52NowWhat Posted January 18, 2011 Report Posted January 18, 2011 Well I started lurking recently and thought I should introduce myself.... Probably not alot of women on here but here goes... My husband and I recently purchased a 52 B3B pilothouse! We had not intended to buy a vehicle to fix-up but it was on CL and we called and well now its here. ;-) It is in pretty good shape as far as we can tell although it must have been crunched at some point in its life because it has an older style front on it. We paid $840.00 for it...not sure if we were getting a good deal or not since we knew NOTHING about these guys! We found this forum and that is helping alot. I hope you all can help out on this journey because this is all new. We are from Northern Idaho and it appears there aren't alot of people from that area on here??? I do have what is probably a silly question but I am curious....it has a rear bumper on it that is HUGE and is one piece wrapped around to the fenders. I don't see this on any restored trucks...so is this just a bumper someone made for it? It fits on it perfectly but we took is off because it looks good without it. Just wondering what the heck we should do with it??? Also curious about the purple blue color...I don't see any trucks restored back to this color and was wondering why? I do think the green ones look really great and initially that is what we wanted to do but the interior is purple blue and in good shape so I think we will keep it. Anyone have any thoughts on this??? O.K. that post just got really long...thanks for reading. This is a wonderful resource! Quote
greg g Posted January 18, 2011 Report Posted January 18, 2011 You will be pleasently surprised if you spend a time of time and effort with some buffing or polishing compound on the exterior finish. A lot of the olld cars and trucks will birghten up nicely. the rear bumper is likely dealer installed or an aftermarket HD bumper. I have noticed a few of the type you mention over the years. I believe all rear bumpers were optional. Welcome and good luck. There was a member in Idaho who did a nice job on a 1950 Plymouth which he recently sold, he has become interested in early Jeep wagons, but he is quite familiar with MOPAR reuning gear and other systems. He would probably answer questions if you sent him a personal message as he still visits this site. Look up Blueskies i the members list. Quote
41/53dodges Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 welcome! and you're right, i cant think of any other women off hand on this forum, the truck side, anyways. can you post a pic of the truck? we always love to see em'! Quote
SteveMelchiorre Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Welcome! Put some pics up and I'm sure the guys here will chime in. In the meantime get yourself a copy of Don Bunn's book: Dodge B-Series Trucks: Restorer's and Collector's Reference Guide & History. http://www.enthusiastbooks.com/si/10182.html All best, Steve.... Quote
Dan Babb Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Welcome and it would be great to see some pictures. I'd really like to see the bumper. At some point I'm going to install a bumper on my truck, so it would be cool to see what yours looks like to get some ideas. Does your truck run? For $840, sounds like a great deal (even if the engine needs a rebuild). Quote
Reg Evans Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Welcome ! Sounds like you got a good deal. I have seen a few Blue trucks with the oxidized Dark blue and it does have sort of a purple hue to it. Is your bumper like this one ? Quote
buds truck Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 welcome to one of the best sites on the internet. These guys know their stuff. Quote
52NowWhat Posted January 19, 2011 Author Report Posted January 19, 2011 Thank you everyone! The bumper is similar to the one on that yellow truck how it wraps around to the fenders but it is solid all the way. It doesn't have the braces on the sides though. I will try to figure out how to post a pic. The truck does run just needs lots of love! Good to hear we maybe didn't do too awful on it....kinda rushed into it without any research. I am sure we will be putting LOTS O' MONEY into it though! :-) The outside of the truck has some kind of faux finish on it?? Maybe someone was gonna make a rat rod out of it??? That look will have to go...I want it to be shiny! Was hoping someone had a pic of the blue looking truck just so I could see what that might look like.... Quote
pflaming Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Bumper: Dad put one very like that one on our 50 Chevy and 55 Ford. Paint: Take the tail gate on the inside and wash it with lacquer thinner (learned this from a friend who cleaned cars in the 60's) The lacquer will not hurt 60 year old paint but will take a lot of 2nd paint and oxidiation off very quickly and easily. Then use 800 grit wet / dry sand paper, go down slowly and see what is under that light color. My truck went from white to dark blue when I did that. Good luck you are at the best forum on the net. Quote
52NowWhat Posted January 19, 2011 Author Report Posted January 19, 2011 Thank you so much for the pic of the blue truck!!!! That looks very cool...I would never have thought you could restore the paint like that. Quote
Reg Evans Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 When you described your truck as being a kind of a bluish purple I thought you meant like this one I use to own. Just in front of the dark blue truck in this photo you can see the tail end of another truck with a similar color and after market bumper like yours. I don't believe dodge truck offered a light blue for the Pilot House trucks. I'll post color chips later if I can find them. Can you post a photo of your dash board color ? Here's a photo of the factory rear bumper on my present truck..... Old Yeller. Most folks did not order one for their new truck so they are kinda hard to find now. Quote
Merle Coggins Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Welcome. We have had a few ladies stop in from time to time but they don't seem to stick around long, and that's too bad. It looks like you've got a good solid truck for what you paid. I paid a little more than that for my truck and it had a seized, half disassembled, engine. We're here to help in any way possible. All you have to do is ask. Merle Quote
41/53dodges Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 if you want more ideas, check out the "photo gallery" section, its up by the user name. Quote
ggdad1951 Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 welcome...way to much useful (and sometimes useless ) knowledge here! Quote
DollyDodge Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Welcome to the forum. I attached an old picture of my B-2-C that belonged to my grandfather. It shows the bumper that it has. The bumper was built by Elbridge Hartshorn in Bishop Ca. I attached a picture of the old Dodge he had before the B-2-C and you can see the old bumper on that truck as well. My grandfather had great pride in that bumper. I think all kinds of bumpers got stuck on these trucks. Quote
Young Ed Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 I attached a picture of the old Dodge he had before the B-2-C and you can see the old bumper on that truck as well. My grandfather had great pride in that bumper. I think all kinds of bumpers got stuck on these trucks. That truck he had before the b-2-c is a 41-47 1 ton dually pickup which is quite rare. Most of the 1ton duallys were flatbeds or sold without for an aftermarket bed. You can see that there is a fender extension to make room for the extra tire. You cant see the running board but there would also me a triangle shaped piece of running board to meet up with the outer edge of the fender. Quote
DollyDodge Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 I wish I had that 41-47 one ton pickup, but it is one thing my grandfather didn't hang on to. He didn't like driving it. I remember him talking about how hard it was to turn, and how rough riding it was. He really liked dolly dodge thought (the B-2-C). The one ton looks like a cool truck to me. By the way, the girl in the back is my mother. Quote
DollyDodge Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Here is a picture of the front of that one ton pickup and my grandfather. He also said he didn't like the dual rear wheels because they picked up rocks between the tires. Sorry for getting off topic on this string. Quote
Reg Evans Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 I noticed that grape fruit sized rock in the other photo you posted. That could have made a mess of a tailgaters windshield. Quote
Young Ed Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 No stainless strips on the lower grill make it post war 46-47. I noticed in the rear shot there was a rock stuck between the duals. So you have proof his complaint happened. Not sure why it would be much harder to turn or rougher riding then the pilot house. Maybe the diff between a 1ton and a lighter duty pickup. FYI that 1ton probably also has a 9ft box. You can see the extra stake pocket infront of the fenders. Quote
DollyDodge Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 I never noticed that rock in the duals, but it sure is there. Too funny. thanks for the information on that old truck Quote
Young Ed Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 I never noticed that rock in the duals, but it sure is there. Too funny. thanks for the information on that old truck Thanks for sharing some awesome old pictures. Its great to here the stories from when these trucks were new and still being used. Quote
ggdad1951 Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 I noticed that grape fruit sized rock in the other photo you posted. That could have made a mess of a tailgaters windshield. or worse, the fender! Quote
bkahler Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Thank you everyone!The bumper is similar to the one on that yellow truck how it wraps around to the fenders but it is solid all the way. It doesn't have the braces on the sides though. I will try to figure out how to post a pic. The truck does run just needs lots of love! Good to hear we maybe didn't do too awful on it....kinda rushed into it without any research. I am sure we will be putting LOTS O' MONEY into it though! :-) The outside of the truck has some kind of faux finish on it?? Maybe someone was gonna make a rat rod out of it??? That look will have to go...I want it to be shiny! Was hoping someone had a pic of the blue looking truck just so I could see what that might look like.... Interesting bumper. I purchased my 51 B3B-108 in Ketchum ID back in 1996. It had a bumper that looked a great deal if not exactly like the one you have on your truck. I'll have to dig through all of my old pictures to see if I have one of the rear of the truck before I removed it. Definitely keep us up to date on your truck. This is a great forum and a source of great information. Brad Quote
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