Charles Furman

Use a pair of needle nosed pliers for the cable bezels. Point the pliers staight at the dash and put the needles into the notches on the bezel on opposing sides of the cable, then pivot the pliers counterclock wise. Using two screw drivers, put a screw driver head under opposite sides of the wiper knob and pry it up gently. Good luck, Charles

I just received a Christmas package from the DPETCA. What a great surprize and what a great club. The package included three great presents. A special thanks to Bob Koch for taking the DPETCA to a new level. Also, I want to thank Gerald Koldjeski (GTK) for the Pilothouse forum that we now have on CD. You guys really make a profound difference in many lives. Thanks, Charles

Here is a picture of a Model 802 radio with the correct bracket for a pilothouse truck application. The "L" bracket you have fits the automobile applications. I hope this helps. Charles

What cleaning liquid do you guys use to clean dirty, greasy parts? I have tried all kinds of stuff, but haven't found anything that is economical, safe, and practical for home shop use. Help!!!!!

Mine do not have any external reservior or tank. It works fine and feels almost like a modern break pedal. Very solid. I got mine from a guy in Alpine, CA near San Diego. He rebuilds these things for a living. His name is Dale McCrae. He finds old cores from various sources and rebuilts them. He doesn't always have them in stock, they kind of come and go. I was really lucky, he had two when I was looking. Here is his info: San Diego Power Brake Dale McCrae 2710 Eltinge Drive Alpine, CA 91901 619-857-5878

Only requires a brake line in and a brake line out, plus a vacuum line. Could mount anywhere, but it is best to keep it reasonably close to the master cylinder. I mounted this one on the inside fender well because all the 4x4 junk and the gas tank location made it hard to fit it underneath. I do plan to put one on my two wheel drive pilothouse woodie and that one will go underneath.

Reg, Ever considered keeping the wheels body color and going to blackwalls for contrast? Charles

TonyB, Looks like a very similar unit. I suspect that the one I have is a bit smaller. It was designed for 1/2 to 1 ton trucks, where I think the one you show was on a 1 1/2 ton or bigger. Correct me if I am wrong. Rich, Thanks for the heads up about the fluid levels. Hopefully, since this unit was just rebuilt and I don't use the truck commercially, I won't have any trouble for a long time.

I just added a Bendix Hydro-vac unit to my 1948 Dodge B1 4x4 woodie. What a difference it makes in stopping power. The unit is a rebuilt 1940-50's vintage. It is installed in the brake line between the master cylinder and the wheel cylinders and has a vacuum hose that runs to the engine. Here are some pictures.

What have you found to be the best source for good quality rebuild kits for Pilothouse one-barrel Carbs? Thanks, Charles

I have purchased three from California Car Covers (www.calcarcover.com). They are great and I have had no scratch problems. Their catalogue explains all the choices available in car covers.

Great job. Very professional looking.

I appreciate the thorough and quick responses.

Can anyone direct me to information about setting up a remote master cylinder reservoir on the firewall or somewhere more accessible?

Don, I have the Garmin Sea/Land version which I can take between my car and boat. Unfortunately, it is a 12 volt system, so I can't use it in my old 6 volt Dodges. Charles

Have any of you ever seen one of these? This was an option on my 1948 Dodge B1B108 4x4 Woodie. It is a Skid Master - Sander. There is an activating level on the steering column and two barckets mounted on the insider rear fender wells. The brakets hold a cannister full of traction sand. There is a tube that runs from the sander bracket through the floor right in front of each rear wheels. When the lever on the steering column is actived, the sand from the sand cannister is released onto the ground in front of the rear wheels. Here are a couple of pictures I took while I had the seats out being reupholstered:

Eric, I checked the numbers on the rims of my 1948 Pilothouse 4x4 as you suggested. There were three (3) that had 40 stamped on them and two (2) that had 41 stamped on them. I haven't checked the frame number yet because it is covered by a bunch of undercoating or years of road grime. I'll clean the area and see what I can find. Based on the rim numbers, it would suggest that the running gear is probably war surplus. Since it was delivered to the original owner in brand new condition, I am sure the running gear was unused. What is your opinion? Charles

Tony, My 1948 Dodge Pilothouse Woodie 4x4 was purchased that way by the original owner, it has been as it is since new. The 4x4 conversion was done by a company called Murty in Portland, Oregon before it was delivered to the original owner. The guy I bought it from, who bought it from his neighbor in 1962, said it was 3/4 ton 4x4 running gear and I got a military 4x4 manual with the truck. I have not compared the frame on my 4x4 woodie to my 49 B1B 2 wheel drive woodie. The running gear looks like 1948 Dodge Military 4x4 stuff, which I believe is the same as the 3/4 ton Power wagon 4x4 stuff. I just haven't had it long enough to do much research. When I do I'll let you know. Charles

The yellow one is a 1949 B1B108 owned by Tom Parsons. It has a brand new hemi motor in it. It's a real rocket ship. The green one is a 1950 B2B108 owned by Brad Anderson (formerly owned by surf legend, Dewey Weber). It is restored stock. The red one is a 1949 B1B126 owned by George Narancic. It used to be a fire truck command car. It is now restored stock and painted green. The burgundy/redish one is a 1949 B1B108 owned by Kathy Reinhard. Her dad restored it. It has a mild v8 motor in it. The one that appears black was actually green in that picture and it is my 1949 B1B108 woodie that is now being restored stock. It is now red. All five of these Pilothouse woodies are here in California. The first, second, and fifth woodies in your post were the three woodies that led the parade of woodies on the cruise 20 miles down the Pacific Coast Highway at the conclusion of this year's 27th Annual Wavecrest Woodie Meet. We got the honor because I am this year's President of San Diego Woodies, the sponsoring club. It was really cool.

Ken, It is hard come up with a number of Pilothouse woodies made, but I believe that there were quite a few because they were used commercially by hotels, resorts, schools, etc., like vans aqnd SUV's are used today. Since they were mostly commercial vehicles, they were rarely cared for the way a private car would be which I think accounts for why there are so few left. As far as 4x4 B-Series Pilothouse woodies are concerned, mine is the only one I have ever heard of. I also know of three other woodies that were built in this era on Powerwagon chassis. All 4x4 Dodge Woodies made in the late 40's and early 50's were custom ordered one-off vehicles, and they are extremely rare. The 1950 Dodge Powerwagon Woodie owned by George Wellman was originally built as a retirement gift for a lumber company executive in Wisconsin, Minnesota, or somewhere up there. You can read about it on the web, just search Google. My 1948 Dodge B1B108 Pilothouse 4x4 Woodie was ordered that way in 1948 by a lady who owned a ranch in Dallas, Oregon to use to drive from the ranch to town in rough conditions. I think she had it built on the B1 chassis rather than the Powerwagon chassis because the B1 looked a little more civilized. I know where two other Powerwagon woodies are, but don't know much about their history. Email me your list of of Dodge truck woodies and I will add the ones I know of to it and return it to you. Charles

Here are my 1949 Dodge Woodie (red) being restored, my 1950 Desoto Sampan Taxi from Hilo, Hawaii (red) to be restored, and my 1948 Dodge 4x4 Woodie (blue) with 36,000 orig. miles will remain original.