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I'm looking at buying a 1960 Ford C-800 COE former fire truck C&C which I would like to convert into an RV hauler.

Supposedly has 24K on the clock, but has been sitting in the field for a while.

Truck has 360 with a manual five-speed and a single speed, low ratio (7:1) rear, but deal would include another two-speed rear with a higher (5:1) gear ratio for better highway speed and mileage.

Anybody know of any websites dedicated to this series of trucks?

It seems as though there were about a half million fire trucks based on this chassis, and I distinctly remember every Roadway Express truck I saw in that era as being a C-Series Ford.

The deal is just too good to pass up - even if I build it to sell.

As a matter of fact, there are enough parts to build at least two, maybe three solid trucks - if I was interested in buying everything that is there.

But, I would really like to study up a bit on the particular quirks of this truck.

Can anybody help with some more info on these trucks or some website addresses?


Thanks!

B.P.

Like many people, I simply hate junk mail......

.....but, my hatred has been tempered more recently.

There are at least two things that come free in junk mail that are helpful around my shop.

First is the plastic "membership card".

Often, I will receive a piece of mail with a "temporary membership card" or a "non-negotiable credit card", etc.

As has been discussed, you SHOULD always mix two-part epoxies on non-porous surfaces in order to keep the material from being absorbed, and  percentages correct.

I cut off a "mixing/spreading paddle" from one end of the card, then mix everything up on the remainder of the card.

When done, I toss it all..........

There is a small stack of these cards in the box with my epoxies.

My collection includes cards of varying thicknesses and stiffnesses, so they also make good spreaders.


Secondly is the "refrigerator magnet".....This could come in the form of a business-card-sized magnet on up to some fairly substantial-sized calendars.

You can often pick these up at various businesses and professional offices.

I find these handy to protect surrounding areas when working.

Want to drill something that is freshly painted, but worried that a long piece of the spiral swarf will scratch the surrounding surface?

Punch a hole in one of these magnets, and drill through the hole while the rest of the immediate are is protected.

Unlike the credit cards, these magnets are re-usable.

If you have enough of these, you could also use them as templates.


B.P.

['ockey puck]

So, there I was - in Wal*Mart - looking for some fat-fendered car body mounts - items that Wal*Mart and sporting goods stores often sell as hockey pucks.

Might as well buy a bunch since I also needed some heavy-duty machinery stand feet - items which Wal*Mart and others also sell as hockey pucks.....

....and, I see what looks like the perfect "buy" for me - a "Pail Of Pucks" - 12 genuine fat-fendered car body mounts and/or machinery stand feet being sold as hockey pucks for $7.00 - a little more than 58 cents each.

But WAIT!

Right next to this "Pail Of Pucks" bulk special are the individual units, which can be bought for 50 cents - American cash money - each.....meaning I can buy 12 pucks for $6.00 and provide my own pail or other container.

So, I now have a corrugated slide-drawer (remember I was collecting these from Home Depot?) full of body mounts which I have marked " 'ockey puck" in deference to my cousin and his friends when they come visit from Canada....eh?

Gotta' keep a watch on ol' Sam Walton's heirs and their bulk quantity "specials", ya' know?

B.P.

If you need cutting blades for a Milwaukee, DeWalt or any other 18 ga. electric or air metal shear, READ ON....

I managed to pick up a Milwaukee Model 6850, 18 ga., electric shear for only $12.00 (Yes! Twelve dollars!)at my local used tool emporium.

This shear lists out for nearly $300 on the Milwaukee website, and it is the predecessor to the Model 6852 that sells for $170 or so in the Big Box stores.

Condition was like new, but it was missing the blades in the shear head. The shear housing was there, just the blades were missing.

It didn't appear to have much use on it at all considering it appeared to have been in an industrial environment - having "Night Shift Only" written on it with Magic Marker.

I figured, if worse came to worse, I could install a 3/8" chuck and have a nice, variable speed - albeit non-reversible - Milwaukee drill.

I searched the Milwaukee website and found the blades.

The side blades were listed at $31.45 each and the center blade was $33.15 with the center blade bushing at 85 cents.

That all added up to $96.90 PLUS s&h. Still would have been a decent deal, but I have other places to spend $100 these days.

While surfing the 'net, I kept on seeing the Kett 18 ga. shear, and the cutting head and replacement blades looked a lot like the Milwaukee - as did the cutting head on most other electric and air shears.

The "Kit-#102" Kett blade kit included all three blades and the center bushing for $39.99. Northern Hydraulics even had it on a "No shipping charges" special.

Then, I found a website advertising the #102 blade kit that stated specifically that it would fit the Milwaukee 6850, 6852 and the DeWalt 18 ga. electric shear, so I took a chance and ordered the kit fron NH.

I'm guessing one company makes the shear head and sells it to all the electric and air shear manufacturers.

I just finished installing and testing it, and I'm proud to say I now own a near-new Milwaukee electric shear for less than $55.00.

My guess is that  someone on the "Day Shift" must have broken their blades, and they purloined the blades from the "Night Shift" shear. When the company found out how much it would cost to replace the blades only from Milwaukee, it was probably placed on the back-burner - or bought one of those $49.99 shears from NH.

The "broken" shear likely ended up as "surplus", and I ended up buying it.

A number of years ago, I looked into moving to North Carolina. Didn't do it. Sorta' thinking now that maybe I shoulda'

NOW, my brother-in-law has retired from New England to the Myrtle Beach area, and every time I speak with him, he praises South Carolina.

Got me thinking seriously again....especially when he tells me he has NOT had an electric bill over $90 - which includes his heat AND A/C.

Last month - here in Maine - I paid over $200 electric due to the heat wave, and I'll be paying about $5,000 for oil to heat my house and shop this winter.

Anybody from either of the Carolinas willing to trade e-mails?

I've looked into the SOuth Carolina Homestead tax bill, and I cannot believe I would be paying around $50 (YES, FIFTY DOLLARS) for the same value house that I now pay $1,200/year.

I'm sorta' thinking maybe living in SOuth Carolina on the border with North Carolina will give me the best of both worlds, but I don't really know.

I'm wondering about the common things....

How much are houses?

Are there decent houses with decent detached shops available?

What are taxes like?

I'm pretty sure I could pick up some part-time stuff in racing, but are there any rodding opportunities?

What are the downsides of living in the Carolinas - besides hurricanes?

I've got a bunch more.....

In order to not clutter the forum up, please respond to me via e-mail at.....

race AT gwi DOT net  

(Replace AT and DOT with appropriate punctuation)


Thanks!

B.P.

I don't know about the rest of you, but every time I go to mix up a small batch of "Liquid Duct Tape" - better known as two-part epoxy - I find myself searching for something clean and disposable to mix it on, and something else, equally clean and disposable, to apply it.

Lately, I've been saving all those plastic sample credit cards, membership cards, etc. that come in the mail, thinking I will, one day, find a use for them in the shop.

Twice in the past week, I have had to mix up a small batch of JB Weld, and I used the credit cards.

I cut a strip off one end, one-quarter-inch-or-so wide, then mix the epoxy on the remainder of the credit card.

The strip is used to mix and apply the epoxy.

Then, they are both disposed......the epoxy having destroyed them.

If you're really concerned, you can wait a few minutes for the epoxy to set up, then cut everything up.

B.P.

Have you ever gone into a parts store, looked at the rows of those heavy-duty, cardboard box/drawers on the shelves, and wished you could do something similar for your own shop?

In addition to keeping things of various sizes organized, these box/drawers allow you to use the full-depth of the shelf for storage - without pushing things off the back of the shelf!!! Slide them forward, and you have access to what is stored at the rear of the box/drawer.

Have you even gone so far as to price out a case of those die-cut, fold-'em-yourself boxes.....only to realize that......

a.) ......they're somewhat expensive.....

b.) ......each case only contains a single size.....but, you could probably use several different sizes to fill all the nooks and crannies in your shop.....

Well, son.......I'm here to give you a lead on all the free - not inexpensive - *FREE* box/drawers you could possibly use.

Your friendly local "Big-Box" home improvement stores such as Home Depot and Lowe's get all their plumbing products such as copper, plastic, and cast iron elbows, connectors, fittings, etc. shipped in brand-new box/drawers....every week!!!!

The old, only slightly used, box/drawers on the shelf are usually taken off the shelf, broken up and compacted in the cardboard compacter.

Go to the Operations Manager at your local BB, and ask if these could be saved for you.

Point out that you will be taking away the expense of disposal.

THEN, go talk with the department manager....and ask that they save these boxes for you.

If you know someone who works for one of these places, all the better.......ask them to do this for you, then "compensate" them with a dinner, some maintenance work on their car (they don't make a lot of money in these places), or something else....

In addition to the plumbing fittings and hardware, you can find these box/drawers in other areas including some fairly large Eveready Battery box/drawers, and some in the hardware department from Stanley hardware.

All you need to do to use them is to place a wide strip of tape or label material over the front label and re-mark the box/drawer's use - or not.....

I have done this at my local HD store, and it can easily generate 20-or-more of these different-sized box/drawers every single week.

I usually need a shopping cart to remove them from the store - of course this is AFTER the Service Desk or a manager checks to make sure they are empty.

The key is to check at least weekly. They are willing to save for you, but if storage becomes an issue, they will toss them.

I am passing along this closely-guarded secret because I currently have more boxes than I need - to the point that I am now giving some to my wife for use in the house pantry.

In order to store all that I have acquired, I have sorted them by size, carefully unfolded them, and store them flat.

B.P.

On December 1, I started work in the parts department at a farm equipment/snowmobile/small engine dealership near Augusta, Maine.

In the first week I was there - my third day to be exact - a case of 1-7/8" trailer balls came in when only a single trailer ball was ordered and invoiced.

ALL the trailer balls that came in, however, were priced at $9.95, and put out on display - not by me. I said nothing.

On Saturday, December 18th, the woman whose husband owned the NAPA store I once managed came in to buy some snowmobile clothing as Christmas gifts. Her invoice came to three-hundred and change.

She gave me what she thought were four, brand-new one-hundred dollar bills, but anybody who works with money will tell you, it felt a little funny to me. I checked and she actually DID give me five one-hundred dollar bills.

A one-hundred dollar loss to her would not have even been noticed, but I couldn't keep the money....that's not my style..

Yesterday, Tuesday Dec 22, another order came in, and when I checked everything in against the invoice and our order book, there were at least 50 agricultural equipment filters left over in the box. Some of you will agree that agricultual, hydraulic filters are worth at least ten dollars each, so there was about $500 worth of filters that we didn't order, were not invoiced to us, that were, obviously, shipped to us by mistake.

The decision was made to KEEP them!!!!

I pointed out my dealings with the extra one-hundred dollar bill, and asked if I should have kept it instead of returning it.

The answer was, "NO!".

I then asked, "What's the difference here?"

Someone mumbled that they would "probably" send them back.

I checked the outgoing UPS shipment at the end of the day, and there were no packages going back to this vendor.

This morning, when I arrived at work, the atmosphere was very cold. First one brother, then his wife got on my case about some minor things.

I mentioned the filters to the wife, and she looked me straight in the eye and told me that the filters had been shipped back. I then mentioned the trailer balls, and she stuttered, "We shipped them back too."

I told her I would bring her out to the showroom floor and show them to her, if she wanted.

Between the trailer balls and ag filters, this company had stolen over $750 from their vendors in a three-week period.

Finally, I spoke with the other brother - the one who actually hired me - and he started to tell me that, all of a sudden,  he wasn't happy with my work, etc., etc., and that he planned to fire me on Monday but wanted to wait until after the holiday, etc., etc.

I guess you don't want to catch these people stealing, and let them know you know.

My wife tells me I still have my ethics intact, and that's more important than anything else.......

......but, what do I have to do to find an ethical company to work for.

I guess it's back to fabrication and race car shocks and setups for now.

I realize the economy is tough in Maine, but it's tough everywhere else, and there are still ethical companies out there.

Sorry about the off-topic rant, but I had to clear my mind.

F.C. and/or Enjenjo can delete this without hurting my feelings, if they choose.

Thanks for listening/reading!

B.P.

While there actually used to be a WCOP radio station outside Boston where I grew up, the one I'm listening to right now is the Maine State Police on the scanner.

It's Memorial Day weekend, and the tourists - some call them "summer complaints" - are beginning to arrive in Maine

I live within a mile of an Interstate 95 exit, and when the State Troopers do their "bear-in-the-air" thing, the plane usually circles over my house and shop for hours....which is a good warning for me when I leave to go north on I-95.

Apparently, today, they are shooting 'em up....and, I would venture that they will stay busy all weekend.

The guy in the air gives out a description, a ticket number, and the car's speed....such as "black car, right driving lane, number 1985, 88 mph."

Nothing under 80 mph is, apparently, being stopped....but I've heard a couple of 90+ mph's.

The cruisers on the ground then report back "stats" which include whether it was a Maine resident or non-resident, and what the ticket was written for....speed, passing on the right, brake light out, etc.

Maybe Maine residents, the state with the second-highest tax burden in the country, will be getting a rebate from the fines assessed to the non-residents???

Yeah....right!!!

But, I'd hate to think what my tax burden would be like were it not for the "contributions" of these non-residents.


One guy was clocked at 90mph, then the air bear reported that he suddenly slowed. Then he reported that the car took the exit.

Well, the RCMP has nothing on the Maine State Police when it comes to getting their man. One of the Staties pursued this guy - who probably looked in his mirror and said to himself, "I'm glad he wasn't behind me on the highway" -  and caught him on US Route 201 heading into the city.

Right now, it seems as though one guy's luck is holding, as the air bear is calling, "Anybody available?", and getting no answer.

One cruiser just called back, but the plane said disregard.....so, the luckiest man in Maine continues northbound up I-95.

For those who don't know, when you see broad paint stripes in the breakdown lane about every quarter-mile, that is what the air bear uses to clock you....so, if you see these stripes, don't be surprised if you crest a hill and find a greeting committee of uniformed state employees.

My favorite tourist slogan is,:

Keep Maine Green.....Spend Money!!!

Bob Paulin

Is anybody here planning on attending the Stafford Springs, Conn. flea market this weekend (Sunday, April 4)?


Bob Paulin