bkahler

Dang, I thought I had a factory drilled Divider bar for the mirror but it turns out someone just drilled a hole where they wanted a mirror. I don't think it worked for them as the mirror wasn't in the truck when I bought it. Anyone have a factory divider bar that has the correct mirror mounting hole they don't need? If so shoot me an email and let me know what you want for it. Brad.Kahler@141.com. Thanks! Brad 1951 B3B Richmond, KY

If a B3B front bumper will fit I've got a relatively straight one available, has a slight twist to it but in overall nice condition. Not sure how to go about checking to see if it would fit. Brad

Interesting bumper. I purchased my 51 B3B-108 in Ketchum ID back in 1996. It had a bumper that looked a great deal if not exactly like the one you have on your truck. I'll have to dig through all of my old pictures to see if I have one of the rear of the truck before I removed it. Definitely keep us up to date on your truck. This is a great forum and a source of great information. Brad

Dang, hadn't realized that my profile wasn't updated. We now live in Richmond Kentucky. Jefferson Arkansas is about 25 miles south of Little Rock on I-530 or half way between Little Rock and Pine Bluff. No way could I get away with straight pipes where we live Might try it once just to see what it sounds like though Brad

Wow, you noticed that I had left the heat riser functional! The manifold was split by someone in Kansas. I think he is out of business now but he did a pretty decent job. The only thing I wished he had done different was change the angle slightly on the front exhaust dump. Fortunately I'll still be able to work with it. Brad

Believe it or not the truck came with a lot of the options listed in Bunn's book with the exception of the ashtray and the air ride seat. It came with the cigarette lighter, vent windows, dome light, high bed sides, fresh air kit, front bumper over riders, 4-speed transmission with synchros, 11" clutch and rear overload springs in back. I don't remember if the wider 16" wheels where an option or standard at that time but it has the 4.5" wheels. In addition to those I've sourced an NOS front bumper, complete rear bumper & brackets, air ride seat, fog lights with NOS brackets and an NOS antenna kit. Unfortunately I have not located that mythical 610 radio. I did see a 610 on eBay a few years back and missed out because I was traveling at the time . I cried myself to sleep that night . Brad

Sad part is this is pretty much how the truck looked in the winter of 2000/2001. Since then life has gotten in the way along with moves from Texas to Arkansas to Kentucky. Well, the moving is now over and I'm itchin to get it running. Even better, one of the guys I work with is an excellent body man and is going to help assemble and align all of the sheet metal. I can't wait .

I took these pictures of my 51 B3B just after rolling it off the trailer after moving it from Arkansas to Kentucky back in the summer of 09. Now that my move is over I've been sorting through all the boxes trying to find everything so I can start assembling it. With any luck at all I might just have it mostly assembled by late next year. We'll see...

Another tidbit of information regarding the two numbers 1097255 and 1280002. I have the dodge job rated trucks B-Series 1948-1951 (covers B1, B2 & B3) issued June 1951 parts list and the 1280002 does not show up in the parts catalog at all. The 1097255 is listed as a hood ornament but only for the B1 and B2 trucks. I'm wondering if potential buyers might not have complained about no ornament on the new trucks so Dodge came out with the same one and assigned it a new number because they already had parts manuals out there with no hood ornament listed. Just speculation on m part. Brad

Just to add fuel to the fire I have the Dodge Job Rated parts book that covers 48-53 trucks (including route vans) and on page 1-20 for Hood ornament it lists the part for all trucks models B thru Y as 1280002. Issue date for this book is January 1953 and it supersedes the Dec 31 1952 book. Unfortunately it doesn't show a picture Brad

Several years ago there was an auction on ebay for one of the 1280002 ornaments. The seller verified the part number with a picture. Unfortunately I forgot to bid It looked like the 48-50 hood ornaments. I never did find out what the differences were between the 1280002 and the 1097255 ornament. Visually they seem to be identical. Brad 1951 B3B

I have one of the hammer type cable crimpers and it works fine. Beats spending big bucks for the hand type for the larger wire sizes. Brad 1951 B3B

My 51 B3B has an 11" clutch disc from the factory. Vintage Power Wagons in Iowa was able to supply a replacement. Brad

This was about 12 years ago and I believe it cost me $225. I took them the third member and all they really did was dismantle, clean it, replace bearings and reassemble. I probably didn't need to to do anything to it but at the time I was thoughts were to have everything on the truck gone through which I did. Probably a waste of money on my part but at the time money wasn't an issue (I was single!). Brad

Tony, You might need more or fewer shims for the rear axle bearings. The service manual describes the procedure use to determine how many shims are needed. This is something I need to do on my B3B. The axles are tight since I had the diff rebuilt. Brad

Hank, If you're referring to this website http://campkahler.com/dodge/ (originally www.141.com/dodge/) then it was probably me. I've had so little time over the course of the last 10 years to work on projects that I/we seem to have accumulated that it has been frustrating. Things are finally looking up however and I'm hoping I can finish the truck by sometime next year. I'm glad my attempts at a website gave you some inspiration. When I started my restoration there was not a lot of information available on the web (or anywhere else for that matter). I thought if I started documenting my progress it might help. I guess maybe that thought paid off!! I'm happy to hear you were able to win a trophy for your efforts and yes, I DO have a trophy wife for my efforts! http://campkahler.com/main.html I had to move my web pages to a new domain and am still in the process of getting all of the new links worked out. Just need time....... Brad

Hank, I won't swear to it but I think back in the 30s 40s & 50s there were after market companies that made leather cases for the leaf springs. I know for my Triumph sports cars there were companies like that in England. As far as when my truck gets back on the road, that is a tough question. I started the restoration in 1997 and made good progress until 1999 when I ended up going back to work overseas. I then got married in 2000 and have moved a total of 3 times since. The rolling chassis is done, all the body parts are painted and ready to reassemble but I just haven't had time to work on it. We just finished our last move in October and I am really hoping to start assembling things this summer. Here are a few pictures to show the current state of the project. The first picture is showing it loaded on the trailer for the move from Arkansas to Kentucky. Brad

Hank, One thing that makes a huge difference in ride is the condition of the leaf springs. If they are rusty with lots of grit in between they don't slide very well or at all. On my truck I took the springs off, dismantled them, sand blasted them and then painted them with Bill Hirsch's Miracle paint. After looking at the modern leaf spring suspension on my F150 I noticed that there were plastic inserts on the ends of some of the leaf springs. I then went to a local machine shop and bought some of the inserts, drilled holes in the ends of my leaf springs (ruined a lot of drill bits in the process!) and inserted the plastic inserts. The inserts promote sliding at the tips of the springs. I haven't driven the truck yet so I don't know if any of this effort was worth it. One other thing, the more expensive cars used to have leather covers that totally enclosed the springs, you then greased the springs, put the leather covers on and you were supposed to have a nice smooth ride. This is something I'm also considering for my truck. Brad

My wife is as into the cars & trucks as much as I am. She went so far as to arrange for us to be married at the Vintage Triumph Register convention in 2002 on the show field during the Concours. Unbeknownst to me they actually paused judging so people could attend the ceremony. My wife's other hobby is road racing. Here is a picture of her on the false grid waiting for the race to start. So yeah I'd have to say she is supportive Brad

You and about 100 other B3B owners.......

Ed, I based my statement from what I remember reading from Bunn's book. Of course that was over 10 years ago and my memory isn't what it used to be! Brad

Hank, I've never been able to find an original sized oil filler cap. All of the aftermarket/repros that I've found are smaller in diameter. Better than nothing but it would be nice to have a larger one like the factory used. I've seen that picture here on the forum at some point. Brad

Hank, 1951 was the first year the factory had 3:73 gears in the pilot house trucks as an option. Fortunately my 51 B3B came with the 3:73 gears and I've got 16" wheels also. Now if I could just finish the truck and get it on the road I'd be happy! Brad

Go to http://ytmag.com and check out their hauling schedule section. I've had things hauled by people for me and I've hauled for people all using this forum. Great way to help other people and yourself out! Brad

Interesting that you have cutouts on the side of the seat pedestal platform. When I got my 51 B3B back in 1996 some PO had made the same modification to my truck. I'm assuming people do it to access the otherwise unusable storage space under the seat. I went ahead and had mine re-installed using the sheet metal from a parts truck. Brad