I don't think I mentioned this yet,but while in Reno recovering my 1945 Mack EH from Carson City,a guy GAVE me a 1957 GMC 350 dump truck.
It has about 64,000 miles on it since new,has a 270,4 speed,2 speed axle,22.5's,and isn't in too bad shape. Needs a door glass,master cylinder rebuild,one valve spring replaced (the reason it was parked),and 3 tires (rotten,split where it sat on them since '93).
The guy told me if I could get it out of his yard I could have it. It was quite a job,but Dutch and I got it done
,and the owner gave me the title. I have it stored at a friend's place,and I'm planning to make another trip down to get IT running and drive it home too.
As far as the Mack goes,the initial plan was to do a little cleanup and maintenance,lube and oil filter and some metal fabrication,then drive it home. As it turned out,the wiring was absolute junk
,so we just finished converting it to 12V-neg. ground,adding in a Delco 17SI alternator and a GM truck fuse block,and rewired the whole truck,using the design diagrammed on MAD Electric's website.(Thanks,Alan!)
The truck drives and runs really well except for the accelerator pump being a little wimpy still. I let it idle all morning while we worked on taillights etc.,and after idling for 3-1/2 hours it still showed about 50 pounds oil pressure,didn't smoke,and never got over 140 degrees.
Once the metal work's done,I think I'll be ready to drive it back home,with my '62 one ton in tow. I've been driving the Mack as often as possible,working out some bugs. I'm going to need some time to get back in the swing of non-synchro transmissions :rolleyes: ,but it's getting easier as time goes by. The brakes are pretty good,but the Hydra Vac is missing so it takes a little muscle to stop it. The wiper motor is missing. Both window regulators are grenaded,as is the windshield regulator,but it appears all these parts are nearly identical to those used in the '46 Chevy and GMC trucks,and another friend of Dutch's has some of them he's willing to part with to help me get this truck back in service. Today we cut and installed new floorboards,adjusted the clutch,installed mudflaps and discovered the stoplight switch is occasionally sticking. All in all,it's going along well.
I'll try to get some pictures going of the Mack and the GMC as soon as I can figure it all out. :confused:
More later on.
Speed
