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Hello - customized M818 military in Dallas Texas


M818

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I signed up here because my younger brother just bought a 1958 B75 with a END673. Soon as he can get it transported, we'll have a look at the engine. I'm familiar with some Diesels:

1968 Hercules Multifuel in an M35

1970 Cummins NHC250 in an M818 - current project truck pictured.

Lister trailer mounted 8KW generator

Perkins stationary 40KW generator

I'm new to Mack so I hope to find advice on it, but we don't know if it runs or not. I've advised against turning it over in case it would start and run away. It's been sitting for many years so it might be stuck. No way to know yet.

Here is a picture of the customized M818 I am working on now. The entire M818 truck tractor was remanufactured in 1990. I tried 52" 16.00x20 tires on it, but I felt it was not behaving safely on the highway so I traded back for the stock setup. To get the speed up from a 52 MPH redline, I swapped the transfer case from a stock Rockwell T-138 to a T-1138 with a 0.73 OD. Redline is now 69MPH, but I like to run 60MPH to keep up with traffic. The NHC250 is at its limit on power and there isn't much to to improve that as it has no piston cooling jets. The yellow box on the side is an onboard 6KW Diesel generator. More has been done there for that enclosure. It's from a lighting trailer, so the enclosure is being adapted to this application. The body on back is from an M109 2.5 ton truck. It has a 2500# lift gate on the back but it can't be seen in the picture. The electrical system is 24V and I added a 12/24 battery equalizer to power any 12V accessories. There is also a RADAR set, two 9000 BTU military a/c units, and collapsible 27 FT antenna mast to be installed after the rear body gets some sheet metal work. The cab and chassis are in green CARC. I would like to air condition the cab. It's in Texas so it does not get driven much. I drove it from Illinois to Texas in January 2010. That was an interesting trip, cold starting out. Texas heat, plus the heat coming through the cab from the engine, makes it a little unpleasant. It will take about 30,000 BTU to cool that cab.

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Edited by M818
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I've only seen a very bad cellphone pic of the Mack. It's a couple hundred miles away and might be a couple weeks until I get to really see it, and at that point I'll take lots of pictures and one of us will start a topic. Thank you for the friendly welcome! We'll be grateful for the help.

Don't worry about pics, I got a habit of posting good large pics of stuff and an almost unlimited website at bunkerofdoom.com for stuff that is too big like videos or accounts of an epic nature. Thanks, please give me a couple of weeks. In the meantime I'll enjoy reading everything I can here, and if there are any manuals for the END673 and the drivetrain/chassis, etc, I'd like to read them too.

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That looks like a fun military truck project - I bought a truck like that one time at a local army depot and it was full of machine tools - a drill press, hydraulic hose machine, even a metal lathe. I just wish the fun of driving it had not worn off after the first 10 minutes!

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  • 3 weeks later...

The M818 is a Kaiser.

My brother has had some stuff come up and will be getting the Mack moved to a pre-paid storage. Then I think he has to sell it. Short story! he's looking for a triler to put it on, and will move it. He asked if I want it.. Geez I got already the M818, a new E150 cargo van, and a 74 Dodge Dart.. no room! The city will get on me. Is it likely that Mack will run 70MPH before hitting the redline? I'm told they are geared low for pull and don't have the HP and torque like a 'new' tractor..

Where can I find a list of options for the 1958 B75 with a END673, and could someone direct me to info about the 2-stick transmission and the differential?

Can a driver with a gut fit in the thing? (an issue with military trucks, let me say..)

Anyone air conditioned one of these?

Still no pics, soon!

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:WELCOME: Nice to meet you! I'm Ben and I share this account with my dad, Tim. We like Macks but we're obsessed with anything Detroit Diesel.

Military trucks are really cool in my opinion, it's neat to see one on here. I can't wait to see some footage of your finished M818 I think it looks awesome.

As far as the B model goes, twin sticks aren't that bad onece you get used to them. Can you drive it with a gut? Yes but there may be a little bit of resistance on the rim of the steering wheel. And as far as starting it, when you get it home, post a topic saying something like "I wanna start up my B model and don't know how to do it" and we'll take it from there. Good luck on your projects.

Ben

P.S. Watch out for that Vinny kid, he kinda likes stuff that leans over.

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Thanks for the welcome and good remarks! I'll have some vid later, at the beginning of October is an air show I've been asked to bring the green truck. Military may be off topic here. Do yall use steelsoldiers.com?

I've seen steel soldiers but I don't have an account on there. But we welcome any truck on here, (even peterbilts) especailly something cool like a military truck. Just post about it in the "Antique Truck General Discussion" forum. We'd love to see it.

Ben

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