B-73 Restoration

[mattb73lt]

3 hours ago, mechohaulic said:

jake in the Hartford tunnel! had to be the best sound. 

The guy I thought was going to cut me off couldn’t get away from me fast enough!!

It was crazy loud!!!!

Here’s a video of me leaving the house in October. Please excuse the hop over the curb, I had a car coming and the truck requires a second shot out of the driveway due to length. You can hear the truck echo through the neighborhood. It was only partial throttle as it wasn’t warmed up yet as I disappeared behind the neighbors house.

Let me know if it doesn’t post and I’ll redo it when I get home.

[mechohaulic]

On 4/6/2024 at 2:38 PM, mattb73lt said:

Good work out for the truck today. Empty, I ran up I-84 eastbound to the state line in Massachusetts and back to the house. Ran with some moderate traffic up I-91 through Hartford to I-84 to Manchester, where the road opens up and traffic gets lighter. Up through Tolland you run into some pretty good grades with rolling terrain and you climb up towards the Mass Pike. The return trip is easier as you're coming down a lot of those grades. The truck did well staying with the traffic. It does fall off a bit on some of the hills, but a quick downshift to 4th, Hi-split will carry you over. It falls off like other naturally aspirated engines do, like my old END-673 I had in the B42. Adding a T590 turbo to make it a 262 would give me a little more Power and torque, but I don't think I'll do that. I ran it pretty hard and put over 120 miles on it, to push it. The drive line is pretty quiet, the compound gearshift rattles kind of loud at certain RPM's. Post test run, the driveline is dry. The rear axle pinion seal may need some attention in the future as it had a little oil on it. Wheel bearings are cool and nothing got hot. The upper tank on the radiator was hot to the touch, but the bottom tank was almost cool. So, it does a really good job losing heat. That was kind of a surprise as I thought it would be pretty warm. The temp gauge was showing about 160* the whole time and really didn't move much, up or down hill. Only one grade caused me to drop two gear, to 4th Direct, but it still kept up with traffic. The good thing is the top couple of gears are so close that the down shifts are effortless. and with no clutch. The clutch does need to be adjusted, again. Some of the free play I had in it tightened up. I just need to keep driving it and and adjusting everything to get it dialed in.

Upcoming things for it are a complete alignment check at a nearby shop. When I assembled the frame, I checked all my alignments with a tape measure and had everything within 1/16" to include the toe-in and checked it several time as everything was tightened up. It just needs to be checked for my piece of mind. It holds the road very well, no shimmy, pulls or drift and after 1400 miles I see and feel no obvious wear on the tires. My underbody storage boxes should be in soon. The winch needs to be installed and a cable added. Some electrical work needs to be completed, too. I've got a local sign painter I've contacted about Lettering the doors and a pinstripe job to dress it up a little, but nothing too flashy. It's all coming together and the truck is very comfortable to drive. As I get used to it, my B42 seems smaller every time I drive it. I really love both trucks, but that L cab is a home run for comfort and visibility.

think the fact it is solid red with silver radiator shroud and period correct chrome bumper  just sets it out. others have two tone/ fenders dif color ;; which is also nice and other combos . it's one of the best style cabs having proper amount of chrome and alum. only thing it's missing is "updated" clean alum/ chrome can for exhaust . LOL

[mowerman]

That was a great video,  thanks 

[mowerman]

And it definitely sounds like a 220 Cummins . It really doesn’t sound very loud according to the video.just sounds good… truck looks even better in motion bob

[mowerman]

Also, I’m hoping my replacement transmission gives me at least 65. I’m afraid I’m my little jealous my DM only 55 flat to the floor screaming lol bob

[mattb73lt]

1 hour ago, mechohaulic said:

think the fact it is solid red with silver radiator shroud and period correct chrome bumper  just sets it out. others have two tone/ fenders dif color ;; which is also nice and other combos . it's one of the best style cabs having proper amount of chrome and alum. only thing it's missing is "updated" clean alum/ chrome can for exhaust . LOL

When I first got it I wasn't sure how I would redo it. All green was one way, red with black fenders, green cab and fenders with red frame. But, in my minds eye, I always liked the stock look. So after a while I settled on the original all red. I was always going to polish the radiator and fuel tanks and I wanted the right mix of bright work. I picked certain things to polish, like the windshield frames, to brighten up. Added the bumper and really lucked out finding a complete set of stainless mirrors and brackets. The other thing I went back and forth about was switching to aluminum rims to finish the brightwork off. I like the Daytons but wanted the aluminum rims for this project. The B42 has them and finding the hubs is no easy task. That swap was a whole separate project.

To finish it, my next headache and worry will be the lettering and pin striping. Again, I have a picture in my head of what I want and hopefully that will really make it complete.

[mowerman]

Well bud, we’re all waiting patiently.. lol bob

[mrsmackpaul]

Sign writers out here sit have a yarn for while to get a feel of what you want

Some people then just the go

I'm a tad more controlling I guess

I new what I didn't want, no big modern scrolls 

Nice tight period correct scrolls, colours of pin stripes and scrolls I have no idea, the sign writers have a really good handle of contrasting colours

I was happy with the outcome 

Only vinyle was my name on the door, it's a little different so I wasn't sure I would like it

Wish I did get it in paint as well

 

Paul

[mattb73lt]

 Busy week with the B73. Wednesday, reinstalled the winch and got it operational. Not the easiest install as it has to be loaded in from underneath. It fought me a little bit, but it's in. Finished some other details and added some Cummins crosses to the hood. Thursday, drove down to North Haven to have a winch cable cut and installed. The winch drum will probably take around 100'+ of cable, but they recommended staying with 60'. The shorter length will give me less trouble over time, was their opinion. That's fine, I usually use about 20" or less when loading cars. Today, ran over to Wolcott to check the alignment and had a bad day. The King pins turned out to be too loose to do an accurate job. So that stopped things pretty quick. They were inspected and determined to be serviceable and were tight when assembled, but they now had noticeable play. That's going to be a bit of a headache, but not a game stopper. They're safe, but should be redone. Now, to hunt for replacements and figure out when to do this when I can. I hate doing things a second time, but the spindles will need to come out for bushings. A little setback, but It'll get fixed. Oh, they joys of bringing an old truck back to life!!!

I did find a 10% grade on the way home and needed the Jake brake to come down it. It was on and off at the top, then was needed for the last half mile. It certainly saved my brakes, but that was the longest period it was on solidly yet. I think I woke the Western side of the state up!

[70mackMB]

Did you look into rope vs cable for the winch? l see a couple towing guys on You Tube have gone to rope and like it.    ....Hippy 

[mattb73lt]

I'm going to stick with cable. I have seen others doing recoveries with synthetic rope types, but for what I do this is probably best.

[mechohaulic]

winch picture two ; drop down chain drive going to shaft on P T O ? pic :three gap under body between hyd res and rear wheels is possible location of tool box.? should add character to truck and use the space. door big enough would be excellent place for just the touch of pin stripe ::maybe ?

[mechohaulic]

correction ;can't be a chain drive winch;;it's mounted to body which tilts. must be a hyd winch set up going to pump / pto arrangement.

[mattb73lt]

It is hydraulic. Hydraulic motor attached to it using a chain coupling and controlled by the lever station mounted to the left rear frame.

[mrsmackpaul]

6 hours ago, 70mackMB said:

Did you look into rope vs cable for the winch? l see a couple towing guys on You Tube have gone to rope and like it.    ....Hippy 

There was a bloke in Australia that tested all the winching theories and proved what was what 

A few surprises, you'll  to adjust your viewing to appreciate the Aussies humor

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/wEUbicuiyo6b38MQ/?mibextid=NnVzG8

Let me know if the link doesn't work, it really is interesting to watch

 

Paul 

 

[mowerman]

I couldn’t open it…and Matt,,,,,nice going ,,,sounds like that truck has a personality like mine … good luck… bob

[70mackMB]

11 hours ago, mrsmackpaul said:

There was a bloke in Australia that tested all the winching theories and proved what was what 

Thank you Paul for that video. l know a couple of people that need to watch it. Either a cable, strap or chain they will walk around it like it will never break.    .....Hippy

[mechohaulic]

17 minutes ago, 70mackMB said:

Thank you Paul for that video. l know a couple of people that need to watch it. Either a cable, strap or chain they will walk around it like it will never break.    .....Hippy

have always had the utmost respect for cables/ chains , yrs back on road call for truck over railing; nose hanging over train tracks. co-worker standing side of trailer where chains/ cables hooked . I was in cab running controls= not in back of wrecker. loud snap ; the cable recoiled towards wrecker faster then anyone could react had they been standing in back of wrecker. 60 +feet between trailer/ wrecker . cable ended up under/ in front of wrecker. 

[mechohaulic]

another question :: what did the 73 end up with for tail/ stop lights??? last picture showed a "temporary" bracket set up . all frontal pictures show where it's going ; how did the back section end up so we can see where it went . LOL

[mowerman]

Yes, I don’t recall any updated photos of the tail light assemblies. I love the Cummings badge real nice touch…. Bob

[mattb73lt]

On 4/13/2024 at 9:31 AM, mechohaulic said:

another question :: what did the 73 end up with for tail/ stop lights??? last picture showed a "temporary" bracket set up . all frontal pictures show where it's going ; how did the back section end up so we can see where it went . LOL

I kind of copied what was there, but added better tail light assemblies that had side markers on them. This whole thing moves and is somewhat susceptible to damage depending on what you’re doing. I may change it in the future, but this is what I’m using for now.

[mattb73lt]

Here’s a little NH220 Backdrop music for your auditory pleasure. My friend caught me leaving his shop this afternoon.

[Joey Mack]

man that truck is sweet !!

[Mark T]

Truck sounds great, and a good reason is you certainly seem to be pretty good at shifting it.  Even if you  were a driver with lots of experience, you got pretty good at it concidering how long it's actually been running since the restoration. 

[mattb73lt]

18 minutes ago, Mark T said:

Truck sounds great, and a good reason is you certainly seem to be pretty good at shifting it.  Even if you  were a driver with lots of experience, you got pretty good at it concidering how long it's actually been running since the restoration. 

Thanks. I enjoy shifting this one. If you're smooth on the throttle and gentle with the sticks, it'll walk right through the gears with very little clutching. Both my trucks have the same transmission, TRTL-720. The only difference in them is the B73 has a double disc and clutch brake. The big thing is being gentle and watching your RPM. Still learning and getting to know this one and what it likes.