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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

I really like the looks of the old Macks. How hard are they to work on? Some vehicles are better designed for maintenance than others. I would suspect that a Mack would be easier than most.

How hard is it to get parts? There are several places that carry 'new' parts for Fords or Chevy/GMCs, but I've never run across a similar site for Macks.

nice find

Mikes63-k10;
Thanks! I don't regret getting it,but of course that's sugject to change depending on how the future shapes up with it...
Starkweatherr;
So far the Mack isn't any harder to work on than anything else,but I haven't gotten that deep into it yet. Finding commonly replaced parts has been pretty easy,(except the oil filter,which 3 parts stores got so completely wrong,I couldn't even use it.) I've also discovered some Wurlitzer Chevy stuff might work on it,like the windshield regulator,and possibly the door glass regulators. I've found Barry at "Watts Mack" a lot of help in finding parts and info,and they sell a lot of parts for the old ones. Strangely,the hardest thing to find,for me at least,is information and repair manuals for this truck. I'm told the Mack Truck Museum has service manuals etc, available,I'll be checking on that. Also,I've found a wealth of good info on the "Big Mack Trucks"forum. I think I'm nearly done with the work on the truck now. The main things left to do are finishing the boom,building the front bumper,attaching tow bar brackets on both the Mack and the '62 Chevy,and possibly a carb rebuild if it doesn't clear up and run right with a little more use. Found out today the heater core doesn't leak,so all it needs will be a motor and switch. I had to replace the socket for one of the little marker lights on top of the headlights,and got them working today. got my second gas tank plumbed in;at current prices here it'll cobt me about 120.00 to fill it up,and that'll get me about halfway home,so I'll get to do it again in Winnemucca. Finally got the oil changed,I'll have to run without an oil filter for now;also cleaned out and refilled the air filter,had to make a new "elbow" to connect it to the carb.
Took a whirl at adjusting the front brakes,improved the brake function a little,but doesn't seem like there's much adjustment available. Maybe there's a secondary adjustment for it. Oh,I hooked up the dome light too. Tomorrow,it's finishing the taillight/stoplight wiring,more welding,grinding,etc. and make a set of seat covers from that old saddle blanket I had draped over the seat. As soon as I get this truck ready to go,I'm hoping to go try to fix the '57 GMC's engine and get the brakes working a little better so I can have it ready to put better tires on it and drive it home next time I come down.
Speed

Hi all;
Got the wiring done,made the seatcovers for the seat bottoms,might do the seat back if the wind dies down in the next day or so.
Today we built and installed the front bumper on the ol' Mack-it's....substantial!
The hoist is about halfway finished;that and installing a bunch of tow bar brackets are about all that's left,then it'll be time to hit the road with it. Dutch posted 4 videos of the Mack on "youtube";I haven't had a lot of success with posting links to 'em,but they're there. You gotta hear this thing in person-it sounds so cool!!Of course I might not think so after hearing it for 300 miles. Dutch is already talking about building a 3 carb intake and headers with DUAL stacks;I wonder if it's possible to improve the economy with multiple carbs?
Speed

BTW-The Mack's Delco 17SI alternator turned out to be toast,so it now runs a 140 amp Leese Neville unit;it's a one wire,and required a special 2 groove pulley to work with the stock Mack belts,and works GREAT! Nice bright lights at any speed down to 350 RPM's.
I'm now working on a bunch of issues on the Mack;brakes,better tires,gear oil leaks,3 inch lift at the front axle for tire clearance,calibrating the speedometer,installing an air compressor and trailer brake lines,and some body work . Once those projects are done,it'll be smaller stuff:better mirrors,upholstering the seats,maybe a new headliner,new windshield,window channel and door glass,aftermarket power windows and windshield wipers,as money permits. Hopefully I'll have it on the road by next Summer.
Speed