1951 B-1-D-126 BUILD THREAD Flatbed Red

[JBNeal]

Flatbed Red Rebuild For Farm Truck Use...

 

As stated earlier, this '51 has been drafted for farm work and will need a li'l work done to get it ready to haul water from a well at the bottom of the hill. This truck was seen earlier and has changed owners a couple of times since being dragged out of a barn in Kansas. The truck is mostly complete, riding on 6.50x16s oddly enough, and the flatbed has one floorboard that will need replacement. The sideboards are kinda shot, but the bulkhead is in decent shape. The pinstriping on the bed sure seems fancy for a work truck, but I've seen this done on some modern trailers so maybe it's a selling point for higher quality

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by JBNeal
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[JBNeal]

Being a farm truck, the sheet metal is a little dinged up. The hood is straight, but every other panel will need some massaging to look decent. The fenders have the rust at the rivets, so that'll need some patchwork as well:

 

 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by JBNeal
revised pictures

[JBNeal]

The passenger side will need some work, but not as much as that driver side. The deluxe cab has no arm rests, but does have electric wipers...and there's that red-handled park brake

 

 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by JBNeal
revised pictures

[JBNeal]

The engine compartment had been tackled briefly, so there are parts here & there for this ol' beast that I put in a safe place; where that might be is a vague memory. Of note is the exhaust manifold's original silver paint that is still visible. Also, there has been some fittings added to the intake manifold port, more investigation is required on that one. The carburetor is not original, nor is the air cleaner, I'm assuming they are from mid-50s flatheads. That firewall is filthy, not sure why just yet, maybe from years & years of dobbers' nests. The interior panel on the back of the cab looks original, but what color is that, tan or beige?

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by JBNeal
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[Guest bewillie]

When I was growing up (not sure I have yet) the farmers would buy their trucks with no bed. There was a blacksmith, Mike Morningstar, who would build beds for trucks and I can still remember watching him bend that wide band around the bed. Mike is long gone now and one of my best friends his son, Dick, took over his business and is now retired, so another trade slips by the wayside as we die off. The world is changing soooo fast around us.

[JBNeal]

Getting started on the '51 has been delayed by inclement weather, a cold/bronchitis spell that hung around purt'near 9 weeks, 2 neighbors with tractor problems, 3 neighbors with emergency house repair requests, fallen trees that needed clearing, surprise (& extended) social engagements, and a couple of trips out of town to corral parts.  But today I finally got started by 'exhuming' the beast from its resting place; it appeared to have sunk 3 inches in the black clay over the past 2yrs.  I dragged it to some firmer ground for more cleanup and assessment in the next few days.  One thing I'd like to verify is the dimensions of the rims.  I thought it was odd that this 1-ton is riding on 6.50-16s.  Researching the parts manual showed that the tire size for the 1-tons is dictated by the rim width.  I've got the spare in its carrier, so I'll see about starting there...scraping years of crud off the rim before breaking that crusty old tire off the bead.  GOOD TIMES 

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by JBNeal
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[Dodgeb4ya]

Looks like a old chevy Rochester carb on your engine!. Shame Shame!

[JBNeal]

it was like that when I found it!  If it's not 40s/50s Dodge or Farmall, I'm a li'l ignorant of the carb application...I knew this one wasn't correct, but it was on there good so I left it until it was time to redo that part of the engine compartment.

 

I've got a shelf of Carter & Stromberg carbs as well as a few oil bath air cleaners that are salvageable.  I want to boost the CR to 8.0:1 and add that PCV system I've been working on so I can maximize pulling power on this beast...if I can get this big guy back in service, it'll make a fine piece of farm equipment that can make the occasional mosey on into town for parts/supplies/chicken fried steaks 

[TrOjAnUK]

What a great thread. Loving the photos... Im seriously jealous of you lot, over here in the UK theres only a few of our trucks about. (reason I bought it)

 

TrOjAn

[MBF]

On my 1 ton I'm running 7.00-16's in the front, and it still has the 6:50-16's that were on it when I bought it on the rear.  The rim you have on the right front is a dually offset.  If you're going to be carrying a load on this, you may not be able to go much bigger than 7:00's in the rear or the inner sidewalls will touch.  With the 6:50's I've go on now I can just get my fingers between the inner sidewalls.  I have a friend that has a D300 firetruck with the same rims as ours.  He has 7:50's on the rear and the tires touch sitting empty.   By the way-nice truck!

[JBNeal]

It took a bit of finaglin', but I pried the lock rings off of the rims of the '51 dually and the '49 1-ton.  The '51 tires must be from the 70s judging from the DOT numbers and are as hard a rock.  The tires I put on the '49 are about 12 yrs old and are starting to dry rot.  But since the '49 tires were a li'l newer, they were actually stuck to the rim; the old tires on the '51 were so dried out and hard that they popped loose from the rim.  And the dually rims had no flaps...hmmm.  Anyhow, from the measurements I took, the '51 does take 6.50x16s and the '49 takes 7.50x16s.  I'm only hoping the newer tires, tubes & flaps will go on easier than the old ones came off...I'd hate to straighten & clean up these rims only to beat the tar out of'm trying to install some new rubber  

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by JBNeal
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[Scruffy49]

Cup brush or wire wheel, rust converter, prime and paint. I've mounted up worse on a 1974 Mack R685 I used to drive. Those same steps fixed the wheels up to working like new. Any mondo pits can be bondoed w/o worry or brazed up.

[JBNeal]

yep that sounds like how I prepared the rims on the '48: hammered the rims back into shape, sandblasted in the barn with a temporary booth, washed & treated with Rust Cure, painted them with rattle can Krylon semi-gloss black.  They still look decent, considering I didn't know what I was doing back in '99 and put only 3 thin coats of Krylon on them old thangs...subsequent practice on some Farmall 1206 rims found that foam brush painting Krylon with wet sanding in between coats gave superior results, no runs and a better shine

[JBNeal]

While working on the 1-ton, I got a wild hair to get a spare key made for this '51, and as I retrieved it from the ignition, I thought I'd try the door lock...who knows if it had ever been used...I'd been oiling that lock with Marvel Mystery Oil every equinox or so since I brought this beast home in 2010...a little jiggling to get the key in the cylinder, a little wiggling when the key seated, and surprise surprise the old key turned that lock almost as easily as the '48!  So even though this truck is nowhere near running, at least I can lock the doors

Edited August 18, 2021 by JBNeal
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[wallytoo]

 So even though this truck is nowhere near running, at least I can lock the doors

i haven't had the same luck with mine.  i don't need to lock it, but i'd like to be able to (just because the lock is there).  i give it a shot of P'B every once in a while, but have had no luck (been doing it since i bought it back in 2007 or so).

 

wally

[JBNeal]

I might have mentioned this elsewhere but didn't take close-up pictures until a few days ago...the B-3s have the grille whiskers + bars and metal trim cap to make them look seamless, whereas the B-4s eliminated this metal trim cap.  I tried finding a part number for this trim piece in the parts manual but that yielded no results.  This flatbed has the oddity of having stainless trim caps on the passenger side (with a burned out bullseye headlamp) and the painted steel caps on the driver side.  So my guess is that the assembly line put the stainless on to ship this buggy as they might have been out of the painted steel, or it was close to quittin' time,  or it was after a long weekend of keg stands + hokey pokey tournaments and quality varied throughout the day.  At any rate, this is another quirk on this truck that I may fiddle with when I get it slicked up

 

     

[bkahler]

8 hours ago, JBNeal said:

I might have mentioned this elsewhere but didn't take close-up pictures until a few days ago...the B-3s have the grille whiskers + bars and metal trim cap to make them look seamless, whereas the B-4s eliminated this metal trim cap.  I tried finding a part number for this trim piece in the parts manual but that yielded no results.  This flatbed has the oddity of having stainless trim caps on the passenger side (with a burned out bullseye headlamp) and the painted steel caps on the driver side.  So my guess is that the assembly line put the stainless on to ship this buggy as they might have been out of the painted steel, or it was close to quittin' time,  or it was after a long weekend of keg stands + hokey pokey tournaments and quality varied throughout the day.  At any rate, this is another quirk on this truck that I may fiddle with when I get it slicked up

 

     

 

I vote it was close to quitten' time

 

[ggdad1951]

9 hours ago, JBNeal said:

I might have mentioned this elsewhere but didn't take close-up pictures until a few days ago...the B-3s have the grille whiskers + bars and metal trim cap to make them look seamless, whereas the B-4s eliminated this metal trim cap.  I tried finding a part number for this trim piece in the parts manual but that yielded no results.  This flatbed has the oddity of having stainless trim caps on the passenger side (with a burned out bullseye headlamp) and the painted steel caps on the driver side.  So my guess is that the assembly line put the stainless on to ship this buggy as they might have been out of the painted steel, or it was close to quittin' time,  or it was after a long weekend of keg stands + hokey pokey tournaments and quality varied throughout the day.  At any rate, this is another quirk on this truck that I may fiddle with when I get it slicked up

 

     

 

I've found a few random SS grill bits painted and mixed in with carbon steel over the years.  Those little clips are a nice "to have".

 

[JBNeal]

Here's a video of the door lock that needed surprisingly little attention...just a dose of Marvel Mystery Oil and 24hrs later, the vehicle could be "secured"