Bruce's Articles from cummins pittburgth ... You never know who you are going to meet, what they know and what they are worth. Last July at the Walcott Truck Jamboree, I was standing in my booth with our Cat and Cummins show engines when a young 13-year old man asked me “How much power can you get out of a K?” I smiled while looking down at him and asked, “What do you know about a K?” His reply was, “I want to put one on my Mack and I want all of the power you can give me.” I could tell he wasn't 16, but he seemed to know what he was talking about; so I continued. “You own a Mack?” I asked him. He said, “Yes and it's in the truck show.” I asked him,”How did you get it here?” His reply was “My daddy drove it here.” So, with that last statement, we walked over to see his truck. As it turns out, this young man is Mike Harbison Jr. and he is considered the antique Mack Truck expert in the USA for the Antique Truck Historical Society and the Antique Truck Club of America. His mother collects phone calls during the day from people searching for parts and knowledge; and Mike Jr. returns them after school. He can tell you what years the various Macks were built, and the engines, transmissions, and differentials that were available. He knows all about the Duplex, Triplex, and the Quadraplex Transmissions that Mack used through the years. If you want to know the difference between the B 61 and the B 77 Mack, just call Mike Jr. and he'll tell you the years they were produced, how many were produced, what the difference is between all of the LJ, B, R, U, and Superliner models. This kid is a walking encyclopedia of Mack Trucks! His Grandfather, Tom Harbison, purchased the first Mack in the family in the 70's; it was an F Model with a 325 Maxidyne V8. Then his son, Tom, started driving trucks at the age of 18. He purchased a farm in Morning Sun, Iowa, 60 miles south of the Iowa 80 Truck Stop in Walcott. Instead of planting crops or raising cattle, he started to collect antique Macks - and the collection continues to grow today. So now you can see why Mike Jr. is so involved in the Mack trucks and wants to drive his truck when he is out of high school and haul grain and livestock. He said “I'm already used to the smell of a bull rack.” He likes Wilson cattle trailers and Merritt grain trailers. One of Mike Jr. goals is to purchase the very first LT Mack built in 1949 (serial number 1001); and he knows who has it! Mike is an “A” student in school and loves to write term papers about what else but Mack Trucks. When asked what the teachers say about the term papers, his reply was, “There he goes writing about those trucks again.” Let's face it; school teachers just don't understand how a man can love trucks. That is why they are bored to death talking about ancient history when Mike Jr. wants to talk about TRUCKS! If you are interested in antique Mack Truck parts, the phone number of the Harbison Mack Farm is 319-394-3401. One last thing. It is so neat to walk through the Walcott Truck Jamboree with Mike Jr. and have several men in their late 60's and 70's stop to discuss the rebuilding of their old “B Models” with this young man of 13 years. With knowledge comes respect and Mike Jr. certainly has the knowledge and he does get the respect. THIS IS ONE COOL KID! Horesepower: Do you find it hard to believe that by adding horsepower to your engine it will live longer and there will be less shock on the driveline - especially when you're starting out with a load on an up hill grade? Think about this; the ECM on today's electronic engines holds back fuel until there is about 8 psi of turbo boost. At that point, the ECM will now release fuel and within seconds it's time to upshift because the RPM is around 1800 and the electronic governor is cutting back the fuel. Now, during the shift, the entire turbo boost is lost and the ECM won't release fuel until is sees about 8 psi; thus you have what the industry calls Turbo Lag. Its not turbo lag, its ECM lag, and when trying to upshift going up a hill from a standing start it's extremely annoying and hard on the driveline because of the manner in which the fuel is released to the engine. I call it shift, push on the accelerator, wait, and accelerate. Now what is the cure for this annoying lag? Simply install the Pittsburgh Power Performance Computer and the lag is gone. This computer will release fuel at 2 psi. of turbo boost - and that happens almost instantly. It's like driving an older mechanical engine that has been set up. The lag is gone, the waiting to accelerate is gone and the shifts are much smoother and much less strain on the drive line. Your right foot has to push much less on the throttle to make the truck accelerate, and because of this the fuel mileage will improve. You will love to drive this truck. The better the driving experience, the better you will care for the truck. Please help us and your friends. Those of you that read these articles are sharp and know what is going on with your truck. However some of your friends don't take the time to read, and because of this they are not aware of what is going on with their truck. Its very time consuming to try to explain to them everything that you already know, so please if they won't read the performance articles, you read it to them until they understand what is happening. Your efforts will save me, Gary and Pete a lot of time so that we can develop more performance products for you. You help us, we'll help you! Warning: The Diesel General has determined that horsepower and torque are addictive and there is no known cure for the addiction.