JBNeal

Over on The HAMB, there is a Pilot-House CTD Crew Cab project, but not much activity posted in 2012. The MegaCab pic is a new one on me, but an interesting start

there were three different versions of the motor: carbureted ('87-'88), single point (throttle body) fuel injection ('89-'91), and mulit-point fuel injection ('92-up). The carb units were a li'l weak, the SPFI units were a li'l more powerful & more reliable, and the Magnum MPFI ran circles around the other two. Gearing would make a difference as with any engine, but the fuel delivery & aspiration were where the big improvements were made in hp & torque for this V6.

have ya heard of the gener-nator?

Dad had an '87 Dakota with that carbureted 3.9, and it was a slug that got 13 mpg...he liked the size of the Dakota, but that V6 performance was atrocious, and that Dodge was traded in within a year. I had a '90 Ramcharger with a 318, and it was a slug as well. I did some investigating and ended up advancing the distributor, probably 5 degrees...WOW did that thing come alive, lots of power, gas mileage went up to 20 on the highway. I had a '92 Dakota longbed with the MPFI V6, and it was fun to drive, lots of low-end torque, got 22 mpg on the highway. I ended up trading that truck for a '92 CTD; it was a solid work truck, but not as fun to drive as that Dakota longbed. IMO, stay away from most Chrysler motors with smog pumps attached, cuz they are gutless gas hogs. The MPFI V6 & V8s are more powerful & more efficient, and there's a lot of'm out there to choose from

here's a I found cruising the youtubes...it's in need of a paint job, but the two-tone color under the hood is a dead give-away of this ol' beast's roots

I've done some high idle testing over the past few weeks to see how the motor is operating after its recent revival. Cold startups are relatively quick at less than 5 seconds of cranking, and there is practically no smoke visible at any time during operation. After a few minutes of idling after the choke was no longer needed, I've operated the flathead for up to an hour at high idle, approximately 2000 rpm. The flathead is then brought back to idle for a couple of minutes, then shut down. After high idle and after shutdown, there is no noticeable smoke coming from the crankcase. So I reckon the partial PCV system I have installed is doing its job. I'm getting a hint of some valves ticking after the engine heats up, so maybe I'm gonna have to do a valve adjustment at some point

there appears to be some sort of adapter on top of the manifold pre-heat chamber below the carburetor. This may be able to be removed and the carburetor mounted directly to the manifold as stock; some surgery will be required to verify this. I recall the vacuum advance on the distributor to be towards the top. When adding a PCV system, this has to be taken into account for the ventilation plumbing from the oil fill tube. The PCV plumbing shown here, here, and here illustrates some clearance issues if there is a vacuum advance involved. Anyhow, I would think there would be an issue with the carb as the float chamber is directly above the major heat source in the engine compartment.

It took me a li'l while to remember where I had seen these installation instructions that Dodgeb4ya had posted in the photo gallery. After looking at MF's firewall installation and these instructions, I went out and took a look at the cabs decorating the yard. Above the body data plate, there are two knock-out holes similar to those on the passenger side for the heater mounting holes. These two holes are for the AIR & TEMP cables. The bulge in the firewall was originally to mount the 802 radio on the B-1s & B-2s, but I don't think the bulge is required in the B-3s & B-4s. I've seen the controls mounted on the left, below the radio location, but also mounted in the center, below the gauges. I've also seen the controls mounted in the dash, flanking the gauges. And then there's the aftermarket heaters, which were sold at dealerships, Western Autos, service stations, etc. I once thought there was only one correct way to install a heater system in these old trucks, but after looking at the variety of ways to install the variety of pieces of equipment, I figgered that as long as the installation is clean, then it's okie dokie

that is smurf-tastic...have ya made a manifold out of pipe tees, etc. for multiple outlets? Something I saw in a farming magazine...the guy had a manifold setup for dedicated air to an outside hose reel under an awning, an inside hose reel, and a short hose to a air dessicant & regulator for a paint gun setup...he spent less than $10 and made the outlets point down so that the couplers wouldn't hit'm in the face when he disconnected them

On older vehicles, ground continuity faults are very common on malfunctioning electrical circuits. Corrosion at ground circuit terminals increases circuit resistance, reducing available voltage available for the circuit to operate correctly. Corrosion within the stranded copper conductors also boosts resistance. When operating on 6V, any boost in resistance is noticeable. For example, the headlights on the '48 stopped working the other day. I jiggled the wires at the dimmer switch, and they immediately came back on. Dielectric grease on clean terminals helps reduce the chance for any of this terminal oxidation to occur.

That center bumper guard was used on B-1 & B-2 trucks only. I don't know why this big guard was installed here on this B-4, as it is located in the area where the license plate should mount. This is another oddity for this truck as TX requires front & rear plates, and the front plate is no where to be found on this beast. As this was a farm truck, the bumper guards show signs of being used as tow hooks

The engine compartment had been tackled briefly, so there are parts here & there for this ol' beast that I put in a safe place; where that might be is a vague memory. Of note is the exhaust manifold's original silver paint that is still visible. Also, there has been some fittings added to the intake manifold port, more investigation is required on that one. The carburetor is not original, nor is the air cleaner, I'm assuming they are from mid-50s flatheads. That firewall is filthy, not sure why just yet, maybe from years & years of dobbers' nests. The interior panel on the back of the cab looks original, but what color is that, tan or beige?

The passenger side will need some work, but not as much as that driver side. The deluxe cab has no arm rests, but does have electric wipers...and there's that red-handled park brake

Being a farm truck, the sheet metal is a little dinged up. The hood is straight, but every other panel will need some massaging to look decent. The fenders have the rust at the rivets, so that'll need some patchwork as well:

Flatbed Red Rebuild For Farm Truck Use... As stated earlier, this '51 has been drafted for farm work and will need a li'l work done to get it ready to haul water from a well at the bottom of the hill. This truck was seen earlier and has changed owners a couple of times since being dragged out of a barn in Kansas. The truck is mostly complete, riding on 6.50x16s oddly enough, and the flatbed has one floorboard that will need replacement. The sideboards are kinda shot, but the bulkhead is in decent shape. The pinstriping on the bed sure seems fancy for a work truck, but I've seen this done on some modern trailers so maybe it's a selling point for higher quality

truck picture B-4-B-116 The Spring Special as a wildlife habitat:

VINTAGEPIC: ...saw this while surfing the 'net:

I am not sure that installing a diesel into the B-series frame is as simple as considering geometry & weight. I've seen the undersides of the D-series with & without Cummins power, and right away the additional beefing up of the frame is noticeable. On high mileage CTDs, cracking could be seen around these reinforcements, presumably from the combination of torque + vibration judging from the crack propagation. Redesign of the Ram frame for '94 beefed up the entire frame, from material used to location of reinforcements, and most of those problems went away. The B-series frame is made of a lower grade steel than the carbon steel used in the D-series, and I've seen cracking near rivet holes just from loading the chassis, not from any vibrations from the flathead. Installing a Cummins in the B-series frame might require so much fabrication work for proper support that it would be easier to put the B-series sheet metal on a newer frame. Since these Pilot-House trucks were designed with the 23" flathead in mind, installing any other powertrain will require extensive engineering + fabrication for reliable performance. It can be done, but the cost might be a budget-buster.

if'n ya wanna go crazy, click on User CP on the upper left of the page, below the P15-d24 logo; on the next page, scroll down to Edit Options: there's all kinds of stuff there, such as being to view the threads in Linear Mode, with the last post shown first.

some of the original material used back in the day was a cotton batting strip material, cut to fit on the shop floor. I've got scrap rubber roof material (.060 epdm) that is rubber-cemented to one surface of each panel. I've kinda wondered if it would be just as effective to smear caulking on one edge in the same fashion, building it up to about 1/16" thickness. The camper tape is cheap & effective, but it might be a li'l wide, unless ya rip it down the center (doublilng your purchased stock). I've seen window & door foam tape that's in the 3/4" to 1" wide range, only about 1/4" thick, it should work well also and be very cost effective

I can hear my Grandpa now: "ya got yerself some bad gas" I've had similar problems, and the thing that seems to have fixed the rough running/stalling problem for the ol' beasts (and lawn tractors too) when they don't get driven everyday is to have fuel stabilizer mixed with fresh 87 octane gasoline in the tank and run through the carburetor. From what I can gather, a li'l varnish will gum up the innards of the carb (check balls & passages, etc.) and the required fuel flow through the carb will be inadequate. Also, the electrical contacts in the regulator & distributor need to be clean. If a small layer of oxidation forms on these contacts, the resistance goes sky high, resulting in significant decreases in available voltage available for charging and/or ignition. This oxidation has to be carefully removed, either with emery cloth or small file, I recall seeing this procedure outlined in an older Chilton manual I found at the library.

...the right-hand mirrors were standard on right-hand drive...wonder if there is a stash of driver mirrors for sale down under here's the pair I found on eBay back in 2000...the driver mirror bracket looks to have been installed & removed, possibly at the dealer; the passenger mirror bracket has only some shelf wear:

truck picture money pit: during the impromptu pow-wow with The Dad last night, I had to deliver the bad news that the computer in the VP44027 on his '01 Ram CTD QuadCab is kaput and will require replacement (1st one crapped out back in '05)...we came to a tentative agreement that I could do the repair in exchange for some floorspace in his barn (the one with electricity & a concrete floor). I can use that floorspace to work on the flatbed I dragged down from OKC (by way of KS) a couple of years ago so that we can put it to work hauling water from a robust well up to his 2 acre lavender patch that he started as a retirement project. This '51 will require a bonded title along with a teardown & rebuild. The flatbed is in good shape, so it'll only need some rewiring and a li'l cosmetic work to get it looking spiffy. And since there are no bed parts to mess with, the cosmetic work on the truck sheetmetal is drastically reduced as compared with the '48 & '49 farm pickups I have rollin'round. Putting this truck back into service after decades of sitting around will also free up some other equipment that we use...the irony is that when I dragged this truck home back in 2010, I was scolded for 'junking up the place'; now this ol' beast may turn into a valuable farm truck after all

if you want to drive this beast everyday, I hope ya live in a rural area or a small town, cuz these ol' trucks do not get in a hurry, even going downhill, nor do they stop on a dime. I've worked on enough older machines to know that parked vehicles can have surprises that could be big $$$ for repairs if not dealt with properly. The original wiring may look okay now, but its age + some heat-cycling from use and that insulation may start falling off. The original brakes may be prone to failure from rusted out lines or pitted cylinder bores. And then there's that flathead...the engine could have sludge or internal corrosion from sitting up for so long. The seals may be brittle and could blow out in no time. The water jacket may be full of crud or the distribution tube could be fouled or crumbling. If the distributor has a vacuum advance, the diaphragm could be shot. The fuel pump diaphragm might be on death's door also...the list goes on & on. Ulitmately, it all depends on your budget & skill level as to what you want to do with it. I cringe when I see a good survivor truck butchered to make it modern. On the other hand, when the truck is wore out & needs a lot of bodywork, making it modern might actually be cheaper

that pic might be a li'l deceiving, as those dual horns are from an older vehicle, possibly not even a Dodge, as they are a trumpet-style and not the long-cone style used on the B-series. I found what I thought was the factory mirror mount in a similar photo of a salvage yard 300 miles from the house...turns out it was a 'custom' installation. Also found an 'intact' cab 500 miles from the house on CL...turns out the doors were rusted out with a deceptively nice older paint job hiding the cancer, and the cab floor had rusted out and was being propped up with 2x4s I've got my eye on a parts truck 250 miles from the house, but the guy can only take marginally decent pics of the truck so I cannot tell if it's a completely rusted out hulk or not...the tree trunk wedged in between the bumper & grille ain't makin' for warm & fuzzy feelings. As most old car parts go on the internet, they look real nice until ya get up close, then it's back to reality