Firemack

Hi Guys, We had an article written about our Radnor Fire Company B 75 Pumper in the Philadelphia Inquirer this weekend. It is a good article and describes the history of the truck and has some good pictures. I thought you might find that a little press on the B models a good way for us to keep the rest of the world up on how we keep to Old Iron going! Here is the link: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/ma...dnor_celeb.html Firemack

The CF Aerialscope looks great. I do not have a CF and I do not think we have any site members with a CF aerialscope. I am a firefighter and live about 100 miles from New York City and have some connections with FDNY that might be able to get you the details or a picture from the remaining FDNY CF aerialscopes that are in reserve. I know that Allentown PA still has a Mack CF Aerialscope in service and although I do not know anyone personally I am sure we can get you a contact there if that would work. Keep up the good work and how about doing a Mack B Model Pumper? or B Model Ladder, I have 1955 B model ladder in the next fire station if that would be a good next model project for you! Good Luck, Firemack

Yes they are spot welded to the dash. You can buy new dash hinges from Matt Pfahl if you need them. Firemack

Sounds like from your description you are connecting the switch to the positive side of the battery, this truck is positive ground if it has not been changed. Connect the batteries with positive to ground and see what you get. The horn may be the only item that will work with polarity reversed. Firemack

Looks Great, How about putting up all of your models together for a group picture?

Anyone know if they got this truck back in service yet? I found a CF Cab from refurbed truck that is available, contact Firemack if this CF Cab is still needed for details. Firemack

CF Dieselman Have you changed anything on the engine recently that might have caused the problems? Changed the timing, adjusted the valves etc? It is not likely that you have any problem with the dual iginition system. You can check that by running on one, then the other, then both while hot to see if you get any change in performance- however I doubt that the ignition is the problem unless you changed the timing on both distributors recently and then started to have these problems. More likely is the fuel system- it could have vapor lock and fuel starvation when hot, the fuel pump could be the problem- or the fuel pickup in the tank could clogging and be causing the fuel starvation. Set up a fuel pump pressure gauge inline (with a temporary "T" fitting) so you can run the engine and monitor the fuel pressure (while revving the engine or driving) to see if it drops when hot or when pushing the engine. You should have between 5-6 pounds (check the 707 specifications) if it is running out of fuel you will see a drop in pressure and then it will start to run poorly. You may have a tank mounted pump or engine mounted pump or both, and will be need to monitor at the carb to see what is happening. Let us know what you find out. Firemack

Hi Morgan, I found that someone plugged the rocker arms with a brass bushing- I looked at the other rockers (from the spare engine and saw no plugs-then called the mack Museum to confirm) and then removed all of the brass plugs- now it is getting oil to the rockers- so I think we solved that problem. I also dropped the pan and did shim the oil pressure regulator spring with .005 washer and now have 35 pounds at idle hot- and 50 pounds on the governor- settles at 42 pounds running down the road- not quite enough to meet the spec- I am going to drop the pan one more time and put one more .005 shim to bring that pressure up another 5-10 pounds running, and I think it will bring the idle pressure up to about 40 pounds hot. I am running 20-50 oil so think that is about as heavy as the old 30 weight oil. The other B75 (B75F1001) in Malvern with the identical 464 has about 40 pounds at idle hot and about 60-65 running down the road. Hopefully I won't have any more rocker shaft wear and the truck really sounds good with the valves getting oil- and all the exhuast leaks repaired (also used the spare donor exhaust manifold rear section- and machined the whole manifold so have a very nice surface that sealed the exhuast nicely. Hopefully I can bring it up to Macungie and see you there. I can send you a 4X6 Picture or 8X11 let me know and send me your address in an email message. That should make the old guy happy to know that old 464 went to good use! Later Firemack.

WellDigger, Your 1968 Mack should be postiive ground unless someone converted it. You can look at the batteries and see if they are grounded on postiive side to confirm, or if no batteries are installed you can check the terminal size on the ground and confirm using the size of the terminals to check. If you decide to change the polarity there are several items you need to revise- 1. any radios will not convert with out and inverter. 2. the Generator or Alternator will need to be reset (reploarized) for negative ground, 3. the terminals will need to be switched so the battery cables are set to accept a negative ground. I am sure if you can check on google- you can find a detailed explanation on how to swtich polarity and more details. Good Luck, Firemack

I have the MACK Thermodyne ENF 464 B (Gas) which we rebuilt- it has all new bearings, valves, reground crankshaft, etc. The one item I could not find was a new or rebuilt oil pump. I found another 464 engine and the oil pump was in very good condition- and had better than factory clearances. We installed that oil pump as it met specifications. On start up we have about 45 PSI running cold, 38 PSI idling cold , Running hot about 35-40 PSI, idling hot 15-20 PSI. The Mack Manual calls for 15-20 idling hot, 45-60 running. Obviously this engine is not getting up to 45-60PSI running. Now for the problem: I was re-torquing the heads and found that some of the rocker arms are not getting oil, and those without oil have several thousands wear in 1000 miles since the engine was rebuilt. It appears that the lack of oil is causing the wear on rockers that do not get oil, which are the farthest from the oil source (the front rocker stand feeds the rocker shaft). Anyone ever have this problem? I am thinking that the oil pump is within specifications -so they only other item could causing low oil pressure is the spring that regulates the oil pressure- it may not meet specifications- and my thought is to add a shim (a washer about .003 in thickness) under the spring to increase the oil pressure- which in turn should hopefully provide enough pressure to oil to all of the rocker arms. Any other ideas? Thanks Firemack

Hi Art, I have a set of West Coast mirrors I took off of our B75 Open cab, they appear to be standard west coast mirrors and brackets, but looked nice on our truck , however I wanted to return it to original so took them off and saved them. Let me know if you still need a pair, Firemack

Mack Firetruck Fans, Looks like a Type 75 pumper is for sale on Ebay in Maryland, David, maybe you should buy this one for parts- or Speed can use it for parts for his truck. Hope it finds a good home- maybe someone here will get it. Item 300102145610 Firemack

John Nice truck- where is it from originally? Cal Little in Hummelstown PA has an L model in his yard and I think it still has the ladder brackets on it. He also has wooden ladders, so might be able to take care of both items. 717-566-8973. Have fun with your new toy! Firemack

Rob, I agree, I think that is the problem. If he loosens the pinch bolt and adjusts the end so it is in the position to allow it to engage without interferance then he can adjust for the proper freeplay. Firemack

Bob, I replaced my clutch pressure plate and throwout bearing last year (I actually had them relined etc. as they don't build new ones or rebuilt for 1954 trucks!). That cost was about $600. However if your trans is similar to mine- the clutch cross shaft has a fork on the throwout bearing that has and grooved shaft at the end of the shaft and a adjustable fitting with a pinch bolt to hold it in place, you can loosen the pinch bolt, slide the fitting off and move it one or two grooves in the direction needed to get the shaft to move the throwout bearing closer to the pressure plate and that could solve your problem as it may have been adjusted incorrectly. It could be that after you adjust the position of the fitting there is no more play and then you know you need to replace the clutch. I would recommend that you also get a copy of the drivers manual for a CF that will provide proper adjustment for the clutch. ( this is explained better in the driver's manual than in the shop manual). This way you can see where the fittings are in the original factory settings and make sure that they are installed correctly to start. There is also an adjustment bolt on a roller bearing that also needs to be adjusted so you have both a rough (move the fitting) and fine adjustment (adjust the bolt) that can be used to get the clutch to work nicely. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress, Firemack

Hi Freightrain, Nice Story! Great looking B, glad to see you got her and keep her looking good! Is your race car one of those rare Fairlanes that came from Ford race prepared? Firemack

When I was a boy, I was always looking at the B Model Fire truck -named Wayne 2 at the Radnor Firehouse- they had 4 Macks then- 3 L models and 1 B model- I always liked the L models but just loved the B model- it was an open cab, and had no muffler-you could hear her start up and you knew where the fire was just by listening to Wayne 2. Well the Macks got sold one by one and then one day in 1973 the old B Model was gone- it got sold- to another fire company in Rockingham Vermont. I joined the fire company in 1980 and always loved riding on the back step- and then moved up to driving- back then we had Hahn 8v71-Detroits with Fuller roadrangers (without the top) so they were limited to 5 speeds, man could they roll! But I always wanted to track down old Wayne 2, but we had no place to keep it, so it was just another idea that maybe we could find it someday. In 1997 we finally built a new firehouse- and it had an extra long bay for an extra truck- and then-we have another local fire company in Malvern PA that has a B model and they loaned it to us for our celebration parade for the new firehouse. By chance I was the lucky engineer that was selected to drive the B model in the parade- and that was it- we were HOOKED- we just had to find our old B Model! I worked for a company that had office in New Hampshire- so I tracked down the chief of the Rockingham Fire Company in Vermont to see what had happened to our old B Model- and guess what? It was still in service as the first out pumper in 1997- at 43 years old! The only problem was they were still using it and did not want to sell her! I convinced them to let me see the old B model-so I drove from New Hampshire to visit old number 2- he took me for a ride at 15 degress in the open cab with no heater in Janaury and I took pictures- ow-wow-they had painted her school bus yellow!! I checked back with them every year or so- and finally in 2002 they got 2 new pumpers and would be willing to sell the old B Model- for the right price- well turns out that we offered $5000 less $750 for pump repairs and got her for $4250. I went to pick her up with a team of 4 drivers- 2 of the original engineers that drove her back in the day- my counterpart in the project Rick was one and was in the company when she first arrived! We started on the trip to drive her back to Pennsylvania on July 20, 2002, and she ran terrible- they had not drained any of the old fuel- the brakes were on the floor, but we got her onto Route 93 and started south- she was doing better 61-62-63-64 MPH but then she refused to go over 30 mph, we stopped to check it out and thought maybe we had a fuel problem- but never was able to get her over 30 mph the rest of the trip, and got back to Wayne around midnight- but had an adventure! Took me a few days to diagnose the problem - the governor was stuck shut! then she ran pretty good- we took her to Lititz that year- and met up with Watts Mack and with Barry for the first time- and started to figure out how we could restore her back to they way she should be - painted RED! It took us about 18 months with lots of help from the community to tear her down in the fire house and rebuild the engine,brakes and all other mechanicals and get her body repaired, painted and we reassembled her and then took Wayne 2 to the first parade on Memorial Day-May 31, 2005. Since then Wayne 2 is the signature truck for the company, the B model gets invited to lots of events and parades- and was judged Best Appearing and Equipped Fire Company owned Antique in the 2006 Pennsylvania State Fire Convention- over 400 trucks were in the parade- and about 40 were antiques- so the B model was selected as the best of the best! Now she sits proudly in the the Radnor Firehouse- and just like when I was a boy- I still love Wayne 2, the old B model- and she still has an open pipe-and she sounds great when we take her out!

WJ- The pump panel should have a small aluminum plate with the pump info and truck serial number. If not check on the right side frame above the right front spring- it may be stamped on the frame- they did stamp the serial number info in the frame on the B Models- not sure if this is true on the earlier models. Also check for the engine serial number on the boss right beside the waterpump on the right front of the engine block- just near the timing gear cover. It should have a stamped number starting with ENF (f for fire truck). Once you have the engine identified then you should have most of the info you need. Good luck and also if you post a few pictures most of us can identify the model for you. Firemack

Wow- That is some Mack Power and durability! That Mack takes a beating and comes back ticking, incredible that much horsepower and torque and that Mack just lifts the wheels right off the ground! R models are incredible tough, no wonder we see so many in New York and Phildelphia getting the S**T beat out them on the road everyday and they keep going day in and day out! Thanks for posting the videos!

Mack was always known for tough trucks and Mack over-built the components and offered a complete all MACK truck which was able to withstand the toughest on road- off road and overload conditions that are common in the construction and oil field industries. When the other manufacturers of over the road trucks offered cheaper component-built trucks- many companies and individuals bought them because they would work as over the road trucks. Mack did not really offer an over the road truck or compete in the over the road truck market until late in the R model series and then the CL model came out- and they finally offered a component built truck by offering non Mack components to be competitive in that market. For Mack to continue to develop new technologies and stay in business they need to sell enough trucks to offset the cost of all the new engineering and manufacturing costs- if they can spread that cost over more trucks (with Volvo) then they should be competitive and sell more trucks- and take a bigger piece of the heavy (class 8) truck market. However the primary concern is that most traditional Mack customers still want a true Mack-All Mack truck- which Volvo corporate needs to understand and make available to those customers who want to order ALL MACK trucks- as well as offer the Mack trucks with Cummins- Detroit and other drivetrain components to stay price competitive in the over the road marketplace- that does not need or demand the Mack durability for off road-on road and construction/oil field type service. So- Mack needs Volvo to help with the engineering and develoment costs to keep Mack competitive and Volvo needs Mack and the Mack nameplate and market share- and we all hope will keep offering an All Mack truck as well as price competitive Mack with other drive train components. Let's hope Volvo listens to the Mack customers and understands that they need to keep both the Mack and Volvo trucks available. Barry thanks for keeping this site going so Volvo and Mack corporate can check in on what the customer's really need and want in a new MACK truck.

Hi Mc OZ Great story we know about the heavy duty Mack's from down under- I visited numerous times and loved to see the AU Macks at work! How about posting some pic's of the old flintstone? Firemack

B ner I have heard various ideas on how to install a power steering unit on a Bmodel. Does it have air or hydraulic, if it has air there is air assist unit, if you have hydraulic, the you can add a hydraulic pump on the back of the generator and that then supplies the power assist mounted on the tie rod and frame. I have heard there is a new hydraulic unit/power assist available but you would have to check on theis site's classified list, or maybe one of the other guys on this site can add to the post with the right contact to purchase the unit. Good luck and have fun with the B! Firemack

Hi Beachbud, Very Nice B85 pumper, was it just painted? Where are you located, that would make a nice parade truck or muster truck, it has a lot of options that are unique for 1958, the rear fenders and compartments are different than most of the others from that timeframe, and the hose reels are mounted very high. Thanks for posting the pictures, it is great to see another good looking B model firetruck! Firemack

Hi Trashman, Welcome to our world of Old Macks! You description of the old Mack DM was great, most of us like the smell, feel and the whole experience of the old Macks. Nothing wrong with a new work truck but it just isn't the same as DRIVING a real truck! Welcome,again and good luck finding the R model. Firemack

B61sleepercab, Great story! sounds like you had a lot fun getting the old girls going. I love the naming conventions and fuzzy buzzard 's comments- sounds like you will have a lot more fun getting them road worthy. How about posting some pcitures.. Firemack