1957 Mack B61T Restoration Project

Here is one of my restoration projects

It's a 57 MACK B 61
Apparently it started it's life as a Municipal Dump truck.
Then it sold in an auction to a farmer and was made into a manure spreader.
NOW It's mine. I'm gonna make a fifth wheel car hauler out of it.

It's got a 711 Turbo Diesel
TriPlex transmission witch is the 5 speed with 3 range gear box
And a PTO

Hey if anyone knows of anybody in your area that has one of these and is willing to sell parts.
I need parts. LMK













Here is what it's gonna look like some day.

At least the truck you want to restore has a floor in it, not the like the 54 white I wanted to do. lol

WELL... To be honest.. The floor in this is pretty bad too.
I think the door get left open for a while.
But I found a friend that is restoring a Fire truck version of one these trucks.
And the floor in it is immaculate. He gave it to me, cause he is going with an automatic transmission.
Neat thing about these.. The floor panels unbolt

Cool. The White i wanted to do had the floor pretty much gone in it. And somebody had thrown a plastic chair in as a passengers seat lol. Also i found out the 220 cummins in it has a broken rod.....

Heres a crappy pic of me and the White

Nice!! That would have been a Sweet resto

Maybe i will take a stab at it someday. Its grandpas old milk truck. I dont think its going anywhere anytime soon. Not under its own power anyways lol

I can't work on my truck now, until spring.
So in the mean time I'm starting to buy the essentials
Some of is starting to come in the mail.

The Hood ornament


The Side hood ornaments


New Heated Mack Mirrors


And some new Clearance lights



As soon as I put the fire out on my Visa I'm gonna buy the rest of the hood chrome.
Then new doors

WoW! Straight out of a history books. Very cool truck Glenn. Best of luck with the restoration. Except for the passanger side door, your truck looks in decent shape. The frame looks straight and the floor looks solid.

My grandfather used to drive on just like that. In fact, I still have the Bulldog off the hood of his truck.

I'd driver the way she is Man . . . I drove my Mack a lot looking like that . . . I ahd to fix mine up to look as good as where your starting . . .

Course you already knew that from BMT's. . .

Mike

Well hello there B61TENDT711 (mike)
Funny running into you here. Welcome to Truck Source
Glad you joined. We're all working on making this place your
One Stop, online, Source for anything truck related.
I put a request in to have a heavy equipment/Big rig thread.
We can always use another big rig fan.
Neat thing about this place..... You can use the word Pete if you want to. (inside joke)

Yes, they seem to be against other brands over some what heavy like.

Nothing wrong with peter and kenny LOL

Mike

Peter, Kenny, Weston, Mackie, Fordy, Whitey, Brocko, Freighty, Johnny, all of them are welcome here!

we are in america.. speak english.. lol

merlin5577 wrote:

Peter, Kenny, Weston, Mackie, Fordy, Whitey, Brocko, Freighty, Johnny, all of them are welcome here!

007jimmy wrote:

we are in america.. speak english.. lol

I will translate, just for you Joe;

Peterbilt
Kenworth
Western Star
Mack
Ford
White Motor Company
Brockway
Freightliner
John Deere
Etc...


My point being Joe, all trucks, of all sizes, are welcome here.

you guy's

Mike

Seat looks comfy.



Bet the last driver was a real hardass.

1993GMCSierra wrote:

Seat looks comfy.



Bet the last driver was a real hardass.

LOL
Looks like PILES of fun
Cushion seems to have ended up on the floor
I'd like to find a set of low back leather buckets out of a 95 Jeep

I just noticed that has twin sticks. I always wanted to learn how to drive one of those.

I'm looking forward to driving mine. Only ever drove a twin stick once before.
Here's a youtube video of a twin shift in action. hand throw the steering wheel LOL



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-ffkS37miQ

That looks to be a giant pain in the @ $ $.



Our old 63 Chevy grain truck had 3-4 gears, and a HI/LO lever/switch mounted on the shifter.

Problem was, the thing was stuck in LO. Whenever you either pulled up the little lever, you would hear a "THOOM!" and the truck would start slowing down until you put it in LO mode again.



Top speed as 42 MPH, no lie.

Some people ... well most people would think that's a pain in the butt. I love it.
Most of the videos you watch, they will be shifting them, and using EVERY Gear. just for show.

If your not completely loaded down, you really don't have to use every gear and all three ranges.

Now a days Like your Grain truck The H/L range air actuated spit axle is Soo easy to drive

Not when the air actuator isn't workin'!


But I agree. It was fun to drive. I really liked it. It had a lot of character. Only things that worked were the fuel gauge (kinda), oil gauge, and the speedometer.

Couldn't fill the tank up past 1/2 way, because it would start leaking out into the cab..

Generator hadn't worked for over 15 years, we would just charge the battery up, use it for the day hauling grain, and put it on charge overnight, every night. CLutch half worked, seat looked like the Macks, and the only place the paint looked good on it was between the cab and the dump bed. The rest of it was either surface rust, or a sea green. (It was originally dark blue, it just faded that color)


Had the V-6 like yours. Ran like a top. It would start right up, as soon as the OP gauge read around 45 PSI. Didn't even have to pump it. I was 10 years old, and I drove that thing around three counties whenever I wasn't in school. Farm Use Tags FTW

this is one of my favorite videos: