10-4 Magazine / December 2025 65 it was seized and a rebuild was in order. That’s when Mikes’ sons, Patsy and Michael, along with a good friend, Todd Gregor, started to tear the truck apart. Jim’s Welding in Danbury repaired the back fenders and the leaky roof. The interior was stripped, then the rebuilding began, but progress was slow. The body was cut off along with the tag axle. The heavy rears were removed, and the frame was shortened seven feet. 38,000-pound rears from a Mack, donated by Mike’s father Pat, were installed along with rebuilding the engine. The family invested in another Brockway, a single axle 761, for parts, as Tony’s truck had well-worn parts, including the bumper, grill, battery boxes, hood, fenders, air and fuel tanks. All these parts were added to Tony’s truck, and the worn parts were put on the donor truck, which they sold, tohelpoffsetthecosts. DanBaldwin, who Mike referred to as a “Brockway guy,” provided shutters for the radiator and a heater core. Parts for the 700 series Brockways are scarce, as they were only made from 1975 to 1977. In 2020, Mike was diagnosed with cancer. Because of the uncertainty of his condition, it was decided to finish the truck once and for all. Many people chipped in money, including Mike’s parents, “the boys” and Todd with the goal of bringing the tractor to the 2021 show while working on it daily. Because of Covid-19 shutdowns, there was more time to work on the tractor. Uncle Tony was an avid race car owner and competed at the asphalt track, Danbury Racearena, back in the 1970s. Mike said the race cars were “old coupes.” Since Tony’s car was painted orange and numbered 53, the restored Brockway was painted orange with that numberaffixedtoit. Thenamesofthe pit crew are painted on the rear fenders to mimic signage on race cars. Mike mentioned that the family members were not trained mechanics, body guys or expert restorers – they learned as Uncle Tony and Pat became experienced, as they went along with their routine maintenance and repairs. Mike started as a young boy helping with his grandfather’s garbage trucks and his father’s trucks. Later, along with his young sons helping father Pat, they restored his B-model Mack. They also worked with their Uncle Cary to convert his Autocar tractor into a 10-wheeler. By the time they started on Tony’s 761, the family, along with Todd and others, had some experience. Years before, Pat had built a 20’ x 30’ garage on the home property to do maintenance, and this is where Tony’s 761 was restored. For years, Mike, his sons, and his father attended the annual Brockway Show, held previously in Cortland, NY where the trucks were built, but is now situated in the town square in Homer, just north of Cortland. Long before the restoration, the family gleaned a lot of information from the other truck owners at the show. Tony planned on going to the Brockway show with them in 2007 but was too ill to make it. Before Tony died, Mike promised him that they would take the 761 to the Cortland show – Mike hopes Uncle Tony can “see” it enough to be proud of the restoration.
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