mattb73lt

I heard on the news tonight they're talking about sending 3,000 federal troops to assist. The Guard is usually the first to respond, because they're community based. When I responded to disasters in the past, you usually would position as close as you can and then wait for the weather to clear enough to continue in and pick up your mission set and orientation of the area. I have seen some issues where there are civilian helicopters just showing up. This usually causes choas, loss of control and mid-air hazards. Civilian helicopters are of lesser value because they're usually smaller and have payload limitations. Everyone wants to help, but it needs to be coordinated to be safe and efficient. Title 10 would be the Active Duty troops, Title 32 are your National Guard troops under state control. I actually got paid less and received less benefits when on state active duty than when I was on a normal drill status. But, that's not why we do it. People (our neighbors) need help and we go, in our state or another in need.

It's going to be a slow and painful recovery. I worry that the number of people killed and missing isn't as high as some estimates. That the people will be found in shelters or had been unable to communicate their whereabouts. These are some remote and hard to get to areas and a reason the word has been slow to get out as to the extent of this tragedy. You, your family and neighbors are all in our thoughts and prayers.

Just so sad over this whole disaster. Thoughts and prayers for your neighbors, such a horrible tragedy. The main thing is you and your family are all OK and have shelter. Things can be replaced and seem insignificant compared to loved ones. I'm surprised how long it has taken for the news of this devastating tragedy has taken to get out. I didn’t hear about anything the magnitude of the disaster until you texted my back on Sunday. I was very worried when I didn’t hear from you on Saturday. I only started to see stuff on facebook and YouTube on Sunday, but nearly nothing on the news. My old National Guard unit sent a Chinook down on Friday and has been operating nearly nonstop since it arrived along with several other states. My thoughts and prayers will remain with you and if you need anything please don’t hesitate to ask? Matt

Here's a better picture of the door.

Thanks. I'll get some better pictures, I'm having issues with my phone. I did a lot of research and took a lot of photos of other trucks to come up with this. Tried not to make it look like a fire truck and kept things simple. Borrowed the Mack "M" and spear for my name, though that was a nice touch. The painter was really into it and doing a period job to it.

And a little bit of artwork and pin striping to finish things up. A little nod to the original owner by adding his nickname for the company he leased to, Krajack Tank lines out of New Jersey. Just picked up the truck early this morning. What a great job this woman did gold leafing and striping the truck. Really ads to the restoration! 8DA5CA1F-C14E-4FB8-A6AF-49B40B120A8A.heic 4551CA86-9D86-4C0D-A12F-092CAF158FBC.heic

I had those black in my mind. They look better that color. Beautiful job on them!!

Seems like a little dynamic adjustment was in order and saved you some work!!

Time and money are always a factor. Another is the mess it's going to make where you do it. I have a couple of places I used to have large pieces sandblasted. I don't have a yard where I can create that kind of mess, so it's worth it to me to have someone else do it. Plus, I don't have any of the equipment necessary to do it properly.

What position is your starter on the bell housing? There's a lower right, down on the passenger side. Also, upper left on the driver's side, between the block and steering column. Mine is on the upper left, which I think is the harder location. I bent up a spare 5/8" wrench to reach it from the inside of the cab after removing the floor boards to access the area.

You really have made a lot of progress this year and you're very close to finishing it up. Good luck on your back surgery when it comes and hopefully you'll have a speedy recovery.

That paint looks fantastic!!! Really coming along.

At the Wishes on Wheels Convoy in East Hartford this morning. Got here just after 7AM to line up and a was already truck #187. Thought I’d be at the back, but so many more trucks have shown up I’m about 1/3 back from the front! Still no leaks on the transmission. Gave it an oil and filter change this week. So, everything is running great and closing up on 3,000 miles on it!

They look great!!

The last pieces seem to be the hardest to get done. I don't know if its project exhaustion or just a desire to get it done, but it's hard not to slap it together and finish. It is worth it to test fit them before final painting as working on them after without doing some damage is nearly impossible. Check the fit, profile and all the bolt holes for alignment before paint, a pain in the ass but worth it. They look great, BTW!!

Welcome back and congratulations on the baby and the addition to the fleet!!

It's under cover, it's dry and looks like the place has heat. Not a bad place to work on it.

I know what that's like!!! The roof I used on my cab was pitted and the thought of filling it, then sanding it drove me nuts. Three coats of Hi Build primer and light sanding in between saved some of my sanity. Some of it is just grunt work and time consuming. It's looking so good, now. You'll get through these last few pieces soon enough. It's going to look amazing with your paint combination!!

To me, Teflon tape is a big NO-NO in any automotive application. Pipe dope or thread sealant applied with just enough to accomplish the task and not to excess, where you need to wipe it off when done. So not to repeat, I agree with Joey Mack's statement.

Most of the bearings were easily found. I don't remember which one, but there was one bearing that took quite a bit to get. The shift covers aren't too bad to rebuild, but if the shift rail bores are worn you'll need new covers as I don't think there's a way to reasonably re-bush them. Finding new covers might not be too hard, Matt Pfahl would be my first go to. unless you know of someone closer to you? You can get the gaskets, I have the gasket kit Part number if you need it?

Made it to Lancaster and back without any issues at all. Met up with a bunch of people from here, Red Horse and 70mackMB and several people from FaceBook. Weird how you get to know people from social media, yet you've never met them face to face, no idea what they look or sound like. I suppose that's how we'll meet some of our acquaintances from now on. A good run this morning, before the heat and traffic. The return trip I could do without. About a three hour round trip and about 200 miles and no leaks from the transmission. Two whole days in the truck and a lot of fun was had.

Big day for the B73. Did the whole DreamRide motorcade through several towns in the central Connecticut area. About an 18 mile course with hundreds of cars, fire engines hauling Special Olympic athletes, about 600 of them paired up with drivers and cars. Truck ran perfectly over the route with no issues, but lots of shifting and Jake brake action. A long and fun day. I even rescued one of our vintage State Police cars the decided the quit about 1/2 mile from the end. A really good day. Tomorrow off to the Lancaster, MA show. It should be another great day. Fingers crossed for no issues!

Swapped the fluid today, all new and fresh. Full to the proper level. Ran it 20 minutes and rechecked the level, it’s spot on. Just came home now and checked my drip pan. Not a drop. Tomorrow, off to DreamRide and Sunday off to the Bolton Fairgrounds show in Massachusetts.

The ones on the bed? They were original to it. Thinking about adding some more, but I may just leave it as is. There all new LED types and all fresh wiring.

I went completely through the whole transmission. Replaced all the roller and taper bearings, seals and re-shimmed the shafts. Rebuilt the shift covers, split the cases. All new gaskets and seals. The only thing not replaced were the shell bushings on the sliding gears, which you can’t get anywhere. Everything was cleaned and inspected. It’s been very dry, so far. There’s a little noise from it, but it doesn’t howl. Shifts very smoothly. The original odometer had about 375K miles, when it stopped working. Just an odd occurrence so far. I’ll get it ready for Bolton. That’ll be its longest run so far. 2500 miles on the clock so far with no issues other than this one.