I know this is an old post but I would like to provide a bit of history on the truck in the photo:
My father Bill is the third and current owner of this truck and has since approximately 2003. It was originally built for the Palenville New York (home of Rip Van Winkle) Fire Department and served as a front line pumper until 1991. It was purchased by a Gary Hyde from Indiana that used the truck for local shows and parades until my parents purchased this amazing truck. As a family, we have driven this truck from just south of Louisville Kentucky, to El Nora In, Auburn In, Paducah Ky, Hazard Ky, to name a few as well as over 50 parades. She has set for the last two years due to family health issues and the passing of my Mom, Juanita, after a long battle with Breast Cancer. Yesterday I pulled the covers off the firetruck, puller the truck out of my garage, and gave her a good bath, and while researching the best way to polish original single stage paint; I came across this post.
This truck is a 1958 Mack B-405 cf and with the exception of a back fender repaint from the early 1980's, has the original paint, running gear, fire gear, and is fully operational. it has a 392 Chrysler hemi, Dodge New Process transmission, rear end, front axle, and brakes. It has a 500 gallon tank and a 500 gpm pump. Due to low gearing, top speed is 57 mph uphill or down and i have gotten 8.5 mpg consistently. She also only has 31,000 original miles. As posted prior, only 9 B-405 cf's were built and this appears to be the only only one left. A couple were wrecked, one shipped to Australia and converted to a dump truck, and the others are unaccounted for.
The reasoning for the Chrysler engines were that New England Fire Departments were concerned about diesel engines starting during extreme cold snaps, especially after sitting for days on end. With this running gear combination, dependability was, and is, definitely not an issue.
I am happy to answer any questions you may have
Tim
