Bobacuda

I'm pretty sure you are talking about where the wick is to oil the speedometer. Kevin could confirm that.

My speedometer was incredibly erratic until Kevin serviced it. Now that the truck is back together, with GPS I have discovered that it reads about 10 mph slow. I pulled the gear and it has 16 teeth (fluid drive trans, if that matters)). It is marked 6852846 16T. I have tried the parts and shop manuals - no help. I tried searches, no help, other than to say that there are three gear choices and you need the one with the right amount of teeth. So, a gear with "how many teeth" would increase the speedometer reading about 10 mph? I don't know the rear gear ratio, I just know that 16 teeth read about 10 mph slow. And if someone knows how many teeth would do the trick, does anyone know where to find one of those gears. BTW, I have an extra 16T from a fluid drive if anyone needs it. Bob

I put these on a recent post, but what the heck. Attached is a photo is my '53 Dodge back in the winter of '78 at the Aquatic Station, Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. We are about to head to Canyon Lake to work on our graduate research. After lots of trials and tribulations, I finished rebuilding the truck on May 28, 2016. attachment=61739:Bob's Truck.jpg]

As for the heat, it will probably be good for me to get used to it again (I was a lot skinnier back then). By the time we get to October, it will be plenty cool till the summer of 2017.

As soon as the test driving/fine tuning stage has restored our confidence in long distance trips, my wife and I plan to drive it to most of the old dance halls we drove it to before and after we were married. Luckenbach, Gruene Hall, Cheatham St. Warehouse, etc. I also planning on a few photos at some of my old favorite watering holes and some of the TX Hill Country scenic areas. Basically, it will become a weekend cruiser.

The paint was matched to the inside of the glove compartment door. It is Nason with clear coat. The engine is painted red and starting to peel in places, specially near the thermostat housing. The attached photo of it in the frame is probably one of the better ones I have

Almost forgot to mention Ted Williams and Tom Landry. Williams was a Marine aviator in WWII and Korea. Landry was an Army Air Corps pilpot, surviving 30 bombing missions over Germany and one crash landing. Lots of athletes stepped up.

James Garner - US Merchant Marine (near end of WWII) and US Army-Korea (2 Purple Hearts)

Oh, and the armadillo decal has been in the back window since 1975. Damn thing held up better than I have .

I am the second owner of my truck, got it back in 1975. I drove it through college, dating and married life, the start of our family, and on the ranch till it really needed an overhaul. Unfortunately, the machine shop really screwed up the engine, then left town and screwed me, so the truck got parked in '98 with the goal of "getting to it someday." Kids finally got through school and college, so that day arrived in about 2000. I pulled it all apart, gave the engine to a competent builder, and started doing a whole lot of work myself. Found a young paint and body man that was willing to do the body work cheap, but on his schedule, so the project drug out a year or so longer than expected. However, that allowed me to get lots of good info here, and to read about everyone else's projects. As of today, the truck is back together and I put 12 miles on it...and nothing fell off (that I know of )! Still needs some tuning and more test driving, but it's alive! BTW, I had forgotten what it was like to drive a no power steering, no power brakes, no AC vehicle in 90 degree, 85% humidity.

When I took my B4B totally apart, I thought I was going to buy a wiring harness from Rhode Island - about $800 and it would not have a couple of the small harnesses. So I pulled the old harnesses all out. I had a wiring diagram handy, paper for notes and tape to label everything. I put tape on each wire I disconnected, taking notes of what it was connected to. I then mounted each harness to a piece of plywood and labeled its general function (headlights, under hood, etc.). Remember that each wire is labeled on each end where it started and where it ended. At this point, I decided to build my own harnesses. I bought all of the appropriate size wires and terminals from Rhode Island. The wiring diagram helped me build my list of wire gauge, length and color-coding. I looked at all of the old wires to see what type and how many of each terminal. I also got a directional signal for my truck - total parts about $270. Then I built each harness. I would strip back some of the old tape to expose the wiring color-code, to get it right. I confirmed that with the wiring diagram. Then it was one wire at a time. Make the new wire the same length (or slightly longer) as the old wire Strip the end, slide a piece of shrink-tube on, solder the end, crush on a terminal, then solder the terminal, slide up the shrink tube and shrink it. Label the ends like the original wires show you know where to connect them. Once all of the wires in a harness are made, get a couple of helpers to hold the ends as you tape them into a specific harness. Repeat for each harness. Took me two damn cold weekends to rewire my truck like this. I guess I have about 30-40 hrs in it start to finish. Tools involved were a cheap multimeter, solder gun, wire-stripper and a "terminal crusher." I made a "wire holding" helper by attaching 2 clothes-pins to a piece of 2x4 to hold the wire steady when I was soldering on it or the terminal - it really helped. Take LOTS of notes and photos.

I posted this back in April. My B4B came with 6.5 x 16's when I got it 40 yrs ago. I went through this on my B4B when I found the rims were rusted beyond safe levels inside the "barrels." Since I wanted the stock height the 6.50 x 16" tires provided, AND I wanted my original hub caps, I looked for a good set of stock rims and was unable to find them. I finally decided that I would run radials, and I contacted "The Wheelsmith" to remove the centers from my old rims and insert them in new barrels. After I spoke with them, I sent my old rims and they told me the original rims had a 3 3/8 " back space ---- the min back space they could get without reversing the outer is 4.0" -- this will leave 3" to the outside. The original has about 2.125" to the outside, The 4" is 5/8" greater than org. wheel. I had them do this and powdercoat 4 rims - roughly $800 to ship the rims to them, have them do the work, them ship them back. Took about 2 weeks. When looking for tires, I wanted a radial as close as I could get to the original tire and I found the following comparisons: Tire size: 6.50-16 Height: 29.30” Width: 6.80” 215-75-16 28.70 8.46 225-75-16 29.29 8.86 I cant remember which one I went with that was close to my 6.5 x 16" farm truck tire. Regardless, they are about 2" wider and the same height. Have not had any rubbing issues that I know of. The Wheelsmith work looks great! I would definitely use them again. Hope this helps.

It killed me, but that is Ford Red engine paint

OK, got several slightly better photos. Doors went on no problem. Driver's side sheet metal, aligned no problem. Passenger side sheet metal - PITA. And I have no idea why they want to post upside-down. Also finished my blinker wiring and cleaned up the wires under the hood. Very busy IWOYTD.

I went with the sticky, 3M caulk because it was all I knew about, and I first put a row of it on the fenders before I found out about the gap...D'oh!. At that point, the grille and fender were already sticky and the fenders and inner fenders were in place, held by bolts. I gave in to the "screw it, it looks good at 10' " syndrome. BTW, what is the Roberts product number on the stuff you used?

When I tried this, my "under the dash" brake handle set up did not have the "mechanical advantage" to work the rear brakes on the Dakota rear end I am using. I don't have the tools to fabricate anything that would work, so I put my old school e-brake back on. Guess I will also carry wheel-chocks , since I live in the hills.

My photos had too much glare, so I will have to try again later this week. I spent Saturday working on the front sheet metal, doing my best to get the front fenders to NOT have a gap between them and the grille - mixed amount of luck. The top of the fenders, and across the curve are fine, but the gap down the side increases in spaces to almost 1/4". I made the mistake of not assembling the front end off of the truck when the body work was being done, so it was never noticed that the gap had developed on both over the years. I looked up my "before" photos and confirmed the gap existed before I took the truck apart. Oh well, the 3M gooey seam sealer filled the gap and it looks good at 10' . Finished the wiring to the blinkers, got all the wires neatly routed under the hood. Put the weatherstripping on the doors. I tried using upholstery glue as someone recommended - the weatherstrip fell off. So, I had to clean up that mess and then use the black, messy as hell 3M weatherstrip glue. It held great. For anyone using this the first time, tape off the area you don't want it on. It is supposed to be spread on evenly, so I took an old butter knife, bent the last 3/4" of the blade at a slight angle and used it as a spatula. Used it to spread the glue on the weatherstrip as well. Peeled off the tape and put the weatherstrip in place with very little excess glue on the door. Hang the doors on Tuesday and finish the alignment of the front metal so I can tighten down everything associated with it.

I went through this on my B4B when I found the rims were rusted beyond safe levels inside the "barrels." Since I wanted the stock height the 6.50 x 16" tires provided, AND I wanted my original hub caps, I looked for a good set of stock rims and was unable to find them. I finally decided that I would run radials, and I contacted "The Wheelsmith" to remove the centers from my old rims and insert them in new barrels. After I spoke with them, I sent my old rims and they told me the original rims had a 3 3/8 " back space ---- the min back space they could get without reversing the outer is 4.0" -- this will leave 3" to the outside. The original has about 2.125" to the outside, The 4" is 5/8" greater than org. wheel. I had them do this and powdercoat 4 rims - roughly $800 to ship the rims to them, have them do the work, them ship them back. Took about 2 weeks. When looking for tires, I wanted a radial as close as I could get to the original tire and I found the following comparisons: Tire size: 6.50-16 Height: 29.30” Width: 6.80” 215-75-16 28.70 8.46 225-75-16 29.29 8.86 I cant remember which one I went with that was close to my 6.5 x 16" farm truck tire. Regardless, they are about 2" wider and the same height. Have not had any rubbing issues that I know of. The Wheelsmith work looks great! I would definitely use them again. Hope this helps.

Maybe you searched the wrong name for the part. REAR MAIN CROSSMEMBERS - http://www.horkeyswoodandparts.com/page36.php#crossmember

I skinned him and am currently drying the hide. I have never been partial to snake, so I tossed the skinned body where the other varmits on my property could find it and have a good meal. He was "recycled."

Here in south-central Texas, mornings have been in the mid-30's and afternoons in the mid-70's lately. Redbud trees, mountain laurels, and agarita (all native trees or bushes) have blossomed. Oak trees (native) and peach trees (wishful thinking) are about finished with blossoming. One more indicator of spring here in Texas - I killed a 4' rattlesnake in the yard last Friday...

I worked a full service gas station in a rural area of Texas as a kid. All of the 1/2 ton Dodges that came in had 16" tires. I have a B4B, 16" tires. To be honest, until I found this website I had never heard of the factory putting 15" tires on them. My B4B had some kind of sticky, bead sealer (kind of a 1/4" gooey string that flattens when everything is bolted together) between the fender and the grille, but I have seen the rubber gasket on 48-50 models in a junkyard.

I got the rear window, windshield and vent window gaskets from Roberts. Not impressed. I wound up getting a new windshield gasket from Steele, decided to live with the rear window gaskets and the vent gaskets fit great. I also got the seal between the hood & cowl, window channels and cat whiskers from Roberts - worked great, no problems. I got all of the soft seals for the door and door area from Clester's - fit and looks great, and at a reasonable price. If I were doing it again, I would order all of that stuff from them again, plus I would order the windshield and rear window gaskets from them, as well.

The speedo cable on my B4B comes through the large, half moon hole in the center of the trans hump. When the toe-board is in place it completes the hole. The cable runs to the passenger side of the drivetrain.

Jeff has probably hit the nail on the head. I had the same problem with my engine after it was rebuilt. I had to pull & reinstall the oil pump about 10 times before I got it indexed correctly. If all of my plug wires had been long enough, it would have been faster just to move them all one space.