mattb73lt

Can't wait to move to a warmer area to lesson the amount of time I have to do this. Last week putting some of the toys away, until spring. Damn.

The back half to my project. 21' Jerr-Dan Roll Back with a wood inlay. Had to move it again for some yard work. The motivating issue is the space it takes up and four moves for storing this body.

This is a scan of a Polaroid of the truck that the original owner gave me. He leased to Krajak(?) Tank Lines out of New Jersey. The truckers called the company Krackerjack. The owner had it painted on the bumper along with Popcorn and Peanuts. The owner of the company hated the nickname. The truck was all pinstriped up as you can barely make out and was two tone green over red. The Autocar scan was from his follow-on truck in the same colors.

It looks like it's in your house!

It's in the side area of my shop. The Wife might get a little pissed if I dragged that in!!

Current pics of it in storage. The cab is going to be the hardest part as it has the most issues. Engine is ready for paint. Transmission is rebuilt. Now just to get started.

OK, so the find story. Back then I was a Trooper assigned to the Aviation Unit, I've retired since. We had three Cessna 182's we did various things with, including marijuana eradication. Our Narcotics Unit had found a grow in the Northwestern part of the state and set up on to try an catch the guy growing it as it was on public land. Days go by and they catch the guy tending his grow on a Sunday.. I got called out to pick up another Trooper as a spotter that afternoon because they want to make sure they cut it all down and there aren't anymore hidden grows. We get there and the ground guys are nowhere near ready to go in the woods to start. We have some time to kill so we do some sight seeing around a local lake. On the far side of it I spot a junkyard. I was always on the hunt for rusty metal back then and knew just about where every derelict truck was due to the job. we head over there and make a pass. I was disappointed because it was all modern cars and of no value to me.

As we pull off, I turn left and see a contractor's yard with some trucks. As we pass over I spot on the edge of the woods a bunch of dead trucks. One of which gets my interest but I can't make it out because it has no hood or radiator. I come around again dropping some flaps to slow down and decending for a better look. After a few passes I'm pretty sure I struck gold and have some find of a B-70 series with an L cab.

The guys were ready now to do the eradication, so we go back there. I made a note of what town it was in and how to get there. Monday I go to work and I'm trying to find out who's yard it was and how do I contact the owner. A friend of mine was the Resident Trooper in that town so I call him up. One of his Officers knows the owner, gives me his name, number and says he's a real nice guy and to just call him. I do and arrange to meet with him the next weekend. I do and he says a guy was out last year and wanted the tanks off it, but told him the whole thing goes as he didn't want to break it up. He never came back. So now I know he'll part with it, I just don't know what he'll take for it. So I ask him, bottom line what'll you take for it( I hate negotiating). He say's, same as the last guy.....$1800. I almost fainted, here was the B Model I was always hunting for and minus the engine was complete and unmolested. I couldn't get the word sold out of my mouth fast enough.

That's how I came to own this B-73. As a side note- I researched the truck and got the build records from the Mack Museum. In there was the original owners name and the town he lived in. Around 2004 I searched the phone book and came across the same name, slightly different address. Out of the blue I call the number and a gentleman answers. I explain who I am and the truck I have and that I was looking for it's original owner. He says hold on and hands the phone to his father and says you need to talk to this guy. It's the original owner, 46 years later!!! He gets all excited that the truck is still around. I make arrangements for him to come see it at my house. He was about 83 or so and had a HUGE smile on his face the whole time. He gave me a few pictures of the truck when he owned it and had it all pinstriped up. As he was leaving he turns to and says, " Thank you so much, you made an old man's day" .

Been sitting on this since I found it back in Aug '98. It was missing the engine, the owner took it out and put it in a B-81. It was rough but all there, including the radiator and hood. It has a double-over Triplex in it with a clutch brake. The cab was the worst part with the typical L Model issues and rust, but fixable. It was converted to a tandem with a set of R Model axles. The owner kept the original axle though and it came with the truck. This was always my favorite B Model set up, cab, radiator and fuel tanks. Just loved the lines and stumbled upon this one only by luck. I had nowhere to store it as a complete truck, so I disassembled it and stored it around the inside of my barn since then to preserve it until I got to it. Collected up what was missing, to include a pretty fresh NH-220 to replace the missing one. Found a roll-back equipment body/deck for it to haul my toys around. Been picking away at various parts of it when time permits and finally getting to it. It's going to get a frame stretch for the roll-back, Budd hubs for polished ALCOA rims, polished tanks and radiator and original red paint. With luck and perserverance it should'nt take as long as I've had it stored.

It outclasses all the others by a wide margin