wallytoo

i believe that one will cover the "stock" stuff in your truck.

oh, for the oil undercoating, i apply used gear oil from my jeep differentials. i use an old wagner power painter sprayer to do it, and it works pretty well. have to fuss with the sprayer settings a bit, but i can get it to lay the oil on pretty evenly.

the large white knob looks to be in line with the switch setup at the back of the block (under the horn). could be the 2-speed, but it would sure be awkward to operate, especially for split-shifting. hi-lo shifting wouldn't be too bad. the unlabled black knob in line with the other knobs and key is the throttle set (makes running the pto easier than holding the gas pedal).

more comparison photos, from my 1350-equipped truck

a few pictures of my truck on a job late last year, and some pics of the rear springs & auxilliary springs. last pic is of the optional added sill plate (one on each side).

it has a 2-speed axle, and appears to be vacuum shift - see the last group of photos from the OP (brent), you can clearly see a vacuum shift diaphragm on the rear axle. edit: i wonder if the vacuum source/mechanism is located under the horn. i can't really see what that thing is, but i don't have one on my truck

for jeff, it does have the auxilliary rear springs.

i made a good guess on the gvw. just missed by a half-ton. the nomenclature doesn't equate to the load capacity, anyway. i wonder, with the b-3-hh pretty clear on the data plate, whether the 2-speed was added by a later owner? it doen't have the button/cable attached to the gear shift handle. or did the 2-tons and up have it located somewhere else?

wow. three batteries in the truck. one in the normal spot (under the floor), one on the firewall in the engine bay, and one behind the seat. i don't think the box is "too big" for a 1.5-ton. it was probably rated at 15000 or so. looks to be very similar to the size of the dump bed in mine, although the sideboards are a little higher (on brent's). and (for jeff) many of these trucks had "overload" springs as original equipment. mine does. if the truck "tares" at around 10,000 lbs, there'd still be 2.5 tons available for freight, and it would still be a 1.5-ton.

and i googled "goggled". to whit: gog·gle ˈɡäɡəl/ verb past tense: goggled; past participle: goggled look with wide open eyes, typically in amazement or wonder. "“What in the world are you goggling at ?”" (of the eyes) protrude or open wide. i suppose one could goggle the tatian massauge?

the number on the firewall is a code for the color/body, iirc. not the serial. the "vin" should be on a plate along the inner door post, between the hinges, most often on the driver's side.

most automotive coils, for 1940 through the 1980s, are 6v. The "12v" coil is a 6v coil with a ballast resistor. I'm using the "6v" coil in my 12v converted truck, along with an external ballast resistor. works fine, and has for several years. also need a voltage reducer for the wipers, if they are electric, otherwise the solder will melt.

stuff from earlier in the year. a 30" diameter white birch snag remains of a sap house that burned in the 50s. slab pile from logging in the 50s beech tree with bear claw markings

updating an old post with more stuff that i find in the woods over the last year: ok, i didn't find it, it's on a job i'm supervising. so are the next few.

i've got pics of my truck in the snow from many years. here're some from today from a job i'm supervising next to my house. you've got to look closely in the two pictures - the log truck dwarfs my b-1-f. i picked up a partial load of hardwood chunks for burning next year. wally

or, indeed, your patience.

jeff, the interior looks outstanding. very impressive. wally

i considered fire trucks. however, a twin-screw would have been an extremely rare firetruck, no? also, with the black headlight doors, i was thinking that the truck was for more commercial service, rather than the more typical plentiful chrome/stainless accoutrements common to firetrucks. no biggie either way. perhaps it was destined for a firehouse somewhere.

i picked up a shop manual "supplement" for B-1 series dodge trucks (six wheel B-1-VX). in it is shown a picture of the six wheel truck (what in modern parlance would be called a 10-wheeler) that has chrome grille bars with black headlight doors. from my recollection of bunn's B-series book, the large trucks didn't have chrome bars (and mine doesn't), yet the pic in the manual shows (i assume) a factory large truck with chrome bars. the supplement describes the operation of tandem axles and the torque divider in the b-1-vx. sort of interesting, but likely not of much use to me.

i don't have one, and i'm not tall - 5-6 - but i'd hate to try to drive mine with a visor. it's hard enough to see the few traffic lights i run into out here without something blocking my view even more. and my truck's higher than yours, so i don't have to look up as far to see the lights.

i'll echo what mike and bob stated. my F (an FA, actually) has the remote booster w/remote cylinder. i can easily lock all six tires up when i get on it. i've put over 4 tons of wood on it, and i could still lock up the wheels. if yours has the vacuum booster brake system, you won't need disc brakes. i do tend to load mine up - often enough and heavy enough - to know that the brakes work pretty well. wally

nice looking panel. appears to be in very decent shape. that would be a fun truck to get on the road. i'm in west-cental nh. i've had very good luck getting parts from roberts, even for my slightly larger truck. wally

there is nothing unusual about the lock ring on the sending unit. pretty standard for vehicles from the 70s back. you won't even need two screwdrivers to remove it. one is sufficient. gently tap the end of the driver with a hammer and the ring will turn. i replaced my sending unit with one from a mid-70s jeep wagoneer, with pretty easy modifications. the writeup is on a thread here somewhere. cost was around $35, instead of the typical $90 to $150 for the "real" sending unit, and the one i installed has been working flawlessly for a few years now. also, the brake parts are readily available for your truck. when adjusted correctly, they will stop your truck just fine. my truck is a 1.5-ton, and it has 4 wheel drums, just like the smaller trucks. i can lock all six wheels (duals in the back) by getting on the brake pedal. wally

merle, one thought about the valves. after the long run, when you get back and park it, do you let it idle for a period to cool off, or just shut it down? maybe next time you use it that way, do the opposite, and see if that makes any difference.

the mystery is why does whatever is happening to merle's engine happen after a long run, yet does not happen after repeated short runs? and why does it go away after the long run by doing nothing other than eventually getting it to start and run for a short time? if oil fouled, the plugs don't get better by themselves. if fuel fouled, why does the long run make it worse than the short run?