vanscottbuilders

I like the condom logo - non-partisan and really accurate.

Thanks,

Paul Van Scott

Congratulations Morgan!

Paul VS

It's fun to joke about politics - but you can't ignore the mess -

The real deal here is -

YOU HAVE TO VOTE IN NOVEMBER - AND GET YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO GO TOO

and don't waste the vote for a pipe dream or someone with no chance. It's no joke.

The choice isn't great, but there still is a choice. And it's going to be a dogfight I think.

The poor economic situation and the loss of personal rights and the socialization of so many things that

should be left to fair competition are all things to think about. How much do we want to give up?

We are going to pay for the things that have happened in recent weeks for a long, long time. Let's not make it worse.

Personally I don't need a government that does everything for me. It's OK, I can get along by myself, and so can everyone here.

And I don't need to send them all of my money to pay for other people's mistakes and poor judgement. We don't need the government doling out a lot more regulations and limiting what we can do, any more than they already do.

And - None of us needs any Bailout - that's just another word for Bull S---. It's all about accountability, and taking responsibility for your own actions.

Our government, especially with the Democrat candidate at the wheel, really wants to fund the tremendous greed of our financial institutions who lent foolish money to unqualified buyers so they could increase their profits. Government can only fund that idea with more of our money. Or - borrow more money from China. Either way - we lose big. After a very expensive bailout, the government is getting into the banking business by forming partnerships with these same poorly managed institutions. Think for a minute - when was the last time you heard of the government doing anything well? Especially private venture? It's going to be ugly.

Interesting Times - that's for sure.

The loss of freedom is, in my mind, the most critical issue there is facing all of us as Americans today.

VOTE IN NOVEMBER - IT REALLY IS IMPORTANT.

Paul Van Scott

Great to hear that it all went well!!

Good Luck with the rest of the project.

Paul Van Scott

Thanks for the pictures Barry.

Looks like a great show.

Paul VS

I built my building over the top of an existing one!! I think a farmer from the past had the runs constantly cause there was three of em on the two acres!

Rob

Mother, Father & Son. Don't you get it?

Cut down on the wait time for the bathroom!

Morgan,

I like the T-12 cold start flourescents myself.

We have eight metal halide bulbs up high on the ceiling,

and a continuous row of flourescents at about 12' off the floor

all the way around the shop.

The sodium and metal halide lights are more expensive to buy,

and way more expensive to run. But they do provide good wide area

light coverage. You might use one or two in the center area of your ceiling.

Truth is, we rarely turn on the big lights. And they take a while to start.

I have used the flourescent lights in my airplane hanger, which is unheated;

and used them in the last truck shop, as well as the construction shop.

Never had an issue, and never had a surprise on the electric bill.

Typically, I will have a few lights on each switch, and use a few switches,

so I'm only lighting what I need.

The furnace sounds perfect. Can you duct some of the heat to the far reaches

of the shop? Might be better for painting in the winter if the whole area was a

reasonably constant temperature. And, if possible, bring your make-up air in from

outside rather than cycling shop fumes in to the burn chamber. Return air, which runs

through the ducts, is fine being returned from the shop and through a filter to be reheated.

The return air does not come in contact with the flames. The make-up air does.

The metal inside is a good idea too.

Might have to come back to Indiana to check this all out!

Paul VS

Pretty interesting picture -

I don't think I have ever looked at both cab backs

in the same photo before.

Everyone else might already know this, but I never realized that

the window in the concave panel is actually mounted

higher in the cab than the flat back window. (Look at the

body lines and seam roll between the roof panel and the cab corner,

and compare the two trucks.)

Thanks for posting the picture.

Paul Van Scott

If you are a big guy - get in the truck.

You will know immediately!!

Seriously, the concave cab was built to allow a longer trailer

to legally be pulled in the Eastern states, where length laws

were more restrictive than Western states.

The concave back panel is very obvious by its' curvature that

extends into the cab area, and therefore makes the cab interior

a little smaller. (about 6 or 8 inches smaller)

The concave panel was available as an option on most B models,

but was most common on the B-67 and the other shorter length

tractors.

A quick look will readily reveal a straight back panel vs. the concave panel.

Hope this helps.

Paul Van Scott

Morgan,

I've been watching this post and thinking about it.

In my opinion putting any sort of open flame heater in a shop

where you will be painting and working with flammable solvents

and fuels is not a real good choice, period.

Putting a heating unit outside, or in a separate room sealed from

the workshop makes more sense.

Keeping the explosive fumes from being returned to the furnace or

stove makes even more sense. You've heard from one poster here about

losing a house and a shop to fire. It does happen.

I have a very good friend in Pennsylvania who lost his automobile

dealership to a disastrous fire on night some years ago when he was

cleaning up the shop floor with a solvent and the fumes got into the

outside mounted coal boiler and exploded. He's very lucky to be alive.

It really does happen.

Use your head, rather than just trying to be cheap. It pays in the long run.

As for fuel, it probably doesn't make much difference; it's all about

what is available to you at the most reasonable cost.

Heating any building on a part time basis is far less than efficient.

Keeping a building at 50 or 55 degrees is a much lower cost proposition.

You might consider a high efficiency heat pump as a low cost way

to keep the building at a moderate temperature. The heat pump probably won't

do all of your heating, however.

Use a fuel-burning heat source for raising the temperature that last ten degrees or so,

when you are working in there.

Heat pumps can be had that use water from ground wells, or a little less

efficient air to air units are pretty cheap. Heat pumps are also super clean,

so no painting issues arise from oily exhaust fumes or dusty environments.

And there are no flames involved in the operation of a heat pump.

Putting the tubes in the concrete for radiant in-floor heat is the most efficient

way to go. Fin-tube radiators are also really good, especially if the concrete is in place,

and you want to use hot water heat. The old stand-by, forced air, is also probably the simplest,

but least efficient way to warm a space.

Once you get all that concrete mass, and all that good old Mack steel mass warmed up,

it radiates a lot of heat. Keeping the building at a temperate heat level costs very little

once everything is warmed up. Raising the temperature another five or ten degrees

using the more expensive heat source is not too bad.

As the property owner, you have control of the situation, so think about the heat pump.

In the case of our new shop area, we lease the space, so our options were a little more limited.

We had a new pretty efficient natural gas fired high mount heater installed.

The space is very well insulated. I don't expect that it will be very costly to keep

the space heated to about 55 degrees, and 60 or so, when we are working.

It is an open flame furnace however, and, although we have a large sealed paint booth

available to us, I am still concerned about the flammable liquids we use, and fumes we create

in the shop. We stay constantly aware of venting the space to, hopefully, avoid any problems.

Wood stoves, coal stoves and the like are all OK, but making them safe is difficult.

Sometimes the smartest money you can spend isn't always the cheapest thing to do.

Nice to hear you are going forward with shop improvements. You sure do have a great

location for working on the old trucks.

Paul Van Scott

There is a recent post on these forums that addresses the 11.00 x 24

rubber.

If you look through these posts, you will also find the address of the Mack Museum

in Pa. The service that they provide for us is invaluable.

Send them your donation (Usually $100.00 or so) and your serial #'s. They will,

after a few weeks, send you a package with all of the truck's information that is

available. Usually, you can expect a build sheet from the factory, model year,

series of truck from the factory (dump/mixer, tractor, straight truck, etc.).

They also have reprints of many original factory manuals for the trucks.

Ask about those, too.

Paul Van Scott

For it's worth,

I've found the old 673 Macks to be among the easiest of the diesels

to start after sitting for a long time. My own B67T sat for twenty years,

that we know of, and started, after checking for correct fuel pump rack

movement, in a very short time after getting fresh fuel to it.

My R model did the same thing. And it runs like a top.

I do think that bypassing the fuel tank with fresh fuel from a five gallon bucket

feeding a temporary connection to the supply line is a smart trick. Just avoid

the rusty old tank altogether. Don't forget that five gallons won't last long,

with the return line still feeding back to a fuel tank.

Man - 1,200 miles!! What a great find.

Good Luck, and have a lot of fun with your new toy!

Paul Van Scott

Mike,

The vendor I'm thinking of has a very nice early

50's Chevrolet panel van street rod that he uses to

advertise his company.

I remember the car, just not the guy!

I'll find his card here somewhere and post the info.

Paul Van Scott

Mike,

If you look in Hemming's Motor News, there are usually

several vendors who restore steering wheels.

There is one in particular who shows at the Spring Carlisle

show and swap meets. He does beautiful work, and will do the

large Mack steering wheels. My poor memory says that the price

didn't seem too bad either.

I'll see if I can find the name and phone #, and post it ASAP.

Paul Van Scott

The roof photos are pretty revealing.

Depending on the time of day and your frame of mind,

it could look pretty bad, or not!

But - no matter how bad it looks,

it's really just a little more grinding and a little more welding.

And - you don't have to have it running tomorrow morning to make a living.

That alone should improve your perception of the issue.

Have Fun!

And - we'll talk someday about an R-700 for me. I'm on board with Glenn,

they make a real nice truck. Comfortable, dependable and timeless looks.

Paul VS

Depending on the location of your wedge type activators and cans, you will probably have to remove and relocate the brake can mounts.

It's not too bad of a job, and you can get several lengths of brake operating cams. I would try to get the cans as far from the wheels as I practically could, so you could mount large brake cans, especially on the rear axles, where you might want maxi brake activators too. Check carefully for adequate room.

Obviously you will be changing shoes and backing plates. It's a good time to look at wheel bearings, and to change seals and felts also.

If it is a possibility - It might be simpler to find used axles with the S cam brakes already on, and just put seals and felts in and linings, if necessary.

Good Luck, whatever you decide.

Paul Van Scott

I was going to ask you a while back if you might want to sell that truck Rob.

I really liked it when we moved it for you, but I think I'll let you go and

see what becomes of it!

Looking real good so far.

And - there is no such thing as a "quick, simple paint job". At least not

when you want it right. Though I'm sure you know that by now.

Keep up the good work.

Paul Van Scott

Just to confuse the issue -

If any of you are interested, I will be getting

a set of four brand new 10.00 x 20" bias ply

re-caps on Dayton rims. These are part of a deal

for a B-61 I acquired this morning.

I am using tubeless radials on my trucks, so

I will part with these very reasonably.

If anyone is interested, contact me by PM here on this site.

Paul Van Scott

Thanks Rob,

Like Garth, I too have been thinking that epoxy was the way to go.

I wonder - can you add a colorant to the structural adhesive?

I've had great luck adding food coloring to tint epoxy for a

variety of uses. Paint pigment would be real good also.

Good forum!

Paul Van Scott

Adrian,

My best guess would be to try the Mack Museum.

I think they would have records for anything built by Mack.

Takes a while - but a really good service.

Be sure to send them a donation, too.

Good Luck.

Paul Van Scott

That truck looks fantastic -

The air ride will help a lot.

Any ideas what you might do with it?

Or what type of body you might put on?

Paul Van Scott

Steve,

If you could post a cross-section, as Rob asks, I would appreciate it.

I'm in the same boat, looking for the same stuff.

My understanding is that the contour window does

indeed use the same gasket molding as the flat window.

Thanks,

Paul Van Scott

Boyce,

You are right - that D-4 is the perfect load behind a B Mack.

If memory serves me, that tractor with the blade might weigh

around 10,000#. If it does, why not look for someone else to fill

the trailer?

The dozer will go on a lowboy, a step deck or even a high flat,

as long as you can load it and unload it.

I'm just thinking out loud - but why don't you look for someone

who might want to move a truck or another tractor in your direction,

from Pa. or the general area.

Or maybe someone who wants to move something north from your area,

so you might get a one way rate.

You might even check with tractor and equipment dealers in your area.

Sometimes they are transporting to and from the auctions, and might be able to help.

Good Luck. And post your contact info here on this forum, so everybody is thinking

about it.

Paul Van Scott

I like Ron Paul, too. He's a little over the top, but at least he

was headed in the right direction. That is, "less government and better

protection of the individual's basic rights".

Interesting sidebar though: Since Mr. Paul and his supporters have a

substantial amount of campaign monies left over - they are forming a

non-profit organization that will support any candidate, anywhere in the US,

that promotes their ideals.

Looks like a good use of money to me.

Paul Van Scott

Garth,

I'll ask around and keep you posted.

Paul Van Scott