Frank's 49

The shaft on all three handles on the woodie are 3-3/8", measured from the inside of the handle to end of shaft. Truck is a 1949 B1B 108. Of course the door frames are wooden and may differ from the metal doors. But I can't see why they would have used different hardware. Mike

Re; bolt replacements. Do you have a part number for the bolts used, or what make/model they come from? Also are you still running the stock B1B wheels? Thanks, Mike

My original boards are set aside and awaiting repair. In the meantime I made some using yellow pine 2x12's. If you want them to really last I guess pressure treated might be better. These were coated with 3 coats of spar varnish, and I used some rubber strips for protection. They look OK on the woodie. I used the existing mounts, and fabricated some supports for the end, using some angle iron from Home Depot. The boards are notched to clear the battery box, and have slots for the brackets. Attached using 1" (or 3/4", can't remember) lag bolts. Just have to make sure the bolts don't come through the top of the boards. If you wanted to paint them black, or add rubber mats, that would look good on the pickups. The strips on the passenger side go the full length to cover the back door. Mike

I took it down to the bare frame. about 1/2 of the wood was replaced. All of the roof is new. the side shot is from about 1999. It looks pretty good, but unfortunately the roof was all dry rot, and a lot of the other wood was just plain shot. This was the "good" side, the other side was showing a lot of decay. The photo at the start of this thread was taken a couple of weeks ago, not in 1949. The 1949 picture is in my profile. At this point the wood is basically completed. I still need windows. I probably should have started with the metal work that still needs doing. I replaced all the brakes. The springs themselves are original, but all the hangers, shackels, etc are new. Right now I am starting to pull the engine for a rebuild. It runs great at idle, but has lost compression on #6, so won't pull a load at all. Would I sell it??? Probably for a decent offer, but I figure I can put some more money in it and not be upside down. But if you know someone who wants it, now is the time, especially if they want to update the running gear, before I go to all the trouble of rebuilding all the old stuff. The transmission is a 3 speed, floor shift of course, and the rear end is stock, of unknown ratio.

Hank, I just got an estimate on rebuilding the engine. Not as bad as I thought, so it looks like I will go ahead and get it fixed. I still need to put windows in and get some new tires, but after that it will be 'roadworthy'. Not Barrett-Jackson ready, but Dad never treated it like a collector car, it was just the family vehicle, and then in 1959, when he finally bought a new Dodge wagon, it became his back and forth to work car. Any work done on the car was just considered maintenance to keep it on the road, not any sort of restoration/preservation. Hopefully, it will be ready to go in another few months. Wish me luck. Mike

First: Thanks to ggdad1951 for removing a double post. Now to correct the original: The color photo is of the car as it sits today. I took it down to the frame and replaced a lot of the old wood due to decay, and dry-rot. The photo of the car in 1949 is the one in my profile.

I have a 1949 Dodge B1B - 108 Woody, which was built by Campbell Mid-State Body Works, of Waterloo, New York. It was purchased by my Dad on January 26th, 1949 in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey. That's him in the old photo. I am currently restoring it and am trying to find out how many others are out there. Mine has a tag reading "Campbell built" and specifying #20600. I would like to know if anyone knows what the number represents. Hope the photos show up. I am new here and not sure how this works. Dad in the new Dodge in 1949. What she looks like now. After a strip-down to the frame.

getting ready to waterproof the new canvas top. Just in case it ever gets wet. Not sure how to add a picture, going to try cut and paste. well cut and paste did not work. So how is it done?

Seems like there are more of these around than one would guess. I would like to know if anyone knows how many pilothouse trucks were manufactured as a woody wagon. Mine was purchased new by my father in January 1949, from Overpeck Motors INC., in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey. I think it was built by Campbell Body Works, in New York State. The VIN indicates it is a 1948 b1b108, but it has always been registered as a 1949 Model. Does anyone have an idea how many of these were made? And how many are still out there?

OK, that helps a lot. I didn't remove anything but the oil pan, so my guess is the 'dowels' do not apply. Thanks a lot for the help.

thanks anyway, good try. Tomorrow I will warm up the garage and pull the pan again. Maybe I can figure this out. When I took it off the first time I did not notice the little pieces. So there is a slight possibility the originals are still in there. But I cleaned the pan pretty good and repainted it. There was an incredible amount of sludge in the bottom. Probably could have saved using about a quart of oil on each refill if I had left it alone. :-)

Looks like you sent the information for rear main bearings to me. What I need to know about are the two little rubber pieces that come with FelPro 4250 C pan gasket set. Just the little sections shown in the middle. (actually the new gasket set came with a big O-ring seal and instructions to cut out two small pieces).

Hope somebody has a picture or diagram. I am still confused about where the two small rubber 'dowels' go. Just where is this saddle spoken of? Hate to admit it, but I trimmed the gaskets and now it leaks (didn't before, just needed an oil change after 15 years!). Before I do this again it would help to know where the dowels go.