restoration Mack no2 restoration

[Jim Clark]

Here is an account of the restoration and dieselisation of the 1944 Mack No2 I bought a couple of years ago. When I purchased the Mack it had a horrible modified cab fitted to it. As can be seen by the picture it had lost its original doors and had a metal roof made from two Sherpa van roofs.

 

 

 

 

It had modern spring brakes fitted which was a good idea as it made the vehicle safer to drive. It still had its original petrol engine which sucked fuel at the rate of 3 MPG and on a trip to “Route to Victory” in Ramsbury consumed £300 of petrol, so it had to go. More of that later.

 

After removal of the wings, etc the cab was lifted off.

 

 

 

As can be seen working on vehicles has its dangers and they can bite back, this gash on my head was from using a scaffold tube on a breaker bar, which snapped.

 

 

After the cab was removed I worked out what was original and what was not. I had already taken a trip over to Belgium to make drawings and take photos of an original Mack NO owned by Jaap Rietvelt.

 

Basically all that was original was the bulkhead, floor and some reinforcing bars in the rear of the cab. So after a few minutes with a disc cutter I had what I wanted to start from. While I was in the cutting mood I also removed the rusty sides of the bulkhead.

 

 

 

 

more to follow

Jim.

Edited May 31, 2011 by Jack

[Jim Clark]

After grit blasting the remains of the cab reconstruction began.

The bulkhead sides and front were replaced first and gave a starting point to work from to make the rest of the cab.

 

 

 

 

 

The curved sections were gone so I rolled new ones and fabricated the strengtheners.

 

 

 

 

 

The top of the back of the original cab was still there and had “Carnegie steel” embossed in the face. This was used again and welded to the new curved section along with the new “B”posts I had made.

 

The door frames had already been made by the previous owner, they just needed skinning and the hinges and latches fitted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The windscreen frame and its mounting are made from ash and I had a new frame made by our landlord’s brother who is a cabinet maker. The frame is braced in the corners and is hinged so it can f old down, all of these fitting and fixture had to be made.

 

 

 

The inner screen frames were partially made by the previous owner and just needed finishing.

 

On top of the windscreen frame is a metal rail which the canvas top attaches to, this was missing so I had to make up formers to fabricate the rail and the corners.

 

All the canvas hood fittings and hold down hooks were missing so I made new ones.

 

 

 

Before painting with olive drab I made the new canvas hood and door tops copied from originals borrowed from Jaap Rietvelt. The door tops have metal frames which slide into tubes located in the doors.

 

 

 

 

Jim

[Jim Clark]

After painting the cab I glued sound deadening onto the inside of the bulkhead then made up a millboard cover as per original. The restored dashboard was then refitted along with the wiring for the cab.

 

The dash had many extra holes which were welded up. The first aid box bracket was missing so I bought one from Jaap and fitted it to the passenger side of the dash. The old spot weld marks could still be seen making positioning easy

 

Once all of the work on the cab was completed we lifted it back on to the chassis, it had to be lifted high enough to go over the steering column which was just about the limit of the forklifts reach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jim

[Jim Clark]

In between all of this being done I removed the petrol engine and acquired an L10 Cummins diesel engine which is the same physical size, so no modifications need to be done to the truck. The bell housing as an SAE fitting so bolts up with no problems. The only difficulty we had was the Cummins engine has a twin plate pull type clutch and the Mack is a single plate push type clutch. So we modified the Cummins flywheel to accept the Mack pressure plate. I then had the Mack centreplate lined with modern friction material capable to taking the extra power of the engine.

 

 

 

 

Jim

Edited January 23, 2011 by Jim Clark

[abn deuce]

Very Impressive vehicle to beging with and Quite a beauty afterwards . I glad you were able to restore it so completely and insure its preservation for decades to come !

[AndyFowler]

Thanks for posting Jim ! Lovely job and lovely facilities ! Good to see such effort put in to the old lorry and she'll be a credit to you for many years to come !

[Degsy]

Great stuff Jim, look forward to seeing her on the road.

[gritineye]

Nice work Jim, I do like the neat clutch conversion, propper job.

[Jim Clark]

Thanks to you all for the kind comments, I will post more pics after Stoneleigh as we have shed loads of canvas work to do so my own projects have got to take a break.

 

I have now driven it with the Cummins engine in and it pulls like a train , just need to finish the cargo body and a few other odds and ends then I can give it a prioper road test. Hopfully we can get some video footage of it on Youtube.

 

Jim

[George McKenzie]

I was offered one like this with a good cab .no engine .There is a 220 Cummins to go with it . which may be the way to go .considering the fuel milage. My Diamond T wrecker gets 3 miles to the gallon .I have the original manuals for this truck if you need any information about it . This one here was in the airforce and doesn't have front wheel drive or a winch .You sure have done a great job on yours .George Also this truck has 24" single tires all around

Edited January 24, 2011 by George McKenzie
more information

[TooTallMike]

Hi Jim,

 

Great restoration and good to see you made such a good choice of engine :thumbsup:. Just one question though, why didn't you just fit a modern single-plate SAE#2 clutch and cover rather than re-use the original one? I would have thought the L10 is putting out 100hp+ more than the petrol and the original clutch might not be too happy with that?

 

Regards - MG

[Jim Clark]

Hi Mike, the bell housing is SAE 1 not 2 and we did try to source a modern clutch assembly. We contacted a well known clutch firm who said they knew exactly what we needed and could sort everything for us, they were a complete waste of space and were no help, so thats why I used the Mack pressure plate and upgraded centre plate. Also if the clutch cant take the strain it just means rethinking the whole idea which is better than haveing a strong clutch and breaking the transmission instead. We wont know until I try towing the Sherman on the Rogers trailer.

Jim.

[TooTallMike]

Hi Jim,

 

That's fair enough. It's a shame you had no success as it really should have been easy for them to identify a suitable modern clutch. I certainly support your rationale regarding keeping the clutch as the weakest point of the system - much cheaper and easier to replace than gearbox, transfer box etc.!

 

- MG

[Lukáš]

nice my favorite truck!:tup::

[sharky]

I had a nosey round the mack today its defininatly a nice job the thing that gets me is the size of the vehicle its huge .

Nice work Jim and nice to meet you today

Iain

P.s that deck was an abbot piece glad i fell over it now

[Jim Clark]

We have continued with the cargo body restoration. All the side pockets have been replaced and I had a new tailgate pressed up as the old one had been cut about at some time probably when there was a crane fitted to the truck

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After painting the body was lowered onto the chassis and bolted down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks again for all your kind comments, Hi Sharky , glad the grill was some use to you.

 

Jim.

[Jim Clark]

Just to bring this restoration up to date. The Mack was finished ( apart for a few finishing touches) by the end of May this year.

On its maiden run we travelled 120miles following Jason Jefferies Diamond T and Rogers trailer loaded with my M4A4 Sherman .

It was a good trip with no problems apart from a puncture.

Since May we have attended about 5 military events and covered nearly 1000miles without trouble.

 

 

 

 

 

As the year progressed the markings and its name were sprayed on . I called my Mack "Allentown Annie" as it was made in Allentown PA.

 

 

 

 

Jim

[Degsy]

Hi Jim, nice to see it completed, what MPG are you getting from the Cummins?

[Jim Clark]

Hi Degsy, not exactly sure of true fuel consumption because all of the trips I have done were following Jasons DT,trailer with the Sherman. So the trip to Brixham of 120 miles took about eight hours returned approx 7mpg, but if I had done the same distance on my own the journey would take about four to four and a half hours so my estimation it would do approx 10-12 mpg because the running time of engine is less. It probably uses the same amount of fuel crawling behind the DT as it does at 30mph with light throttle.It has so much grunt you dont need to change gear much and it pull like a train

 

I hope this makes sence. Perhaps I will take it out for a run and do a more efficient check.

 

Jim.

[Degsy]

Yes definitely makes sense and from my experience 10-12 mpg would make seem about right running light, be interesting to compare when you start pulling the Sherman loaded Rogers.

[Jim Clark]

We did try my Mack pulling Jasons trailer with my tank, the problem is the Mack does not have enough gears. Jasons DT has 12 forward gears (4 in the main box and 3 in the splitter box) my Mack has 5 and like the GMcs etc the gaps are just too big. Second third and forth were no trouble but to go into fifth the revs dropped below the turbo boost and it struggled to gain speed. Once the turbo came in she was away again, what I need is a couple more gears in between. I could change it for a more modern box with more gears bit I would then loose the winch and front axle drive.

 

Lets face it the DT was designed for the job and the Mack was not.

 

Jim.

Edited December 17, 2011 by Jim Clark

[Degsy]

Ah well, pity but worth a try. I assume that it is an overdrive fifth gear on the back of the box and they don't like being strained by pulling hard or too low revs, seen a few boxes fail like that, Leyland /Albion ones come to mind.

[Scammell4199]

Hi Jim,

I remember you saying in Belgium that the lack of gears could be a problem.

There was an article i think in Wheels and Tracks some time ago, that showed Macks being used by the Ministry of Supply after the war to deliver new Centurions. Presumably they just did it painfully slowly staying in low gears.

Shes looking good tho.

 

Richard

[N.O.S.]

Richard - I recall reading an article by Mack and Constructor driver Stan Wass (but not in his excellent Wheels & Tracks No. 62) that the M.O.S. drivers were restricted to so few miles a day that they had often reached their limit by 11am and had to park up for the rest of the day!! So speed was not of the essence, many gradients being tackled in low. He describes the abilities of the Mack on this job in some detail in W&T 62, I'd recommend it.

 

Anyway, doesn't a 5 speed box with 2 speed transfer make 10 gears? :cool2:

[Scammell4199]

Stan Wass, thats the name i was trying to think of. Yeah thats the article i was thinking of, might have to dig that out over christmas. Any idea why they would have a mileage limit imposed on them?

 

Richard