Rebuilding an Antique Fire Truck

Passion Overcomes Trials and Tribulations! BY JAMES BORSELLINO, TORONTO FIREFIGHTER, STATION 335-A

DELIVERY OF THE 1942 TO THE HAMILTON FIRE DEPARTMENT

As far back as I can remember, I have always had a passion and fascination with fi re trucks! As a kid, I had a Tonka Snorkle Tower, and when I was in high school, I had a collection of die cast Matchbox and Corgi fi re trucks. The scale models were nice, but they didn’t truly fi ll my passion for fi re trucks! In 1986, the Rockton Fire Company, part of the Flamborough Volunteer Firefi ghters, had bought an antique fi re truck from the Town of Flamborough. It started its service in 1949 for the West Flamborough Fire Department, serving Greensville and area into the late 1970’s, remaining there until its sale in 1986. In my senior year of high school, they decided to bring it to my high school to have the students do mechanical and body repairs on it. I remember being in my math class, when I spotted a tow truck bringing the fi re truck to the rear of the mechanical shop. As soon as class ended, three of us raced down to the shop to see it and to meet two of the veteran Volunteer Firefi ghters. Over the semesters, we replaced all the brakes, tuned the engine, removed the rear fenders for repair and did some rewiring of lights. It turned out to be the fi rst fi re truck I ever got to drive as I had to take it for test drives around the school to make sure the brakes and the siren still worked! I was defi nitely hooked! In 1988, I joined the Rockton Station of the Flamborough Fire Department and was reunited with the 1949 Chevy Bickle-Seagrave pumper. Unfortunately, I was too young to get to drive it, but I still got to take care of it. In 1989, I was hired by Toronto Fire and my volunteering ended, which meant no more 1949 pumper for me. Throughout my career, my collection of die cast fi re trucks grew, but I still didn’t have what my passion really wanted - an actual fi re truck. I didn’t want just any fi re truck though! I wanted the 1949. The day fi nally came when I received a phone call from one of the volunteers that owned the 1949. He was wondering if I was still interested in buying the old pumper. I answered, YAAA! I never thought I would actually get that truck, but I had built a large shop and it was perfect to store it in. A week later, it was parked in my shop. However, it would be over a year before I could get all the parties involved to complete the fi nal sale! Now that I fi nally owned it, the fun began! I began to check it over and I made a list of things I needed to fi x. I knew the brakes were seized because it took two tractors to drag it off the fl oat truck and into my shop! It turned out the engine was also seized. The list of repairs were long and expensive! We decided that if we were going to do this right, we would

THE 1949 STANDING IN HONOUR OF RETIRED ROCKTON (TOWN OF FLAMBOROUGH) DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF’S FUNERAL

need to invest in good, high lift, safety stands. It was the fi rst big expense, but it was worth it! I had to free up every brake drum to get them off. All the work I had done in high school, now had to be redone (and then some!) Luckily, I had friends, who knew friends, who knew businesses that specialized in heavy truck parts. It’s amazing how many parts from 70 year old trucks are still available today! The fi rst time I called for brake cylinders, the man said that the rear ones were on his shelf, but the front ones would have to be ordered and would take two days. I couldn’t believe it! Some of the other parts took some serious talent to fi nd, but that’s where friends come in. I needed a master brake cylinder and I couldn’t fi nd one anywhere! I went to my new best friend at Industrial Brake in Hamilton and two weeks later, there was a new, old stock, factory GMC, master cylinder waiting for me! He found it somewhere in the USA. My next challenge was trying to free up the engine. After three weeks of fi lling the cylinders with diesel fuel and penetrating oil, the pistons fi nal broke free and the engine turned over! I was not ready to rebuild this engine as there is only so much money to go around. Have I mentioned I also own a 1942, former Hamilton Fire Department pumper as well? Unfortunately, it needs a complete engine, so it is on hold for now. Remember, it’s my passion and it doesn’t have to make sense!

Back to the 1949. After installing a new fuel pump, fi lter, fuel lines, spark plugs and wires, I decided to remove the over fl ow cooling line from the radiator and soldered that hole closed. Now the rad could work as it should. It also needed all new rad hoses, thermostat and, of course, new batteries, not to mention four different types of lubricants; one for the engine, the transmission, the transfer case and the differential. I need to invest in oil stocks! Finally I was able to get the engine to fi re and it ran like a hero! Unfortunately, the “trials and tribulations” kept showing up! It was idling like a well-tuned machine, but it would only throttle up to 1100 rpm. At this point, my passion to drive it again took over! The engine was running, the brakes were fi xed, the lights all worked, and yes, the siren worked too! Two plus years of work had occurred and I had waited long enough to take it for a test drive. I rolled her for the fi rst time out of the shop, under her own power and, of course, I had my wife video the moment. I decided we,the truck and I, were going to drive up to the local baseball park about three kilometres away. My wife decided to wait at home for the phone call that the truck had died on me! It was beautiful! I could only get the truck up to 22 miles an hours, but it felt so good to be driving it again, after more than 30 years. I did not have the carburetor rebuilt (I plan to do it this winter) but, three years ago, I did manage to get it certifi ed and licenced. It ran well enough to show it off twice at the

1951 PHOTO OF THE 1949

Fall Fair and at one of the car shows in Rockton. After that, the trials and tribulations reared their ugly head again! The drive line developed a terrible grinding noise! Things were fi ne while it was sitting still, but as soon as I started moving, it sounded like a coffee grinder. My fi rst thought was the transmission. Nope! Maybe it was the differential? Nope. It was the bearings in the transfer case. It took me a year to get it to loosen up in order to put it into pump gear! I dropped the oil out of the transfer case and was horrifi ed how thick and brown it was! There was so much rust in the oil, it looked like chocolate fudge sauce! So this spring, I built an overhead hoist out of wood and removed the transfer case to rebuild it. It’s a 70 year old truck and it’s been repainted a number of times. Nowhere could I fi nd serial numbers of any kind to identify the pump and/or transfer case. I tore apart every gear and every bearing and was very happy to fi nd out that all of the bearings and seals were readily available! Unfortunately, trials and tribulations don’t only come in the form of rusted parts, unknown noises and lack of funds!

ME AND THE 1949 AT MY HIGH SCHOOL 1986

In 2005, I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that stemmed from an incident in 1994. It is very diffi cult to talk about, let alone admit, one has mental health problems. Having a good friend behind me was a major turning point. I was able to get some therapy and have been able to remain on the trucks. Much like old fi re trucks, mental health requires maintenance! We both start at the peak of our lives, excited to save the world. At the sound of an alarm, we jump to attention, our engines roar to life and in seconds we are out the door. As time goes on, we get run down, worn out and that response time gets longer (or the engine just won’t start). If left unchecked, things on a fi re truck get rusty and gummed up which causes problems. The mind is the same. Like my transfer case, if we try to hide it, bury it with other distractions, or just hope it goes away, the problems will run much deeper. With help, it will get better. Covid-19 brought my struggles to the surface and I was no longer able to keep working. It was clear that 32 years of fi re service had caught up to me and I was no longer able to hide from my PTSD. This also caused me to lose my interest and my passion in fi xing my fi re trucks. I felt they had to take a back seat to getting my mental health back on track. I knew that working on my trucks would be great therapy, but I was just at the point where all I could do was sit and look at them. I didn’t know where to start, what I wanted to work on, or how I was going to get anything done. Thankfully, I have been lucky to have friends who understand mental health and directed me to a great therapist and a fantastic support group. My best decision was to become a member of Project Trauma Support. PTS invited me to their retreat where I was privileged to spend six days with eight other people who were all fi nding their way through this storm, we know as PTSD! With the help of their amazing staff, mentors and new friends, I’m now back on track! I couldn’t have gotten to where I am without their help! I also can`t stress enough that I couldn`t have done it on my own! Family and friends are what makes the difference. Please reach out if you need it - it`s only going to help! And don’t be afraid to reach out to someone who you might think needs the help. It’s not easy, but in my case it was a friend who started me in the right direction by realizing I needed help. They brought in our EAP group for a post incident talk. Fortunately, one of the members was a person I knew and had great respect for and I was comfortable to contact. She gave me the name and number of a City Psychologist. The biggest problem with trying to help people is that they have to be ready accept the help. There is an old saying, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink”. All we can do to help our brothers and sisters is to be open, honest and not be afraid to talk to them about what they are going through. Most of all, don’t shut them out. It’s not COVID-19 - you can’t catch it! We also have to change our idea that calling someone to see how they are doing is an invasion of their privacy. The worst thing for mental health is the feeling you are all alone and no one cares. By being open about my PTSD, I have had more people reach out to me for help than for any other reason! This also helps me feel better, knowing I can still help other people! So at this point in time, the transfer case is ready to be reassembled and reinstalled in the 1949 fi re truck. I’m excited again and I’ve been enjoying the process of cleaning the gears and shafts to make them ready for the new bearings and seals. I put the output shaft in the freezer for a while and I put a little heat on the bearings and they slipped together perfectly! A little heat for the other bearings and all of them are now in place and ready to become a working unit again. There are still valves and drains to rebuild and replace, so I won’t be pumping water this year. But next spring, WATER ON! CHARGE THAT LINE! For more information about Project Trauma Support, check out their website at https://projecttraumasupport.com/ Or, feel free to contact me about fi re trucks and PTSD!

THE 1949 SITTING PRETTY, MAY 2019