mattb73lt

It's 65 MPH in most areas on that run. I was careful when I did it and it was only for a short period. I always try not to be the front runner going anywhere. As long as there's people going by you, let them get out ahead of you and run the traps. There's plenty of four wheelers screaming by you to draw attention from you anyway. Most of the way I was 65-70. Some grades I thought I was falling off on speed, they weren't any crazy grades. After dropping a gear the slowest I saw was 60. I'd probably be a little slower if I had something on the back. When I had that Cadillac on the back heading to storage last fall, I was still going pretty good up the grades on that run and still never saw much below 60 MPH.

Nothing a little soap, water and elbow grease can't fix. I will say that cab is very dry, warm and tight in crappy weather. My home built electric wiper system was a complete home run! The intermittent feature was great in the mist and drizzle and I never needed to go to fast mode. They kept the visibility excellent the whole time I needed them.

Well, it made it's first outing to the Western Mass ATCA show at Yankee Candle in Deerfield. It was a mostly dry ride up and I stayed until about 12:30 when it was a more steady rain. Ran into several people I know but haven't seen in a long time. Some others I only know from social media I met for the first time. That's always odd to me that some one who looks like a total stranger knows a lot about you and your truck. I guess that's how we'll meet some people in the current times. Anyway, a really good time talking about the truck and how I found it and what I did to it to bring it back. It ran great, up and back. Found it's sweet spot on the highway is about 1700 and 70 MPH. I did run a little faster, here and there, to try it out and although it'll certainly go much faster, 1950 is as I fast as turned it and saw 78 as the fastest speed. Granted, I was empty and just wanted to test it out and get a better feel for it. I did run up a on a few trucks headed to the show that got on just ahead of me. I figured I would run with them as we were getting close to the exit for the show. Then I found the opposite end of my cruise spectrum. They were running about 60ish when they got up to speed and I found that I'd need to drop a gear to stay with them. After trying that out for a bit I headed on and chugged by them. We got to the show about 5 minutes apart. So a few more things learned about the new toy. Overall, a good day with a lot of great conversations! If it was 24 hours earlier, it would of been perfect with yesterday's weather.

Sharp looking truck!!

These bigger boxes are going to work out great for everything!! Lined the bottoms of both boxes with some 3/4” plywood to protect them. Added the shelf to the left equipment box. Then organized all the new chains, binders and straps for the deck into Busboy bins to keep it all organized. This should keep all my stuff from getting all tangled up and a mess.

I have the nut covers for the rear, but i need to order the 15/16" covers for the axle nuts. They're both cadmium plated and yes, once you hit htem with a wrench they will start to tarnish and rust. The front ones already were, even though I was careful installing the,. They are more exposed to the elements than the rears. We'll meet up at one of the upcoming shows!!

Mechohaulic, here's a front wheel with the nut covers installed and one more of the truck after I polished the new boxes. I still have to slap myself that it's mine and that I did it.

Very nice work!! It looks great. Interesting differences from that to the U.S. models.

If you strike out finding the correct kit and everything else in the kit you just got will work, you could have the kingpins made at a machine shop and then heat treated. Sometimes it is the best way to get it back on the road if there are no other options.

I rebuilt mine several years ago because the control shaft was leaking. that had an O-ring on it and the body had a thin rubber gasket. It cleaned up well, I replaced the O-ring and reused the gasket and hasn't leaked since.

Wow, that's been a fast restoration!! It looks great. Tight squeeze getting it out of the garage on those bare rims.

A little bit when you can will add up!!

I was thinking about a pair of those Mack engraved 1/4 stainless fenders, but I don't think they're in production any more. Maybe just a plain set.

It’s probably your perspective, maybe just spin your computer 180 degrees. It should look correct🤣🤣. But yes they do open to the sides. Lots of room in them. I have a shelf to add to the left one to help keep it organized.

I was just going to put acorn nut covers on the axle studs and lug nuts. I just put a set on the front wheels, really dresses the wheel up. I like the red axle stub sticking out and the little bit of red showing on the front hubs.

The Merritt boxes I ordered came in last week and I spent today installing them. They’re matching 5’ long boxes, with dual doors that swing to the side. That’ll give me better access for my equipment. The left one is going to be for all my deck equipment and the right one will be just for storage and carrying stuff. I was going to order 2 DEF boxes and mount them to the headache rack. But, after installing these two I have a good 36” area on the passenger side between the storage and battery boxes. I’ll order one more box for there and that will be just for truck items (oils, tools and parts. I met with the sign painter on Wednesday evening. She took a bunch of pictures and we exchanged some ideas. She’s going to send me some mockups in a bit. She’s about 4-5 weeks out. So, it’ll be a bit before that gets done.

It still amazes me when I look back at this truck when I found it to what I built out of it. I have to admit the transformation is remarkable. I spent the afternoon finishing a lot of small things. I also ordered a whole bunch of new tie down equipment for the deck. I had a lot of hand me down stuff in the other truck, but figured I'd boom up and get some new and matching chains, binders and straps. All that will get organized and put into the new storage boxes once I get them mounted. I had to reschedule my meeting with the sign painter to this Thursday. I was hoping I could get the lettering and striping done before the first show, but it'll get done in a few weeks, once we settle on what I want to do to it.

Also looking at Bethlehem, 6/8&9, Brooklyn 6/23. I'm thinking about Macungie, 6/14&15, but I'm going to need a couple of days for that and that's right at the start of my busy season.

Thanks. I enjoy shifting this one. If you're smooth on the throttle and gentle with the sticks, it'll walk right through the gears with very little clutching. Both my trucks have the same transmission, TRTL-720. The only difference in them is the B73 has a double disc and clutch brake. The big thing is being gentle and watching your RPM. Still learning and getting to know this one and what it likes.

Here’s a little NH220 Backdrop music for your auditory pleasure. My friend caught me leaving his shop this afternoon. IMG_2313.mov

I kind of copied what was there, but added better tail light assemblies that had side markers on them. This whole thing moves and is somewhat susceptible to damage depending on what you’re doing. I may change it in the future, but this is what I’m using for now.

It is hydraulic. Hydraulic motor attached to it using a chain coupling and controlled by the lever station mounted to the left rear frame.

I'm going to stick with cable. I have seen others doing recoveries with synthetic rope types, but for what I do this is probably best.

Busy week with the B73. Wednesday, reinstalled the winch and got it operational. Not the easiest install as it has to be loaded in from underneath. It fought me a little bit, but it's in. Finished some other details and added some Cummins crosses to the hood. Thursday, drove down to North Haven to have a winch cable cut and installed. The winch drum will probably take around 100'+ of cable, but they recommended staying with 60'. The shorter length will give me less trouble over time, was their opinion. That's fine, I usually use about 20" or less when loading cars. Today, ran over to Wolcott to check the alignment and had a bad day. The King pins turned out to be too loose to do an accurate job. So that stopped things pretty quick. They were inspected and determined to be serviceable and were tight when assembled, but they now had noticeable play. That's going to be a bit of a headache, but not a game stopper. They're safe, but should be redone. Now, to hunt for replacements and figure out when to do this when I can. I hate doing things a second time, but the spindles will need to come out for bushings. A little setback, but It'll get fixed. Oh, they joys of bringing an old truck back to life!!! I did find a 10% grade on the way home and needed the Jake brake to come down it. It was on and off at the top, then was needed for the last half mile. It certainly saved my brakes, but that was the longest period it was on solidly yet. I think I woke the Western side of the state up!

I always liked these trucks. Never drove any, but was stationed with an Australian Special Forces Unit and they had a whole fleet of them at Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan in 2013. I didn't have a camera, so was limited in pictures I could scrounge of their trucks. All of them had air conditioned armored cabs. Other than the radiator, they didn't look a lot like those you posted.