Freightrain

All done. Finally. Glad I won't have to do this for another 40 yrs!! Jim if you thing my attitude is bad now.....you should see me at work....lol!! Thanks Rob for the research and information. Guess I'll be on the long road in search for an axle(with brakes).

Rant ON: I'm sure most have heard about this: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-jersey-school-bus-crash-driver-illegal-u-turn-officials-say/ By the first pictures yesterday it looked odd. I was having problems coming up with a scenario that made sense in how it all happened. Then today it is stated the driver made a U turn on the highway?? Really?? How stupid can you get? My suspicions were right, there is a turn around directly behind where the bus is sitting. They basically pulled out in front of a loaded dump truck! Ya, that would make the body fall off the chassis! After almost getting run over by a bus last week coming to work on my Harley, it just burns my ass who they have driving anymore. Just as clueless as ever. "They" seem to have a complex when they get behind the wheel, and figure they are king of the road and you will bow to them. Or they think they are just driving a minivan and not a 45ft long bus. Just last summer I re-sodded a portion of my yard, and some of it was along the street and around the corner. Come school time, the bus decided it didn't want to swing out and they started driving through my yard and continued all winter. I put metal fence posts up to mark it and the very next day they were flattened into the dirt. I just finally pulled them straight, painted them RED and some how they realized they might not be driving on the road. Been a week now and the post are still up? Of course school is out in a few weeks. I'll have 3 months to get some grass back in. Beside women in minivans, school bus drivers are right up on my list of "Most hated". Rant OFF.

I got the rims all painted last night. Ugh...what was I thinking? This was the WORST idea I've come up with in a long time. Should have paid someone to spray everything. In all, they turned out okay. Better then the crusty looking mess that it was.........but it was wayyy to daunting to do this with a brush. I don't have the open space to mask and paint 6 truck rims or I might have considered that. I'll be getting them put back on the truck this weekend, so I'll post pictures.

Sad story......... I had an elderly friend with an all steel 32 Ford roadster he bought in california in 1962, drove home and restored. He got caught "driving it too much"(like two nights in a row on the cruise strip) and was told he needed to put regular plates on it. That is the only time I have ever heard of anyone getting grief about historical plates. And then I see these rusty bucket of bolts '90's pickups with historical tags driving around town all the time. WTH? I have three vehicles with hist tags, but they only go out 1-2 times a month any more, and more likely even less these days.

I see way too many junkers with hist tags running around because people are just cheap and they only have to buy them once.

I too put Historical plates on my 'B61 15 yrs ago. Yes, the DMV gave me dirty looks and "you better not be using this commercially" comment. No problems. With these plates, you don't need any DOT number or IFTA. Just don't get caught hauling freight or doing something "illegal" LOL!! I use my truck to pull my 40ft race car trailer everywhere. I'm skirting that grey area of the law, but so far, so good. I have my CDL, so I don't worry about being hassled.

Originally I figured the pin might be the same and just swap hubs from another axle. Then heard it was not that easy.

Budds would be fine but seems that axle is hens teeth. Or converting my FA 517 over is not as simple? This was a quick way to freshen them up. Not persay the easiest?? I do have the hubs to convert the rears back over to Budd like when I bought the cut off. I kept all that stuff.

Well, after quite some time I finally set up a day to get this started. I found a local dustless blasting to come to the house and clean everything. That worked pretty well. Only problem was the weather turn to crap when he was almost done. It quit enough for him to finish, then it drizzled for quite some time and that really put a damper on me getting the coatings applied. I'm using KBS coatings. You basically need to get 2 coats of sealer and one topcoat on within a day or you have to sand or re-etch. So that really put me under the gun. I gave up on doing the truck(since it was outside) and worked on the rims. I got them coated and then opened my top coat color and realized it was WRONG!!!!! UGH! It was way too dark for my liking, I wanted it to be like the light grey sealer color. I called my buddy and he is sending me the aluminum color instead, and if it is too light I can use the dark grey to tint it to my liking. He is also sending me a spray can of etching primer so I don't have to sand(Ugh, I hate sanding...especially these rims with all the crevices). I did get the front hubs coated and painted Monday night. I then did the rear hubs last night. Just waiting on my top coat and should have it back on its wheels this weekend. In all the coatings worked fine. How I did it...................NEVER AGAIN!!!! Geez, what a back breaker hand painting all that with a 2" brush. If you ask a painter, they hate mechanical work. A mechanic....ya, not much for painting. I should have sprayed it all, but didn't want to get into masking the rims. I don't really have the room to do all that. The hardest part with the coating was how thin it was. It was a very, very fine line between coverage and running all over the freakin' place. I had to keep rotating the wheels and hubs to keep the runs to a minimum. I just don't have the patience for this kind of stuff.

Very sorry Paul.

Septic company "We're #1 in #2"

Thus the true statement..................the larger the garage, the more crap you accumulate! I went from a 2 car to a 4 car and I still have to crawl over stuff to get anywhere. WTH? Glad to see you have the time to get after some of it.

No body lines.........like a....

Nope, don't need the rear door for anything. Finally did a google maps and can see the layout and where we are parking. Looks like a really big asphalt lot. https://goo.gl/maps/Sf4XiBzUSe82

I'm still flying on a whim about trying to leave my trailer attached? That way I have power to the trailer. If it don't work out, so be it. I'll put the trailer in the unloading lot and still sleep in it. I have LP, so I'll have hot water and frig power. Just no 120v for microwave or fluorescent lights. I get near daily emails from the big house, same basic format letter begging for help and telling me "Everything will be okay". The only map was posted on FB.

In my little part of Hell, they deem what it is by pure definition so there is no getting around it. It can be FOUR things: car, pickup, boat, camper. If not one of those, it can't park on less then ONE acre. No weights, lengths, license plate, nothing. I'm only 1/2 acre. I can't add on to my garage or put up another building as I'm already at max allowable sq footage for outbuildings. I can't put up a wood shed! I already asked. You have 2.5 acre, so there has to be some leeway? Or do they just consider you "commercial" and it is not zoned "commercial".

Let me know if you need parking. Shouldn't be a problem. I haven't planned any travels yet. Looks to be about 5 hrs from home. Got plenty of emails from ATHS, they are trying to keep you informed to a point. Got til the 19th to pre register. We'll see.

Another craiglist: https://cleveland.craigslist.org/hvo/d/mack-superliner-v8/6574550530.html Mack Superliner tri-axle dump -E9-500 V8 -10 Speed -329,000 Miles -58 Rears -80% Tires and brakes -Aluminum Body -Pintle hook W/ Air to the Rear -Double Frame -New Tarp -Runs and Drives like new it's ready to go to work

Another Craigslist find: https://cleveland.craigslist.org/hvo/d/1963-mack-coe-semi-truck/6568233401.html 1963 Mack Coe Semi Truck - $7500 1963 MACK COE SEMI, MACK ENGINE, 5 SPEED HI AND LO, RUNS GREAT. USED FOR PLEASURE, PARADES AND LOCAL SHOWS. FRAME AND UNDERSIDE IS IN MINT COND, CAB IS GOOD HAS SOME RUST AAROUND RAIN GUTTER AND ON PASSENGER SIDE CAB CORNER. GREAT TRUCK TO RESTORE OR DRIVE LIKE IT IS. ASKING 7500.00 PLEASE CALL OR TXT TODD

Found this on Craigslist: https://akroncanton.craigslist.org/hvo/d/1959-mack-fire-truck/6541490732.html 1959 mack fire truck - $3000 (Medina) Gas motor 1959 mack fire truck motor seems locked up 19k original miles super solid frame and body $3k for whole truck might start parting out call Eric for parts list 330 388 ten 27

Stay strong Mike.

Definitely BIG sky country! I woulda picked smaller trees to plant myself...............LOL!!

I have thoughts of going. Weather will determine if I actually go or not. If it is going to rain for 3 days, I'm staying home. It has been a real fustercluck with ATHS and getting real life information about this show. They finally put a map up on the FB page about a week ago? I want to hook up with a bunch of old time friends and this is the only place I get to do it.

Went through this 15 yrs ago after I moved. My zoning says "no semi-trucks outside on less then 1 acre". A semi truck is "not a car, pickup, boat, camper". That narrows it down pretty well. I went to zoning, tried for variance. No good. They gave me a year(since I just moved in) to do something with it. I figured it was a neighbor that turned me in, but I have lots of duplex(rentals) so they come and go like water. I think likely a township truck saw it? Anyway, I had to cut the wall out of my garage and put a barn door in to be able to get it inside. It fits, as you have seen. A tarp or fence was NOT an option. There was NO getting around it. I showed where I parked it, it has historical tags on it, blah, blah, blah. Nope, no good, nothing got it away from their "semi truck" description. I do leave it out occasionally and don't worry much. Any of my adjoining neighbors have no issue with it, as they are all long time residents. Unless you can show there are others in your area with trucks and can convince them they have to take care of all them first? It's a stretch.