mattb73lt

BTW, apparently tire standards are different or ignored by the State Police, as they appear mismatched and the steers look bald. Or maybe the state was broke back then, too??

I posted this on a couple of pages on Facebook, but thought it belonged here as well. I received it from the President of our Alumni Assoc., where it was recently donated with a stack of old photos. I found it to be very interesting that the State Police would be operating such a vehicle. The information behind it is back during that period was that there was a lot of fraud in commodities that were sold buy weight or volume. Commodities were diluted, contents mixed and swapped, weights and volumes shorted. The State Police, Div. of Weights and Measures was established to combat this and eliminate the fraud as much as possible. At the time Troopers were called Officers and those assigned had various vehicles to go around the state and to collect samples of dispensed items to be checked, inspected and weighed. Today these functions are performed buy the Dept. of Consumer Protection, who go around certifying fuel pumps, weight scales, etc. I'm sure some fraud still goes on today, but probably no where near the scale back then. It would be cool to find a ten wheel BX to restore, maybe as a tractor.

Wow, that really shows well!!

All in primer now! Finished the cowl belt line patches today and primed the lower cowl panels. Now just a lot of small repairs and the windshield area before the body work starts.

I hope so, I’ve got a long way to go to get there. If I don’t, it’ll be close. I am going this Sunday, if the weather is good.

Well, this makes me feel pretty good about the progress on this cab. Everything lines up and it's almost all in one color, instead of the faded paint, primer and rust.

I'll probably look at some of their products to finish this cab. Luckily, I do have new windshield seals I sourced years ago from a guy in Mass.

Scrounging parts, fixing, priming. The finished parts are stacking up, all the frame repairs are complete and it's fully primed. I bought my first gallon of color, to paint all the mating surfaces on the frame. Also bought a ton of nuts, bolts and washers to start assembling the frame. Slow and steady is getting it done.

Still slugging away. Took a break on the cab, after getting the sheet metal back. Doing some chassis work to get the frame mobile again. I have the front axle out and took the front springs to a local shop to be re-arched and matched up. The right spring was really bent and was a lot lower when it was in, even with the empty frame. Three work day turn around and the shop had everything I needed, even for both axles. Cleaned and primered all the parts and the right frame rail, but ran out of daylight to get the left one done.

I lucked out with my B-42. It was owned by a tree company and was mostly used in the summer months and garage kept. It had a shag carpet covering the floor that was soaked in chainsaw oil. The floor and cab back were like factory new, with a sheen of oil on the factory paint. It also had less than 100K on it. It was a really easy clean up and repaint after I converted it to diesel. The B-73, not so much, used hard and then abandoned outside. That definitely took its toll. I had thoughts of getting it on the road, but I think that would have destroyed what I did have. This will be like new if I can keep going and get it done.

A little before and after showing the reconfigured floor.

I've been posting a lot because I've had a lot of time to dedicate to this over the Winter and I'm trying to get as much done on it before things pick up at work. The cab structure is done, with only a few minor things to complete. I test fit all the sheetmetal this morning, before I take it to the stripper. It all looks pretty good, but I'm sure there are a few headaches awaiting me. I stacked up most of pieces that have been replaced, plus a bucket full of other scraps, as I was cleaning up the shop. Amazing when you line it all up as you lose track of what you've done, as you fix each issue. The rear cab structure really came out nice and clean, as all the damaged and crushed pieces were fixed or replaced. A lot of strength has come back in it with very little flex, compared to how it was.

Thanks, it's been a lot of work, so far. Looking at using Lizard Skin, like you mentioned for soundproofing. Under the cab, inner doors, roof, cab back wall and firewall. Pretty much everywhere that won't get standard paint.

You mentioned you were having some issues with your cab, after getting it back from the shop that did the work. What did you do with the door seals and the metal retainer that holds them in place? Mine are not usable and I was thinking about using a self adhesive strip to seal the door. I'll be doing a lot of assembly/disassembly as I go before making things permanent to make sure it all fits.

And one more from the bottom of the cab, after welding it all together and priming, before turning it upright. It looks so nice, considering what I started with.

HUGE sigh of relief today. I cut out the cage and test fit the doors to check my work. Everything lined up and the gaps appear very even around both doors. I've been so worried about shift, having cut so far into this cab to save it. Like I've been saying, this is the worst part and time consuming. But, being careful and thoughtful about how I've gone about it is paying off.

It's official, March 1st, I turned the page and started re-assembly by putting the cowl back on and today welded in the new sills and lower back frame. It was very helpful to remove the cowl and rid the pillars of rust. It also allowed me to put the cowl up on a temporary bench to work on it and repair the right cab mount, which had completely blown through and left a fist sized hole. Lots of other small, time consuming repairs were made all over the cowl/pillar area. Overall, I'm very happy with the results and alignment looks good. Not that far off from removing the cage and test fitting the doors. Once that's done, it'll be back to the sheet metal and re-installing it.

That is a lot of work and a lot of information. Thank you for taking the time and providing it to us. It should help a lot of people.

After finishing up the mock-up and marking everything for disassembly, I was trying to figure out how to get at the front pillars to get at some rust. Well, I guess I wasn't done taking it apart. So, I removed the cowl completely.. I can definitely get at them this way.

I'm very optimistic about this. Alignment seems good and I keep using the old pieces to check. It'll all come apart again for finish work and heavy priming. I still have to attend to some issues with the lower A pillars.

Seems like it will all fit together. Finished all the modifications to the right sill/jamb, then test fit it all together along with the new rear floor panels. Lots of assembly/disassembly, test fitting, fitting the old parts back in, seeing if it will all line up. Still a ways to go, but it's getting there.

Yes, the aluminum castings were welded there. The guy that did these is close by, MaGee’s is farther away and running back and forth would take too long.

Thanks, I'm trying to make it my best one yet. I really like the style of this truck. Trying to be patient and get it back together right. I've had to drop it several times and walk away for a breather when I found myself frustrated or rushing/

I had another fabricated locally from a donor I picked up and cut apart for a pattern. Mine was too far gone and broken from the accident. The fabricator did a great job, considering how complex it actually is.

Luckily no surprises when I got it back from the blaster. The areas that were slated for replacement opened up a little more, but the rest was solid. And no real bondo, several layers of paint was about it. Now to start putting it back together so it doesn't look like a rolling jigsaw puzzle when I'm done.