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1962 B-673ST Mack working restoration:

1693TA

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Boat left yesterday afternoon to a very happy customer. Temperatures are supposed to nosedive pretty much by the weekend so he's hoping to get a bit of duck hunting in today and tomorrow. Said that given the black the bottom is finished in he's not going to do anything else to it.

Decided to pull the deck from my Woods mower as it's never been off the power unit to give it a good evaluation. Both universal joints for driving the deck are non serviceable types and have wear so going to replace. The splines the driveshaft slips onto was an ordeal to get loose and ultimately took a 10# slide hammer and hook to get it free. Like a tractor PTO overrunning clutch, there is a collar you pull back and it should easily pull from the splines but this one has no provision for greasing and was rusted/stuck fast. I'll get this stuff addressed while it's apart over the winter months.

Figured while I had it broken apart I'd go ahead and knock all the weeks and grime out of it. This photo is so I could get under without any stands in the way. I stood the mower up to about a 45 degree angle and worked well but the next time I think I'll just hang the power unit from the gantry crane so it hangs vertical. The battery is a gell cell, and of course the engine oil needs drained first but this is a maintenance type action so would be done at the same time. Takes all of about 3 minutes to remove the deck so really not too difficult to do good routines.

Prototyping and surveying for a lift point I initially used the engine lifting bails:

upload_2019-11-7_5-17-3.jpeg
upload_2019-11-7_5-17-35.jpeg

I didn't think to snap photos when I had it to maximum lift but I'd wrapped to the rear frame and run the car lift all the way up to gain unobstructed access underneath. It worked well.
 

1693TA

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Poor old "Krusty":

upload_2019-11-7_5-21-38.jpeg
upload_2019-11-7_5-21-54.jpeg
upload_2019-11-7_5-22-14.jpeg

Probably going to look for another truck to slip the V10 engine into as this one still runs very well. I purchased the truck new in 1996 so know it's history quite well.....
 

1693TA

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This project has been placed on hold for a few days citing the ongoing harvest timeframe. Been making some mobile welding repairs, (along with some "heat & beat" on equipment so a farmer friend of mine can continue pulling in his crops. Just yesterday one of his helpers hooked a gauge shoe on the combine head into something buried and twisted a 30ft. head out of alignment. Heat here, twist here, burn here, etc. was the order of the day but replacement parts easy climb north of $3K for what was damaged, so we repaired for a fraction of the cost.
 
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1693TA

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What ever happened to the 6V92 IH, It running good?

Well, It was running well. I installed new fuel filters just before getting it brought home last December and the truck died on me today while I was moving stuff around the yard. Could not get it to restart. Still has 1/2 full saddle tanks which equates to about 70 gallons. Decided to see if the primary fuel filter was starved. This is what I found just as I broke the seal loose:
upload_2019-11-15_19-39-41.jpeg

After the filter was removed:

upload_2019-11-15_19-40-6.jpeg

Guess we would say that filter is plugged, and history. The fuel tanks must be a mess inside? The discharge path from this filter and the secondary filter are clean so purchased another primary filter on the way back to the house to install tomorrow. Think I may pump those two tanks into a couple barrels and clean the tanks somehow.
 

RZucker

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Well, It was running well. I installed new fuel filters just before getting it brought home last December and the truck died on me today while I was moving stuff around the yard. Could not get it to restart. Still has 1/2 full saddle tanks which equates to about 70 gallons. Decided to see if the primary fuel filter was starved. This is what I found just as I broke the seal loose:
View attachment 205208

After the filter was removed:

View attachment 205209

Guess we would say that filter is plugged, and history. The fuel tanks must be a mess inside? The discharge path from this filter and the secondary filter are clean so purchased another primary filter on the way back to the house to install tomorrow. Think I may pump those two tanks into a couple barrels and clean the tanks somehow.

Ooh, that is nasty.
 

1693TA

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Someplace around here I have a "Schroeder Bros." filtration cart which has cleanable filters. If I can find it I'll use it to pump the tanks down rather than a Graco double diaphragm pump and just keep recirculating a couple gallons of the same fuel stripping out contaminants with each pass through the filter media.

I was really surprised the secondary filter was not visually contaminated also. I opened it's petcock and virtually nothing drained so knew the problem was upstream from that which is the filter shown. At that point had no idea if a compromised suction line, or rotted fuel pickup tube but wasn't getting fuel regardless.

Little bit every day they say. Keep the thinker engaged and retirement isn't so boring.
 
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1693TA

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Found my filter cart but there are no filters in it. I was using it for a waste oil transfer pump prior to switching over to air powered pumps in the shop several years ago. Went ahead and evacuated the tanks into a pair of barrels and will let them settle out a few days before working with them. The sludge and algae in the tank interiors is phenomenal. I'll get these cleaned out with my steam cleaner and various nozzles to reach everywhere.

I went to the parts store after rounding up a couple filter heads and purchased both a 30 micron, and a 10 micron filter as these are better than the primary filter on the truck to catch anything that breaks loose after refilling. I'll temporarily bypass the primary filter housing till the fouling is done.
 

1693TA

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I don't think the mechanical driven gear pump is pulling fuel. I cannot get freshly filled filters and housings with an inlet hose into a five gallon can of fresh diesel to pull through. This could be a compromised suction line, or an imperfect seal on a filter housing, but I've not progressed that far yet. I may plumb in both a vacuum gauge, and pressure gauge on each side of the fuel pump as my other trucks have them as quick troubleshooting aids.
 

kshansen

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Could also be a problem with the yoke that drives the pump or even the splined shaft that turns the blowers.

I might be tempted to take the hose off the primary filter housing that goes to the suction side of the pump and support it up straight and fill with fuel and have someone bump the starter while you watch to see if it sucks the fuel down into the hose. Or stick the hose in to a small can of clean fuel and crank over to see if the pump is pulling the fuel out of the can.
 

1693TA

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Could also be a problem with the yoke that drives the pump or even the splined shaft that turns the blowers.

I might be tempted to take the hose off the primary filter housing that goes to the suction side of the pump and support it up straight and fill with fuel and have someone bump the starter while you watch to see if it sucks the fuel down into the hose. Or stick the hose in to a small can of clean fuel and crank over to see if the pump is pulling the fuel out of the can.
I agree on all points. The truck is a 79 and the braided fuel lines are very stiff and crusty. I've not broke any of those loose yet; only the ones from the pickup in the tank, and coarse filter housing. I was wanting to blow compressed air backwards through the lines to ensure the pickup tube is not plugged as the crap that was in the bottom of the tanks was thick. However not sucking fuel from the can is a different scenario. I can set a gallon can higher than the engine and gravity feed the inlet on the fuel pump without issue to see if she's pulling there. I have plenty of "Push-Loc" style hose to custom make any length needed.

Raining like a cow pissing on a flat rock right now and the truck is parked in a muddy spot so don't know if I'll get to it today or not but will report back with findings. Really want to get it into the shop for filler work while I await other parts for other projects.

Thanks,
 

1693TA

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Running again. New filters of course but the problem was the 90 degree transition from the top of the fuel tank where the flexible hose running to the primary filter connects. Had a solid blockage there and couldn't pull fuel through it. After I removed this line the protruding gunk looked like rust filings stuck to a magnet. Removing as much as possible, I then blew the remainder back into the tank via my little hand pump used for priming starved out diesels. After reconnecting the line and priming the system, the truck fired right off making smoke again:

upload_2019-11-19_10-58-29.jpeg

Having 8 bald drive tires it's not about to be able to be moved till it dries out a bit. Even with the power divider locked in the truck won't budge.

Oh well, glad to have this problem rectified.
 

1693TA

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Got the truck out after releasing the trailer. Kinda greasy back there but a couple of fore an aft runs while avoiding tire spin till I got on solid grass and she walked right up to the gravel drive.

Now in the shop it can dry out overnight and I'll address some non working electrical issues. This truck having a short wheelbase and sharp steering cut makes it ideal for jockey work. On top of that it has hydraulic power steering which is much nicer than the "Air-O-Matic" of the B-61.
 

kshansen

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"Air-O-Matic" of the B-61.

Had a couple trucks with that system. Did not seem too bad if there were not too many leaks! Just a bunch of air hoses in some of the worst areas for rub through leaks.

All the newer Mack trucks, and we had a few as the company that originally owned the quarries in this part of the country also owned a Mack Dealership in Pa.,had various versions of Sheppard power steering.
 

1693TA

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Not really a bad system in it's day when readily supported. After Maradyne acquired the company and raped it for profits, it declined from lack of parts support, and age. The control valves replacing the standard drag link were crimped together and to rebuild it required a new housing. Not bad before they were discontinued. Rubber and leather packings along with the aluminum tube which was the cylinder were easy to work with when parts were available. Pretty trouble free system really when maintained.

The system got a bad rap for something it was never designed for which is close maneuver operation such as docking. It would deplete your air reservoirs faster than compressors of the day could keep up with. No real harm as the system automatically reverted back to manual steering. During nor.al city driving they were a great relief from the then prevalent manual steering. You didn't want to run loose front end parts with it however as the system would fight both itself, and you in operation.
 
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