mattb73lt

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.

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.