MalibuJim

That's a start, thank you.

Well, as if the truck alone wasn't enough I had made a suggestion a couple of years ago to the owners that we could add a trailer to further enhance the truck. Sooooooo................. Does anyone have any idea where I could start to look for a single axle "sixty's" type trailer. Of course it would need to be from out west or somewhere where the frame wouldn't be all rusted out. I'm not sure but I think the box type was a "round nose" As you can see I'm not too versed on the types of trailers, but I had never built a big truck like the "B" before this one either. Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas or criticisms would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Jim

Does anyone know of a restorable (loaded question) trailer that would be close to period correct for our '64 B-61? I think a round nose single axle in the 30-35 foot range. I wanted to do a trailer for this tractor back when I built the truck, not so sure now if I have enough gas in the tank for another restoration. But, I thought I would ask. Actually on second thought, how about one that's ready to go, that would probably suit me a whole lot better in my old age. Respond here or at jimt@paiindustries.com

I only hooked mine up to make the truck look more original underneath and I had to make a couple of the rods.

For what it's worth, I put Firstone 11R24.5 14pr FS 590 (steer) and FD 690 (drive). don't laugh, but my concern was what the tread looked like. I didn't want knobby drives for sure and these looked the best for me. As far as not "feeling like you have control" wait til you drive it for a few miles and ask your arms if you think you could "feel" like you had control!!!

What a cool old truck, looks like ours did when I started the resto. Good luck with it. Jim

Hiya Rob, I don't know the actual size other than dimensions and its a 4 row core. I'll try to post a picture or two tomorrow. As far as the parts go, what sort of restoration parts are you using. J.T.

Hi guys, Haven't been here in a while and I am glad to see new names along with all of the older dogs. I have an original heater core and box and dash panel off the old '64 B if anyone needs them. Hate to throw em away but I'm cleaning house and these might be the only pieces worth mentioning. I'll post pictures of them if needed, just let me know. Thanks, Jim

Here's a couple more pics. Last Friday I put another 15 miles on it and took it to the PAI Christmas lunch at a local Mariott here in Atlanta. Sitting out in the sun was a nice change since all I've had before the 1st road trip were pics from inside a shop. Also I included one pic from the beginning as a reminder that unrestored B's can be in pretty bad shape. This one had no floor, bottom of doors rotted, bottom back of cab rotted and bondo in lots of places. The block was welded and leaked and the radiator had a fan stuck in it. It hadn't been licensed since a couple of years before we bought it, but other than that it was in pretty good shape. I'm going to try to get some interior pics but because the headliner, door panels, seats and carpeting are black pics don't turn out too good. Merry Christmas everyone, Jim

Thanks for the comments guys, here's a quick answer to your questions. Randy, the engine was a major problem because I wanted to keep the Duplex trans. Therefore that meant keeping the original crankshaft which meant there were no pistons available for the 1.625 inch wrist pin connecting rods. So I took a set of 2 inch pin pistons with the bigger rods and modified the big end of the rod to fit the early crank. Had to take .140" off the width of the big end of each rod to fit. I wanted the turbo and tip turbine so the engine had respectable horsepower so basically I ended up with a modified version of an EM6-285. Albert, the rims were another problem because of course split rims were not an option. So I switched to a 24 inch tubeless that would still fit the original Daytons (needed to keep those!)The tires are 11R24.5 Firestones FD-690 drives and FS-590 steers. Hatcity, it was pretty quiet at the Flying J but going down the road was a trip in itself. People in cars and of course the big rigs were all looking at the old girl like she was naked. Unfortunatly the only speaker I had hooked up for the CB was in the radio itself and I couldn't hear that one (imagine that). One of the little details I'm working on is a remote speaker which will be one of the rear stereo speakers. I could hear the music. Thanks again y'all Jim

ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!!!! Finally!!!!!!!!! After 7 years and I couldn’t even begin to count the hours, I took her up the road to her first Flying J fuel stop and back to PAI this past Saturday, (85 uneventful miles) Of course there needs to be a few adjustments and details dealt with but all in all a very successful trip. The old girl rides and drives like a dream. The comfort level inside is high with the air ride seats smoothing out anything that a 46 year old Mack truck would send to a poor old driver. What’s next? Finish some details, lots of pics, maybe a publication would be nice. I'll have more pics and possible video for BMT in near future. Happy Holidays, Jim

Thanks for the comments guys, I've got another picture or two I'll try to post today and I will get some video, that's a great idea. Y'all have a Merry Christmas Jim

Whewwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll tell you what, this thing just about kicked my ass. Anyway, for all of you that are working on any old vehicle project, don't ever, ever quit. Yesterday was a major day for me (after 6 years) and the feeling of actually pushing in the clutch and putting it in gear for the very first time was nothing less than fantastic. I drove it out of the building and around the block once and back in the building and what a relief that was, all the gears even worked. At 63 I got just as excited about this one as anything I've ever done in the past, maybe even more so because its bigger. Anyway, I've got quite a few details to finish, airconditioning, more electrical, c/b etc. and then the long road test to get all the temps up and shake out any of the tools I've lost, but I will keep y'all posted. Have a Merry Christmas, Jim