Mack LHSW

[J Mack]

Pretty close to my fabercobble plan, I laser cut some 3/16”EDPM 40 durometer rubber gaskets, sandblasted the rusty bases and coated with POR-15, glued the glass lenses into the tops with DOW 999-A glazing sealant in the hopes of keeping the bulk of the water out of the light fixture itself, I bought some self-contained water tight LED light modules to replace the rusted out original sockets.

I’ll run a bead of DOWSIL 795 silicone building sealant under the gasket to help seal the difference in shape between the light and roof, probably less than ideal but should get me by for a year or two while I find time and money for the next phase.  

Edited December 13, 2019 by J Mack

[Rob]

Man I can't believe those marker lamps have gotten that high in price. I remember purchasing mine in the early 1990's from the local NAPA store with the "ECHLIN" name on the box and KD-517 on the chrome bezels for $9.95 each. The same lamp in "Yankee" brand and different stamped number set was given to me by another party as they didn't have anything that "old" any longer. These were complete lamp kits including the rivet nuts to install through the sheet metal roof.

[J Mack]

I was thinking $20.00 a piece should buy me the lights when I set out to find them, the only set I've been able to find with the thicker gaskets was on eBay.

I'll keep looking and at some point might be willing to give close to $100 each but for now I need to keep moving forward within a reasonable budget if I want to get this truck back on the road. I had no idea how much some of this vintage truck parts could cost when I started but I'm getting a quick education.

[Rob]

Really wasn't always that way. I've had my B-61T since 1979, (actually Christmas 1978 present) and used to go to the parts store for it routinely. I purchased the lamps mentioned as they were going out of stock and mine were getting pitted in the chrome but still shiny. I started hitting/surfing ebay back in the early 2000's as many parts were getting hard to come by and scarce parts were sometimes available. That was good for a few years but strong scrap steel prices sent a lot of donors over the scales with disregard for those whom may appreciate parts.

Wish I had extras to help you out as it really looks like you are going to have a nice one when finished.

[mrsmackpaul]

A friend of mine builds tilt trays (roll backs in the US I think you call them)

 

Anyway he told me never to use silicon as it contains acid I think he said and makes paint etc rust badly

He got me onto Sikaflex as it doesn't contain this acid or whatever it is that causes the corrosion 

Seams to work fine so far 

 

Paul 

[J Mack]

Good to know, thank you!

[Red Horse]

7 hours ago, mrsmackpaul said:

A friend of mine builds tilt trays (roll backs in the US I think you call them)

 

Anyway he told me never to use silicon as it contains acid I think he said and makes paint etc rust badly

He got me onto Sikaflex as it doesn't contain this acid or whatever it is that causes the corrosion 

Seams to work fine so far 

 

Paul 

Sikaflex? In yellow/red tube?  Sika is a US company that makes great concrete restoration/preservation products.  Same company?

[Rob]

I used "Sika" many years for adhering automotive glass into collision repairs. Good selection and a good product. Not really easy to clean up however once it's down and cured.....

[mrsmackpaul]

3 hours ago, Red Horse said:

Sikaflex? In yellow/red tube?  Sika is a US company that makes great concrete restoration/preservation products.  Same company?

I feel its the yellow tube, and it comes with different colours

I could have the tube colour wrong

They make a huge range of products,  the black one that sets like rubber for under lights etc 

There's a white one like seam sealer f oir joins in body panels 

I use it , Sika brand pretty much exclusively.  It costs a bit more but I have never had it not work as intended even when using as not designed 

My last used was on a truck steering wheel a few weeks ago 

The molded rubber outer was loose on the steel inside due to age and heat

Pulled the wheel off, flipped it upside down, drilled a whole heap of 1/4 inch holes every couple of inches around and pumped it full of Sika flex 

Cleaned it up best I could and left it over night 

Morning time it was as good as new 

 

Paul

Edited December 13, 2019 by mrsmackpaul

[paulbrook]

On 12/13/2019 at 6:56 AM, mrsmackpaul said:

A friend of mine builds tilt trays (roll backs in the US I think you call them)

 

Anyway he told me never to use silicon as it contains acid I think he said and makes paint etc rust badly

He got me onto Sikaflex as it doesn't contain this acid or whatever it is that causes the corrosion 

Seams to work fine so far 

 

Paul 

The other thing about silicone is that paint hates it, and any slight silicone residue will result in "fish eyes" in the paintwork which can be a PITA. If you do use silicone or suspect there could be some about then wipe down the primer coat with silicone removing panel wipe (or even diluted household bleach) before putting gloss paint on.

[Vladislav]

1 hour ago, paulbrook said:

The other thing about silicone is that paint hates it, and any slight silicone residue will result in "fish eyes" in the paintwork which can be a PITA. If you do use silicone or suspect there could be some about then wipe down the primer coat with silicone removing panel wipe (or even diluted household bleach) before putting gloss paint on.

Paul,

Do you mean of applying silicone sealer before putting a layer of primer and paint being put onto? Or onto already painted surface? And which kind of silicone are you talking about? A common gasket sealer from a tube? I'm pretty sure there's plenty of sealers used to apply on body parts for example to seal weld seams etc. Or are those products should be ment as poliurethane, not silicone?

[mowerman]

Forgot to mention it looks like you’re having most of your work done that’s the best way if you can’t afford it since most of us don’t have a whole lot of time you wind up waiting a lifetime to see any results I bought marker lights from Amazon and they’re too big but I’m going to try to use them anyway.......bob

[mowerman]

But they did look like the right ones on the photo oh well let’s see what happens.......bob

[paulbrook]

On 12/14/2019 at 4:30 PM, Vladislav said:

Paul,

Do you mean of applying silicone sealer before putting a layer of primer and paint being put onto? Or onto already painted surface? And which kind of silicone are you talking about? A common gasket sealer from a tube? I'm pretty sure there's plenty of sealers used to apply on body parts for example to seal weld seams etc. Or are those products should be ment as poliurethane, not silicone?

Seam sealer and the like should be polyurethane not silicone. You are right about gasket sealer though as that seems to be silicone based, but applied in small quantities.  What happens with using silicone (the household type) is that tiny flecks and smears disrupt paint applied later 

[J Mack]

      Holidays set me back a bit from working on the Mack but now I’m back out in the shop and trying to make some forward progress.

The exhaust brackets where a horror show so I needed to come up with something better to get me by for now.

 I found some Peterbilt mounts that fit the Mack body reasonably well so I’m going to run them until I find time and money to repaint the Mack.

Next on the list was the oil bath air cleaner, I removed the guts and converted the housing to a Donaldson pleated air filter to go better with the turbo engine going back in the Mack. I figured while I was working on the air cleaner I would remove the mount and clean it up a little when I discovered this mess, looks like when they originally mounted the oil bath they attached the mount directly to the cab sheet metal and at some point in this trucks career the weight of the oil bath ripped out the bolts from the sheet metal sides and the fix was to add some flat bar over the side vent and drill through the A pillar and the added chunk of ¼ plate forward of the cab.

I needed to find a clean solution to cover this mess until the time comes to do it right so I dug around the scrap pile and found some 3/16” flat stock and cut & bent it into sections big enough to mount the air cleaner and cover the $hit show underneath.

The mounts looked a bit chunky so I added some speed holes.

Both mounts are done and now I need to make some doubler plates to go on the inside.

 

Edited January 12, 2020 by J Mack

[h67st]

Ain't working on old trucks fun? You get to correct 50 years of sloppy repair work.

[mowerman]

Yes I think most of us have the same issue lol but it’s all good....that’s what we like... bob

[j hancock]

Looks OK.  Always good to use some creative thinking!

[J Mack]

Well about the time I was thinking I could make some progress on the old Mack we decided to build a shed to park the truck in and that took all of February.

So parking shed is mostly done and now I hope to get back to the Mack.

 

 

I’ve been trying to get a correct horn button but obviously I’m missing something here.

The tan button on the right is the one that came with the truck and the ears are broken, I assumed that was the reason it wouldn’t say in the steering wheel so I ordered the one in the center but it doesn’t fit either, I ordered the one on the left thinking it would be what I needed but no luck.

Can one of you guys tell me what parts I would need to get one of these buttons to work with my wheel or what the correct button for my wheel would look like?

 

Edited March 5, 2020 by J Mack
I can't spell

[mowerman]

ok im lost i was going to say thier still available or atleast i thought...good luck...bob

[mowerman]

by the way your coming right along with it....nice work...bob

[mackey58]

That's one nice shed

[J Mack]

Thank you guys!

 

I believe I need some  sort of spring clip that would fit inside the tin cup in the middle of the steering wheel, trying to find a picture of the assembly now to see what it might look like.

[Rob]

2 minutes ago, J Mack said:

Thank you guys!

 

I believe I need some  sort of spring clip that would fit inside the tin cup in the middle of the steering wheel, trying to find a picture of the assembly now to see what it might look like.

I think the horn contact rebuild kit is still available. The same one fit almost everything Mack made up into the late 1980's I know of although the horn button changed.

[J Mack]

I've checked Watt's and cant find anything but again I'm not sure exactly what I'm looking for. Any help would be greatly appreciated.