steve s.

1956 H63 single axle tractor for sale. 673 engine, 10speed Duplex transmission. Has the roll down windows in the sleeper. Licensed, insured, and driven a lot the past few years. It's a real attention getter, not many on the road. Not a creampuff, but can be driven just the way it is, or restored. I need room in the garage. Asking $6400 Located in NE PA call 570-two two two 447eight.

I bought Kirker "Mack Red" acrylic and synthetic enamels from the local Mack dealer and it seemed like the right color for my 1966 B model. Of course I can't honestly say it is the same as the original red, but who could? I will look tomorrow to see if there is a number on the can, but I do know it said Mack Red.

This LJ was parked at Casterline Diesel Service on route 118 in Sweet Valley PA. Vlad may have seen it there more recently than I have. Don Casterline owned the truck and he told me he had plans to fix it up. He is a very talented mechanic, but he's also a very busy guy. He may still have it, I don't know. His phone number is 570-477-2224.

Let me begin by noting that I didn't say he did anything "wrong". There are always better ways to do things. A person's approach to things makes a lot of difference, too. If I was trying to start a 1975 Ford F-150, I might have used the same methods as he did. But to me, a 1926 AB Mack needs to be treated like a one of a kind machine. Number one rule- do no harm. Here are some things he could have done to prevent or reduce the possibility of damage: Pull the oil pan first. Don't mess around trying to flush 80 year old goop out of the crankcase. Even with the large inspection holes to look in, there is undoubtedly crap he missed. Baffles and trays hold gunk, and what about the oil pump pickup screen? I would want to see that it was clear and clean. Pull the pan, and clean it right. What if the cam was rusty and ready to wipe out the tappets ? How would you know if you don't check? Taking spark plugs out with a pipe on a ratchet. Can you think of a better way to break them off? He is lucky that he didn't, but that last one was squeaking dry, and he just kept turning. A better idea is to turn the rusty squeaky thing back and forth while applying lubricant-much less chance of pulling threads or snapping something off. And then when the plug came out- several ounces of his rust busting liquid went right into the cylinder, dirt, rust, and all. And then he pulled the head. He let all that crap go into the cylinder for no reason. He could have taken the plugs out on the bench. He really would have been better off to take the magneto off the truck, and made sure it worked on the bench. He could have turned it with an electric drill, and saved himself a ton of needless cranking of the entire engine. And by the way, when he was cranking and cranking to check for spark, he had all of the plugs in. It sure would have been easier to crank with the plugs out, no? His use of starting fluid was amazing. Not only did he use way too much and too often, but he when he was attempting to start it for the first time, he could have sprayed some fluid into the spark plug holes to use less and get it where it needed to be faster. The last thing I will mention is that he ran the truck entirely too long without any coolant in it. He could have done great harm to his piston rings and cylinder walls, and he would never know it. Even if the water pump leaks, put some damn water in it or don't run it so long. Remember, do no harm.

Yes, he did get it running. As for being " insanely good at rescuing cars and trucks" that is debatable. His approach is pretty crude, and not really the way an antique truck be should handled. He did several things that may have done more harm than good, but I guess this is the kind of thing that sells on youtube. On the plus side , he is learning, and he may have saved a great old Mack from the scrapper's torch, so I have to give him credit.

I do not have a diagram of the tightening sequence. You really don't need one. With almost any cylinder head you should start in the middle and work your way to the ends of the head, alternating from side to side and front to back as you go.

I don't know if it is the smallest bulldog or not, but I have a small one. It is in the picture next to a full sized bulldog . Is this what you are looking for?

According to my Motors Manual the cylinder head torque for the EN 510 is 130 foot pounds. There is also a note that says "short studs 100" .

Your engine is an EN 377. Serial number 4365. Bore and stroke 4"x5", 377 cubic inches. Almost all Mack gas engines of that era called for a point gap of .022", you're real close. Are you looking for any specific information? With any old truck that has been sitting for some time, you have to suspect some crap in the fuel system will cause you trouble. But in the other hand, it could be any number of things making it run rough. Good luck.

Air ride would be nice, but it will cost more, take more time, and never look like it belongs under your B model. The choice is yours, but if you want to save time and money while keeping your truck looking original, just go to a spring shop and buy the leaf (leaves) that you need. I needed a main leaf for a 56 H model, and the spring shop had one on the shelf !

If it is the original engine, the model would be a B753, the three denoting that it was turbocharged. The model and serial number should be on a tag on the lower part of the passengers door. The serial number will also appear on the frame near the rear spring hanger for the passenger side of the front axle. The serial would probably begin with B753S, the S indicating a tandem rear axle, if it was built that way. There were a total of 1825 B753 models built from 1955 to 1966, in a variety of configurations. To say that there were only three like the one your looking at might be true in some obscure way, but it sounds like a stretch to me. Looks like a nice truck, and it is certainly worth fixing.

VIN numbers did not exist before 1969. Your truck has a serial number. That is the number you will need to use when asked for a VIN. The number should be on a plate at the lower side of the passenger door. It is also stamped into the frame near the rear spring hanger for the right front wheel.

I have a very nice driver side 3 hinge door . It is either NOS or completely restored. I also have an NOS 2 hinge door skin for the passenger side if that would help you. It could easily be adapted for 3 hinges. Steve

If John Chalmers is not able to help, here is another possibility: When I overhauled my 673 engine, no "set" of piston rings could be found. The Mack service manual had specs on each of the ring sizes and types. I took that information to a Hastings website and ordered the rings individually to make my own set. The price was very reasonable, in fact it was a bargain. Like so many things you encounter with an old truck, you sometimes have to be creative to get the parts you need. They are usually out there somewhere. Might be worth a try. Steve

If you added a transmission with a .75 overdrive, and changed nothing else, you could run 60mph at just under 2100 RPM. Simple.

You have a 4 speed transmission with fourth gear direct. Changing to a transmission with a fifth gear that is overdrive would be a good way to gain road speed. Changing your tires to 10.00x20 (or radial equivalent) would gain you a bit more. I am not familiar with the CR25 single reduction rear axle, but it is quite possible that another series of differential might fit in your axle housing, giving you more gear ratio options. Start with the 5 speed.

The 4 things that affect road speed are engine speed, transmission ratio, rear axle ratio, and tire size. You can't do much about your maximum engine speed. Does your transmission have overdrive? If not you could change to a transmission that does, or you could add an auxiliary trans that has an overdrive ratio. You can probably find a faster gear ratio for your rear axle, or change the whole axle to something with a faster ratio. The larger the diameter of the tire you run, the higher your road speed will be, but the change won't be great. So, what transmission and which rear axle do you have? They are probably your easiest places to make an improvement.

Ty, you have a lot of good advice already, I will offer a different approach. We don't know what your expectations for the truck are, or what kind of timeline, budget or skills you can put into this project, but.... Possibly the easiest and quickest way to get the truck to run again is to pull the pistons, hone the cylinders,install new rings, lap the valves and put the head back on. if the rust is not too bad, you can probably live with the pits in number 5. You won't ruin anything by trying this method, and you may just find out that the engine you have runs good. If it doesn't, at least you can move the truck around while you search for a rebuilder or another engine. I am assuming that the engine was not exposed to the weather with the head off. It's worth a try. Steve

I had a B61 with the engine tilted to the ditch side. It was not the original engine . I have no idea why someone did that, but it was a pain in the neck to work on at times. In order to pull the back cylinder head, I had to drill a hole in the firewall to remove the last push rod. Trying to use a torque wrench at that odd angle from underneath was awkward to say the least. The engine must have come originally in an MB or some other cab over, as the engine number is on the back of the block, under the cylinder head. I took the engine out, changed the flywheel housing and water pump housing, and put it in a different B61 standing straight up. I like it much better this way.

Julie, thank you for telling us about your father. I have been following his posts here for years. He always added something of value to the conversation, and there was no doubt that he knew what he was talking about. He spoke with an authority that only time and experience can give. I am thankful that folks like your father take the time to share their knowledge with the rest of us. We will miss him around here.

Here are a couple pictures to help clarify things. The red truck has what some call the winter/summer air cleaner. it is the one with the cable on the dash . I think it was more or less standard equipment in colder climates, but that is only my opinion. The green truck has a Donaldson air cleaner. I have usually seen these on trucks with turbos, or Cummins engines, although I would bet you could have ordered one on any B model. The Donaldson has a larger capacity . The bolt pattern on the cab is the same and either one will bolt up. The Donaldson has some different brackets inside the cab, and the air tube that goes though the cab to the firewall is different , too. The tube through the cab is some type of fiberglass or plastic. The air cleaner from the red truck is available. Steve

I have a winter/summer type air cleaner set up if you could use it. It does not have the separate bracket.

It is more likely that your timing is retarded than too far advanced. When the spark occurs late, fuel can still be burning as it makes its way out the exhaust. Maybe you could set your timimg with a vacuum guage. Or do it by ear. Just advance the timing as far as you can without getting spark knock under load. The timing marks don't seem to be helping any. I doubt that the carburetor is the problem unless it is the wrong one for your engine. Pulling out the choke to make it run cooler is strange. Drilling your jets is not a normal repair for anything. The alcohol/water injection is a good idea, and will allow you to advance your timing more, but you really shouldn't need to add it. Another thought is that your cam timing could be off. Good luck

I installed a Garwood winch, the same model as Swishy's, on my B61. My transmission is a Quadruplex and I used a PTO with forward and reverse to drive the winch. An extra gear was needed to reach in to the pto drive gear in the transmission. The pto drives two # 80 chains to the winch. It could have been a fairly easy job, but I got carried away and made the whole thing more complicated than it needed to be. One of the things I didn't like was that the pto shifter, if mounted straight up through the floor, would have been right where a passenger's leg would be. I spent quite a few evenings making linkages to move that pto shifter over next to the 5-speed stick. I have not yet run the truck; it is still a work in progress. Steve

Truck has been sold. Thanks for looking.