Lookin To Buy An "r" Model

[bulldawg1081]

hey folks,im glad to have found this site ive loved old macks my whole life and basically grew up on an old r model, heres my question....i want to buy an R model and i have my eye on some around here where i live in texas but im wanting to know what to look for,heres what im looking to do....this isnt going to be a work truck,its going to be restored over a period of a couple of years into something worthy enough to put into a truck show,something to have fun with and maybe haul an occasional load during harvest season ,this is a life long dream. im not a wealthy man by any means but i can afford this...what years of trucks are the best for what im wanting? what engines are the easiest and cheapest to maintain? i would think the 237 but i want a more experienced opinion..spoke wheels or budd? anyway you guys could point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated,i want to do this because when you go to a truck show you always see petes and kw's but rarely an old mack,these were popular old trucks back in the days. thank you folks in advance,i look foreward to chatting with you about these old bulldawgs in the future.

John Barnett

[ThaddeusW]

237 @ E6 2 valve engines are good. Spoke or budd, its up to you. Personally I like spoke rims but bud can get all polished up with aluminum wheels. I have seen chromed spoke rims before and with the hub painted with chrome nut covers and hub caps they look even better then polished aluminum in my opinion. Nice and simple 5 or 6 speed tranny. If you can find an R700 then your set!

[vanscottbuilders]

John,

Texas is a great place to find an old Mack.

No rust! Unless it was used for fertilizer or farm duty.

The R model was prone to rusting pretty

badly in those areas of the country where we salt

our roads. Really nice ones are in short supply in the Northeast.

Thaddeus is right, a 237 or a 285 Maxidyne would make great

dependable power, and a simple five or six speed transmission

is all that is needed.

At least through 1967, you could get a normally aspirated END-711,

which is a 205 hp diesel. It's got a mixed reputation for dependability.

Apparently it worked quite well in city service, and not so good on long hauls.

Read the old posts and forums on BMT to learn where the various identification

numbers are located on the frame, engine, transmission and rear axles.

There seems to be an infinite number of combinations of engines, transmissions

and particularly rear end ratios. Mack, perhaps more than any other manufacturer,

understood the value of gearing a truck to a particular task.

The wheels are really your preference. A lot of the western

trucks had Budd wheels originally. Switching from Daytons to Budds is

probably not worth it, however. And, as an East coast person, I like the Daytons.

An R-600 or an R-700 would suit you well. It would be very cool

if you could find a long nose, tandem axle tractor. But, for your 1st

project truck, you might want to avoid the older Mack V-8 diesels

that might have been in those long nose trucks. Parts are getting rare.

Good luck, and please keep us posted.

Paul Van Scott