The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts The Stovebolt Volunteer Fire Department 1976 Dodgebolt/Pierce minipumper/brush truck

Recently (as in 2 weeks ago) taken out of service from the Hytop, AL VFD. Everything works except the cab lights and the parking brake.

The deets:

1976 Dodge W350 4WD
360 CID engine
Pierce/Waterous 300 GPM pump
250 gal. tank
can pump and roll

Is it for sale?

Don

As stated in the title, this thread is for Mike B.



Enjoy your day, Don!

?????

That's a neat truck, somebody is going to have fun with it, sadly it won't be me...I'm out of space!

Mike B

Well, I finally got it to draft today. Had fun aerating the pond and refilling the tank.

It isn't a Stovebolt, but it is cool.

Are you entertaining questions or is this for only Mike B.?

I think John will take questions about the truck. I believe he's enjoying it muchly.

It may take a bit before he responds. He's temporarily out of pocket.

That's a really nice-looking rig. What is the dump valve - pointing in the 2 o'clock direction in your original post, and toward 8 in the pumping post? I'm familiar with such only as it applies to a tanker dumping into a portable tank. Thanks!

fyrboy -- *excellent* question!! And it was messing me up to begin with. The "Dump Valve" in this application allows you to dump pressure if you are taking water from a higher pressure source than you are comfortable with. Say, for example, I'm taking water from a city hydrant or from another truck with a 1,000 gpm truck -- this valve allows me to regulate the inlet pressure so I don't over pressure my little 300 gpm pump. It is a simple righty tighty, lefty loosey valve -- for drafting, I have it righty tighty as righty tighty as it can go.

So if you are used to dealing with the full-sized jobs, and not these baby pumpers, you (like me) might get confused about that valve. When all else fails ... read the instructions.

Thank you! Do you have an intake gauge to accurately assess incoming pressure? I'm familiar with sudden, intense intake pressures that have overidden plumbed intake valves & blown the bottom out of pumps.

No. All Pierce outfitted this with were the pump pressure and the pressures at each of the discharge valves.

Looks like the gauge for Discharge No 2 is missing a needle. A dual PSI/kPa gauge.

Apparently there are discharge ports in various places on the truck, as Discharge No 2 isn't visible in the photo.

Cool stuff.

Kevin -- Discharge#2 pressure gauge's needle isn't missing -- its laying in the bottom of the dial. Discharge #2 is on the passenger side.

Does the suction hose have a strainer, or are you chumming minnows to feed the bigger fish?
Jerry

Well, OK! Seems like it might have trouble indicating the pressure from the bottom of the dial.

Kevin -- I've been told by competent authority that a "good" engineer doesn't need a gage, he's in such tune with his equipment that it will sing to him songs of pressures, rpm's, flow rates, narwhal mating rituals and Appalachian moonshine recipes. Of course, that was right after he had cooked up some corn squeezins' ...

I can believe that. My ears tell me things when driving my 7.3L diesel. When things don't sound right, a guy starts checking. When things sound right, the smile comes on.

Yeah, well the flip side of that is when the engine gurus listen to the engine, cock their heads and say "Did you hear THAT??" and then proceed to tell you that the engine that was "recently rebuilt" needs to be torn down again because its in imminent danger of grenading due to a rod knocking. My VA disability is a loss of hearing so I can't hear whatever it is they're hearing. I learned from Jerry that when the engine experts tell you that a funny noise is telling them the engine is about to fail catastrophically I believe them. It was not a fun day in Old Truck Land.

Fortunately, I haven't forgotten most of the MOPAR tricks I learned while playing in the 4WD truck pulling sandbox, and I've got a few engine parts left over from those days. John's firebolt just might get some sneaky upgrades before too long! The warmed-over "440" engine we ran back then made a few dyno runs in the 700+ HP range at 6500 RPM.
Jerry

Jerry ... Here are the pics I promised in the PM. At this point, I don't care if the red neck 360 grenades or not. Notice the absence of the flywheel cover...

HMMMMM- - - - -that oil pan to crossmember clearance seems to be a bit snug- - - - -but that can be dealt with by unbolting the front motor mounts and jacking the engine up a little. I think I've got a fixture stashed away somewhere for just that purpose. I'd really like to see what those rod journals look like- - - - -before they can be inspected through holes in the block!
Jerry

I just did a little number crunching- - - - - -one of my 383 MOPAR engine blocks bored .060" oversize, with a 1/4" extra stroke 440 crankshaft and 454 Chevy pistons and rods works out to 467 cubic inches. That ought to get you on scene before the fire starts!
Jerry