Jocko_51_B3B

That water distribution tube is a real pain. It took me three days. Had the engine been worked on previously? Were the pistons oversize or original? Was the disc brake conversion difficult? So far I've kept mine stock mostly out of fear of messing something up.

48 Dodger, That makes two of us, but me more than you. ☹️ I've watched most, if not all, of your videos and learned a lot. Now if I can just remember all that good stuff. Maybe I better go over 'em again so I don't reinvent the wheel. Jocko

I have a used steering box and column I planned on installing in my '51. Unfortunately a PO must have taken a hammer to the threads at the end of the tube and worm assembly in an attempt (I guess) to remove the steering wheel. The end damage prevented the nut from threading onto the tube and worm assembly and I couldn't get a normal die onto the threads either. Mostly by accident while searching around on the internet for a solution, I came across a tool called a "split die" which I had never seen before. I ordered the correct size split die, put the die over the good threads below the damaged end threads, added a few drops of oil, and slowly worked the die back and forth toward the end of the threads using a socket and ratchet. The tool worked perfectly. Maybe this will help someone who has to restore damaged threads at the end of a bolt, shaft, or whatever. https://www.jmeinnovations.com

DJ, What can I say, but thanks! Yes, mechanical' sure is fun - and sometimes a little humbling' too.

I'm almost embarrassed to ask this question because I'm sure there's a simple answer to it, but right now I can't come up with it. I'm reinstalling my steering column, steering wheel, horn ring, horn button, etc. However, the horn wire path has me totally baffled. It looks to me like the wire from the horn button should go straight down the middle of the threaded steering shaft. But I can't see a way for it to exit the shaft at the bottom to be able to connect to the #14 green wire in my wiring harness. On the other hand, the steering column thin outer tube has a hole in it at the bottom where it clamps to the steering box. That hole looks like the horn wire should exit there, but how can it if it's inside the threaded steering shaft? Right now it's a big mystery. Can someone please straighten me out?

My B3B had the same grinding/bumping feel in the steering. After disassembling the gear box, I found that the sector and worm gears were badly scarred. Fortunately I had a good donor sector gear which I installed. The worm wasn't as bed so I reused it and I will live with it for now. I'm guessing this problem is common and probably results from driving the truck for years with no gear oil in the gear box. NOTE: I found out the hard way that you can't just swap out gear boxes between 48-50 Pilothouse trucks with the 51-53 models. In '51 they slightly changed the gear box mounting hole locations in order to lower the steering column and thus the steering wheel. The good news is that the gear box internal parts are interchangeable for all six years.

A few posts back, soth122003 posted a video showing how to polarize the generator. This method of polarizing is correct for Fords but wrong for Mopar vehicles. To polarize a Mopar generator use a jumper to momentarily touch the Battery terminal on the VR to the Armature (Generator) terminal on the VR. http://p15-d24.com/files/file/16-flashingpolarizing-generator-guide/

Since I'm working on my B3B's wiring right now, an interesting question popped into my head. Let's say my battery is a little low but is charged up enough to start the engine. I start the engine and turn ON the headlights and all the accessories. Everything is working fine. The ammeter shows the battery charging normally. Here's the question: With the generator providing current to all these things, how is current returning to the generator? Does return current come up from the frame through the engine block and generator mounting bracket into the generator? Or should there be a ground wire running from somewhere on the generator to the frame? If the generator needs a ground wire, where should it be connected and what gauge wire would be adequate? I just know that whatever current the generator puts out has to come back to it and right now I can't see a reliable return path.

Brad, When I bought my B3B the upper and lower toeboards were missing so I bought a used pair on eBay. As it turns out, the pedal cutout in my eBay toeboard matches the notch in my firewall. Is it the same way with your '51? That makes me wonder if this problem was corrected in '52 and '53. If someone owns one from those years , would you be kind enough to check and maybe post a photo? It seems unbelievable that this problem would go uncorrected for three years. It could also be that the pedal was redesigned for '52 and '53. As Dodgeb4ya posted earlier, the pedal part number was changed for those years: B-1 uses # 1262605 B-2 uses # 1264691 B-3/B-4 uses # 1272871 I'm thinking about simply replacing my '51 pedal with a '50 pedal from a parts truck. Glenn

First thing I did was loosen up the cab mounting bolts and gave the whole cab a few hard shoves forward on the driver and passenger side A-pillars. That actually helped a little bit, but not quite enough. So I made a small adjustment to the firewall sheet metal next to the notch by grabbing the bottom 1in. bend in the firewall and gently bending it UP and to the REAR with an insulated jaw plier. I didn't have to bend the sheet metal very much at all. It looks like that did the trick. I have about a 1/8 inch clearance and no more rubbing. There is little, if any, apparent effect on the firewall contour or paint. The help I get from this website is truly incredible. Thanks to all you experts!

Brad, That pretty much confirms this to be a manufacturing oversight. My pedal just barely grazes the sheet metal, but the pedal offset from the notch made me think something was drastically wrong. I'm going to try to bend out the cab metal a little with a 2x4 or something. 1/8 inch should do it. Yes, I did remove the cab during the restoration, but there isn't much one can do to relocate the whole cab from its original position. Glenn

Dodgeb4ya, Thank you for a very helpful answer! I checked my clutch pedal and your numbers are spot on. I should have checked the parts book. I now know for sure that my clutch pedal is correct for my B3B. However, the mystery still remains as to why my B-3 clutch pedal does not line up with the notch in my cab's sheet metal. Oddly enough pedal #1264691 (for a B-2) does line up! I plan on replacing the brass bushing as soon as I find a machine shop to do it, but that will not correct this much offset (because even with a somewhat worn bushing I can't wiggle the pedal over to the notch). I'm thinking that the notch must have been improperly located from the factory. They apparently forgot to move it from its B2B position. I don't want to cut into the cab sheet metal to make space for the pedal, but if this is a manufacturing error, I might do it. I hope some other B3B owner will check his truck and post a picture of the pedal and notch relative positioning. If it's the same as mine, then Dodge made a mistake. This is making me nuts.

I went to install my brake and clutch pedals today. I thought it would be an easy job. The brake pedal installed OK, but the clutch pedal really got me wondering what's going on with my truck. Here's the problem; the clutch pedal arm does not line up with the cutout in the cab. Because it misses the notch, it also rubs on the cab when pushed forward. I tried everything. How can this be? To try to solve this mystery I happened to have an old rusty clutch pedal from a 1950 B2B so I compared the two pedals. Surprisingly, they are very different. The arm of the rusty old '50 pedal is offset to the right where it molds into the foot pad. The arm of the silver pedal (which came with my B3B) is centered under the foot pad. The bend in the arms is also different (see below). Fortunately it turns out that the rusty pedal from the 50 B2B fits the notch in the cab of my 51 B3B perfectly. But I have no idea how my B3B ended up with a pedal that does not fit my cab correctly. It can't be correct for my truck. Can someone verify which style of pedal is correct for both 50 and 51 half ton Pilothouse trucks? I'm guessing my rusty pedal is correct for all six 1/2 ton years, but I'd just like to know for sure. And does anyone have any idea how the wrong pedal might have been installed in my truck and to what model it actually belongs? This is really very strange.