mattb73lt

Thanks for that. It's been a long time since I dragged this truck home. Tough at times to stay motivated, especially with this part of the restoration. It is great getting positive comments and different opinions and ideas as the whole thing is kind've fluid as I move along. Some things I'm set on, but others like products or methods people have used really help. I'm also amazed how long this thread is since I started it way back in 2015. The momentum is definitely building as things get completed.

A little teaser of things to come. Mocked up my mirrors and drilled holes in my brand new door and relocated the holes on the passenger door. Boxed up the mirrors, they shouldn’t be sitting too long!

That's really nice. Would that have the drop floor cab on it, just curious?

I had the idea, at one time, to fix the mechanicals and put it on the road as is. I think the cab would have fallen apart quickly and I would've had nothing to work with. Plus everything was coming apart. This was really the only way to do it.

It did do a lot of damage. The lower and upper center panels were replaced. It crushed the center vertical cab support, bent the center horizontal support and broke the lower rear frame of the cab. All of which have been replaced or straightened. The owner never said how fast he was going, but it had to of been hard or a fast hit.

The original owner told me the story. He came to get his trailer on a Sunday evening to start his week and he thinks some kids cranked it up higher after he left it.

There’s a L model cab, fenders and hood off a fire truck on EBay in Egypt, NJ(?) right now. Don’t know where your located, but there’s stuff out there.

I would say very tough to come by. Once in a while you'll see some pieces come up, a radiator shell, hood. I haven't seen fenders in a while. Cabs are tough, there was one (it was complete) on Ebay last year in Canada. Cabs can be rebuilt and parts fabricated, but it's slow and costly. I'm rebuilding a L cab for my B-73, it's hard and takes a lot of patience. But, keep hunting, you'll stumble on stuff.

Neither can I. Never thought I'd go this far into it. I always liked this cab on the B. I think what saved it and allowed me to go this route was the shoddy repair that was done after the original owner crashed into his trailer after missing the fifth wheel. It was literally pop riveted back together and the two replacement panels were falling off. They did a lot of damage too, as they chiseled the spot welds apart instead of using a cutter. Like i said, I can't wait to get this part done.

I’m pretty well equipped, but once in a while I come up short. It would be nice to have a shear and a brake for fabrication, but I don’t usually get this deep into a vehicle.

I had to special order them. needed them to reach the hard spots. 24" reach!!

Strapped, clamped, bolted and pinned together. Gaps and panels all lined up and now all welded together in one big piece. Just the roof to attach and a whole bunch of fine tuning before bodywork. Big progress in the last few weeks and can't wait to have this part behind me.

Nothing like new. Scored this early N.O.S. LJX (3 hinge, no vent window) door while buying up a bunch of B model parts up in Massachusetts a few years ago. Just needed to remove the forward window channel to make it work. Sanded off the 70+ year old primer to etch prime it. I found one minor ding on the door, but its perfect and will save a lot of time trying to fix the original.

Wow, you guys are cranking right along on that!! Great job.

Wow, that's remarkably intact, especially the interior!! That would be neat to see restored to original.

That is a good point. I'll see if i can source some material that could work. I only have a few pieces that could give a few patterns, but most of the interior was missing. I'm kicking myself I didn't buy one and store it, when i could've.

Lancaster Upholstery no longer makes the cardboard interior panel kit for B or L model cabs, as they can no longer get the cardboard. What is everyone doing for the interior? Does anyone have another source/provider?

The one pictured here is a diesel. I'd say Cummins powered, B73/77, with that badging(that you can't read).

I'd say it's a prototype, the engineering dep't. experimenting. There's some other pics(2) in the B Model books, showing a B-77 with the same serial number. In the second photo it sports a experimental cab with a one piece windshield. Someone told me that that was a fiberglass cab they were working on, but was never produced. Then there were the export B-81's that had integral sleeper cabs. I don't think any of those were offered on the domestic market.

That's lot of work, but worth all of it for the use of the better block. Probably a lot less money, even if you rebuild the new block.

I’m no woodworking expert by any measure. Once I figured out how much of a curve I needed and the area where it needed to be in, I roughed out the mahogany to fit the area, then worked it out where the center needed to be about 7/16” thick and taper down to about 1/16” at each end. I then used a Dewalt hand planer to remove the wood. A regular hand planer would work, too, to shave it down. Now, there’s no void between the sheet metal and the frame. There’s also black tarpaper between the sheet metal and framework, as Mack did at the factory. BTW, you can see the shim peeking out on that interior shot I posted, between the back skin and lower frame.

And it came out quite good!!

Had to get a little creative with my “coach work”. The lower cab frame I had fabricated was made out of three pieces and welded together. The issue with it was it lacked the bow the original had. The upper two frames have it. The bows help keep the sheet metal taught when assembled. Made a template off the upper bows and then made a tapered shim out of mahogany and bonded it to the lower frame. Issue solved!

Back at it after a busy season with the new job and a friend's project the consumed a lot of time. But, I haven't quit and jumped back in this week getting organized again. This doesn't look like much , but it's the first repaired panel permanently re-attached. The cab needs to go over on it's back one more time for a bunch small things to be completed and undercoating. I'm very optimistic for having the cab ready for paint come this spring and my motivation is increasing about it>

I think it is a Ready-Mix. Looks like ones I've seen.