moparmonkey

All the money in the world can't buy you taste. Sad. Starting price is insane. Don't care how much work is in it, its just a chopped up Dodge truck.Good luck finding someone that wants that mint green monstrosity. Then again, the fact that someone wanted to pay $5,900 for that Vette says maybe someone will want it. The 400/727 is probably the only thing worthwhile out of the whole gig.

Apparently the new owner thinks its worth a bit more than $15k? Not sure it'll be easy to get a lot more than that...

Here's a link. Being sold by a museum in PA. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1948-Dodge-Tow-Truck-Wrecker-Complete-Project-Truck-/110622833773?pt=Commercial_Trucks&hash=item19c1a27c6d

Not sure if its original to that truck or not, but having the fenders painted body color was an option from the factory. Originally $5, went up to $6.44 in 52-53. Yeah I think its that candy/metallic at work there. It's amazing how much the color can change on those just with the lighting/angle. I'd still bet money that outside in full light the doors will look to be a different color, this picture is inside with a flash, a little more forgiving.

16" rims were the standard size for most of these trucks. That's what mine has....

The yellow one below is a match to the ones on my '53 B4B. I believe a B2C should have been the same, but I could be wrong.

Sounds like a good find! As far as doing the Volare style front end swap, I'll make this comment. I clipped one of my B4B's with a '66 Fury. Not exactly how it was demonstrated in the article, I actually used the frame rails from the Fury too. At any rate, there's a lot of frame fabrication involved, and you only end up with a modernized front end. On the other hand, you could also use a late '80's or early 90's Dakota frame. Bud may chime in on which one fits best, but I there's at least one model that fits pretty well with the wheelbase of the B series trucks. These trucks are pretty easy to find, and fairly inexpensive. Now, you still have to fabricate body mounts, but you get the entire package. All of the suspension and steering is there, and you don't have to worry about piecing anything together. Plus, you have a truck frame, so its capabilities and load capacities are well known. I'm not saying that the Volare front end isn't a good way to go, both approaches have advantages and disadvantages. But the complete frame swap seems like a pretty good way to get things done to me.

Second brake light was optional on these trucks! Some of them must have had one. Standard was only one though. Definitely right about the Hemi, they're pricey no matter which route you go. Rebuilding one is a hefty chunk of change. Finding an original that runs well is a challenge, and isn't cheap either. And, the problem with a factory build is that some of the early hemi's weren't super impressive from the factory, a lot of them had 7:1 compression ratio's (not the 392's though, those were later). A 318 would fit better, and have the added bonus of being able to buy parts from the local parts house. A big plus if you want to drive it a decent amount, or travel any distance from home.

No sources for reproduction gauges, you can have the originals restored. I haven't gotten that far though, so maybe someone that has had it done can chime in. There are no kits to convert over to the Deluxe cab window set up. You'll have to find a donor cab and do the welding, or swap cabs. The 392 will fit. It is the same block with a slightly taller deck than the 354 hemi, Dan Babb installed a 354 in his truck... Vintage Power Wagons sells electric windshield wiper motors, I think they're generic though so you can probably find them cheaper elsewhere... There are actually a couple sets of running boards on eBay right now for pretty reasonable prices. Horkey's sells tailgates. Floor pieces will probably have to be made or donor's found. Heater depends on what you're looking for, there are modern set ups that can be purchased, or look for an old one on eBay...

If it was all hired out, you're probably right about it being sold at a loss, especially if everything was rechromed or NOS. But as anyone that's restored cars or trucks should know, just because you spent that much money doesn't mean its worth that much. It's obviously a well restored truck, but I still think that is a ton of money for that truck, especially considering the market. As far as the paint, it may not be that obvious all the time. So, the lighting may be part of why it appears so obvious in the picture. But based on what I see in the picture, the door is a different color. Here's the thing. The truck is outside and under an overhang, and you can see the single light source reflected on the hood, fender and nose (looks like the sun coming over the horizon). But it's getting lit pretty darn well, because of all the reflected light off the snow outside of the overhang (visible on the bushes behind the truck, and reflected in the paint on the side of the truck). Lighting and lens filters can change the appearance of the color, but none of those effects should make the entire door, exactly along the edges, appear to be a different color than the cab. The rear fenders are far enough away that they may appear darker because of the lighting, and part of that could be the black background of the bed playing an optical trick. But the cab is the same color both in front of and behind the door. If lighting was the cause, you would not see a shade change over the entire door that breaks exactly at the edges. I've spent quite a few years doing paint and bodywork, and have on more than one occasion tried to match a color on a repaired panel to the rest of the car. Even with the same exact can of paint, its not easy. My guess is that the doors were painted separately (and not at the same time) from the rest of the truck and then hung on the cab later. In anything other than full shade, or being parked indoors, the door will probably appear to be a different color. Most of the time it might not be obvious, but in direct light, or in high reflected light like in the picture, it'll look just like it does in the picture above. Hopefully the buyer saw the truck outside before the auction, because if it was indoors for the auction you probably couldn't tell.

$15K! Someone payed too much money for that truck. I mean, its definitely a very nice truck. But I agree with Bud, the door doesn't match the cab, looks like the fenders are a different shade as well. As far as the fenders, it could be a '52 that was sold in '53 and then titled as a '53, happened a lot with trucks back then. It has the '52 dash emblem, you can just make it out through the steering wheel. For $15k I'd want all the paint to match. It's probably all out of the same can, but sprayed on different days. It doesn't take much, if the paint wasn't stirred enough, if it was a little warmer/colder, or the gun or air compressor was set a little different, you can get enough color variation to notice when its parked in full light. It's a nice truck, and the fact that it brought that much is good for all of us. But for $15k I'd want perfect, and this truck definitely isn't.

Wow! Hadn't seen this place before. I'd seen the Mar-K site before. Lots of good stuff. Here's the actual link http://www.horkeyswoodandparts.com/ Also, I should have mentioned that for the '53's, the rear fenders are the same from 1953 all the way up to 1985, so you can probably find some steel ones pretty easily.

Yup, that'll work.

I think Dave listed all the major parts suppliers. I also have a '53 B4B 108 (actually, 2 of them). There are no reproduction body parts that I'm aware of. There are interior parts out there, as Dave mentioned there are a few interior threads on here regarding members that have restored the interiors. But the interiors are pretty spartan (these were work trucks, after all, not like today) so you may not want to restore that to original. As far as body parts, I watch eBay and craigslist, and try to keep tabs on older wrecking yards. If you need a part, it will probably have to come off of another truck.

Works for me! Looks like spring fling is the 16th and 17th. Heck, maybe by April I'll have my new B4B running...

Yeah, its an awesome book. And to think I considered paying almost $200 for it! Its really a must have if you've got a B series. And the quality of the reprint is great. Heck, I've thought about buying a spare!

Rusty Hope is a good source for the brake conversion parts. Scarebird may also have something for these trucks, at least then you could compare... http://www.scarebird.com/index.php As far as lowering, it depends on how involved you want to get and how much money you want to spend. If you have a spring shop local to you, you could have the springs de-arched a little. That would be the proper way to do it. Depending on your hauling requirements, you can also take a leaf out of the springs. Keep in mind though that this will also make your spring rate softer, so it will change the ride of the truck. Now, that may not be a bad thing, after all, these trucks were sprung like TRUCKS, and ride fairly stiff. But you won't be able to haul as much if you do this. This is the "cheap and easy" way to do it. You could also flip the spring mounts on the rear axle to put the axle above the rear springs instead of below it. This will require welding though. If you're doing an engine swap though, you may want to look into swapping out the rear end too. An 8 3/4, or a rear end out of a Dakota or Jeep Cherokee, would not only give you more modern rear brakes, but both types are also axle above spring set ups, so they could be lowered with lowering blocks (unlike the stock set up, which would be lifted using the same blocks). This will require a little fab work though, since the later rear ends use wider springs, and you'd probably have to move the perches anyway. As far as the front, there are folks out there that can add drop to solid front axles. But this would require sending out the front axle, or having someone locally to do it. Although I haven't personally done business with him yet, Sid here is pretty highly recommended over on the HAMB forums. http://www.droppedaxles.com/index.html Depending on what your plans are, you might also consider swapping a later model solid axle into your truck. Dodge's, Ford's and Chevy's ran solid front axles on their trucks well into the 80's. The trick here would be finding a solid axle with dimensions that are close to the B-series. This might require some research and a little fabrication, but the other advantage would be later model brakes. All of the Big 3 started running disk brakes in the early to mid 70's on their trucks, if you could find a 70's vintage front axle with "close enough" dimensions you could get the whole package out of a wrecking yard fairly cheap. Keep in mind that as long as the track width is within a few inches, you may be able to "fix" the wheel locations by changing the backspacing on the rims, so it doesn't have to be perfect, just close. As far as another engine, I would keep it all Mopar. Yes, I'm a Mopar guy. But realistically, the fab work to put a small block mopar in a Pilothouse truck is no different than the fab work to put a small block Ford or Chevy in it. All of them will require new mounts. Dimensionally there may be advantages to one or another, but I suspect on the whole it would be a wash. Also, check out Dan Babb's hemi conversion. http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=20635 The mounts, which he got from a member here, will bolt up to a small block mopar. They will be a little narrower (because the small block mopar is almost exactly an inch narrower than a 354 hemi), but that's pretty darn close to being able to buy a set of mounts and bolt a small block right into the truck. Contact Dan or Gary (Wayfarer) for info on the mounts.

That is an awesome truck! As far as being titled as a '51, it happened a lot to the trucks from this era. A lot of them were titled as the year they were sold, and not by the model year. In the case of the woody, my guess would be that it was probably purchased by the coach builder, and then built up as a woody. Since that process might take some time, the truck was probably bought in '50, then sold sometime in '51, and titled as a '51. You could probably verify this by checking the ID # on the door and comparing it to the model year numbers. If you put the ID number in this decoder, it should tell you the model year of the truck... http://www.t137.com/registry/help/decode.php

In '51 the "job rated" section was a cast aluminum piece that was chromed. Because of the Korean war effort, chrome was restricted and before the '52 models came out the "job rated" section became a stamped steel piece that was painted an argent (silver) color. In '53 the vertical grooves were pinstriped with a red color, before that it should just be the "job rated" lettering. Probably sounds like I'm selling these things, but that B-series trucks reference guide has all of this info. Pretty interesting reading, I guess I'm a bit of a history geek.

Both. I looked it up in B series reference guide. The grille was redesigned, and the front grille panel changed as well. In addition to the cosmetic changes, the way the hood fits with the front grille panel was also changed, so the hood changed too. The front grille panels will bolt onto any year truck, '48 to '53 (fenders are the same!). But a '48-'50 hood will need a '48-'50 front grille panel, and a '51-'53 hood will need a '51-'53 front panel. A '51 hood will not fit a '48 front panel.

The fenders are interchangeable, no problems. I believe they were identical from '48 to '53. The hood was redesigned in '51, I'm not sure you'd be able to use the '51 hood without using the '51 nose section as well.

Go here for info on the book and the link to order one. http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=23612

Nice find! If I was closer to Minnesota, I'd have to go look at it. Not that I don't already have too many projects, and not enough space or time. Good looking truck for sure.

Looks like fun! I'm close enough to make a run to Clements. Not sure I'll have a Pilot House to drive by then, depending on the date, but I should be able to bring my '72 Challenger if nothing else.

Welcome Don! A '53 Fargo eh? Very cool. I like '53's. Probably why I have 2, but mine are Dodge's being in California. According to my B4 shop manual the torque on the "rear axle drive gear bolt/nut" should be 35-40 ft lbs. From the picture that's the bolt/nut that holds the ring gear to the case, and has those locking tabs. I've never had one of the stock rears apart, so hopefully that's right. If you don't have a manual, you can download most of one here http://www.dodgepilothouseclub.org/know/B4_manual/manual.htm And there's all kinds of manuals, parts catalogs, and brochures here as well http://www.dodgepilothouseclub.org/know/know.htm Hope this helps!