Vladislav

A candy!

Yes, the 1st thing you should do is investigate the matters you have. The truck's foreseen purpose, tyre size, diffs ratio... The time you're going to spend on its fix and amount of $$$ reasonable to invest. Physically it's possible to install any of Mack straight six engine in a R-model with the most kinds of Mack transmissions produced during the same time frame. There are a few mods of attachments but they all seem commonly used and able to be located if you are free enough on time to go visiting a few scrap yards looking for what you need. At the same time cost of labour is sufficient and its amount would be as larger as further you go from the original specifications of the truck. There's one more point to keep in mind though on how good for your jobs those original specs would be. The way I would go in your case is looking for an engine close to what was in the truck from the factory but of higher HP maybe such as 4V EM6-300 or EM7-300 and T2070 or T2080 tranny since these would give you more performance requiring very similar amount of job to install. Or there may be even another way fitting E6-350 Econodyne with T2090 or T2100 tranny if on-highway job is foreseen and rear end ratio is fast enough for. One thing for sure is as more info you accuire as less money and time will be spent. And the dependance curve is not straight

Joey, you estimate me higher than the worth I really have as it seems to me . I only have a few hundered square meters of old Mack iron laying around and a shelf of books which are less in number than your collection's score. Thank you for the kind words.

Funny thing but if we talk about Mack truck transmissions I have done only ONE swap to the moment. Took off T2090 and put T2070 in its place in a R-model. But I collected a bunch of different transmissions during the years and investigated many aspects of the matter. Of what I can tell answering the question above both TRL107 and T2050 would fit the flywheel housing of a E6 or EM6. Probably both have 2" thick input shaft with the same number of splines (10?). But T2070 (2070,2090 etc) seem usually combined with 15.5 inch clutch and T100 series units were fit to 14" setup. I don't know if is it possible to install T200 series unit using 14" clutch or not. But I can tell swapping the clutch would require swapping the flywheel since they were of different styles. The tranny mounts seemed not interchengeable since T200 used cast mounts and T100 were welded of thick steel. But chassis brackets look the same. So if you're going to put T2050 (2070 etc) into a R-model you just need a pair of tranny mounts for T200 used in a R-model with Mack in-line 6 cyl engine. Which seem as a pretty common part. Aside of that the prop shaft would need its length corrected (cut and balanced) and possibly another shifter lever found. If you're going to use T2050 which was taken off a R the lever would fit fine. But if the tranny goes off say a DM it would be found between your legs when put in a R-model cab. Another story is the very reason to use T2050. It has quite fast OD which would be good in a work truck combined with relatively slow rears. Something like 5.73. And also depending on the tyre size and sure the kind of job you're going to use it for. One more point to doubt over is T2050 is only 5 speed. And if you use T2070 or T2080 it would be almost the same amount of job and mods to install (and the same fast 0.60 OD) but a few additional crawl speeds which may be of use in many situations. Vlad

The 2nd and 3rd gears have the same ratios as in T2070. And also in T2060 and T2080. By the word I recently discovered that T2070 with short compound housing existed.

The color combo looks awesome! Hope the Superliner will pass the diff surgary well.

The truck in the 1st picture is definitely a LM. Heavy series L They were either made with center or offset cab. Many had 707 Mack EY gasser. Or different brand diesels. The matter of Canadian spread 60 inch bogie is better weight distribution I belive which allows carrying larger loads. I suggest though our Canadian members may share more detailed explanations on that. Thanks for posting these cool pictures!

Many thanks for guiding! I'm already 12 years long involved into real Mack world (starting from the point I accuired the 1st truck) and have plenty of great contacts, activities, impressions and so on I wouldn't ever get if went a common life route. This hobby is a key to a special world. My doubts are just a matter of basic doubts as long as we better figure the way to go than just follow some path in the life. But accounting the things done in the recent years I too enjoy the way the time was spent.

Best B-day wishes!

Hmm... I may agree with your terminology indeed. A transfer case is also a kind of power take off. But to a front drive axle usually (I think?) The unit in the R-model is of very similar style to what was used in fire trucks. anyway I'm going to remove it as well as extra fish plating and other mods put to the chassis. And I lean toward putting the bogie to its original position since the wheelbase still would be rather long. Quite enough to put a flat bed or even a sleeper.

Your attitude sounds happy on what you say about the current state of your life. It's really nice. Being at my age (47 now) and also earlier I may be count as your late dad in his time collecting "a first bunch of trucks" in my family. I try looking forward with guesses of do I right or not spending time on old stuff and resto projects. At all my considerations tell me I'm on the right way. And the words you shared on how you're currently doing are very helpful and optimistic.

That C-model is one really nice looking truck! Best Birthday wishes to you! Looks like you have plenty of old iron to enjoy.

Great find! A rare beast definitely. Congrats on the purchase! Speaking the engine I would pay attention to what firetruck guys have in their old Macks.

James, you nailed that! i try being organized though

Nope, there was no extra engine to pump. The truck has really huge PTO between the frame rails which more looks like a transfer case but supposed to drive a pump. Also there are two (!) PTO's mounted at the sides of the tranny for some auxilary functions probably. Unfortunately I have no chances to figure out their original purposes. And actually have no need in doing that. Didn't pay any attention to the tacho and speedo readings since didn't expect seeing anything true there.

Broky, It was definitely a tractor since the tag says R690ST. So oil field folks reinforced it as hard as they could and sure beat some use out of it during the years. Judging by the tyres style and fuel tanks bent where they're facing the ground the truck had to crawl through big muds. But when in place its equipment operated mostly and the chassis was "just parked". So no big miles but big hours on the engine in stationary operation. I'm not sure how long the unit was in active service. More looks like it got abandoned at a certain time a while back.

The axle flanges have 8 bolts what seems suiting that light trunnion. The hubs are steel not alu though and the front spring packs were supposed to carry some load I belive being 10 or so leaves. They more look like off a DM but thinner leaves, I think they were an option for an R-model. Or probably more correct to say taper leaves was an option. The truck is in fair condition indeed. The engine runs smooth and looks like have never been taken off the truck. And doubly seriousely overhauled. The AC compressor is still on with pipes and condencer. The cab is in a quite good shape with no bothering rust. Just the roof was "walked in" but doesn't look difficult to fix. Frame rails are very good for a 35 y.o. truck, the same with the axles and springs. Another side of the coin is half ruined interior, hardly and excessively cracked hood, both fuel tanks bent at the bottom and that fish plating frame mod. Also the rubber has about no wear but hardly cracked due to sun and age. Overall the rig has a lot of potential, just needs time to put care on.

Mark, unfortunately I don't have a better picture handy but looking at this one you see the trunnion style is of lighter series. I have never taken those apart so far but my guess it has rubber bushings or something and not bronze like 44000 utilizes. The axles are fabricated, not castings. Front axle beam looks very close to what I have on my light green R (FAW537 12500 pound) but it was dirty to read the stamping and the ground was wet to crawl under the chassis. Possibly heavy front axle is not always a heavier beam but same beam with thicker spring packs. So the question requires some investigation to figure the truth. Actually the truck was not exported the usual way as we understand it. It was American oil company which provided works in Russia and supplied some equipment for. I'm pretty sure the chassis was lengthened in tthe States since the add on is 1/4" thick steel (6.35mm) and here in Russia you can only find 6.00 mm sheets. So if anything major was changed to the truck it was done in the US as long as I could judge.

T2070 has quite fast overdrive of 0,60 which makes those 5.73 diffs allowing reasonable cruise speed. At least I felt that way when drove the truck. I didn't shift that high but had good feeling following gear sequence. Currently I have 5.02's with the same tranny in my running R and it's too fast in overdrive barely allowing you to shift into the top hole at 85-90 km/h. One hundred and faster is Ok. Both trucks have 11R24.5 tyres and swapping to lesser radius would make the things different. The cab has air suspension, right. But the front springs are a common style, not those 3 taper leaf setup. My guess multy leaf packs have higher load capacity but ride rougher. Overall look is strange a bit since the front looks like 12000 pound axle and the bogie is probably 34000 or 38000. But those heavy front springs and double frame seem singing another song. BTW the tag says it's R690ST so it was a tractor when leaved the factory.

Thanks for the kind words guys! Answers to the questions: No part 2 of the travel story is upcoming since the truck is already in my yard. The 2nd portion of driving was less than one km from just a paved spot big enough to park a semi and a crane to my street. I live in a residental area so the streets are narrow to slick with a semitrailer in. I will tell more about the truck since it has its chassis stretched up but the job looks really rough with poor correspondence of the rail heigth and helluva bunch of fish plating put at the outer sides. So I'm going to clear those excessive parts off the chassis first and maybe move the bogie to its original position. But need a bit of time to do that and also some time before to figure the best way I would choose. No trip pics this time because I had been in a hurry and the road itself was not too scenaric. I crossed a big bridge over a river of Volga near a city of Toliatty (where Lada automotive plant is located) but turned out I drove there both times in the dark. The trailer is a typical European "gardine" trailer as it's called here (and probably in Europe also). It has frames at its sides with rails at the top. The roof is a canvas with cross planks. The plank at the rear end forms the gate opening when in place but can be reattached and moved forward. The same for the other planks and the top canvas. Side canvas can also be freed at the bottom and slid forward along the top rails Side stacks and planks go off really easy being dismantled allowing you full side access if needed. Both operations are simple and can be done by one person (driver) in about an hour. Usually you don't need to open everything so less time is required. The Mack is 1985 R690 with 4V EM6-300 and T2070 7-speed tranny. Double frame with Camelback and 5.73 carriers as I could found out yesterday. The frame has about no spread probably due to being covered with equipment unit at the top but has plenty of extra holes drilled for attaching the fish plates. Currently I just wonder how many kilograms of heavy 1/2" thick steel will go away.

Some day in the fall an ad popped up offering a Mack with some kind of an oilfield pumping unit mounted on it. The truck was located in 1300 km from my place and there was no price tag listed. I scratched my head for a couple of days, made a call and learned the details. The condition was running but it was not in use for a few years. The asking price was not too attractive either and having well enough of old irons to play with I put the deal aside. The ad kept posted for a few months and had me scratching my head ocassionally. But once about the New Year the title got changed from a truck to a chassis. I made another call and learned that the equipment got removed (and sure scrapped) and the asking price reduced. I put an offer of nearly 2/3 of what was asked and having it not accepted put the deal on a back burner again. But noted to myself that cab and chassis is much simplier combo to be transported than a truck with heavy equipment. Closer to the spring the guy called me back himself and said he got ready to get rid of the truck. I than had to wait for warmer times for snows to melt down and than some time more to shedule the trip. Took my shop guy as a company and we covered 1350 km in a day and a half with Mercedes. I investigated the Mack and found it well worth its money. Called a semi guy I have had preliminary arrangement with and asked the seller for a crane to load (which he had promized to bring). In fact it turned out the crane could get to the place no earlier than in a few hours (after a shift) and others haven't pleased us too. So the seller said there was a crane in a company he was employed in but it could not go off a yard it supposed to work at. The yard was in about 10km from the place the Mack was parked so it was needed to drive that distance on a public road and partly in a city. I was not happy to drive unregistered old truck in unknown condition having no wrecker coverage but also didn't want to spend extra half a day there waiting. So I test drove nearly 10 circles over the yard the Mack was parked in and after fixing a couple minor issues hit the road. The drive turned out smooth and the crane came to work in a quarter of hour. The semi truck arrived about the same time so we packed the toy really fast. Than me and my swamper got our trip back home and the semi followed us the next day. In a couple of days the load was at my place so I arranged another crane and freed the Mack off the trailer. Had to drive it from the place we unload to my property on a public road again so was glad I could test drive it earlier. All in all not a really heartbreaking story but some reasonable purchase I currently have no particular plans on

Horses??

That setup you had laying on the ground in front of the truck was called "long ignition" by some slang term of older days where I am. So your mentioning of a "long day" gives me special meaning. Cool truck definitely. A pleasure to look at the pics once more.

Cool job Swishy! But this puzzle wouldn't work as a kid's toy definitely.