jnicho

Our new '49 B1B was trailered over from St Louis last weekend. It's been so cold I didn't want to venture out too far in a 64 year old truck that I'm unsure of it's reliabilty. Tonight we decided to take her to the next town away (about a 10mile trip each way) for some dinner. She started up in the 28 degree weather with just a little choke and purred like a kitten. All in all drove pretty well. Steering is pretty loose and will need looking into and the brakes need to be pumped each time to have full pedal and also pull to the left so they will need some attention right away. Shifting of the old 4speed actually went well and I'm quickly finding the RPM ranges for mostly grindless double clutched shifts. Downshifts are not so clean however. Any pointers on downshifts from 4 to 3 or even 3 to 2 with out just forcing and grinding? I don't downshift unless I have to, but sometimes slowing traffic or other driving conditions necesitates a downshift. After really looking the old gal over I've decided this is not a restored truck afterall, but rather an original that has had bits and pieces restored here and there. I'm sure the engine has been rebuilt at some point and the exterior has obvioulsy had new paint in the last 10 years...and of course the bed floor has been redone, but otherwise I beilve much of the rest of the truck is original. At any rate we are already enjoying her, and looking forward to bringing her back to her full glory.

Thanks for the warm welcome guys. Nice to see there are so many of you for me to ask questions of on this truck, LOL! Stephenson's is gone! They bulldozed it last year and put in a shiny new QuikTrip gas plaza. I guess you know the KC area, huh? I wasn't really thinking about a brake upgrade just reworking the existing drums...should I consider discs on the front? My fiancee wants to be able to drive it and has trouble with the double clutch grind and shift... would a rebuild fix that, or is T5 or similar upgrade a better idea. I was thinking an upgraded tranny and better gearing in the rear-end would make it a lot easier to drive and make it more highway friendly. BTW...it currently has the stock 4spd. I don't know a lot of history on the truck. I'm guessing the resto is about 10years old. It was a 50/50 resto. Appears to be the original drive-train although I expect the engine has been rebuilt. Interior is all original still except the floor liner. Door cards, headliner and seat will need some work. I will also probably pull the gauges and knobs and spruce them up a little. Oh I know what you mean...these projects never end...that's half the fun. Is your front suspension modded. looks like it sits a little lower on the front end. What color is that? Looks to be the same color. The original color on mine looks to be more of a JD green, but the repaint looks like it might be the same color.

Hi guys, Picked up a '49 B1B on Saturday. Overall in great shape...I will make a few cosmetic changes to suit me, but will be keeping with the "stock" look for the most part. I will be needing some advise on a few things, as the brakes, stearing and tranny could use some attention. Interior is all original and needs some TLC, but it appears everything (even the wipers) works except the fuel gauge. I think I may look at swapping the rear end out for something with a ratio more suited to driving around town since the current setup tops out around 45-50mph. Looking forward to giving this old truck some love and making it a fun vehicle to run around town in.