Allison

Welcome, and good luck..

Fred you got it!!!! We thought there was a baffle or something and my friend suggested that it was for air in the top of the radiator since the neck is so low.. Thanks for all the help guys!!!

Allison

Rob thanks for the info. but what im trying to describe is another tube that comes off the top of the radiator. The overflow come off of the side of the fill neck. I took that off to get it out of the way. The piece im talking about almost looks like a little support tube that comes off the top of the shell and goes straight over to the fill neck. My buddy said he thought it might be some type of tube to relieve air that might build up in the top of the shell since the fill neck is located about 4 inches from the top of the radiator. In any case it sounds like im going to pull it and do it right.. I hate half assing something and i love this truck as much as my kids... Rob you did say to remove the fender closing panels?? Im thinking these are the smaller panels that are around the head lights??

Thanks for all the help guys

Allison

My B model has a radiator leak and i have a few questions if anyone can help.. First off the leak is at the fill neck.. The neck has a small brass tube that comes out about an inch below the cap and goes over into the top of the radiator shell. This little tube is leaking on the radiator shell side. Tried to brase the thing today and only melted the tube. (probably should have soldered) Any way is this little #$%^##% tube necessary first of all and secondly how hard is it to remove a B models radiator??

Thanks

Allison

Thank you.. damn radiator is giving me a fit now.. that little breather tube coming off the top to the fill cap has a small leak.. im trying to find someone to fix inplace but im afraid im going to have to pull the darn thing. Ill check on the wolfs head.. thanks for the info

Allison, see if you can find a Wolf's Head dealer, I am getting 40W for my Waukesha for 16.50 per gallon. I saw your rig at PPP- very nice!

good to have you jared.. are you going to have the old girl ready for the York county fire convention. I think its Aug. 15 if im not mistaken.. Any way if you are we will be looking for you..

Damn John, I want that garage!!!!

Angelo:

I have posted some pics of the firetruck in the gallery that I think you are referring to.

Regards,

John

Firemack,

Thank you! It was a very nice day, the rain held off and we had a good turnout. We are very proud of the rig and tremendously excited about the Dave Buskey award. I’m good friends with Dave’s brother and while I never had the chance to meet Dave I have been out to his little museum that he left behind. It was a good day for the Harrisburg brothers. I also happen to come across Harvey while judging. My friend was with him and I stopped to speak with my friend and he introduced me. I was wondering where you were. Any way I believe the first photo you have posted is of the very rig we are talking about. The Rockville FD is claiming to have created the style and also call it the Rockville. Do you know if they had done this for other departments, the sloped back?

Alison,

First congratulations on taking best of show at the Harrisburg Muster, that is an honor and you should be proud of the work you did to return your truck to splendor that it had when new. I heard a lot of good comments, but was not able to attend myself. I hope to see your truck at another event.

I think you may have seen a B model coupe with a custom cab. These used the standard B or L model cab but had a custom roofline to meet the rear pump body. If you have any pictures that you can post I can confirm that with you.

There is a muster coming up at the Rose Tree Park in Media PA on August 2nd and would be great to see your truck there. All BMT members, old Macks and Firetrucks are welcome.

Great Job on your truck,

Firemack

Firemack, I was staged beside the Rockville MD B-model at the Harrisburg muster the other day and we are trying to find some info out on the cab design. While it was a B-model it has a strange cab with the rear sloping down by the pump panel. I was hoping you could provide some info on this cab design. Was there many produced the style or name of the cab etc.

thanks for the help

Allison

Around here Walmart is the cheapest in town for the Rotella T oil. Gallon jugs are only 19 bucks! AA is around $23, Tractor supply is $30.. all in gallon jugs

Welcome to Bmt. Great to have another Fire Truck on board. Well you be talking it to the Harrisburg Muster in July? I always liked that Muster when we lived in N.J., but now that I am in S.C. it's a little too far to go .

Good Luck with your Rig

Ray

Yeah we will be there. Its going to be our big debut here in the area. There are a lot of people in the area that have ridden on the truck when it was still in service so there are a lot of people looking forward to seeing it again..!!

Hello all, My name is Jason and im a firefighter from Harrisburg, PA. I just bought my first truck and i think it is a good start. My truck is a B85F Tiller truck with a 707b engine. My department has no original tillers left except this truck. This truck was the first in Harrisburg in several areas. It was the first metal aerial the city ever owned. All previous were wooden mechanical and spring operated ladder trucks. Being a metal aerial another first was the tillers seat being located behind the ladder instead of on the ladder. This truck was purchased brandnew in 1957 for $39,347. It ran out of the busiest truck company the Allison H & L Co. no. 12. The city sold the truck to a volunteer fire house in 1958 for roughly $2500. After about 9 years of use that department sold it to private collectors in michigan. The truck had a very good home for the last 15 years until this last april when i finally brought the rig back home to harrisburg. The tractor and trailer are original to each other but the tractor has been restored. Mechanically they both work well. There are some odd and end things that i need to work on but give me something to do.

I personally have been a fan of the AC Macks and CF macks. I started my fire service career riding CF600's and came to love these trucks.. After buying a B-model I think i have fallen even harder for this model truck. Im very excited to learn as much as i can from everyone.

Jason (Allison)

The photos below show the truck currently and back in 1969 during the riots in Harrisburg. (The reason for the Plexiglas)

Linmack,

I recently had my B85F tiller truck lettered and we used Dale Snyder of Macungie. Dale worked for mack from 1966 to 1984 when they stopped producing fire trucks. All dale did was gold leaf fire trucks he would be the guy to talk to.. also i dont know anyone that can gold leaf better than dale.. he is the mack gold leaf master!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Linmack,

I recently had my B85F tiller truck lettered and we used Dale Snyder of Macungie. Dale worked for mack from 1966 to 1984 when they stopped producing fire trucks. All dale did was gold leaf fire trucks he would be the guy to talk to.. also i dont know anyone that can gold leaf better than dale.. he is the mack gold leaf master!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Allison,

There are several companies that rebuild hydrovacs, Whitepost in Virginia (540) 837-1140, is a very good rebuilder of brake parts , I have used them on several jobs and they provide excellent service. You can also check hemmings magazine, or call these guys http://vehiclesofvictory.com/buying-sellin...ction-to-parts/ they sell hydrovacs and may be able to give you the right contact to buy parts.

Firemack

Thanks for the info Firemack.. !!

If I was doing it,I'd probably take it off and ship it to Reno Brake,in Reno Nv. and have it rebuilt. There's likely a place near you that does that work;I believe those have a huge,stiff spring in 'em that could cause a lot of damage to your hide if you took one apart,so better to play it safe and let the pro's do it. Worst case scenario,they'll probably have the parts you need if you can engineer a safe way to get it apart and back together. OR,maybe you can convert a more common booster to work in its place.

Speed

Thanks for the help speed. I have the booster apart and your right there is a large spring. Im would think updating the booster would probably be smarter.. they probably work better??

Allison

I posted this in the other forum but figured i would add it here. Can anyone help.

My 1957 B model has a vacuum line and an atmospheric line running to the trailer. The trailer has a vacuum booster which operates the master cycliner. My vacuum booster has a bad diaphram and i am having one heck of a time finding another. Any ideas... also if i can not find a diaphram could i replace the booster with a newer version??? Please help

Allison

gmbelt, I have a 1957 with a 707B engine and my previous owner advised me to use the Rotella T 5w 40. I have been using with no problems. As i have talked to several truck owners they have said that it is pretty much the top of the line to use. Also my manual says my engine uses 18.5 quarts. That is including enough to fill the filter. I would imagine yours is the same since the engines are very similar.

My 1957 B model has a vacuum line and an atmospheric line running to the trailer. The trailer has a vacuum booster which operates the master cycliner. My vacuum booster has a bad diaphram and i am having one heck of a time finding another. Any ideas... also if i can not find a diaphram could i replace the booster with a newer version??? Please help

Allison