in 1947 from a junkyard in New Jersey and used it until in the 1970's I bought it in 2009 at a fire swap meet in Jackson, MI. The individual had bought it at a auction in Michigan in 2005 from a collector who sold his collection. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxfymn Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Wow! What a neat history. As you know the BB's are pretty rare and this one has to be one of the very few, if not the only one, made by another builder.Anything on the paint question? Quote Money, sex, and fire; everybody thinks everyone else is getting more than they are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Hatfield Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 The paint color and system to use is the $64 question. Since I am not a painter i am not sure what to use. Kirker has a pretty good paint system (they were used used by Mack for a number of years) they carry Mack red and is reasonably priced. They are factory packed and can be bought in one step and 2 step style of paint. They have synthetic enamel, urethane enamel, acrylic enamel, and base coat-clear coat. I have painted the wheels with Regal red Rustoleum and looks pretty good. I will probably powdercoat some items but may not. I don't want to get too many shades of red. I also painted one fender with regal red and didn't look too bad, but that was just to see what it looked like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loadstar Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Hey Charlie, got any pictures of the whole truck? Would love to see them. Also curious what the difference is between an AB and a BB? Thanks.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Charlie Hatfield Posted February 18, 2014 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 18, 2014 There were only 700 BB models built in 4 years. It was the first shaft drive Mack and was designed to be a bus or delivery truck. Also it was lower to the ground than regular trucks. It has a 4 cylinder engine and 4 speed transmission. Not sure of the rear end ratio, but does a blazing 30 mph! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loadstar Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Thanks Charlie, very nice !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxfymn Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I was watching a show on Velocity last night (the one about Mopar stuff) when the owner mentioned a product he is using for paint that combines the one and two stage paints into one paint. I think it was a PPG product, but I missed part of the info as I was channel surfing.A friend is re-doing a 37 buffalo using a home made mix of one and two stage paints. The same mix was used by a restorer on a boat tail Auburn; a $1M car. Quote Money, sex, and fire; everybody thinks everyone else is getting more than they are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldogboy Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Charlie:Interesting history of your "BB". That's a subject for a new Mack fire apparatus book,Mack fire trucks that had a civilian career before they became firefighters. Forty yearsago Wilton, NH had a "B" model tanker that was donated by a fuel company. bulldogboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joemac Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Re: paint- Rustoleum takes forever and a day to cure. I painted my motorcycle with rattle can Rustoleum Regal red and put the parts out in the sun to speed drying. It still took over two months to be able to wet sand them so i could apply gold leaf and a clear coat (also Rustoleum).I'm in the process of redoing nearly everything, due to some paint damage and my dis-satisfaction with the gold leaf in a few spots. Everything has been stripped back to the (Rustoleum) primer and I'm forgoing the rattle cans this time.My neighbor has a heated garage where he does body work.I'm using Regal Red again, but this time I'm using a paint gun and adding a catalyst to speed curing time.As to priming any parts that aren't going to be color painted for a while, it's best to prime them immediately after cleaning to bare metal (media blasting, chemical paint removers, etc.) with a good quality self-etching primer. This will assure that the parts won't 'flash rust', which is what happens from just the moisture in the air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Hatfield Posted February 20, 2014 Author Share Posted February 20, 2014 The Rustoleum I'm refering to is the "Professional" series. It seems to be better than the regular type. Several friends of mine have used it on trucks and have had good results using it. One guy painted over the old lacquer paint to preserve the metal underneath because he didn't want to do a total repaint. Another guy used it to repaint the frame on his Ahrens Fox NS4. It is just a whole lot cheaper than paying $200 or $400 a gallon for paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxfymn Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 When you buy paint, like all things in life, you get what you pay for. There is a reason that hardware store paints are less expensive. They do not contain the amount of pigment, or the chemical hardness and durability, of an automobile finish.While paint can be outrageously expensive, the real cost of any paint job is the prep work. If you are going to spend weeks getting the body stripped and prepped why put a cheap finish on it?If you are adamant about saving money at least explore some of the other options out there like Magnet Paint Co. They offer a less expensive paint that is still way better then Rust-O--Leum for automotive applications.The question about primers came about because most primers have an open time on them which dictates when the finish coat must be applied. Unless you are willing to re-sand the primer before top coating you cannot apply a primer and let it sit for days or weeks with any product I know of. I'm sure there are some primers out there that would allow this, but I have never run across them. Quote Money, sex, and fire; everybody thinks everyone else is getting more than they are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Hatfield Posted February 20, 2014 Author Share Posted February 20, 2014 I agree with you 100%, I am not sure of what i will do yet. I am glad you reminded me about Magnet paints. I have some literature from them and will look at that again. I won't do Rustoleum on the body, just parts not seen all the time. Here are some more pictures of the old water tank I took off and hand made rear fenders that I am not going to use. The other picture is a side of hose bed that has some lettering under neath a coat of paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j hancock Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 A friend of mine has used Nason paint on a couple of projects. It is a second level to DuPont and is a single stage. Quote JimIt doesn't cost anything to pay attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loadstar Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 A friend of mine has used Nason paint on a couple of projects. It is a second level to DuPont and is a single stage.I used Nason single stage urethane on my fenders.....very easy to use and came out nice. I also used rustoleum silver for my wheels. I added an enamel hardener to the paint. I painted the rustoleum with and without the hardener. Came out much nicer adding it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomastractorsvc Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 A friend of mine has used Nason paint on a couple of projects. It is a second level to DuPont and is a single stage.Nason is a decent paint and nicely priced you can get at Oreillys. Every Oreillys will have the basic colors on hand but there is always one in the area that has an automotive paint store that can mix and match colors.I am using Nason on my R model. ( I gave them the Mack color codes and they said they could make it, wait and see of course as it still has primer on it) Quote Robert"I reject your reality and substitute my own." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxfymn Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Found this site which is very helpful; www.autobody101.com Great information for the amateur and pro body and paint person.Well worth going to their forums and reading the stickys under advice for newbies and how to prep. Wish I read this before I did a couple of my projects. Quote Money, sex, and fire; everybody thinks everyone else is getting more than they are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Hatfield Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 SuperDog I saw where you got a box of parts with your AB, would you happen to have an on/off switch or headlight switch. Mine are toast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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