Wobblin-Goblin

Well, today we did the exhaust. It's brand-new 4" from the manifold all the way. I bought the muffler and heat shield at Worcester Mack and the rest of it from NAPA. Took about half the day to do. It's amazing how different (and stronger) the truck sounds now vs. the 3" that was on it when I bought it. I'm uploading a couple more vids to youtube so you can hear the roar. The video of the exhaust can be found on youtube. Again, for some reason I can't even copy and paste the title, let alone post the vid. Search for "1964 B61SX exhaust note after new 4" exhaust installed"

Quite a bit more progress today. I'm very happy with what we were able to accomplish. 1. Finished replacing all the seals in the PTO pump. No more leaks. 2. Installed the brake pedal, brake valve under it, and the painted floor board. 3. Made a new shift boot out of some rubber from an inner tube. It's not perfect, but in my opinion it looks great (and that's all that matters!). Besides, it didn't cost me a penny and I did it myself. 4. The side mirrors were all screwed up. We had to apply copious amounts of heat and penetrating oil, but in the end we broke nuts free or simply broke them and now the mirrors are where they should be. 5. We went around the dump body and straightened virtually every dent and peel. It looks much better now. 6. Removed some extra battery/ground cables that weren't doing anything and for some reason were still on the truck. Tomorrow we plan on installing the new exhaust. I'm pretty stoked about that.

In this cell phone pic, you can see what's under the floor board. You can see the base of the shift levers and the new boot I'm going to make will go around them and screw into the floor board. You can see the two shiny pistons that move in and out as you shift. They were buried and encased in inches of greasy, oily grime that I had to dig out with a screwdriver. Undoubtedly this crud made shifting more difficult. Now the pistons are free. You can also see the new air line we installed just above (toward the driver's door) those two pistons.

Today's progress: 1. Replaced the transmission mounts on both sides of the truck. While we were doing that, we... 2. Pulled up the main floor board piece so we could do the driver's side transmission mount. 3. Saw an air line from the brake valve (under the pedal/floor board) was bad and replaced that. 4. Noticed the "ears" of the brake valve casting (that the brake pedal bolts down into under the floor board) were broken off, so we JB Welded new nuts into it so we can actually attach the valve casting to the bottom of the floor board (and into the brake pedal base). 5. While we had the floor board out, I wire brushed it and painted it black. 6. Started the process of pulling the leaking seals out of the PTO pump. Ordered replacements from NAPA, hopefully they will be the correct ones. 7. Also while the floor board was out, we saw that the top of the transmission was LOADED with gunk, grime, grease, and trash, so I used a screwdriver and broke up as much as I could. Once I removed the bulk of it by hand, I then shop-vacced out the rest. The shafts/pistons that move in and out as you shift were completely encased in greasy gunk, no doubt making it more difficult to shift. That's all gone now. 8. Found an old rubber tube that I will cut up and make a new flat seal (boot) around the base of the shift levers, because the old one was in tatters. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow. 9. We also disassembled the brake and throttle pedals to free them up more and lube them, so they should operate more freely. 10. We took off the exhaust system in advance of installing a new one. This one is very small diameter, not nearly enough for the truck (2 7/8"). I bought a new muffler and heat shield from Mack, now all I have to do is find some place to bend up 3 1/2" or 4" pipe from the manifold to the muffler. We got quite a bit done today, virtually all of it mechanical in nature. Having said that, it was all important stuff, and I did get to put paint on something for the first time (floor board). Hopefully I can have some pics tomorrow.

Nice find.

Today's progress: 1. Used a cut off saw to remove some pieces of unwanted steel from the dump body. 2. Replaced a missing 9/16" bolt that attaches the air manifold to the head/valve cover. 3. Noticed there was a mud wasp nest on the heater fan. Removed the nest, cleaned the dirt, dust, and debris from the heater. Cleaned the removable heater front and attached the connector piece from the air IN hose to the bottom of the heater. 4. Cut and formed my Wal-Mart floor mats to fit the floor better. 5. Sealed the windshield a little better to keep out the elements. 6. Noticed the power steering cylinder is leaking. Will have to address that. 7. Ordered two transmission mounts (the right side is bad). I'm hoping to have the PTO pump seals replaced this week, along with the transmission mounts, and fix the leak on the power steering cylinder. I know I've said this before, but I really enjoy working and tinkering on this truck. It will make for a nice winter project.

Yes, when I saw how much crap was in both filters, I ordered a second new filter and intend on swapping it out after a tank or two of fuel. Hopefully by then the fuel system will be clear. It's already a HUGE improvement over what it was before. At least now the two filters can do their job again.

After work I was going to bypass the primary fuel filter to see if the truck ran any better, but it ran perfectly fine so now I'm a happy camper! I used my time on the truck today to clean the interior of the cab some more. Here are a few pics. I'm in the process of uploading a few more videos of the truck to youtube, so those will be forthcoming shortly.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to post a video, or even a link to a youtube video. I posted a short vid of 'Mater taking off after the full service: "1964 Mack B-61SX Quadbox"

Still having an issue with air in the fuel lines. Not sure if the primary fuel filter (seal) is allowing air to be sucked in or it's just a matter of air still needing to get worked out. If it's the former, we'll have to bypass the primary, if it's the latter, it'll just take time. We've done so much on this truck thus far (in terms of servicing it), I'd like to have it running so we can enjoy driving it in the yard. One thing did stand out to me today after we got it running again for 15 minutes or so: the throttle is more responsive than before. Given the sheer amount of sludge and muck in both the filters, it's not surprising that it snorts better now. The big surprise is that it even ran at all before.

Progress today: 1. Cleaned the primary fuel filter, which had two inches of sludge and mud settled in the bottom of it. 2. Installed the secondary fuel filter (cartridge type). 3. Cleaned the crank-case breather. 4. Cleaned the dash/cab interior some more (pic included). Cleaned the windshield as well. Used a Dremel tool with a wire brush to clean the rust off the steel perimeter of the gauges and a plastic wire brush to clean the gunk off the gauge glass. Compare the pic from above to the pic below. 5. Removed the roof mounted fan. Unfortunately, we didn't bleed the air out of the fuel lines well enough and the truck died shortly after we started it. We'll have to work on it tomorrow to get it running again. It was enjoyable cleaning the interior of the cab and making it look more presentable. I also bought some floor mats from Wal-Mart to put down on the steel floorboards for now. Eventually I'd like to put in a genuine Mack rubber floor mat.

BTW, can someone educate me on what all the levers, toggle switches, and such are for? The writing is gone on many of them.

Another day in the books. Today I replaced the two belts (fan and power steering), top radiator hose, air pump filter, removed the old fuel filter and cleaned the canister that the cartridge fits into (filter will be in tomorrow), and started cleaning the dash. I can't believe how much crud, slime, and junk was caked on the fuel filter and in the canister. It was brutal to clean and look at. I took out enough muck to fill a coffee cup! The driver's seat is also now in and it looks fantastic. All the gauges work except for the fuel gauge (I can't confirm it works because there isn't much fuel in the tanks). Here are a few pics that were taken today:

Nice truck. Price seems a little high given the issues it has. I'm sure someone will offer $13-$14k and grab it for that.

Nice. My dad owned a U model just like that. He wanted to convert it to a form truck for carrying foundation panels. The economy tanked (late '80s/early '90s) and he ended up selling it. I'd like to own an R model from the '70s or '80s someday.

Today we changed the oil and oil filter, finished re-upholstering the driver's seat, sealed up the windshield a little bit better, and tightened the seals on the dump pistons, which were leaking fluid. All that's left for known service items are: 1. Top radiator hose 2. Belts 3. Air pump filter 4. Fuel filters After that, it's on to the aesthetics of the truck. I believe I want to paint the fenders and bumper black, radiator housing gray, hood and cab dark green, and dump body black.

Here is my uncle's B Model Mack pickup he made. Under the skin is an '84 GMC 3/4 ton chassis with a 6.2L V-8 diesel.

Can't go wrong with an R model. Personally, my favorite Macks are B81s, Rs, DMs, and B61s. An R model might be the easier starting point.

Truck is running 100% now. I'll grab a few pics of it soon.

That was a beautiful Mack. Sorry to hear about the fire.

Just to add, I have to say that I'm very happy to finally own a Mack truck. Even though I'm not a mechanic, I'm having fun working and learning on it. Helping my uncle on his B65 earlier this year (which my dad used to own 30 years ago) helped me learn more about these old beasts, so that was a good experience, too. It also gave me the bug to go out and find my own. My dad and uncle have helped me already, and they appear to be happy for me, too. My dad appreciates having another B model (even though technically it's mine, it will be on our family farm) and I can see the joy he gets from moving it from point A to point B right now while we're servicing it. As best as I can tell, this was the perfect truck for me to acquire for us. I wanted a B61 and a tandem dump truck with this size body is precisely what works for us. We've got a little bit more servicing to do: change the oil, the two belts, and the top radiator hose (which I can't find anywhere, btw, not even the local Mack dealer can help). After that, all of the known maintenance issues will be taken care of. Then it's on to working on the aesthetics like interior of the cab, body work, paint, and other related items. What a cool project.

Day four, here's our progress: 1. Greased entire truck, front to back, top to bottom. Four fittings were bad, one missing. The one that's missing is on a rear brake pin (which is also missing), so we'll have to pull the wheels off to see what's going on. 2. Adjusted the brakes. 3. Topped off all five reservoirs for the rear ends. 4. Topped off the dump piston reservoir. 5. Drained the transmission and put in all new 80w/90. Two gallons came out, 4.5 went in. 6. Cleaned the (oil bath) air filter. I've seen worse, but it wasn't good. 7. Sent the driver's seat out to be re-upholstered.

Sorry...the steel hood truck.

I just bought a '64 B61SX tandem dump, but it would have been nice to hear back from this guy about that DM.

Me, my dad, and my uncle met at Barnes Concrete to meet the low-bed operator who was going to pick up 'Mater. We were on the road at 7:25am. The trip was uneventful except for Barb crying at the sight of 'Mater being loaded up. With that, we were on our way back to Putnam, CT. When we got back to Barnes, we unloaded it and brought it right into their garage, where another of my uncles was working as head mechanic (my dad had also worked for the Barnes family driving trucks for 20 years before going into business in 1980 at the age of 34). Of course, a bunch of workers wanted to see the beast, and they came around to check it out. In the few hours we had that afternoon, we straightened out the ears on the body, scraped the melted mud off the tailgate and lifted it up with a forklift and pinned it in place. We also got the driver's window (faded plexiglass) to (sort of) work. Eventually both side windows will have to be replaced with actual glass you can see out of. We took turns trying to break up the thawing chunks of mud in the body, but didn't get very far with it. The power steering reservoir was also filled and we're hoping it works. We also found out it has a 711 for an engine. Not exactly rare, but no where near as common as the 673. Pics tomorrow.