Ruderhaus

Did you give the truck a name yet? That's important. ?

The 31 got so many waves and thumbs up, even from HWY patrol, so I beeped the horn back at people and then I realized TANK never got a horn. So, out to the 49 parts truck I went. Pulled the rusty horn. Cleaned it up and installed it. Works great. Also poached the heater a few years back from the 49 and got it going too. I ended up installing a 12v to 6V power supply to run the fan motor and not burn it up. At some point I also needed the starter out of the 49. I still go back to the B2B. Parts trucks ROCK. All Merle's fault. When I brought the 49 home I was asked "what are you gonna do with that." I joked and said its gonna be yard art. She said, "Hmmmm... OK, his name is ART."

Wew... Where did the time go. Well, I'm back. The 1950 B2C is finished and regularly commuting to the shop during the summer. I ended up going with a fautina paint job. Things kind of got a little crazy at the end of 2015 with the loss of my wife due to a heart attack. We were together for 25 years and it took a bit to regroup my mojo. The B2C is a very dependable daily summer driver and regularly attracts people off of HWY 12, and in to my shop, just to talk about the truck. I did so much work to it and I completely lost momentum updating this forum so if you got questions, just ask. BTW, the wife named him TANK and it stuck. In April of this year, I fell head over heels for another car. It's a 1931 Desoto SA. We all know a man can love more than one car. I feel like the 50 Dodge was a flathead gateway drug. Now I'm addicted. The DeSoto was restored back in the 90's and last year it's owner faced his own impending mortality and had to sell it. I am the current steward of this beautiful machine. It's pretty much all original, with a few upgrades. For example, the drive shaft seems to have been fitted with modern u-joints. I pulled the generator off and installed a 6V alternator. The PO also retrofitted a turn signal system and modernized the brake/running lights. I'm going through the brake system now and replacing any components as needed like the brake master cylinder and brake line hoses. The wheel cylinders don't leak but they may get replaced just to be done with em. I've been taking short trips to work out the bugs. I've had to send the water pump off to the Flying Dutchman in OR to have it rebuilt and now it's working as designed. Oil was disappearing. No fouled plugs. It was getting sucked out the exhaust valves. I believe the oil pressure was running way to high so I adjusted the bypass down. Now it does not lose oil. I'm gonna guess it was blasting so much inside the crank case it was just too much splash on the valve stems. 28 PSI at idle after a long drive vs 60 PSI. I'm approaching 1000 miles in trips and no major issues. It's a great car to drive around during the corona bologna. Nobody is on the roads. His name is Mr D. Hope Merle and everybody is still breathing.

Hmmm.. I'm experiencing the same exact problem. It started a week ago. Replaced the sending unit. Still pegs the gauge to full. Everything has been working for a few years. The sending unit is working fine when tested with an ohm meter. I read 26 ohms across the gauge when isolated.

I ended up purchasing the bed wood from MAR-K. The inside boards are 7 1/2" wide. Outside boards are 10 1/2" wide. I'm sealing the wood with tung oil.

Uggh! California traffic. I feel pretty lucky my rural maiden voyage will only be 1.5 miles to town. You got me thinking my list may be short too. I restored a 66 Mercedes and Atlanta traffic was merciless too. I completely understand.

YEP!!! 10 5/8" on the outside boards sounds right, and I too will be gluing a couple 8" wide boards together before I have George mill them down to the 10 5/8" wide dims. Thanks for the info and I will post the AS-BUILT dimensions that I use when the project is complete.

I am to the point where I can make the bed wood for TANK. (3/4 ton 1950 b2c) Does anybody know how wide the outside boards need to be? I am getting some local maple that was milled and dried from a few trees that had to be cut down in town. it looks like the outside boards are going to be close to 11", and the four inside boards are in the 7 3/4" to 7 7/8" range, and the overall length is 7'-6". I have looked on the pilothouse site and only find info on the 1/2 ton trucks.

I just got back last night from Lopez Island, WA. Hauled a 1949 b1b back home for a parts vehicle. Got it for $200. It's all Merle's fault. I got to thinking about it when he mentioned purchasing a parts vehicle.

OK, I uploaded more pics of the work we've done, and the shop tools, and what the engine compartment looks like with new master cyl. for clutch and brakes, and the remote oil filter, and the new floor pan, and the repair we did on the rear frame (I called it hip replacement surgery), and the rear skirt body work, and new rocker panels, and and and.............. I got to tell y'all, I am really excited about this flathead 6 motor too. I originally thought it would be shot, but the more I run it, the smoother it sounds. I was gonna drop something modern it the truck, but not now. The oil pan was not that dirty. maybe a 1/4 inch of black goo at the low part of the pan. Cam lobes looked good too. Good oil pressure. No oil in the radiator.

Yep. On HWY 12. On the Cowlitz River. Near Mt Rainier. Gateway to White Pass and the ski resort with the same name. I own the Sports Hut in Packwood. Bought the store three years ago and moved up here from Portland.

Wow! It's TANK. Only all shiny and new looking.

Nope. Not yet. Maybe next year. Where is the BBQ held at?

I wanted an antique vehicle to tinker with, and to use as a daily driver for the short 2 mi round trip from the house to the shop. I was looking for something unique that would also serve as an eye catcher when people drove by my store. One day a customer of mine mentioned he had an old Dodge sitting in his yard for the last 20 years that he was not going to do anything with, and would sell it to me. One look at this vehicle and I fell in love. I could see the potential. Yep, he was in bad shape but I didn’t see all that. I had a vision. My wife calls the truck TANK, because of the green color, and his size. She names all our vehicles. TANK is a 1950 B2C. My friend offered to store the vehicle at his property until we finished building our new house and my garage. The next day the truck was in his garage, on jacks, with the butterfly hood removed, and when I walked in his shop Al had the engine turned over and running on three cylinders. My suggestion: If you want to restore an old vehicle, get about two or three retired guys involved: One with a machine shop, one with a garage, and one that was a farmer. These guys got nothing to do, and lots of knowledge. Long story short: here is what we’ve done so far. We pulled the head and had it milled. While it was off we then pushed on the valves as we cranked the motor until they quit sticking. Al helped me rebuild the carburetor, and do a full tune up. I purchased a kit from AAJ Brakes and modernized the stopping system: modern disks, calipers, piping, master cyl. Swing pedal, and while we were at it put in a hydraulic slave cyl., and clutch swing petal. Roger, the owner of AAJ lives in Portland, so I was able to drive down to his shop and meet with him. He really hooked me up with his break kit. He was very helpful and fun to talk with about our love for old vehicles. Most of his kits are for cars, and this was a unique application for a ¾ ton. In the end I had to get 5 on 5 lug pattern rims from a 70’s GMC truck so the rotors fit inside the rim. George had to drill the rear rotors to fit the 5 on 5 lug pattern. George also fabricated a new floorboard and battery well too, and patched rust holes in the cab body, replaced the front cab mounts and surrounding rusted floor, and took dents out of the roof, and fixed the frame where the rear cross member was rusted out, and replaced the rear shock mounts, and built me a custom gas tank to replace the Swiss cheese original, and installed a one wire alternator and custom bracket (George can make anything in his shop), and repaired the bottom of the rusted doors, and the back of the cab, and replaced the king pins in the front end, and installed the electric fuel pump he talked me in to buying. Over the summer I got a crash course in body work, and learned how to weld and grind and weld and grind, and grind, and grind. Oh yea, and sand and sand. At the end of the summer, 6 months after first arriving at Al’s place, TANK drove on his own power, up to my new garage from George’s shop in town. I now know a little more about a Bridgeport mills, and hydraulic presses, and all kinds of sheet metal bending, shearing, stamping, snipping, and welding, and the plasma cutter Oh boy, and rebuilding a carb., and flat head motors, etc….. George is a capitalist. At first, I paid him for his time, but after a while, I think he got more value out of me learning and him instructing, and he finally gave me the keys to his shop so I could work on the truck when he was gone. TANK now sits in my new garage. I rewired the alternator harness, amp gauge, ignition switch, and battery charging system for 12v. I have all the gauges working properly too, and a remote filter system installed, and I removed the oil pan and cleaned out the gunk, and painted the pan hot rod orange, and this week I am replacing the leaking water pump. I’m sure I missed things I fixed. Oh yea, repaired the choke and idle cables, and persuaded the emergency brake to work with a little WD-40 on the cable. I’m working my way towards the back. I am going to replace the fluids in the transmission and rear end next. Final stage is to reassemble the bed and paint the truck. I want it to be on the road by the end of this summer. So that is about it. I am infinitely grateful for the Pilothouse forum and after discovering the site, and observing that it looks like a great bunch of people, I decided to join, and maybe add to the knowledge base. Oh yea, Ruderhaus is German for Pilothouse.