JBNeal

VINTAGEPIC: saw this B-1or2 COE car hauler on the FB

I tackled the seat a few weeks ago, and it was a mess. The asphalt cardboard that makes up the seat bottom was chewed up as shown, so it was gonna need to be replaced. I scooped out the whutnot, filling a 5 gallon bucket with chewed up stuffing and a large coffee can full of acorns. I am guessing they put the cardboard on before crimping the seat tracks, dunno if I'll put it back anytime soon. Anyhow, I have a temporary bucket seat in the beast for now

Dad said this jack has been around since as long as he can remember, but he never really knew where it came from. The presumption was that it came with the '48, but he did not know for sure. This jack was used for working on tractors, combines, cotton strippers, plows, shredders, even used for leveling houses...the handle disappeared somewhere along the way. It's current use is a door stop, as the main gear is froze up and the square threads do not engage anything...maybe it's wore out, maybe it's broke, either way it is still quite heavy

that can be cleaned up professionally

additional truck picture thread - B-3

additional truck picture thread - B-1-F wrecker + B-1 Dakota

truck picture B-1-D-126: it ain't too fancy, but I transplanted the patch of buffalo grass a few hunnert feet away & filled the hole it left with some good road base & crushed limestone...that'll give me a li'l room to maneuver year'round

Optional Wiring Diagram in color

hey them rear fenders are early '48...nice

HOLLYWOOD I saw "Goober Takes Apart A Car" again the other day, and was surprised by what was sitting in the courthouse...I couldn't make out the engine # but I don't think that setup came out of that car

I know I am sounding like a broken record, but ya gotta consider the entire package when looking at power upgrades. Getting a higher top speed brings into focus the need for stability & control while at speed. Cross winds could be dangerous, headwinds can negate any top speeds that can be acquired by finding a new gear ratio if the engine does not have enough torque to overcome these forces...and then there is braking...the metric I use for attempting a foray into the unknown is to determine what disasters could happen, and how I would react to those situations. If I can think of an instance that makes that adventure too expensive for my resources, then I reconsider my approach. I opted out of repainting my D250 years ago because of the blue book value of the truck vs. the possibility of being T-boned by an uninsured motorist. If you are considering spending X% of your budget to get Y% more speed (and control), is it worth it? This is a good question to ask, and probably why many larger trucks are not upgraded for speed...but if you can pull it off, many folks (myself included) will have a "kudos" for ya

When doing power upgrades, the entire package has to be considered to execute a fully functional & safe driving experience. This truck was designed around the 23" flatheads; the 25" flatheads can fit with little modifications to the frame, firewall, brakes, etc. as compared to dropping in a V-block. With more power brings the need for more braking & better handling, and this can spiral upwards to where a chassis swap would be cheaper & more effective than modifying the B-series frame, etc. I have not run the numbers, but from appearances, putting the B-series sheet metal on the 1st gen. Dakota rolling chassis seems to be the cheapest & most effective way to get more power & have a daily driver to boot. My personal preference is to keep a flathead under the B-series hood, just to enhance the wow-factor of the rare Pilot-House truck. But bottom line, do whatever you want to do with your truck...it's your dime, after all

HOLLYWOOD after The Hall of Fame game, the next channel over on the TV had the tail end of The Graduate on...Dustin Hoffman stumbles out of his Alfa Romeo

Optional Wiring Diagram

anybody tried the ones from DCM classics? Or the new listing at Mopar Mall? Or the listing at Roberts?

I have opted to do some work on the place, which required me to move the '49 & '51 1-tons off to the side so that I could expand my driveway, giving me more room to work. I aired up the tires on the '51 & dragged it out of the way, slowly & carefully, having to stop every few feet to adjust the steering wheel to aim it into its temporary parking space next to the parts trucks. Alignment was crucial so that I could sleep at night...haha I had tried to fire up the '49 a few weeks ago, with a fresh charged battery & topping off the carb float chamber. All I could manage was a quick sputtering attempt to fire at first, but then subsequent attempts to fire up the engine were for naught. I kinda figured the spark plugs were fuel fouled, but had other things to do so I put that off for a few days…I think that was before Memorial Day, so where did the time go once again… Recalling this again yesterday, I pulled plugs #1 & #2, and they were quite fuel fouled. I took a little brass brush to them to spiff’m up, then put #1 back in its place. I reattached the plug wire to #2, cleaned off a head bolt, then wedged the plug+wire against that head bolt & the water neck. Turned the key back on, went back under the hood, and went to crank down on the starter lever to check the spark when I noticed the ground wire between the coil & the distributor. I had not touched the original wiring on this truck except for scabbing on new terminals at the dimmer & brake switches years ago. Most of it is in decent condition, but there are several areas in the engine compartment where the terminals are in rough shape. But this ground wire looked different, as it had electrical tape from one terminal to the other, and that tape had come unwound at the distributor. I pulled it out & examined it to see that ALL of that wire’s insulation was gone, with the copper strands covered with old tape, allowing the copper to oxidize. I opted to replace that short piece with new vinyl insulated white 16 AWG wire to improve the coil ground. (Looking at my notes after sundown, I suppose I should have used a red 14 AWG wire.) Checking the spark showed a bright white bracketed by faint yellow, I attributed this lower color to my poorly grounded setup. So I put the plug back in #2 & reattached the plug wire, shot some starting fluid down the carb, then cranked on the starter. The engine fired up almost immediately, sputtering that quickly cleared up to a high idle that I bumped down to the low idle that didn’t quite sound right. I then remembered to put the #1 plug wire back on, then the idle smoothed back out. With the seat bottom sitting near the garage waiting to be cleaned out, I grabbed a 5-gallon bucket to stick in the cab, then piloted the beast to its spot next to the ’51. It has dried up considerably since all of the flooding rains we had this spring, so it’s time to start running water to trees & whatnot. I was asked if I was going to use the beast to run water again, and I had to point out that the engine runs well enough, but the tires are the issue now as I do not want to load them up. I had tried to get all of the tubes replaced 5 yrs ago when I needed to replace 2 of the tires, but there was a communication breakdown with the tire place and they re-used the old tubes and didn’t touch the other 2 tires as the guy said “they looked fine”. I didn’t have time to argue with the guy, so I loaded up the four tires and haven’t been back…I lost one of the tires awhile back as the valve stem separated from the tube, and I fear the others will do the same, so I won’t chance it. For now, the truck is under its own power again, so I can move it around to do this & that without the use of a length of chain

the one on the bottom, although very similar to the B-series Dodge truck dome lens&bezel, I believe belongs in a Dodge car...the truck would have a slot cut on the right for the manual switch, whereas the car light was actuated by door jamb switches.

That perforation might not be so bad: it's parallel to the channel neutral axis with no visible radiating cracks. This can be gouged of loose material and a flush filler patch welded in place & ground smooth. It also may be possible to just gouge the hole, maybe run a weld bead along the hole perimeter and grind smooth, install the hanger & run with it, as the hanger is bridging this area and reinforces the channel web. DC brings up a good point with the blue wrench: oxy-acetyl can be used to melt out a rivet or bolt without damaging the surrounding material. This is my preferred method when dealing with cast iron, as it has a much higher melting temperature than any bolt broken off in it. The trick is to focus the flame tip at the center of the bolt/rivet and slowly work in a very small circle once the metal starts to flow, eroding the little cuss that necessitated the extra heat. Gravity is your friend, so try to angle the work so the metal will flow away from the heat asap. Things don't have to be turned up on end, just enough so that there is a gradient for stuff to flow. Another thing to consider is that rivets & bolts, even though held tight in place by the wedging action of their engagement, are not a complete engagement of components, as there are verrry small gaps between the fastener & mating items. Heat should transfer through the fastener before completely bridging this gap, so the fastener should heat up faster than the surrounding components. With the fastener melted out, the threads can be chased out or the hole can be reamed to clean things up for assembly. And this all requires a great deal of patience and attention, because if ya get hypnotized by your flame, you may do the damage that you are trying to avoid...flame carefully

VINTAGEPIC: saw this B-1or2 short dually hauler on the FB

VINTAGEPIC: saw this B-1or2 panel on the FB

truck picture money pit: with all the rain we've had, my parts trucks have sunk a little in the black dirt...as nature appears to grasp these beasts in order to drag'm under, some of the varmints are enjoying their artistic sanctuary

here's some info on parts involved in a steering box rebuild and the steering box adjustment

I've kinda wondered about addressing the repetitive technical questions with some sort of FAQ section that can be contributed by members & edited like a Wikipedia page. The technical issues could be broken down into sections following the factory shop manual as a layout guide. I had started to do something similar to this with my build post, but I have had a LOT of delays over the years so even this isn't anywhere close to what I want done. And the multiple contributors to a topic could become a headache to moderate...it's all pie in the sky at this point from member #2888

mechanism locked in the closed position; note the lever tab is engaged in the cam upper notch, and the location of the cam lower notch. mechanism in half-open position; note spring under tension. mechanism locked in the open position; note spring not under tension. It does take a little extra oomph to get the lever to open & close the vent...as shown, the '48 probably could use a little more lubrication on this mechanism to reduce the required oomph

Build threads are nice