mattb73lt

Fiberglass is pretty easy to work with and as JoeH just said, adding strength and reinforcements to the underside can bring back integrity to the overall structure. However, you need to really evaluate the overall condition and the efforts to bring it back as you dig into it. The man hours you expend may be better spent elsewhere, at some point. I had several items on my restoration that I worked on and then found better replacements as I progressed. The fuel tanks were one item. The cab was the other huge one. But, not finding any reasonable replacements, I was forced to proceed on fixing it. Several friends thought it was beyond hope. Just a little food for thought.

You've got your work cut out for you with that hood. I agree with Mean Green with removing the bondo and any other foreign materiel that's been used to repair it in the past. Some of those cracks look pretty significant and my concern there would be loss of strength and rigidity, causing it to flex and deform. I would do the bigger repairs right on the truck like it is to keep it's shape. Then tackle one repair at a time, with the larger ones first to build some strength back into it. It's been a while since I did fiberglass repairs but it's not too hard to do. Do you know anyone who repairs boats or has experience with fiberglass? It couldn't hurt to bend someone's ear to gain some knowledge or some good techniques about how to get it done.

And progress on the little one, too!! He's going to remember all this time spent helping his Grandpa for the rest of his life.

It's looking great. Lot's of progress on it for the last few years.

If you think the bumper, bumper to frame extensions and the frame are all straight, I would look to the front radiator mount as the next point to check. There are two rubber mounts in there that support the entire front clip. They are on the bottom of the radiator support frame to which everything mounts and bears down on. If one has failed it can throw the whole front end off. You can use the same rubber mounts for the cab and transmission there. The originals were slightly different as the back side was cupped and made for a softer mount for the radiator. There's less weight there than on the cab or transmission. You can also shim those mounts with large fender washers to adjust if some thing is bent. Pctures would help to see where your alignment is off, as we're all guessing where things are off.

Wow, you really tore into that quickly!! If you’re that deep into it now, may is a very strong possibility.

Berlin Steel Construction. They were still big when I moved to town, 30 years ago. They’re still in business, but seemed to downsize the yard here.

I always liked those hard nosed R's. There was a steel company in my town that used to run two, long wheelbase, single axles flatbeds with a grapple crane mounted between thw cab and bed. Your's looks clean. You'll probably run right through quickly and have it done. Good Luck!!

Cool family story and what a history with that truck. It must've been quite the trip up and down Route 1 back then!!

Here was a really cool gift my wife and I received from two of her aunts this Christmas. A gingerbread version of our house and barn!! They're non-edible, but highly detailed and accurate. Even if they were edible, could you eat them? Now I have a gingerbread B73 for the collection! I put in two pics of the real ones.

Excellent work!! Merry Christmas!!

Drive line swaps are usually the easiest way to make an older truck more "roadworthy". A lot of more modern components will bolt right up to an original frame. Switching to a single axle arrangement can be done, but you're not going to split a tandem/bogie arrangement into a single axle. You'll need four spring perches and parallel leaf springs and a different axle. A complete frame swap can be another way to go, like putting an entire 1 1/2 ton GMC dually frame under it. Another benefit of a modern drivetrain is if you are far from home and you happen to breakdown fixing it is a lot easier than something that's vintage. Bringing modern amenities (A/C ,Power steering/brakes, cruise control) can be a lot easier to do. Sheetmetal can be another issue. The cabs usually aren't too bad, as they were all pretty small back then. The front end is usually the hard part. Re-scaling the sheetmetal to look right is a task. Resizing fenders to fit smaller diameter wheels, shortening hoods, shrinking radiator shrouds. As you can see from some of the pictures offered above, some get it right and some don't. It's really up to you and your resources as to what you can do. Talk to people, go to truck shows, internet searches can all help you develop a plan to move forward with to built what you want.

Chuck Roser, kingofsalvage.com. He has them and some other B Model parts, too. Same parts for the cab and engine, $135 a set(4).

That's looking pretty good! Really complete and relatively rust free. The areas I always look at seem solid from the photos. Sills, floor and cab back look real good. If that's all going if the price is right, I don't think you'll go wrong. Is this for the B81 or just to have?

I was just hunting around on Ebay Motors and came across an ad for a NOS 90's DM cab for.........$12,000.00!!!! I mean it's beautiful, but $12K???? It's just the shell. Wasn't like it was fully dressed out and ready for paint.

Depends on a lot-general condition(dents, rot?), complete(doors, glass, seats, glovebox door, instrument panel, ashtray). I would think a good, complete cab needing minimal repair for paint and use might go $2K. Needing work and parts $1k. Pictures of what you're looking at would be a big help. A lot also depends on you and your abilities. If you can do the work yourself, it'll save you a lot. If you're going to send it out to a shop and have someone else do the work that could get really expensive and lead to issues of it not satisfying your expectations when done. If it is nice it could save you a lot of time and money, helping your project along. You also might get a good deal if the owner knows it's going to a good project and is friendly with you and needs to get rid of it?

I believe they’ve found the newer gas doesn’t cause the valve and seat wear they thought it would. I’ve run older engines and haven’t had issues due to it. The engines I have had rebuilt, I did specify new valves with hardened seats. Mostly because they were worn and I wanted them to last. That’s been several Model T’s, flathead V8 and the ‘41 Cadillac I run. I’ve driven all extensively. There have been recommendations about adding Marvel Mystery Oil or 2 stroke oil when you fill up your tank I’ve read about.

That looks fantastic!! Don't forget the little rubber bumpers in the upper corners for the glove box door.

You should be able to get those pretty easily. Mack, NAPA, Fleetpride. Several Mack engines use those, END-673, ENDT-673, ENDT-675. I don't have a part number for you, but they shouldn't be to hard to track down. Mack 573GB257A, 573GB260 maybe?

There you go, progress!!!

Who was that, if you know?

Well, I have a bunch to do and I need to finish the B73 when I get it back in the spring. First, clean up my shop, it looks like it exploded when I was trying to finish the bed. Second, I still have to finish the ‘41 cruiser for the State Police Museum. Then, my cousin called me about doing some work on his M38A1 jeep. Not sure about the Jeep, usually I frown on working on relatives vehicles. I’ve had several people ask me about doing projects for them, but that can turn into a can of worms. If I was closer to you, it might be possible.

First load on it's back. Put them both in storage for the winter this morning. Also, the first time since '98 the B73 hasn't been hiding somewhere in my yard. Rode really nice with the Caddy on it and pulled some pretty big hills better than I thought it would. Lots of looks and thumbs up going down the highway.

You can easily do a single spin on. I did this to my NH220 in my B73 from a canister filter to a spin on filter.

The B Model's are easy, same as 2 1/2 and 5 ton military trucks and plentiful. The L clutch pad is a different shape, being taller in the center. Early 60's-70's Ford and International trucks trucks are kind of similar, but I think they maybe too small. Steele Rubber Products has a large selection, but nothing specific for the L I saw. A temporary solution would be to find one that's too large and trim it to cover the pedal, then glue it to the pedal. Also, just keep asking around, one may surface that's usable.