Danny Lea bought and rebuilt this 1963 Mack B-75. It picked up a third-place finish in the Antique Bobtail category at Overdrive‘s Pride & Polish at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas.Danny Lea had his eye on this 1963 Mack B-75 for more than two years before he was able to convince the previous owner’s widow to sell it to him in 2011.
The owner of milk hauling operation Danny Lea Trucking out of Tylertown, Miss., Lea knew when he bought the truck he wanted to rebuild it to teach his grandchildren about “what trucking used to be.” The rebuild took about 18 months, which consisted of removing what Lea said was several gallons worth of Bondo patching the rusted cab, rebuilding the engine, fixing up the interior, repainting and more.
While Lea handled the mechanical work during the rebuild, Northshore Customs in Louisiana handled the interior work.Lea did all of the mechanical work, and Northshore Customs in Mandeville, La., took care of the interior work. Lea replaced the original 4-inch stacks with 7-inch stacks and replaced the rusted aluminum fuel tanks with tanks donated by Docar Truck Parts in Covington, La. He also changed out the steel wheels for aluminum wheels.
The truck was originally painted Corvette red, but Lea wanted to change it to candy apple red, which Lea said he has always loved.
“I found out when painting this truck there are actually five different shades of candy apple red,” he said. “We decided this one looked best.”
The truck made its Pride & Polish debut at the Great American Trucking Show, where it finished third in the Antique Bobtail category.
“This is my first time bringing her out, and I learned I have a long way to go,” Lea said at the show. “This isn’t the end of it, though. We’ll be back.”
