Wobblin-Goblin

While I completely agree with your original post, some of the takeovers on that list aren't necessarily a bad thing. For instance, if Fiat hadn't bought Chrysler Group, there probably wouldn't BE any Dodges, Chryslers, or Jeeps anymore. On top of that, from what I understand, Fiat's involvement is actually strengthening the Chrysler brands in many ways (designs are better, quality control is better, etc.). Having said that, your post is pretty close to the mark. I'm 45 years old and the direction our country has gone in over the last 25 years or so and the speed in which it's done so is breathtaking.

Ran the new 5-wire from the cab back to the rear lights today and hooked up everything but the license plate light. I've got directionals and tail-lights, but no brake lights yet because the switch under the cab isn't hooked up yet. By tomorrow's end, I should have 100% lighting on the truck (and maybe a painted chassis). BTW, with five different rear lights also functioning as full-time tail-lights (two directionals, two brake lights, one licence plate light), I needed to come up with a good way to hook them all into the tail-light wire feed. My dad and I came up with a pretty neat solution which I'll take a pic tomorrow and post it. I think you guys will like it, too.

Ran the new 5-wire from the cab back to the rear lights today and hooked up everything but the license plate light. I've got directionals and tail-lights, but no brake lights yet because the switch under the cab isn't hooked up yet. By tomorrow's end, I should have 100% lighting on the truck (and maybe a painted chassis). BTW, with five different rear lights also functioning as full-time tail-lights (two directionals, two brake lights, one licence plate light), I needed to come up with a good way to hook them all into the tail-light wire feed. My dad and I came up with a pretty neat solution which I'll take a pic tomorrow and post it. I think you guys will like it, too.

Yes.

Pulled out more old wiring today. Lots of runs went nowhere. Can't believe how much wiring I've taken out. So much was scabbed in or just hanging around. All the wiring from the cab back to the rear lights will be new. Maybe by the end of the week the chassis will be completely painted, too. Just picked up permanent plates for it today as well.

Not at the moment. When it warms up, it doesn't smoke much at all. Besides, I'm not sure what could be done anyway.

Today we steam cleaned the chassis and I drove the truck to a dealer to get a VIN check. Truck is back in the garage now, ready for work on the back end and ready for permanent tags.

The papers are with the truck at the family farm (seven miles from my house). I'm not sure, maybe it's called American Collector's?

Just seeing this thread for the first time. It made for very interesting reading. We need more threads like this.

We were too busy trying to get it ready for the road, and then it was nice to just....drive. I've invested nearly every work day for four straight months on this project, it was a relief to put the tools down and just enjoy the satisfaction of being on the road legally. Of course, there's more work to be done (the rest of the chassis, the dump body, etc.), but for a few hours yesterday afternoon I simply wanted to relax with it.

Always liked the look of the LJs and LTs.

My dad has a 2001 CAT 262 skid steer. Nice little loader. Will snap a pic of it soon. Very smooth hand controls and very powerful. We've got forks for it, a boom, regular material bucket, and a rock/sifting bucket for it. At 9,000lbs, it's one of the larger skid steers.

Truck has temporary antique plates. Have to get a VIN check done by a dealer before perm plates will be issued. My dad and I drove around some with it this afternoon after putting on temp mud flaps and getting the rear lights functional. My uncle paced us and we found out the top speed of 'Mater is about 52mph. I also finished up wiring the fender-mounted parking/directional lights today and put them on the tail light circuit, so they're on whenever the tails are on. Mack had them set up so they were only on with parking lights. When the headlights were turned on, the parking lights went off.

Today's progress: 1. Pulled out the main dump/pivot pin/shaft (that goes through the chassis and the dump mechanism. There seemed to be a fair amount of play in the mechanism, so we inspected the pin/shaft and the "bushings" it went through on the dump mechanism. Both the bushings and the huge pin had some wear, most likely from a lack of preventive maintenance over the course of years, but they appear to be robust enough to continue using. We'll grease the heck out of everything and it should be fine. 2. Wired up the cab lights and parking/directional lights on the front fenders. Put in a new(er) directional switch on the steering column and sorted through all the wiring under the dash to line everything up properly with the new switch. 3. The "driving" lights (small lights under the headlights) hadn't worked since I bought the truck, so I took off the lenses and bulbs and cleaned the connections. Now they work. If fact, all lights from the cab forward are functional. 4. Removed a bunch of "surplus" wiring on the truck. Stuff like an old alarm system that had bits and pieces of wiring all over were ripped out. Probably 20-25 yards of wiring was taken out today. There's still some more to go, too. The plan is to register the truck tomorrow with antique plates.

That thing looks really nice. We still have a 2003 Explorer 4.0L that we bought new, and it's been the best vehicle we've ever owned. I wish Ford would bring the Everest here.

The plan is to sandblast it and paint it metallic gray. It should look pretty good.

BTW, my truck has such a rubber pad helping to cover that hole for the shaft. Guess I was fortunate!

Today we installed the genuine Mack floor mat. After investing a fair amount of time thinking about how to do this without massacring the very expensive mat, I decided to make a template out of 6 mil plastic sheeting. After making a perfect copy of the Mack floor mat out of the plastic, I then cut out the areas that needed removing (for the shift levers, e-brake, PTO levers, brake and throttle pedals, etc.). After making sure enough plastic was cut out, I then used blue painter's tape to add material back in and leave the EXACT holes and openings desired. After putting it in and taking it back out a few times to make sure the template was precise, I then laid it on top of the genuine Mack floor mat and cut out the holes as they were set in the template. It came out pretty close to perfect.

Your other half looks like she's definitely the better-looking half. Congratulations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZHKk8OsORQ&feature=youtu.be

Today's progress: 1. Repaired passenger side mirror. Installed it on the truck. 2. Finished repairing the driver's side door panel. Installed it. Took it out for a short run. Video will be forthcoming. PICS!

Nice. What model is it? It's not a Titan, is it?

Absolutely. I could see maybe $8-$10k if the interior was as good as the sheet metal and it was 90%+ mechanically sound, but $18-$20k? LOL.

Made it down to the garage today. Here's the progress so far: 1. Had to re-mount the center cab light because the wire didn't make it through the hole last week. I noticed this when.... 2. I had to cut off about 1/2" of the screws holding the backs of the cab lights on to the cab. They were like daggers pointing down into the cab. 3. Made a way to fasten the horn chain in the cab. Drilled a hole near the sun visor base, put a small machine screw through it, and attached the chain to the screw. 4. Mounted the side bulldogs and "Mack" emblems. 5. Installed the front directionals on the fenders. 6. Installed the driver's vent window.

Welcome...and pics. We like pics.