JBNeal

1.) yes 2.) engine number decoder...there are casting dates below the distributor and behind the ignition coil.

fire can do some strange things in an enclosed space. Rapid oxidation can generate gases that can be corrosive to some metals and change the physical characteristics of carbon-based fluids. When oil oxidizes, it can form sludge when combined with moisture and contaminants. So it's possible that internal components got gummed up from the smoke.

looks like a good place for some aftermarket turn signal indicator lamps/LEDs...or the mounting holes for a grab iron/cupholder.

Tear it apart, clean everything to see if there aren't any other hidden problems, rebuild with fresh parts...the valves & guides may or may not be acceptable once cleaned out. The 230 in my 1 ton had so much sludge in the oilpan I could ball it up to the size of my fist; there was so much crud in the water jackets that it was over the bottom freeze plugs. Clean out the oil pressure relief valve bore and give the valve a good polishing so that it won't get stuck. Upgrade to a 180F thermostat and rig up a PCV system to help keep the sludge out of the oilpan. Another upgrade is to bump up the compression ratio to 8:1 for a few extra horsepower.

I'm a tad inexperienced with the goings-on inside the distributor, but I had a no-start condition once with weak spark, replaced the condenser, and problem solved.

My great-grandfather's '48 wasn't really for sale as it had been parked by the barn for 20+ years, and eventually it was legally owned by my grandmother. I was told in junior high that I could have the truck if I could get it running again. When I finished college and drove that old Dodge to Grandma's house for the first time, she told me to get the paperwork from the county registrar's and she'd sign it over to me. We found out that for tax reasons, it was cheaper to sell it to me than to gift it to me, so we came to an agreement: I wash & wax her Diplomat, and then drive her to Dairy Queen for chicken strips and she'd sign over the paperwork as I had "purchased" the truck for $100. *WINK*

the parts manual drawings are a guide for sales and not necessarily factory build prints. For example, looking at the steering column drawing in the parts manual, it shows the B-1 gearbox, when two are listed in the parts list, and there are significant differences between the two castings that they are not directly interchangeable. The same drawing is in the shop manual for the B-3, which is inaccurate for repairs. Variations on engines and transmissions can be simplified by showing the first configuration, and a later configuration can be noted in the parts list.

SURVIVOR: this little jewel is for sale (with title) at that salvage yard north of Denton and was told they will not part it out:

SURVIVOR: found 3 B-2s, 3 B-3s and a B-1 at the salvage yard north of Denton...looks like one has a fluid drive; another has a familiar looking mirror bracket; and the former highway department truck has an interesting radio installed:

SURVIVOR: found this at the salvage yard north of Denton:

from what I've been told, radios & heaters were dealer installed items. From what I've seen, I don't think there was a 'correct' position for antenna placement as my '49 has the antenna on the cowl in line with the edge of the windshield instead of in line with the door as shown, and I've seen others mounted on the opposite side on the cowl as well as on the side of the cowl just above the front fender. I saw a pic of a 2 ton with an antenna mounted on the door hinge, but that may have been for a CB radio. Another location I've seen the antenna mounted was on the bulkhead of the bed. I reckon the factory option antenna had a lead on it that was a certain length and that usually dictated whereabouts the antenna was installed.

with a grommet in the valve cover, I reckon someone thought blow-by gas extraction was necessary from the valve chamber because that is how overhead valve engines are set up. It's not necessarily the wrong approach on the flathead, but I don't see any benefit from pulling blow-by gases from the crankcase via the draft tube port and the oil filler neck similar to how Power Wagon flatheads are set up.

I reckon yer friend ain't heard of one of the unique features of the Dodge flathead ignition coil in that they only work well when upside down, kinda like the bottles at the water cooler or a hummingbird feeder. Technically speaking, the coil's efficiency is increased when the lead to the distributor/spark plug is as short as possible to reduce load losses. Some of today's car's have a coil plugged directly into the spark plug to eliminate the coil/plug wires entirely.

I have looked at the Juliano's tech section again, and I reckon the third point anchor plate welding is just for show as a mechanical attachment would work also. Welding that structural plate to sheet metal only holds the plate in place and gives the third point anchor a clean look as only the shoulder bolt passes through the sheet metal. If the anchor plate holes are tapped and round head screws are used to mechanically attach that anchor to the sheet metal, that should work just as good as the welding. Epoxy may work well, but the bonding surfaces need to be clean and preferably roughed up a bit to produce more surface area for bonding. All of the anchor plates act to spread the load over the sheet metal when loaded in compression. Since the sheet metal loading is in compression and not in tension, welding the plates to the sheet metal does not contribute to any structural strength the sheet metal has. Factory anchor plates are usually welded to sheet metal because it is a faster attachment process. But as this is an aftermarket addition to individual vehicles rather than a step in a high volume assembly line, the plates can be attached to the sheet metal by whatever means are available to the individual.

if you're taking I-10 all the way through Texas, maybe swinging off to Iraan to visit Alley Oop Fantasy Land for a photo op could break up the monotony of the whole lotta nuthin' between Fort Stockton & Junction...don't know if they're open this month tho.

hmmmmm...

back in the day, trucks were sold as bare bones as possible because they were pieces of equipment rather than commuter vehicles, most being used until their wheels fell off and then put out to pasture. If hauling livestock or grain in the bed, large side boards would be used to extend all sides of the bed, rendering a center mounted rearview mirror useless. And as a piece of equipment, these trucks mostly carried only the driver, so passenger sun visors & arm rests were omitted often. Those who remember Western Auto stores know that they sold lots of aftermarket goodies, as well as stuff for the home. So rearview mirrors could have been one of them impulse buys made just like steering wheel covers or suicide knobs or beanbag ashtrays. But whut I'd like to know is why on God's green earth did Dodge put 80mph speedometers in these low-geared low-revvin' slow-brakin' beasts...I reckon the only way these trucks would see 80mph would be after going over the edge of a very tall cliff

swap the front tires and see if the problem moves

found some pics from '96, taken after the first road test:

there is a clip on the transmission that holds the cable housing in place below the floorboards, and another clip on the firewall:

this sounds very similar to a problem I wrassled with on my '48 for years...the engine idled fine, had plenty of power (for a stock flathead), and would idle fine when pushing in the clutch to coast at highway speed, but clutching while braking would cause the engine to stall. I tried to remedy this by setting the throttle to partially open, as this seemed to help while braking by not allowing the engine speed to drop below 1500 rpm. I rebuilt the Carter B&B carb annually and set it to specs, but that didn't improve the stalling issue. After over 10 years of this nonsense, I broke down and snagged a used carb off eBay for $20, cleaned & rebuilt it, and haven't had a problem since. I still have my original carb and have yet to perform a post-mortem on that cursed thing, but I have two suspicions: there may be a crack in the casting allowing the fuel to go where it shouldn't; or more than likely, one of the passages that has the check balls has some varnish in it that I haven't been able to boil out.

the dome light installs centered over the rear window, about 3 inches above the back panel. This places the dome light in the middle of the original headliner curve, as the light attached to the original cardboard. The light was grounded by a 10 inch lead to the cab in the same line as the back panel push pins, towards the driver side. One of the small improvements I plan on doing is to mount this dome light on a sheet metal bracket rather than attach to the headliner, possibly making the bracket the ground strap. From Bunn's Restorer's & Collector's Reference, a decent photo is on p.37, another is on p.137, and a brief view can be seen on p.134 & p.143.

The problem I've had with structural butt joints is cracking beyond the weld from vibration. A small crack will propagate parallel to the weld until joint failure. Looking at the location of the welding on this frame, it may be beneficial to box the frame from near the crossmember to the leaf spring hanger, as well as grinding the butt welds flush and adding fishplates to the channel outside web & flanges that extends about 4 inches beyond the butt weld. Boxplate & fishplate thicknesses should not exceed the thickness of the channel.

use a multi-meter to check for continuity between the circuit breaker posts...probably wouldn't hurt to pry the tabs back carefully on the drawer switch and clean the contacts, then apply dielectric grease to get the switch back in working order.

here are the filler caps from the '48 & the '49...they were painted black with a small vent hole in the middle, covered with a formed baffle that doubles as the mating lock onto the filler neck. From photos I've seen in Bunn's books, this cap looks to have been used from the late '30s to the early '60s.