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Intro- 1952 125LS Santa Monica


SMFire History

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Welcome aboard! Very nice truck.

It looks like the right headlight has been replaced. There is a builder in CA that makes a pretty close replacement if you are looking to go back to the original look. http://www.otbgear.com/Default.aspx

Money, sex, and fire; everybody thinks everyone else is getting more than they are!

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On page 79 of Harvey Eckart's book, "Mack Fire Apparatus, A Pictorial History", there is a photo of Engine 23, a 1954 Mack "LT" 1000 GPM pumper delivered to Glendale, CA.

The photo is black and white but it is obviously not red; either yellow or white. It is a semi-cab which means it has doors but no roof. An open cab has no doors and no roof; real

old time firefighting! Harvey's books are a must for anyone interested in all types of Mack fire apparatus.

bulldogboy

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Thanks for all the kind welcomes. We're really looking forward to getting this rig back up to snuff so that it can be a showpiece for our community and generate even more pride for our members. The plan for now is a frame on restoration that will incorporate much of the original specifications while increasing it's curb appeal with upgrades that may not have been ordered on the original spec but still offered by Mack. We are in the process of gathering original photos of the rig for reference and will begin a fundraising effort shortly to offset the significant costs. Until then we will need new tires, a thorough safety inspection to include the braking system, etc. and a few small items to make it road worthy. A tune-up and carb rebuild will also come shortly. I'm not very familiar with these rigs and have not had time to review Harvey's book thoroughly but I will try to answer any questions you might have. I will also try to post pics for your review.

Is that a Hall-Scott powered rig? I would think a 125 would need the 1049 inch engine or something equally as stout...Cummins or 711? More pictures and information would be great? It looks nice. Cool truck.

Greg

The sales brochure from Mack states it would have a 707 cu in motor. (serial#ENF707B-208-55) Eckart lists this as a 276HP rig. We had a 1948 L125 also and I am not familiar enough to know the difference when scanning our archive of images. If anyone could enlighten me that would be helpful. I believe these are a few pics of the 1952 originally...

post-16036-0-71495800-1379631689_thumb.j

post-16036-0-78676800-1379631705_thumb.j

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SMFire History:

I believe that the "L" model in the old station photos is older than 1952. The telltale item is the front bumper, it is smaller than the one on your '52. "L"s had the smaller bumper until 1949 or thereabouts.

Nice old pictures, they remind me of my department when I started my career.

bulldogboy

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the old one at fire station is a 40's model.you can tell by the stripes on the hood and no vent windows also MACK scripe on hood is flat metal.in 1950 they put the dog on the side curtains as well as the raised Mack scriped sign and put vent windows in the doors.this was all done because of there 50th anniversary.

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SMFire History:

I believe that the "L" model in the old station photos is older than 1952. The telltale item is the front bumper, it is smaller than the one on your '52. "L"s had the smaller bumper until 1949 or thereabouts.

Nice old pictures, they remind me of my department when I started my career.

bulldogboy

I noticed the front bumper was different but thought maybe in changed when it was converted to our aircraft rig. Thanks for the insight.

the old one at fire station is a 40's model.you can tell by the stripes on the hood and no vent windows also MACK scripe on hood is flat metal.in 1950 they put the dog on the side curtains as well as the raised Mack scriped sign and put vent windows in the doors.this was all done because of there 50th anniversary.

I do see now that the bulldog is missing from the side of the engine bay. Nice tid bits to help resolve which rig is which. Thank you! Here's a pic of the 52 post conversion when it was in service at the airport here in Santa Monica. Sorry for the poor quality...

post-16036-0-97002500-1379635974_thumb.j

Edited by SMFire History
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I like the Budds that most of the West Coast Macks seemed to equipped with. Does the truck have air brakes?

I must confess to being a little confused (not an uncommon condition these days) but I assumed that the designator L-125 meant the same as B-125 or C-125 or a 1250gpm pump. In the photos I only see four discharge gates. To get the full Underwriters rating a pump needed one discharge for each 250 gal or 5 discharges for a 1250 pump. I think that some West Coast Mack apparatus carried a designator of L-21 which indicated the Hall Scott Motor, I have a catalog that lists a B-21 as having a Hall-Scott motor. Does the L-125 mean something different than the pump size??

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SMFire History:

I believe that the "L" model in the old station photos is older than 1952. The telltale item is the front bumper, it is smaller than the one on your '52. "L"s had the smaller bumper until 1949 or thereabouts.

Nice old pictures, they remind me of my department when I started my career.

bulldogboy

I think the small chrome bumper was an option. My '47 85 LS has the large steel bumper. On the build sheet it initially specifies a chrome bumper, put that is x'ed out and a steel bumper with chrome strips is listed. http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/gallery/image/10999-macungie-2012/.

I found the picture of the LTL in Glendale. It is a semi-open cab and it is red. I will have to scan it and post it. Mike

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