mattb73lt

The fastening system for this deck was originally self tapping screws into the cross members. I'm going to use the same thing. I'll drill and then countersink the holes to keep the heads below the surface. the wood is Apitong and very dense and hard. It's very durable, nearly impervious to rot and doesn't really swell.

PAI might be a source? When I did my Cummins NH220 over this past winter, most everything came from them. Liner/ Piston kit was around $1500. They had gaskets kits a several things no one else did.

That's a great truck. Hopefully, the rain will hold off and you can enjoy the trip and show.

I have it all cut out and placed, minus the very last boards. Those need to be ripped down to a specific size once all the other boards are set in place. I was short one board that I had to run back over to get. Now I have enough to finish. Tomorrow, I’ll start screwing everything thing down. I’ve got almost 1,000 screws to drill in and that’ll take some time. Hopefully, the rain will hold off tomorrow.

I could be way off here, so please disregard if so. I was under the assumption that early Mack’s were of the 6 volt variety. This comes from fire trucks I’ve worked on. The earliest being a 1934 BG. If so, 6 volt parts don’t always do well getting 12.

If I stop, I may have a hard time getting going again. Besides, I need to get this done before I lose the outside weather and I'm freezing my ass off. I did spend last weekend on Nantucket with the wife and friends.

Trying to get my lay out right on the decking to create as little waste as possible. Not matter how I do it, I’ll probably need to get a few extra boards due to where the crossmembers fall. I’ll need to trim all of them to get the joints to fall on a crossmember to secure the ends.

It has been a long time, welcome back!

Not sure there are many left in our area this year. Looking to bring it to our club luncheon up at Matt Pfahl's on Sunday the 29th.

That's Tucker, "The Super Mutt", eyeballing me. Great dog and loves to hang out with me.

Tail lights are done. I just need to finish the deck lights and add a light for the plate. Took it out for a test drive for the first time since adding the deck on. Completely different ride with the extra weight. Smooth, no hopping around over bumps. Just a few more things to do and I should be onto the deck wood next week, the last big thing to do to it and some small stuff to finish. I added a side shot to the post, quite the long truck, now!!

I would wait also, until you’re ready to put it on the road and for the same reason. I bought some “yard rollers” for my project. They were round and held air. Then bought what I needed as I got closer to the road.

I put the pictures in sequence on the previous page to show it.

No, you got it right. Lower the gear, bring the body back and then lower the bed by raising the gear. The gear controls the rate and angle of the bed. Once the load is on the deck, start retracting the bed. Lower the gear which raises the bed, before you pass the center of gravity or the bed will raise itself without control.

Mechohaulic, That's not a lever, it's a chain binder from when I had it strapped to the bed of the other truck. There are two screen chain pockets on either side of the winch area for storage. Future plans have two polished aluminum storage boxes on either side of the frame. I'm looking for two vertical chain storage lockers to mount on both sides of the head board. Probably pin striping and door lettering to dress it up a little and finish it. It does look good, though!

Works been kinda busy. So, not a lot of time to spare. I did fabricate the tail light bracket and have them roughed in. Paint and wiring next then the bed decking next.

It is sad that a lot of the skills and knowledge to manufacture parts like that are disappearing. When I see a raw casting like that, my mind immediately goes to how I need to set it up to machine it into a useful part. That comes from my technical education in high school taking a Machine, Tool & Die course. At the state technical school I went to we had a huge machine shop and a large class. The classes behind us were smaller each year. The overall school population declined through the years and the state closed it for several years. When it reopened a few years ago one of the shops that was cut was the machine shop. One of the largest spaces in the school is now occupied by a Nursing course. I went there nearly 40 years ago and still call upon what I learned there all the time. The younger generation doesn't seem to have much interest in learning hands on skills anymore. It gets harder every year to find places to do work like what you've shown.

No, it’ll gravity dump if you don’t put the leg down and then run the body out. It operates a little different than the Chevron deck on the other truck. That one is power up and down.

This should help. The long piston pivots with the deck.

It works. I still need to get another pail of hydraulic oil to fill it completely. No leaks, except for one fitting I missed when putting all the lines in. Body and tail lights next, then adding on the wood deck. Getting close to having this all wrapped up. you can see from the pictures how the body operates.

Here it is!! A marathon day running around for a few odds and ends to finish before sliding the body on. Quite the day. Seeing it together and how long the complete truck is, amazes me. Thought about this project and piecing it together it seems like forever. My friend's 8K# lift made light work of it. With all it's features, you can twist, crab, tilt and move it any way you need to to get things lined up. Took a bit to do as I was solo because it showed up way earlier than I asked for. Still lots to hook up and get done, never mind putting the deck on. Hydraulics are about 85% done and I have some more electrical stuff to do. But, DAMN, it's in one piece!!!!!

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.

Mechohaulic, it’ll definitely gravity dump if you don’t put the landing gear leg down and run the body back. The sliders are set up with the two frame mounted ones on the inside and the two lift ones on the outside of the two main I-beams that run under the body.

I'm sure the quality of that new casting is way above the original. when I had my frame completely apart all of my aluminum castings were of pretty poor quality, never mind the years of use and corrosion damage. A lot of them needed repair and re-machining.

Painted everything black with POR-15. A lot of this stuff was pretty crusty and had to be rebuilt, mostly the lifting frames and the bed cross members. Everything is heavily coated, but it's unlikely this truck will see Snow and salt again. I got some smaller stuff hooked up today and painted to piston that slides the body. It seemed to be the best was to do it, because it's so long. Next week should see the hydraulic lines go in and some more equipment mounted. I'm thinking later next week I may slide the body back on. I may do it with the other truck by reversing the body on the bed and rolling it onto the new truck. Or, I may call my friend and borrow another lift. That may be the easiest way to do it.