Search the Community

I wanted an antique vehicle to tinker with, and to use as a daily driver for the short 2 mi round trip from the house to the shop. I was looking for something unique that would also serve as an eye catcher when people drove by my store. One day a customer of mine mentioned he had an old Dodge sitting in his yard for the last 20 years that he was not going to do anything with, and would sell it to me. One look at this vehicle and I fell in love. I could see the potential. Yep, he was in bad shape but I didn’t see all that. I had a vision. My wife calls the truck TANK, because of the green color, and his size. She names all our vehicles. TANK is a 1950 B2C. My friend offered to store the vehicle at his property until we finished building our new house and my garage. The next day the truck was in his garage, on jacks, with the butterfly hood removed, and when I walked in his shop Al had the engine turned over and running on three cylinders. My suggestion: If you want to restore an old vehicle, get about two or three retired guys involved: One with a machine shop, one with a garage, and one that was a farmer. These guys got nothing to do, and lots of knowledge. Long story short: here is what we’ve done so far. We pulled the head and had it milled. While it was off we then pushed on the valves as we cranked the motor until they quit sticking. Al helped me rebuild the carburetor, and do a full tune up. I purchased a kit from AAJ Brakes and modernized the stopping system: modern disks, calipers, piping, master cyl. Swing pedal, and while we were at it put in a hydraulic slave cyl., and clutch swing petal. Roger, the owner of AAJ lives in Portland, so I was able to drive down to his shop and meet with him. He really hooked me up with his break kit. He was very helpful and fun to talk with about our love for old vehicles. Most of his kits are for cars, and this was a unique application for a ¾ ton. In the end I had to get 5 on 5 lug pattern rims from a 70’s GMC truck so the rotors fit inside the rim. George had to drill the rear rotors to fit the 5 on 5 lug pattern. George also fabricated a new floorboard and battery well too, and patched rust holes in the cab body, replaced the front cab mounts and surrounding rusted floor, and took dents out of the roof, and fixed the frame where the rear cross member was rusted out, and replaced the rear shock mounts, and built me a custom gas tank to replace the Swiss cheese original, and installed a one wire alternator and custom bracket (George can make anything in his shop), and repaired the bottom of the rusted doors, and the back of the cab, and replaced the king pins in the front end, and installed the electric fuel pump he talked me in to buying. Over the summer I got a crash course in body work, and learned how to weld and grind and weld and grind, and grind, and grind. Oh yea, and sand and sand. At the end of the summer, 6 months after first arriving at Al’s place, TANK drove on his own power, up to my new garage from George’s shop in town. I now know a little more about a Bridgeport mills, and hydraulic presses, and all kinds of sheet metal bending, shearing, stamping, snipping, and welding, and the plasma cutter Oh boy, and rebuilding a carb., and flat head motors, etc….. George is a capitalist. At first, I paid him for his time, but after a while, I think he got more value out of me learning and him instructing, and he finally gave me the keys to his shop so I could work on the truck when he was gone. TANK now sits in my new garage. I rewired the alternator harness, amp gauge, ignition switch, and battery charging system for 12v. I have all the gauges working properly too, and a remote filter system installed, and I removed the oil pan and cleaned out the gunk, and painted the pan hot rod orange, and this week I am replacing the leaking water pump. I’m sure I missed things I fixed. Oh yea, repaired the choke and idle cables, and persuaded the emergency brake to work with a little WD-40 on the cable. I’m working my way towards the back. I am going to replace the fluids in the transmission and rear end next. Final stage is to reassemble the bed and paint the truck. I want it to be on the road by the end of this summer. So that is about it. I am infinitely grateful for the Pilothouse forum and after discovering the site, and observing that it looks like a great bunch of people, I decided to join, and maybe add to the knowledge base. Oh yea, Ruderhaus is German for Pilothouse.

Both of these totally RUST FREE California girls have never been driven on snow! They're deathly afraid of the dreaded 'Tin Worm', who lives in the salt brime that is spread to combat the slippery road surfaces.

ETA: this will be my build thread for my 1951 DeSoto....join along for the ride. Hey everyone, I have a couple questions regarding my 51 DeSoto. 1.) Rust Repair: I have been slowly disassembling this car for a little over a week now and i have been discovering all sorts of fun rust pockets as i continue to dig deeper. The Frame (so far) is solid and appears to be straight. The car was in an accident sometime in the 1980's and was effectively left as such. I have found rust on both rockers (inner and Outer) the Drivers side is far worse than the passenger side, as i can see into the car. Also, the floor along the drivers side is completely through including the panels at the foot-well. The passenger side is also through in the front as well. I have all of the patch panels to complete the job. However, here is the situation, i am a completely inexperienced welder as i have no prior training and am frankly pretty terrible at it. Do I even attempt this or should I find a shop to complete this leg of the work? I am not mechanically inept but i am still trying to learn. I am however willing to learn the welding trade but i feel as if i am over my head in this one. 2.) If I am to even attempt this repair i want to remove the body and do a frame off restoration. I want to do it right the first time. How do i remove the body as effectively as possible in a driveway? I have heard of the trailer jack approach. Is it feasible to remove the body before tackling the rust or should I complete the repair before removing the body? I am planning on adding pictures to this thread later today when i get home so that those that wish to see what im dealing with can get a better idea of my situation. Thanks again, Justin

We don't have it as bad as the Houston Tx area, but the DFW metroplex area of Texas can hit ya with high humidity levels for extended periods of time and it can change at the drop of a hat. The following is something I wanted to share with members in regards to this - hopefully it might help someone out a bit. For about $10 here's what I've done to keep humidity off parts were wire wheeled down to bare metal in preparation for paint, then had to sit for days if not weeks due to rainy high humidity weather. Wallmart carries a line of plastic sealing bags called "magicbag", They are space saver type bags and they come in different sizes....(don't confuse this brand with the ziploc type bags they also carry,...I have had about 75% of the Ziploc bags come apart at the seal after only a single use, the magicbag's seem to be better made and don't do this),... I just purchased a box of 3ea magicbag's size 18" x 24" for $4.00,.....cast iron intake manifold fits right in it with room left over,....flywheel would fit with room to spare, etc...just an example , but they also have larger sizes that cost a bit more.... Wallmart also carries a line of cat litter called MiMi Kitty, it is made up entirely of Silica Gel Crystals, and you can get a 4 lb bag of it, for $4.99. I took some of my old plastic prescription bottles, removed the white plastic lid, then drilled the plastic lid with 4-6 holes to allow air flow, then cut a small circle out of a paper towel and insert the circle into the inside of the plastic cap you just drilled holes into. Now fill your bottle with the silica gel crystals and screw the cap onto the bottle, then re-seal your litter bag with tape so it stays freash and dry for future use Place your part and the bottle inside the plastic bag and seal the double seal of the bag,..then grab your vacuum and suck the air out of the one way valve on the bag. Your part is now vacuum sealed inside the bag which also contains a supply of desiccant.....be easy with the vacuum as it will pull the plastic in and onto the part very quickly - I have wondered about a sharp part edge ripping the plastic and defeating the purpose, so I've experimented a bit and pulled the bag down to where it was completely vacuum sealed against the part which had bolt heads and studs sticking out and it did not tear or rip the plastic.. again these magicbag's are much better made bags than the Ziploc brand. Hope this helps someone. Steve

So, since this summer is not going as I had planned, the TODD cab is starting to get some spots of rust on it (especially where it was handled with bare hands) and I want to protect it as best I can as I doubt I'll be anywhere near ready for paint/primer anytime soon. I've been told to use PPG DX 520 followed by DX 579, how does this differ from the metal prep things from POR15? I've got more than enough of that left over from FEF, are they basically the same? OR is there something else I should be doing?

Hello! I just got a 1947 Plymouth special deluxe club coupe that I want to restore. It has a really clean body, all the rust, except for a tiny spot under the driver door, is surface rust. It still has the flathead and tranny in it too. Only thing is it's been sitting in a field for like 30 years and the motor might be rust-seized. Any tips for dealing with this? Thanks.