1960 Mack B61T Restoration

[eightup]

I'm going to preface this with I am new to large trucks but no stranger to old cars.  I saw this truck about 2 weeks ago and decided I had to have it and that it would likely be the worst financial decision I have made in a while.  I'm sure there will be plenty of questions in the future and hopefully you guys can help me out along the way.

The truck is a 1960 B61T with a thermodyne non-turbo diesel.  It's last working job was moving reefer trailers probably about 20 years ago.  Now my goal is to bring it back to life to haul around my other old toys.

 

Starting pulling stuff off of it right away cause disassembly is what I'm best at.  First to go was a welded on deck

Then onto the tires which I'm pretty sure are older than I am.  Two were tube type tires and two were tubeless 11x24.5s.  I'll be setting it up for tubeless 11x24.5s all the way around.

 

Now the hard part was getting that hitch off.  After removing the two bolts and grinding out a couple welds I ran into the issue of how to move hundreds of pounds off a truck using an engine hoist that doesn't roll on gravel.  Ended up going with a more of a "push it off the side of the truck approach" which worked fine.

Tomorrow I plan on dropping the axle and suspension and rear air tank to prep the rear half of the truck for sand blasting and paint.  Now for a few questions

1. Is there any surface on the axle I shouldn't paint?  Will painting the surface that is in contact with the rims make it more difficult to install/remove them?

2. Are brake parts easy enough to find or should I look at more modern parts and upgrade slightly?

 

[h67st]

Looking good so far!

1. No, painting the hubs won't hurt sliding the rims on.

2. I took my brake shoes to a local brake shop and they relined them. If you have one in your area that would be easier than retrofitting. If your cams and slack adjusters are good, you'll probably want to replace the bushings. The brakes on these trucks are amazingly similar to the brakes on a new truck.

[tjc transport]

agreed. only thing i would change would be to go with air park chambers and get rid of the hand brake. 

[Brocky]

As TJC said above be sure  to add spring lock parking brakes to the rear axle. This will require new brake chambers with 2 diaphragms, a new distribution valve on rear cross member, a dash valve, and a bunch of plastic air tubing..

Did you remove the 5th wheel to clean the frame or are you going to replace it with a gooseneck ball to haul your other toys?? 

[mowerman]

I do like the part about the worst financial decision best of luck .. bob

[mattb73lt]

That actually looks pretty solid. The back of the cab is a rust prone area and it looks good. How is the rest rust wise? That looks like it'll clean up nicely and make you a good hauler. There'll be a few big expenses(tires/rims!) but it shouldn't be too bad for the rest. Depending on the level of restoration, it would be about as much as doing a car if it's mostly cosmetic.

[Licensed to kill]

Relatable. I also bought a B-61 to build into a puller for my 5th wheel holiday trailer and initially planned a quick, cheap "make it run and look decent" project that I could easily finish in one winter. Also, having done several cars, this was my first foray into bigger trucks as well. As is typical for me, my "quick, cheap" project has encountered my usual "slippery slope" and has become..........neither. Kinda like Forrest Gump when he started his run, "well, I've gone this far, I may as well keep going" so...I RAN. Spent a full winter on it then, last fall I got a booboo and had to take a winter hiatus but am starting back on it now. Too bad we weren't closer as I am sure I have some parts you could use. If you are interested my build thread can be viewed here https://canadianrodder.com/forum/index.php?threads/project-gunsmoke.23609/ I look forward to following your progress. 

[eightup]

4 hours ago, tjc transport said:

agreed. only thing i would change would be to go with air park chambers and get rid of the hand brake. 

Think I am going to replicate the brake setup featured by thomastractorsvc in his thread:

 

4 hours ago, Brocky said:

Did you remove the 5th wheel to clean the frame or are you going to replace it with a gooseneck ball to haul your other toys?? 

I pulled the 5th wheel to clean up the frame and to rebuild/clean up the 5th wheel.  I don't ever see myself ever actually needing to use it so it might become a fancy shop ornament.  For the near future I will probably build a flatbed for the rear and a gooseneck ball but it could change.

3 hours ago, mattb73lt said:

That actually looks pretty solid. The back of the cab is a rust prone area and it looks good. How is the rest rust wise? That looks like it'll clean up nicely and make you a good hauler. There'll be a few big expenses(tires/rims!) but it shouldn't be too bad for the rest. Depending on the level of restoration, it would be about as much as doing a car if it's mostly cosmetic.

The back of the cab has two pinholes where I can see through.  The rest looks pretty solid but there are a few spots that had cracked bondo that was probably trapping water for years.  Probably once I start blasting panels I will find a lot more spots but its to be expected on any vehicle this old.

 

2 hours ago, Licensed to kill said:

Relatable. I also bought a B-61 to build into a puller for my 5th wheel holiday trailer and initially planned a quick, cheap "make it run and look decent" project that I could easily finish in one winter. Also, having done several cars, this was my first foray into bigger trucks as well. As is typical for me, my "quick, cheap" project has encountered my usual "slippery slope" and has become..........neither. Kinda like Forrest Gump when he started his run, "well, I've gone this far, I may as well keep going" so...I RAN. Spent a full winter on it then, last fall I got a booboo and had to take a winter hiatus but am starting back on it now. Too bad we weren't closer as I am sure I have some parts you could use. If you are interested my build thread can be viewed here https://canadianrodder.com/forum/index.php?threads/project-gunsmoke.23609/ I look forward to following your progress. 

Hope the hand is doing better.  Looks like you were making some good progress before.  Mine is going to remain a bit more stock than yours partly because I don't have a way to move these heavy parts around like you do. 

[eightup]

Little bit of progress from today, rain rolled in around noon and really slowed everything down. 

Started off removing the air tank which I think was holding more water and sludge than air.  Probably going to write off the old one and order a new air tank.

From that pic is is fairly easy to see just how bent that rear crossmember is, so tomorrow I will be hitting up a metal yard to find a piece of C channel to replace it. 

Starting busting the U-bolts loose and that is not a fun process.  Had a 10ft piece of pipe on my breaker bar and some were still putting up a fight.  Didn't get through all of them today but I should finish up tomorrow.

Put the girlfriend to work pulling the air lines and first thing she did was snap a fitting off in the quick release valve.  Rather than fighting that thing I'll add a new one to the parts list.

 

 

[Brocky]

1 hour ago, eightup said:

  Rather than fighting that thing I'll add a new one to the parts list

I would hold off until you get the plumbing for the spring lock brakes all figured out as some of these valves will have to carry air to both systems..

[doubleclutchinweasel]

The parking brake valve on my R was factory-plumbed in such a way to give an anti-compounding effect.  Really clever, since it eliminated the need for a separate anti-compounding valve in the system.

Parking brake system is actually very simple, and a huge improvement over the hand-operated brake.

Great progress already.  Keep us informed.

[eightup]

Spent the morning hunting down some brake parts and tires.  Ended up grabbing two long stroke 30/30 spring brake chambers.  I'll set those up after I finish painting everything in a day or two.  Had two 24.5x11 tires mounted on the two tubeless rims I did have.  Found four more rims that I will be picking up in the morning.

I spent half a day taking the nuts off the leaf spring u-bolts and in the end I couldn't get the u-bolts out.  Ended up cutting them off.  Also pictured is my helper Danny, she excels at finding the most in the way place to drop her ball. 

Both leaf springs removed along with the rear crossmember that is all sorts of bent up. 

Driver's side leaf spring had two cracked leaves (top two) in it so now I have the choice of getting a new leaf pack, finding someone to make me two leaves, or converting to air ride.  I'll see what the salvage yard has to offer when I pick up the rims tomorrow morning.

I plan on picking up some primer and paint in the morning then firing up the sand blaster in the afternoon.  If any of you NC guys want to come over, now's the time cause I really hate sand blasting.  Assuming I don't run into any more speed bumps tomorrow, I should end the day with the rear primed and ready for paint.

[eightup]

22 hours ago, Brocky said:

I would hold off until you get the plumbing for the spring lock brakes all figured out as some of these valves will have to carry air to both systems..

With all the sludge and oil I drained from the air reservoir, I plan on replacing all the lines.  I'll get everything drawn up and ordered in one shot which should make it easier

[Licensed to kill]

2 hours ago, eightup said:

  Also pictured is my helper Danny, she excels at finding the most in the way place to drop her ball. 

 

They certainly know how to make sure you can't ignore them. 

[Licensed to kill]

2 hours ago, eightup said:

With all the sludge and oil I drained from the air reservoir, I plan on replacing all the lines.  I'll get everything drawn up and ordered in one shot which should make it easier

All the air lines should be copper tubing. Rather than replace them all, I would look at blowing brake clean through them to make sure they are clean and carry on. 

[mowerman]

They’re pretty much lifelong really don’t have to change them unless you’re adding of course plastic a little bit easier to work with great progress bud thanks for sharing… bob

[eightup]

Progress has been slow the past couple days.  The salvage yard set me up with 4 new wheels, a crossmember, and they have a b61 that will be providing a leaf pack in a day or two. 

In case anyone was wondering you can fit at least 4 wheels inside a ford focus.

Sandblasting is about halfway done.  Maybe I will be able to finish that up tomorrow.

[70mackMB]

2 hours ago, eightup said:

In case anyone was wondering you can fit at least 4 wheels inside a ford focus.

Does your wife know you have her car?!!    LOL!    .....Hippy

[mowerman]

I was wondering when his wife was going to put the Kabash on full-time project.. bob 

[eightup]

53 minutes ago, 70mackMB said:

Does your wife know you have her car?!!    LOL!    .....Hippy

Thats my trusty tow rig.  Just wait till I have to haul all 4 with the tires mounted.  I would use my hippy van but she isn't running at the moment

[mowerman]

Man, that thing looks pretty clean for the year.. bob

[eightup]

6 hours ago, mowerman said:

Man, that thing looks pretty clean for the year.. bob

That picture is almost ten years old, she is a little bit worse for wear now and currently number 3 in line for a restore.

[mowerman]

Good attitude my Mac is always last that thing sure looks like it’s worth working with both vehicles…. Bob

[eightup]

Well work pulled me away for a couple months.  Dropped off some parts to be powder coated the other week and now I am just waiting for the weather to warm up a bit to get the back half of the frame painted.  Hopefully will have a warm weekend pretty soon. 

Finally have 6 new tires to go on once stuff gets painted.

Trusty tow rig putting in work

 

Still trying to source a leaf spring pack since the junk yard has basically been ignoring me for weeks.  If anyone has one laying around I would be more than happy to take it off your hands

[eightup]

If I can't find a replacement spring pack then I might end up doing an air ride conversion.  Probably will keep my axle and fab up some stuff to make the donor suspension work. 

Found a Mack CH 613 air ride suspension for a single axle for 600.  But since this is my first truck I am not to familiar with any of the air ride setups.  Anyone able to provide some input on whether the suspension from that truck would be a good choice?