Mack LHSW

[J Mack]

 

 

I’ve been fascinated with Mack Trucks since I was a little kid but never felt the need to own one until recently, we have an off road car that we haul around on a car trailer but limit our trips to local events that don’t require overnight camping. My wife and I have been wanting to do more out of state events and I starting looking at car haulers with living quarters and came up with the idea of building a Mack camper hauler.

I spent about a year chasing a few different Mack models when the LHSW popped up on one of my searches, at first glance it appeared to check most of my boxes, vintage Mack, currently running and mostly complete. I was told that the truck was mechanically sound, ran & drove great and with just some maintenance items could be made usable or our intended purpose. I don’t believe the seller intentionally misled me but unfortunately I didn’t have the knowledge to ask all the questions that needed to be asked and when I received the truck it was painfully obvious this truck was modified several times with a cutting torch and stick welder, the suspension & frame was dangerous at best and needed a complete redo to feel comfortable driving it more than just a few miles around the block. The Cummins 743 engine ran fantastic and the transmissions shifted great so I set out to find a donor frame and suspension with the hope of keeping the old Mack all Mack, locating something on the west coast that was going to be dimensionally correct was turning into a deal killer if I wanted to keep it all Mack parts.

I admittedly know nothing about semi-trucks nor am I setup to work on them so I was struggling to come up with options to save this old truck within my skill set and budget, after asking around to a few of the truckers I know the idea of finding a class B donor truck and updating the Mack body to a modern running gear was the new plan. I found a 1995 Kenworth T-300 with a new 8.3 Cummins engine for sale in CA that looked like it would work dimensionally so after buying that truck I’m back to trying to get the old Mack back on the road.

 

Mack when I had it shipped from Oregon to Idaho.

 

[alex g]

Good luck with your project. Looks good.

[J Mack]

Mack truck was dissembled and all the parts that are going to be reused put up on the shelf.  

 

 

 

Drove the Kenworth back to Idaho and spent some time measuring everything to confirm it would work.

 

Then got to work shortening the frame and converting it to air suspension

[J Mack]

Kenworth suspension is complete now I need to get back to the Mack cab rebuilding everything.

The goal for this project is to get the Mack back on the road and get an education on Mack trucks so I don’t repeat my mistakes when I buy the next one.   

[1977vega]

Your garage/tool set up and truck knowledge doesn’t seem that bad... gonna be a cool truck when you get it done. 

[CaptainCrutch]

I remember seeing that one up for sale a while ago when I was looking for an old LTL for my dad, and remember passing on it just because the radiator isn’t the LT kind that he likes... nice to hear it’ll end up in good hands! Good luck with the retrofit!

Edited December 2, 2019 by CaptainCrutch

[JoeH]

1 hour ago, J Mack said:

I admittedly know nothing about semi-trucks nor am I setup to work on them

Looks like you're set up pretty well! They're not much different from cars, just bigger components and bigger wrenches. Hood pops forward and most everything enginewise is easy to access.

[J Mack]

Thanks guys, I’m getting tools as I need to work on the trucks. Had to buy jacks, jack stands, impact guns and sockets just to remove the wheels & tires that weren’t in the budget. Luckily I have an awesome wife that sees these daily deliveries of tools and parts for this project and so far so good.

I’m a one man show working on this in my spare time and I way underestimated the weight of some of these parts like the rear end, as much as I wanted to keep the Cummins 220 not sure how I would have mocked that up in a new frame without an A frame crane of some sort. I’m sure lots of new tools and equipment will find its way to my shop before it’s all said and done, still on my bucket list to restore an old Mack EEU so I don’t mind gearing up on this truck to be more prepared if I find the right EEU.

[JoeH]

Trans can be lowered out of truck by removing floor; pass pipe through driver/passenger windows, sling rope around pipe, over the roof, around pipe, over roof, pipe again, roof again... Tie it off, now you have a makeshift lift to hang a come-along from to lower trans out. Tricks like this are how many if us get by without the "right" tools.

[JoeH]

Works on an R model at least. Not sure about other brands/models.

[J Mack]

Thank you Joe, without the internet and folks like you willing to help guys like me projects like this one wouldn’t be possible.   

[1977vega]

If you really want to get a motor out, you could always do it like this...

[mowerman]

On 12/2/2019 at 1:21 PM, J Mack said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve been fascinated with Mack Trucks since I was a little kid but never felt the need to own one until recently, we have an off road car that we haul around on a car trailer but limit our trips to local events that don’t require overnight camping. My wife and I have been wanting to do more out of state events and I starting looking at car haulers with living quarters and came up with the idea of building a Mack camper hauler.

 

I spent about a year chasing a few different Mack models when the LHSW popped up on one of my searches, at first glance it appeared to check most of my boxes, vintage Mack, currently running and mostly complete. I was told that the truck was mechanically sound, ran & drove great and with just some maintenance items could be made usable or our intended purpose. I don’t believe the seller intentionally misled me but unfortunately I didn’t have the knowledge to ask all the questions that needed to be asked and when I received the truck it was painfully obvious this truck was modified several times with a cutting torch and stick welder, the suspension & frame was dangerous at best and needed a complete redo to feel comfortable driving it more than just a few miles around the block. The Cummins 743 engine ran fantastic and the transmissions shifted great so I set out to find a donor frame and suspension with the hope of keeping the old Mack all Mack, locating something on the west coast that was going to be dimensionally correct was turning into a deal killer if I wanted to keep it all Mack parts.

 

I admittedly know nothing about semi-trucks nor am I setup to work on them so I was struggling to come up with options to save this old truck within my skill set and budget, after asking around to a few of the truckers I know the idea of finding a class B donor truck and updating the Mack body to a modern running gear was the new plan. I found a 1995 Kenworth T-300 with a new 8.3 Cummins engine for sale in CA that looked like it would work dimensionally so after buying that truck I’m back to trying to get the old Mack back on the road.

 

 

 

Mack when I had it shipped from Oregon to Idaho.

 

 

 

That’s actually the best route to take for what you doing with it either way you have got a long road ahead best of luck and have a ball.and hope you have lotsa ambition .. bob

[609albert]

Please tell that engine & trans removal is photo shopped (not real)

[Phase 1]

On 12/2/2019 at 6:49 PM, J Mack said:

Thanks guys, I’m getting tools as I need to work on the trucks. Had to buy jacks, jack stands, impact guns and sockets just to remove the wheels & tires that weren’t in the budget. Luckily I have an awesome wife that sees these daily deliveries of tools and parts for this project and so far so good.

 

I’m a one man show working on this in my spare time and I way underestimated the weight of some of these parts like the rear end, as much as I wanted to keep the Cummins 220 not sure how I would have mocked that up in a new frame without an A frame crane of some sort. I’m sure lots of new tools and equipment will find its way to my shop before it’s all said and done, still on my bucket list to restore an old Mack EEU so I don’t mind gearing up on this truck to be more prepared if I find the right EEU.

 

You wouldn't have to be buying those things new when you will be using them very little. Watch for auctions and sales, Craigs List, lots of used stuff on eBay. Some rental places have some of the things you will need if you have one close enough.

[1977vega]

11 hours ago, 609albert said:

Please tell that engine & trans removal is photo shopped (not real)

Your in Jersey, you know this could be a tabernacle/chattsworth garage set up

[J Mack]

   Still trying to track down some parts, I need to find a Headliner Kit for the L cab.

I called Watt’s to see if they could get something and they suggested to ask here.

If anyone knows of someone making them I would appreciate a link or phone number.

[j hancock]

1 hour ago, J Mack said:

  If anyone knows of someone making them I would appreciate a link or phone number.

You are officially on your own.  Lancaster Upholstery used to make a kit for the L model cardboard headliner and back of cab liner but they stopped producing it about 4-5 years ago.

If you want to do your own.  The cardboard can be purchased from Restoration Specialties as well as the edge welting.  Also some folks have had upholstery shops do L interiors with vinyl, cloth or even leather!

http://www.restorationspecialties.com/      They call it cowlboard.

[J Mack]

14 minutes ago, j hancock said:

You are officially on your own.  Lancaster Upholstery used to make a kit for the L model cardboard headliner and back of cab liner but they stopped producing it about 4-5 years ago.

Thank you so much.

I gave them a call on the off chance they would still be willing to make one and they had one in stock ready to ship!!

[j hancock]

Score!

[terry]

4 hours ago, J Mack said:

Thank you so much.

I gave them a call on the off chance they would still be willing to make one and they had one in stock ready to ship!!

I have a brand new firewall pad, never had it unrolled, goes on the inside of a l model, if interested send me a a email or p/m.     terry

[J Mack]

15 hours ago, terry said:

I have a brand new firewall pad

I will definitely contact you if I’m able to keep the factory L firewall.

At this point nothing is set in stone for the firewall and floor in the L cab, floor is pretty rusty and has a few sketchy patches. The firewall also has some patches and most of the pass through holes appear unusable for the Kenworth power and air needs.

Kenworth floor and firewall are in great condition but they’re aluminum so I’m weighing the options of bolting and bonding verses fabricating new panels and welding them in.   

[cncFireman]

Enjoyed the pictures. Looks like a good project and it appears you have a pretty good setup to make it happen. I'll keep an eye out for an EEU. 

[J Mack]

I have a fairly narrow window of time to get this cab ready to put on the chassis and without an unlimited budget I’m going to need to prioritize mechanical over cosmetic needs/wants and keep moving forward. The plan for now is to track down as much of the Mack L-cab specific parts like rubber, glass and interior panels and deal with paint and body work at a later date.    

Pulled the front glass, drilled out all the broken screws and welded up a few minor rust holes. For now the plan is to paint all the bare steel with POR-15 and hit all the seams with SEM 39377 seam sealer before I put the new rubber and glass back in.

 

Today I need to come up with a plan for the KD 517 Marker Lights, someone installed the lights with the flat gaskets instead of the thicker gaskets for a flat cab and was letting dirt and moisture collect under them, I found a set of NOS lights with the correct gaskets but at $450 they are a bit more than I want to spend on lights right now.

[mrsmackpaul]

Sikaflex, the black rubberized stuff

Pull the lights off, put the Sikaflex underneath screw back up 

Smooth and contour with your fingers

I know its not right and some die hard people on here will be having conniptions, but if on a budget needs must

And you can get it apart later when the budget is healthier and it will make it water tight and to 99 % of people will never know

I have used 1/4 inch gasket paper to make door trims and cab liners

Like most things, they arent perfect but pretty darn close and if you cant buy the real deal they work pretty good

 

Paul