JBNeal

Base coat - clear coat might be the shiny modern automotive finish, but I'm under the impression that back when new, these buggies just had a gloss coat of something like lacquer applied. The clear coat gives a deep luster that protects the base coat, but the simpler gloss coat finish can be maintained.

On the B-1, B-3, and B-4 cabs by the house, they all had a knockout plate like on a breaker box. I crawled under the trucks, and maybe the aux.tank was located closer to the rear as there is that crossmember in the vicinity. I don't believe that knockout plate is for the hand brake, as that is more accessible from underneath. I reckon that knockout plate is for optional equipment that is not used on the smaller trucks, so Brent has a good suggestion: patch it, cover it with a floormat and roll on

Can't say for certain, but the parts manual mentions an auxiliary fuel tank mounted on the right side for some trucks larger than 1-ton...

additional information - another Pilot-House spotted awhile back

additional information - 1-ton rim comparison

additional information - Pilot-House spotted awhile back

VINTAGEPIC: Route Van spotted on the FB

here's a '48 B-1-D-116 without aux.springs: ...a '49 B-1-D-126 with aux.springs, bolted cast stops with rubber bumpers: ...a '50 B-2-D-116 with aux.springs with bent ends, bolted cast stops: ...a '51 B-3-D-126 with aux.springs, bolted cast stops: ...and a '51 B-3-B-108 with probably an aftermarket overload spring:

additional information - door seal remnants

VINTAGEPIC: Route Van spotted on the FB

HOLLYWOOD random TV show screen capture

I was looking around and rediscovered this little nugget...

Is it possible to switch sides on them front hoses? Maybe one is expanding and contracting a little bit.

youtube suggested this video to me several days ago...the subject looks very much like the flatbed I saw at that West TX auction ...

HOLLYWOOD random TV show screen capture

additional information - flathead volume verification

YEEOUCH them little buggers are easy to miss when light oil lubricating all of the linkages, pivots, etc...GOOD CATCH

This is the remnants of the original bed parts on the '53...the shovel strip flats are flush with the bed sill, and the boards are proud of the sill. This is the underside of that '53, with what looks like remnants of black paint. The '53 is a Spring Special, so if the bed wood was painted the color of the bed, it would not be black. I'm guessing that all boards were painted black on all sides before installation, then top coated after installation. I have only seen the spot welded angle strips on the 6 examples by the house. My guess is that beds were assembled at the factory on special tooling, then lifted and lowered into place on the assembly line. Since yours can be considered a custom installation rather than mass assembly installation, then why not slap it all together on the chassis? One thing to keep an eye on is lining up the bed side access hole to the leaf spring bushing grease zerk...the wood thickness may have something to do with getting that in the ballpark. additional information - B-1 partial bed removal

On several trucks I revived that had sat outside for years, I disassembled the rear axles to inspect the bearings and races. Each time I found rust and galling, so each axle saw a major overhaul.

additional information - B-series fuel tank installation

I had a fisheye problem when I tried to paint in the lower end of the paint manufacturer's acceptable temperature range...I changed filters but I read somewhere years ago that it could be possible that condensation was forming at the spray tip during longer sprayer passes on larger parts, and those little droplets of moisture would condense on the paint itself as the paint velocity through the tip affected the ambient air dew point at that transition from spray gun to atmosphere. The only thing that seemed to work was to keep the paint and the sprayer at room temperature, but definitely tried to paint in ambient air temps above 65°F.

HOLLYWOOD random TV show screen capture