sbrant358 wrote:
There were two that I've never saw before: black mini 361and a blue and red 100 series named "Wanderlust." There was also a silver and black E257 that was from Arizona, I was offered the truck when the owner put it up for sale, then it was listed on this site when I turned it down, and now it ended up at the show. I'd love to have seen what that truck looked like when it rolled out the factory doors, according to what the previous owner told me, the build sheet said that the whole truck was originally painted with Dupont 1957 Chevy turquoise paint. One of the pics the owner at the time sent me showed a piece of the frame rails near the engine that still had the original paint on them. It also had a tag axle, but another previous owner cut that off.
I'm the new owner of the E257T. The owner ( JIM SWEAZY) had this on EBAY about 6 yrs ago. I wanted this back then but i was recovering from a Heart Attack. What drew me to this is my love for 6-71's, the little screamin DD's. My first one was a pic that John Kilmer ( Dockman) took about a month ago and posted it. The truck is really rough and needed too much work to redo, also it was converted from a Continental to a 6-71. The search for a 257 with a 6-71 is somewhat a rare thing. Alex Smith Trucking from Akron NY wanted to put this in his 257's that had Continentals. He could only get the motor mounts for Cummins from Brockway because they didn't offer the 6-71 in the 257's. So the Engineers @ the "SMITH" garage were told by Alex "Figure how to make um and put um in." It worked and so he was off to converting the remaining continentals with the 6-71's. ( The brown and tan with red frame 257 @ the show is an early Alex Smith conversion to Cummins And from a couple former drivers they loved the pull of the cummins but seemed to break down with them alot and didn't get paid for sitting). When Brockway found this worked they sent their Engineers up to Alex's shop and got the design from him. WHA-LA 257's with factory 6-71's. Now the search for the first factory 6-71 in a 257. I can only date back to 66 with a purchase from Matlack of i think 12. I knew of one other that was a 67 owned by Dick Terpening and a 67 that was @ the show a few years ago. My line sheet is labeled N257 and then crossed out the N and replaced with and E. The 220 Cummins was crossed out and replaced with a 6-71N serial#6A141122. The frame is stamped E257T 144" W.B. serial #65489.The color of the truck was to be painted Turquoise dupont #93-94121 to be purchased by Cortland Which is a color that Ford used in that era. It did start life with a Tag axle and had the west coast vintage 5 hole aluminum wheels alll the way around. Berg spring brakes were ordered as an option (and still on the truck) instead of the disc locked handbrake on the driveline which most had. The Gentleman that ordered the truck through the Miami branch was Sam Gager ( which is something i am working on for early pics and history) Another interesting thing that leads me to believe a first of the E257's was that this line sheet had started 3/14/65, revised again 5/14/65 Still with the 220 Cummins and then the final which say WANTED by 1/27/66 ( titled as a 65) by this time it was an E257 and the changes on the early sheets had been crossed out and filled in by the Famed 6-71 Screamin DD.(which was offered in trucks from the 1930's to the 1990's. Do you know of any other specific motors gas or diesel that were offered for over 50+ yrs?) Now somewhere in history the truck ended up on an Indian Res. in AZ. Somewhere 8-12 yrs. ago it was rescued by a man of the name John Evans (thank you) @ that time it was painted white w/ a big hole in the windsheild and a broken left hand window, it had no headlights in the fenders and had single bucket Peterbilt headlights mounted on the diamond plate on the bumper. John wanted headlights so he contacted Ray Hildreth (Doubledog) who sent him the NOS quad lights. John had it til Jim Sweazy of Glendale AZ. bought it from him(Thank you). These men need to be HIGHLY commended as the Brockways were not a West Coast truck, so not too popular and could have been just another piece of scrap. Now I do have some pics taken from John @ the Reservation and after the headlights were installed, given to me by my good friend Ray H. @ the show on Saturday ( what a nice surprise) I would like to share them with you all but my scanner is down, and tomorrow i will be too. So sorry I am so long winded but I wont be able to type for a few weeks as my shoulder surgery is @ 8am. Hopefully more pics and history and info to come
I just stumbled acroos another E257T in Danville PA on facebook that a guy is almost done restoring, he said in another few weeks it will be done.
