Overview

Hello Brent! Sorry it has taken me so long to reply to you! Lots of life has pulled me away from the forum and the project. I'd like to see more about your "HH(A)" project and how that goes for you! I'm finally in a place where I can start tearing into my truck so first thing I'll be doing is just getting the drivetrain sorted and most likely rebuilding the 251, trans, etc. It'll be a slow project but I'm hoping I can be more active on the forum to document my progress along the way and all the issues I'm sure to uncover with it being an old grain truck from Idaho.

I put this in the off site referrals section, but in case anyone missed it…… https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/768928010829151/ it’s local to me. But I’m not selling it. But I thought it was pretty cool and not something you see often.

You don't think that is an intentional bend do you? On that last picture you show it looks like a sharper change to the angle. Almost like it was made that way? On the first picture and on my truck it looks much more like a gradual bend was put in it from sitting on the bump stops. I guess they are there for a reason, but man, that's a lot of spring to bend.

You made me look ? both my GA’s and the HH have a bend in that area as well, the HH seems to be at the taper

I thought the bigger truck guys might find this interesting- look at the attached picture. This truck had a dump body in it. I finally got the old dump hoist frame off that i will replace because I a putting a flatbed dump on it. Apparently this thing was routinely loaded so heavy that the bump stops it the rear end and slightly bent the bottom web of the frame. Both sides are identical like this. The spring stack on this are so stiff in the back I'm pretty surprised they could flex that much. I inspected the whole frame pretty carefully. No cracks or bends anywhere else, unless there is something under the cab which is doubtful. So apparently no harm done and I'll bend them back, but I guess this truck was worked hard in its life.

Haydenh, how is the parts search going? thought of you recently as I procured a OEM shift valve bracket fr my HH ?(trying to make him a “HHA”) An OEM shift cable is supposed to arrive tomorrow (I’ll have to make the shifter brackets)

yes, it has the eaton 1350 2-speed vacuum shift. i like it a lot. makes the truck more driveable. i should mention that the carb is the one from the 237; not sure why the starts aren’t as “instant”.

That’s interesting that the 251 doesn’t start as well. Maybe it’s something to do with the mechanical pump allowing gas to flow out of the carb? So does your truck have a 2 speed rear end?

mine has been running great since getting it back on the road a year ago. missed it for those 3 years after the rod end went through the side of the block. but, it has been worth the wait. i've put almost exactly 900 miles since then according to the odometer (more actual miles, because the odometer drops out regularly in 4 speed hi-range), so likely 1100 to 1200 miles in reality. the replacement engine (251) runs nicely, and clearly has more power than the 237. it does not start quite as nicely as the 237 did after sitting overnight, but once it has been started, it will restart quickly the rest of the day.

Slow progress but I feel like I'll be able to focus a bit more time and effort on getting things back to road worthy condition on the weekends again. I tried using some MMO and it did seem like it made a little difference, but I'm not sure it made a big enough difference, at least the carb has been rebuilt I guess. So I'll check the distributor and wires and see if they're in ok shape. If its still struggling, smoking out of every filler and draft tube on it, and just not running right I'll have to tear into the engine. Might not be a bad Idea just to get everything refreshed and maybe remove the old power wagon governor and long bolts for the carb. I luckily have a family friend who just retired that has extensive experience with the older vehicles that he used to wrench on with his dad (dad was a mechanic in the 30s and 40s) and I might be able to pick his brain about how to go about a rebuild. I definitely need to get the truck back out on the road within the next year or two!

Been also looking for an update on your truck Haydenh! ? we need to get him back on the road....

Wallytoo, I know this is about a year late but welcome to the big boy club! You've got a great looking truck and more importantly, its being used! Mine unfortunately is still sitting waiting to be restored a bit but seeing yours gives me a little motivation to get wrenching on mine! Hope all is well!

a year late, but nice trucks, hayden and goddom! this is my ‘48 b-1-fa-152 that i recently got back on the road after almost three years with a blown motor...

All of that pretty paint is making me want to tear into my brakes now and get them working right again! Gotta rebuild the carb first though!

Ok, cleaned up the booster, blasted and zinc plated (home done) some parts. Threw on some leftover paint cost= free Installed a “minor” rebuild kit cost= $50. eBay Most expensive area so far, Sent the wheel cylinders up to be re sleeved cost= $400. Includes; re sleeving, brake switch, bleeder screw for the booster, new “crush washers”, the 3 rubber hoses and shipping 1-1/2” Master cylinder Rebuild kit Cost= $22. Rock auto Parts look SO pretty, too bad it won’t last ? Cleaned up some more of the two speed parts. The back of the speedometer switch had a rusted pivot and a disintegrated spring. I was able to pop the rivet, work the pivot free and replace the spring with one I had lying around. I took apart the shift cable and cleaned it up, took some kinks out, re lubed it.... little smoother cost for both= free (so far just the labor)

Pulled the booster off the truck last weekend. Gingerly took it apart, a few bolts and the bleeder screw didn’t make it... If it turns out the booster doesn’t work out after I clean it up, I e-mailed karps in CA who says they can rebuild it for $400. If that happens, at least I loosen everything up for them ?

Finally got all the cylinders off the truck, looks like they haven’t been used in a long time ? Before I send them up to Hagen’s to be rebuilt, I am going to check out the booster. I know they don’t rebuild the diaphragm part, but I think they would take on the cylinder if needed. cost wise, this will be the most expensive part of the truck. I figure around $500. For rebuilt cylinders, a master cylinder kit, brake switch, new hoses and lines. Luckily the drums look like they will clean up well and the pads look great! up to this point was just labor. I did make another tool out of scrap to remove the rear hub bearings....

Tinkered with Buck this weekend, fine tuned the motor. I removed the 2speed switch and cleaned it up -no money spent Now, I’m moving on to the brakes.... removed the front cylinders ? the rear are a little more work, I broke a 3/4” breaker bar, trying to get the rear tire off ?

Awesome! Its at least alive again!

New NAPA points and condenser $22. Got it started tonight ? Turns out the previous owner had the wrong points, condenser and it was 180deg out of time..... Need to “fine tune it” next and then move on to the brakes stay tuned......

Thank you for the links, I’ll get some stuff ordered to rebuild the carb. Who knows if all the parts for it are on there, it was an old farm truck after all haha. I’ll reach out to the Vintage powerwagon folks and see what info and advice they can give me on the engine and the axle. I’d really like to keep the old axles just for the fun factor of the directional lug nuts and such. But the idea of possibly going 4x4 intrigues me as well (like the old coleman 4wheel systems) the brake booster is actually a ford brake booster but I don’t know from what! When I drove it an hour or so from where I bought it to where I stored it I think I only had one brake working and only at 25% which is slightly terrifying in a heavy truck. I’ll add some photos of the booster below. i don’t think I’m quite ready to give up on it being mostly original type equipment either which is probably why I voiced my question in the first place to get another opinion or two. I’m am still considering reworking the flattie to get some more power out of it though (maybe a turbo with small pressure?) so I can not get run over by the crazy/ distracted drivers around here. I do like that suggestion of trying to just get this one going well meeting most of my needs to daily drive and then keeping an eye out for something else to convert to diesel and 4wheel drive? if you ever do find a JA axle laying around I’ll probably want to pick it up just for the gearing options it provides!

I know it can be frustrating, I have used https://www.carburetor-parts.com/ for carb kits have you called the boys at https://www.vintagepowerwagons.com/ for power wagon engine parts? shoot they might even have advice on that axle...... what kind of brake booster do you have? can you tell I'm not ready to let you give up yet? easy for me to say but if it were me, I think I'd get this truck going have fun with it and look for one already converted let someone else go through the hassle... but I am lazy that way I thought about your truck a couple months ago.... I went up to WA to look at a B4JA (we couldn't land on a price I was willing to pay, LOL)

Brent B3B, I’ve just had trouble getting anything to do with rebuilding the carb from the local box stores but I can find spark plugs at least! I haven’t tried looking for anything else yet because it was a major pain just getting the right plugs! I need to do a full tear down and rebuild the engine because it’s got some blowby I believe and it’s a tired old farm truck. The engine is a swap from a 64 power wagon but I don’t know when that was done or what the mileage was. I haven’t seen too many pilothouse trucks here in Utah and even fewer of the big guys. My main concern with the parts is that I’ll get into rebuilding it and find I can’t get the right parts or knowing my luck I’d break something irreplaceable! my long term goal for the truck if possible would be to be able to get it to cruise comfortably at 55-60 (not way up in the rpm range) and be able to stop all that weight from that speed. It’s not a 2 speed rear axle so I think the ration is somewhere around 7-7.5:1. I don’t know if I can get a lower ratio ring and pinion for that axle. Do you think I’d be asking too much from the flattie and the more stock setup vs swapping things out for modern gearing and brakes? Thank you for the link to the TODD build! I stayed up way too late catching up on everything haha i really love the extended cab setup from the thumbnail of that old huge truck! Maybe I’ll do something like that someday.

Oh no, Sorry to hear your having problems haydenh. I had luck having https://hagensautoparts.com Rebuild my brake cylinders ( stainless steel sleeved) and I had my local “fleet pride” https://branches.fleetpride.com re line the brake pads. what flathead parts you having trouble finding? I am a fan of the flathead and original.... but then again I don’t drive on the freeway. have you seen ggdad1951 build yet? A lot of work but he is doing a great job.

Hello All, I'm still new to the Pilothouse world and have yet to do much restoration on my B-1-J. Parts availability is the biggest issue I've come up against, even just getting little things for the flathead motor seems difficult nowadays and in thinking about what I want to do with the truck I find myself wondering how easy/difficult it is to find things like brake shoes, drums, and other stopping components for the running gear especially out here in the west? I've considered doing a conversion/ swap with some newer axles (from F450 or F550 types) to put some 22.5" rims on for modern tires and possibly putting in a diesel engine to turn the bigger wheels. Thoughts? Positives or negatives to the swaps? link to video here