Month Nine - Web Sites

There are seveal web sites noted in the Month Five-Parts post. Here is a list of some more web sites that have been helpful:

http://www.stayonline.com
Excellent resource for power cords, plugs, etc.

http://www.addydatacom.com
Antennas,etc. If Mr. Addy doesn't have it he will try to find it for you

http://www.bulbtronics.com
Not only a resource for bulbs but also porcelain sockets

http://commerciallightinginc.com/customer/colisu/images/socketguide.pdf
Only site i have found that has a socket guide pdf, great resource

http://www.centralpafire.com/forum
One of the best forums that discusses anything to do with "fire",also has extensive items for sale section

http://www.govdeals.com
Has section "fire equipment" for sale. although most items have to be picked up, lately lot of sellers will ship

http://store.thefountainheadgroup.com
Good source for Indian Pump parts

http://www.benmeadows.com
Limited number of parts for Indian Pumps but good prices

http://www.bigbeam.com
Have developed interest in big beam lanterns

http://www.batterycountry.com
No need to explain

http://www.circle-d.com
Circle D lights are neck to neck with big beam lanterns

http://www.duplicolor.com
There isn't a nut or bolt that doesn't need a touch up. wide range of spray paints. excellent how to do it resource center. best of all paints are available in just about every auto parts store. if one store doesn't have the color you want, odds are the store down the street will have it

http://www.por15.com
Use their products to strip down anything from small items with many layers of paint to running boards. excellent resource material available. first time tried a couple of short cuts, nothing but trouble. best results come from following their instructions to the letter.

Month Eight-Cosmetics-Wax

Over period of years have tried a variety of waxes, cleaners and compounds. As of date have reduced shelf items to three. Use only Windex on glass. It does not streak and does excellent job of cleaning. If have any surfaces with minimal "rusting" use product under brand name "Never-Dull" marketed by Eagle One( http://eagleone.com/) . This material is excellent for small areas. For detailing use product by Lucas Oil( http://www.lucasoil.com/ )called "Slick Mist". Have found it easy on, easy off, no residue and really makes the truck shine. I also use Slick Mist on all surfaces except glass. Due to the size of the truck and my inability to climb on a ladder without falling off I have found a way to get to the high spots. I borrowed the wife's swifter mop pad/with handle. The pad has 4 slits, one in each corner. Onto the pad I attach a terry cloth towel(best buy for towels is at Sam's) and this gives me the capability to reach everywhere. Especially the areas between the cab and fire body and the center of the hood where it meets the windshield.

Month Six-Electrical

All the belts and hoses have been replaced. All fluids have been changed. Brakes, etc. are OK. All emergency equipment was pulled before I purchased the truck. Have slowly been placing equipment on the truck. In a later blog will list out everything added to truck to date. Probably have spent a minimum of eight hours over a period of a couple of weeks pulling out old wire and pulling new wire. Have a friend who restored a truck. He did everything but did not replace any wiring. It didn't take long for 40 year old wiring to become toast. Everything added that required power has new wiring and switches. Like I wrote in an earlier blog concerning parts, having a supplier with automotive electrical knowledge and expertise is critical. Tommy Amick is such a person. If it is electrical he is the one whether it is an alternator, batteries, switches or how to wire a Q2B. The only person who is his equal is Mr. Alfred, chief mechanic. One of the first major problems was that the truck would not idle. After running for awhile it would just shut down. Added secondary in line fuel pump. Also installed in-line filter between the fuel tank and the secondary in-line fuel pump. Then installed a second in-line filter just below the carburetor. No problems. Also add "sea foam" prior to every outing. Since truck sometimes sits idle for weeks do not want to have any "bad gas" issues.

Month Five-Parts

Belts, hoses, bulbs, switches, brake lines, brake cylinders, brake pads, fluids,etc. all need to be checked. My truck is a '68 model. In my opinion the fire department that had it in service last did a great job at maintenance. However, in order to take the truck down the road with my grandchildren aboard I had to make sure. When you get into belts and hoses check out the Gates web site(http://gates.com/. They have a parts locator section that is helpful. Don't be surprised that your hoses, etc. are no longer manufactured. At that point Gates will be even more important. Usually they will accept an email picture of you hose,etc and from that they may be able to match up a replacement item. If you take a picture, always put something next to the item so as to give them some perspective of your item. I have found a long neck beer bottle to be the best. Plus if the person you are dealing with doesn't have any knowledge of a long neck beer bottle, you don't need to be dealing with them. Also when dealing with ebay sellers I always ask them to send me additional pictures with a "lnbb" beside the item if I have doubts as to its dimensions. Outside of ebay you may be at a disadvantage in finding replacement part unless you can find an independent auto parts supplier. Most of the current franchise auto parts stores rely almost solely on computer images. Most times their data base only goes back to 1985. Also they have little references for "big" rigs. Few franchise stores have "hard copy" books and even fewer will let you research what you are looking for. Some older NAPA stores still have "books" but these stores are far and few. If you are lucky, you may find an independent store that has manual resources. I was lucky. There is a local independent parts store that has a 30 foot wall lined with books. If you cannot find such a parts store you are going to have a hard time. Whenever you go looking for a part take the old part with you. Ms. Epting has found parts for me simply by looking at the old part and matching it up with images and measurements in her books. There are a couple of web sites that have helpful links: they are Chesapeake Antique Fire Apparatus Association(http://www.cafaa.net/) and Society for the Preservation & Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus in America (http://www.spaamfaa.org/. Like a lot of people I purchased my first truck before I did my homework. After I bought the first truck I changed my email address to beentook2 to remind me daily of my mistake. By the time I got up enough courage to get the second truck I had pretty well found most of the rocks whereby I could navigate the stream without drowning or getting my feet too wet.

Month Five-Manuals

First thing was to get as many manuals on the GMC as I could find. Since I never planned to "pump" have not tried to obtain anything on pump etc. Most if not all fire bodies that are put on a cab/chassis have a manufacturer's name plate. I have found it a waste of time to contact them. They installed their bodies on countless cab/chassis configurations and have zero information. One of your best friends in a project like this will be Internet. There is no way to obtain materials faster than by Internet. Ebay by far remains to best sole source but don't rely just on ebay. Once you think you have found what you want don't judge the item by a few pictures. Ask questions. If possible get a phone number and call the seller. If it is a manual, ask them to check the index and make sure your truck model/series is covered. If the seller will not communicate with you by email and/or phone forget them. Have several manuals on the shelf that what looks like my truck on the cover but in fact does not have any information on my model/series or year. Lots of companies sell CD,s claiming to have everything on them but the kitchen sink. My one attempt at a CD manual was a toilet. First the pages were hard to read on the screen. When I enlarged them they became distorted. It was impossible to carry the computer underneath the truck and try to identify a part. With the hard copy I could use my handy dandy magnifying glass and read away. Also I could make notes in the margin of the pages to help out later.

Months Two,Three and Four-Mechanic

After taking a look around knew I was in deep trouble if I could not find some assistance. I am not a mechanical dummy but this was not a 1/2 ton pick up. First step was local garages. No one wanted to take on any thing, hoses, brakes, etc. Truck was too big and would take up too much space. Had no idea when they could get to it. Would charge daily fee to store. Did not do restoration work and if they did would charge more. Next step was to find someone who could come to me. Remember earlier I said that if you don't have a space big enough to close the doors on the truck find another hobby. No one is interested in working on trucks like this outdoors. After talking to several businesses that had their own in house mechanics found master mechanic who was interested in off duty work. I checked with his employer to make sure there would be no conflict of interest. Since he worked on their trucks and they didn't work on any one's truck for income there was no problem. We negotiated an hourly wage which I found to be reasonable. Every time he comes out I also pay for his travel. Often I schedule the work at least a week in advance whereby our schedules can match. At this point I had a mechanic, now what about parts.

Months Two, Three and Four-What's the plan?

After truck was delivered it went untouched for several weeks while I recuperated from an accident. On this truck as well as another truck I have,'68 Ford N70 front mounted pumper, there is a very unique problem. In order to do any work on the engine you either have to be 7 foot tall or have a some type of walk way. I first started with a step stool, bad choice. I then borrowed a friends wheel step which fits over the wheel and gives you a small ledge to work on. Again not a good idea for anyone over 60. After visiting several big trucks garages to see what they use I settled on aluminum paint stool from Lowe's that folded out and provided a long and wide surface on which to stand. This solved the up and in problem to the engine compartment but did little to ease the strain on the back. If you have any type of back trouble, you may want to stay away from fire trucks. Fire trucks are heavy and it seems that everything is bolted, re bolted and bolted again. If you do not have a good sized two stage air compressor you may again want to find another hobby. You can hand jack a fire truck up and then come back a couple of days later after you have rested and finish what you started. As of date you have the fire truck in a garage, you have a way to get into the engine compartment and you have a compressor, air jack and other air driven tools. Now time to start looking and poking around to see what works and where to go.

Month One-Getting truck home

First decision was whether to drive the GMC home or to have it trailered. After talking to a lot of individuals decided to trailer it home. Although the Fire Department that sold the truck declared it was road worthy the truck had been sitting for awhile. Where the truck was parked made it difficult to properly check all fluids, tire pressure,bearings, etc. to determine their current status. Used a local towing company to pick up the truck. Their fee schedule was below that of national carriers and by being local they were easily available for communication and coordination. When picking up something from someone else be prepared to either to have great cooperation or have none at all. The gentlemen who represented the Fire Department were fantastic. I was not able(health issues at the time) to go with the towing company at the time they picked up the truck. The owner of the towing company stated that he received all the cooperation he needed.