1953 B-4-B-116 BUILD THREAD Spring Special

[JBNeal]

1953 DODGE Spring Special Lone Star Edition...

 

Since hauling this Spring Special home, I've received congratulations from friends & co-workers for the find, as well as derision from neighbors & relatives for dragging more junk to the house. My plan is to restore this rarity to like new condition with a frame-off tear-down and rebuild+repaint.

I've started by carting off three trash cans full of garbage out of the bed & cab, which revealed the original pine flooring and original maroon seat cover. A quick inspection has located a pin hole in the passenger hood between the handle and the emblem, as well as bondo on almost every fender. The only cancerous rust appears to be the rivet area on the front fenders. The drive shaft has a peculiar flat spot mid-section and is bent. This flat section corresponds to dents in both runningboards. The left front wheel cylinder, brake shoes & hardware were in the floorboard, as was the choke button.

Missing is the throttle cable, ignition key and hubcaps. A little lubricant on the hinges & mechanisms, and the doors opened & closed almost effortlessly. The bed boards still had the original black paint underneath, with two boards split and no apparent rot. The original spare tire carrier is present, but it was bent when retrieving the truck from its hillside perch. Practically all of the wiring is present, though its insulation is broken in a few places, so the harness would only be good for a replacement pattern.

From the gripe-fest I endured and the subsequent diplomatic tap-dance I performed a few days ago, I will be postponing the heavy work on this SpringSpecial until I have completed my great-grandfather's '48. It needs some frame work, a new wiring harness & tires, motor tweaking & detailing, and lots of sheet metal TLC + paint. Once we get the barn addition finished, it's next up on the queue for work.

In the meantime, I reckon I can do the Spring Special little stuff quietly (refurbishing lights with shiny relfectors & bull's eye lenses, wiring harnesses, battery tray, etc.) while having the '48 in teardown. I have camera and notepad, so each will be getting fully documented...yeah, that's the ticket

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by JBNeal
revised pictures

[JBNeal]

An interesting detail popped up while doing the initial inspection. Shown is the paint detail on the cab that denotes a SpringSpecial. But also shown is a plug in the bed fender for the hole that accesses a grease fitting for the rear leaf springs. It looks factory installed on both sides, but haven't ever seen these before, so I don't know if it was a SpringSpecial detail or a model year detail.

I'm not sure why this truck has the center bumper guard in place of a license plate. The bumper guard is a B-1 / B-2 era detail, but this is on a B-4, complete with oval head bolt. From the stories I've been told and from what I've seen of the truck, this SpringSpecial was used for work.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by JBNeal
revised pictures

[JBNeal]

The previous owner hired a flatbed tow truck to extract this SpringSpecial from its hillside perch, but it looks like he snagged the 260Z that was partially buried next to it and dinged up the driveshaft in the process.

 

 

   

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by JBNeal
revised pictures

[Dave72dt]

Sound as if you have a plan. A plan is good. The neighbors will have stories of their own to tell when it's done about how hard you worked and how well it turned out.

[JBNeal]

Note the wheel cylinder hose hanging down and spring bushing backed out:

 

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by JBNeal
revised pictures

[JBNeal]

The previous owner mentioned that his original plans included wedging a 440 in place of the flathead and painting the truck fire engine red. But he ran out of time before his health went south, so he called in the car crusher to help clear off his place, a former mechanic's shop / salvage yard. I couldn't get a clear picture because of all of the weeds & piles of scrap metal, but the crusher was less than a 100 yards away.

Also noticed in one of his dilapidated barns was a complete Sun testing machine. When asked, the previous owner told how he taught folks how to use it, but that it had been some time since then. He then abruptly changed the subject, so I might call him up in a few days to see if he had any plans for that relic.

[John-T-53]

That is original maroon seat and door panel upholstery, unique to the '53 models. When you get it cleaned up a bit, snap some more pics so we can see the color come back to life. Does the truck still have the back panel and headliner cardboard?

What model heater is in the truck? I don't recognize the type with both inlet and outlet at the bottom as shown in your firewall pic.

My '53 doesn't have the grease hole plug, nor any clips at the grill seams. I'm not sure the plug was factory. Someone might have used a sink hole plug for this just for fun.

Have fun with this ol' gal!

Edited August 2, 2011 by John-T-53

[JBNeal]

the cardboard in the truck is in purty sad shape, as the TX heat & humidity & varmints have taken their toll. The heater is an Aristocrat, one I've never seen before (see pics). I'm pondering how to get a paint chip to the PPG over the hill from work to see what the non-Dodge Truck Dark Green color is. I'm thinking I can remove the hood and take one of the wings in for them to sample, as under the hood is purt'near pristine. There is evidence that the wheels were the same light green color, which matches the color photo that Boss Hog has produced. Anyhow, that's the first challenge I'm gonna tackle with this truck is to get the paint colors figgered out. I have a few more trucks ahead of this one to fix up, so we'll see how this works out. In the meantime, I'm gonna keep on whittling away on the little stuff for fun

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by JBNeal
revised pictures

[JBNeal]

took some more pics last night before it got too dark...footing is treacherous in the field as we're in the worst drought on record with no end in sight. The black dirt (aka dark brown clay) crumbles/collapses under a moving load, and I've turned my ankles every time I roam out yonder...taking a few of these pics took several attempts as the ground would shift as I would shoot--YIKES

 

 

 

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by JBNeal
revised pictures

[KJ's Dodge]

I'm not sure why this truck has the center bumper guard in place of a license plate. The bumper guard is a B-1 / B-2 era detail, but this is on a B-4, complete with oval head bolt. From the stories I've been told and from what I've seen of the truck, this SpringSpecial was used for work.

Great find! I would guess that a previous owner bolted that third bumper guard to the bumper from an earlier era truck.

KJ

[pflaming]

Saw the Dodges in the background. How many do you have?

[Don Coatney]

I get a feeling that you will take this project truck to completion unlike some other trucks I have read about on this forum recently. Congrats on a great find and keep the progress pictures coming.

Where are you located? Texas?

[JBNeal]

I've been keepin' it under the X in T E X A S since '73...as summer draws to a close, we set the record with 87 days over 100; 44 days in a row over 100; 31 days in July over 100; 30 days in August over 100; and it got so hot that the local post office left me two notices in my box last month: an annual renewal notice, and notice that the post office may or may not be closing in the coming months

[JBNeal]

I spent a little time fiddlin' on this find yesterday, pulling the hood off, removing the wings, and washing the original paint that was on the underside of the center piece. I took the center piece to PPG for color ID as they had showed me several weeks earlier that they had a camera for this. Wellll, the same guys weren't really interested in doing much yesterday, as they hem'd & haw'd 'bout that camera actually working and wouldn't go get the thing to try it out. After flipping through some old notebooks of paint chips that went back to the 60s, I asked them to look up the colors for a '53 Dodge car, and they found an original chip on that website that gave the Ditzler code. Unfortunately, after a couple of phone calls, the code led to no mixing formula, as it's probably in another notebook in a box on a shelf in an old warehouse or sumthin'ruther. Anyhow, the hood is back on the truck and I'll have to take the color I have and match it to something that there is a known formula...btw, Dr Pepper green is close but too dark

[Dave72dt]

I think that what's happened over the years is the colors used for mixing have themselves been changed and noone has gone back to recreate the older colors. You want to use a polished panel that hasn't bewen exposed to sunlight if you can. Soap and water won't brighten it up enough for a good match. A little rubbing compund followed by some wax will give you the best color to match to.

[JBNeal]

Before the next round of cold weather hits, I was doing some work outside and eventually grabbed a can of Liquid Wrench to oil up sticky door hinges & latches. I was surveying the engine compartment, got a hold of the fan and gave it a tug. The fan, generator & engine all turned with that decades-old cracked belt, and after several spins I could hear the wheez of air being pushed out of the bores. It made no creaking noises like the spare T306 was making when I spun it a few minutes earlier. Anyhow, I'm interested to see how the innards look as the blue paint on the engine make me think this is a rebuilt motor that may or may not be original to the truck (the block & head casting dates are 7/22/53).

[Boss Hog]

Just posting a few pics of my Spring Special. I hope to match the colors shown in #6. Also a pic of mirror brackets and hinge pins I had made. Currently getting ready for Body & Paint. I discovered my engine is a P28 Series block date of 8/55. Transmission is dated 12/24/48 with what I believe is the model #C - 38661, a 4 speed that is a real grinder.

[JBNeal]

that sounds like the 230 + dbl.clutchin' spur gear 4spd that's in the 1 ton, complete with the bull gear...that's a work truck setup for sure. Them mirror brackets look purty sharp, too. Itellyawhut, after seeing that interior, yer SpringSpecial is the best preserved one I've seen...this'n I dragged out of the weeds is gonna be a chore to spiff up...but not as bad as this'n

Edited January 18, 2012 by JBNeal
added link

[Dodgeb4ya]

It's got the rare gun rack in the cab back too!

[ggdad1951]

It's got the rare gun rack in the cab back too!

I thought those were stock in the Texas versions?

[Boss Hog]

My wife and I fixed the interior up before we started the body work..I guess we got ahead of ourselves...attached is a before and after.

Tnx for the info on the transmission...

[JBNeal]

duct tape on the seat cover, vise grips for a window crank...that looks familiar

BTW what is the dash knob in front of the steering wheel?

[Boss Hog]

It is the Heater Control Knob.

[chudacko]

I was told by Loren Hockema that the paint colors are '52 Plymouth car hues and that they are metallic as well. I have looked over the '52 colors @ http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/chipdisplay.cgi?year=1952&manuf=Chrysler&smodel=Plymouth&info=&page=1

and can't pin point which greens are the correct ones, some look too dark, while other look just about right. But I'm just starting my project and buying paint is still a while down the road.

Charles

[JBNeal]

this fine '53 Plymouth example appears to have Silhouette & Dublin Greens that are very close to what I've seen on this Spring Special, so I'll assume that they are correct for this truck. Two paint stores in two different counties have the Ditzler charts, but no current formulas, so at some point I'll have to get something that is close.

I picked up a Fluid Drive brochure to do some research on a recent chassis purchase (codename: Frankenstein), and found an interesting picture...I'm guessing this is the picture that Don Bunn wrote about as the earliest example of a Spring Special seen in Dodge literature, and since it is in black & white, the colors cannot be verified:

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by JBNeal
revised pictures