1946 WD-15 Daily Driver Rebuild-Restoration

[TennesseeVol51]

Guy's I want to start a rebuild/resto thread on my 1946 WD-15.I have posted one other thread on this truck for some help in identifying replacment engine/motor.

I want to keep this build all in one thread.I know this is not a 1948-53 Pilothouse truck.If this is going to be a problem with other members please let me know and I will stop posting in this forum.

I am a member of the 1939-47 Dodge Yahoo Group and I keep up with the forum daily.But I really don't like the format of the Yahoo groups.I love this format on this forum,I have lurked for a long time on thee p-15 d-24 forum and the members on this forum really are some good helpful people.

I will really need a lot of help on making this daily driver, I will have a ton of question's that I will ask.Please be patient as I am learning as I go.This is the 1st time I have ever tried a build on a old car/truck.I have raced Dirt Bikes in the Woods since 1979 when I was 11 years old and I still race modern Dirtbikes (KTM) in the woods and also Vintage Dirt Bikes (Hodaka)from the 1970's.

I live in Southern Middle Tennessee right on the Alabama State near Florence line just a few miles from Iuka,Mississippi

One last thing please I want to apoligize in advance for my Grammar and Spelling I try the best I can the words come out in my head but typing it down is another thing altogether,just please don't get upset with my bad English skills.

Let's get started here is a couple of pics that I have posted before.

[HanksB3B]

Welcome Tennessee,

What a beauty! I'm sure I'm not the only guy here that wishes he owned a 40's series truck. We do have a couple of guys that own WD's (if that is the correct nomenclature) and probably many more that have owned, or their dad owned one back in the day. There are going to be a lot of guys (and I hope I'm one) that will be able to help you out. I'm glad you like the P15-D24 forum and will find a world of help here. I for one vote to add a section of the forum devoted to the WD series trucks like yours.

Hank

Edited December 18, 2012 by HanksB3B

[Brian Ehresman]

I just started 1941 I am not going with a engine and rear end so I am trying to figer out what clip and rear end to use for stock hight I am puting in a 360 so if you know what the best is let me know thanks

[MBF]

Welcome TNVol51. Great looking truck. I'm sure there are folks here that will be of great help. I had a 39 Dodge dump that I really wanted to do something with, but she was too far gone. This is a support network that does regular "Dodge interventions". They've helped me, and I've helped them. This is the only place to go with those tough to answer Dodge questions. Mike

Edited December 18, 2012 by MBFowler
correction

[Young Ed]

Welcome Tennessee,

What a beauty! I'm sure I'm not the only guy here that wishes he owned a 40's series truck. We do have a couple of guys that own WD's (if that is the correct nomenclature) and probably many more that have owned, or their dad owned one back in the day. There are going to be a lot of guys (and I hope I'm one) that will be able to help you out. I'm glad you like the P15-D24 forum and will find a world of help here. I for one vote to add a section of the forum devoted to the WD series trucks like yours.

Hank

Close Hank. The 41-47s are W series. They started the alphabit over with B for 1948. Not sure what happened to all the letters in the middle:) The D and 15 refers to the weight rating similar to the B series. A WD15 is I believe a 3/4ton. For some reason I'm never heard explained WD covers both the 3/4 and 1ton ratings.

Edited December 18, 2012 by Young Ed

[ggdad1951]

TenneseeVol51 meet YoungEd, I'm sure you two can talk alot!

Looks like a great truck. We don't discriminate too much around here.

[Don Coatney]

Nice truck. looks like you are about 100 miles from the Boro. I see a trip in the future.

[Young Ed]

Here's mine. Got a long term project of a 40 plymouth pickup too.

[HanksB3B]

Close Hank. The 41-47s are W series. They started the alphabit over with B for 1948. Not sure what happened to all the letters in the middle:) The D and 15 refers to the weight rating similar to the B series. A WD15 is I believe a 3/4ton. For some reason I'm never heard explained WD covers both the 3/4 and 1ton ratings.

Ed, I was almost sure you were the one that had a "W" series truck. (but I wasn't 100% sure) I sure do like them. I wanted to refer Tennessee to one of Don Bunn"s books, but I could not find a "W" Series Dodge Truck book.

I guess the other thing that would be helpful is to have is a W-Series Truck Manual and Parts Manual.

Hank

[Scruffy49]

Nice truck. What are needing for it? I've got a few spare drivetrain parts with my 49 project. And a forge for making truly odd ball brackets. I'm about 40 miles north east of downtown Memphis.

Welcome to the forum. Your truck came with a flathead 6 so you are in the right place... This is THE site for L6 powered Mopars, I'd even be happy with some 251 powered W300 Sweptlines joining up.

[Young Ed]

These are the two I used mostly along with the parts and shop manuals. I believe that both are now out of print though.

http://www.amazon.com/Dodge-Pickups-Color-History/dp/0760301700/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355854469&sr=1-3&keywords=dodge+truck

http://www.amazon.com/Dodge-Pickups-History-Restoration-1918-1971/dp/0879384913/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355854523&sr=1-4&keywords=dodge+truck

[TennesseeVol51]

Here's mine. Got a long term project of a 40 plymouth pickup too.

Thanks so much everyone I appriceate the comments.

Ed,your truck looks exactly what I want mine to look like.I don't want a glossy finish on mine.Also I think mine was the same color red as yours.Look at my pictures of the engine thread and you can see red all on the firewall etc.

Ed,by the way what is that white stuff all on the ground around your truck? I sure looks like it is slick or something.

Mine is a 3/4 ton,I have the factory service manual.Now I need the illusturated parts manual.I hope to get it running over the Holidays.I will give some more info tonight at work.

[ggdad1951]

Thanks so much everyone I appriceate the comments.

Ed,your truck looks exactly what I want mine to look like.I don't want a glossy finish on mine.Also I think mine was the same color red as yours.Look at my pictures of the engine thread and you can see red all on the firewall etc.

Ed,by the way what is that white stuff all on the ground around your truck? I sure looks like it is slick or something.

Mine is a 3/4 ton,I have the factory service manual.Now I need the illusturated parts manual.I hope to get it running over the Holidays.I will give some more info tonight at work.

I'll answer for Ed: the white stuff is what keeps southerners away from our great state of MinneSNOWta!

[Young Ed]

Thanks so much everyone I appriceate the comments.

Ed,your truck looks exactly what I want mine to look like.I don't want a glossy finish on mine.Also I think mine was the same color red as yours.Look at my pictures of the engine thread and you can see red all on the firewall etc.

Ed,by the way what is that white stuff all on the ground around your truck? I sure looks like it is slick or something.

Mine is a 3/4 ton,I have the factory service manual.Now I need the illusturated parts manual.I hope to get it running over the Holidays.I will give some more info tonight at work.

Thats kinda funny. Mine was originally all black. Underneath the trim door handles etc along with the firewall its still black. Its got a decent enough paint job to be presentable and bad enough to not worry about a parking lot ding or a scratch from the occasional use. And let that photo show as proof to the fact that it is indeed red-not orange as Mark claims.....

[ggdad1951]

Thats kinda funny. Mine was originally all black. Underneath the trim door handles etc along with the firewall its still black. Its got a decent enough paint job to be presentable and bad enough to not worry about a parking lot ding or a scratch from the occasional use. And let that photo show as proof to the fact that it is indeed red-not orange as Mark claims.....

yep orange, just like mine was pink when I got him!

[TennesseeVol51]

Here is a little of the history of my 1946' WD-15 3/4 ton.

My Paw-paw and me went to a estate auction in spring 1983 I am sure because the Alabama tag exprired in 1984.I thought we got it in spring of 1982 but I have a hard time remembering.

I drove it home from Florence,Alabama just the way you see it in the pics right now nothing has been changed on this truck since 1983 at all.I continued to drive it around the house till about 1993.I got married in 1991 and in 1993 we decided to build a house where my Father-in law lives.He gave us 20 acres to build a house,so when we moved I kinda gave him the truck for the land.I figured I would get it back someday or maybe my kids would.

So back this spring 2012 my father in law wanted his garage cleaned out and he wanted to know if I wanted the truck back because he was going to leave it to me anyway.I said yes and we pulled it down to the house with a tractor.The brakes were locked up tight but broke loose with the tractor pulling.

The last time this truck was driven and ran was about 1999-2001 I am not totally sure.Now that my kids are getting all big I want to make this a daily driver around here to go to the store and maybe work the cows and to take me and my motorcycle to our riding area in Westpoint,Tennessee we have 6,000 acres leased for riding dirtbikes.

This is a quick story on the truck maybe I was not to long winded.

Now it's really time to bother ya'll with questions??

[Merle Coggins]

Awesome story. Your questions won't be a bother. Ask away. We're looking forward to seeing it back in operation.

Merle

[TennesseeVol51]

Question #1--Ed or anyone that has a "W" series can you get me some good clear photos of your engine compartment especially the wireing harness and wires going down to the light harness on the frame.

Question #2 --Can some one get me a good clear picture of your Ball and Ball Carb and the linkage connections

Question #3--can someone direct me to a link that has some detailed photos of removing the Distributor

I will post some pictures of my carb and Distributor below each question when I get home from work tonight.

Thanks

[Young Ed]

I don't have anything that shows the proper wiring. There is an oval shaped hole that the harness comes out of. There are a few clips that it goes under after that. I believe the yahoo group has a reference section in the photo area. This is the best I have for my carb but you can't see much of the linkage. It does show that yours is 90 degrees off.

Here's the dist. At about 7oclock there is a bolt that holds it in. Pull the dist cap and keep track of the rotor position. Then that 1 bolt and the dist wire are all that hold it.

[TennesseeVol51]

Nice truck. looks like you are about 100 miles from the Boro. I see a trip in the future.

Don,

It is 137 miles exactly from my house to the Nashville Superspeedway.We were season ticket holders,I sure wish some kind of racing would come back.

:(

Thanks for the welcome.

[drillmastertommy]

I'll be following this thread TnVol51, I am very partial to the old 39-46 Dodge pick ups and I'm lucky enough to own a 39 Plymouth PT-81.

I've tried using the yahoo group and even though there is some great info there I just can't get on with the format, I'm seconding the suggestion of another group for these trucks here. This is a great site, easy to use and filled with knowledgeable, enthusiastic people!

Good luck with getting your truck sorted!

[TennesseeVol51]

Allright here is a pic of the dist Ed see my vaccum advance is pointing down yours is at 10 o'clock

Also 2 pictures of the the carb one from below and one from the top.Scruffy49 has helped and said this manifold is off a farm application.

Everyone tell me what looks wrong in these pics so I can try to straighten it out.

The I have one picture of the exhaust pipe and manifold junction.

So I have a question is this manifold ok? Or do I need one from a actual truck car application?

Edited December 19, 2012 by TennesseeVol51

[Merle Coggins]

That orientation appears to be correct for that distributor, based on the location of the oil cup at the top.

As for the carb, it appears that you'd need a different intake manifold to be able to turn the carb to "normal" position. However, it looks like someone modified the linkage to work as it is. If the throttle functions OK why not leave it like it is? It'll be a good conversation starter for those who can identify the difference.

Merle

[JBNeal]

there appears to be some sort of adapter on top of the manifold pre-heat chamber below the carburetor. This may be able to be removed and the carburetor mounted directly to the manifold as stock; some surgery will be required to verify this.

I recall the vacuum advance on the distributor to be towards the top. When adding a PCV system, this has to be taken into account for the ventilation plumbing from the oil fill tube. The PCV plumbing shown here, here, and here illustrates some clearance issues if there is a vacuum advance involved. Anyhow, I would think there would be an issue with the carb as the float chamber is directly above the major heat source in the engine compartment.

[Scruffy49]

Thanks for the closer look at the manifold. That adapter plate was for a settable hand throttle. Like you'd find on an irrigation pump, pull the handle down and lock it, or pull the knob out, twist it and lock it. If it works as is, leave it alone. If it doesn't, pull the adapter and set the carb up in regular orientation. You'll need a different linkage if you do that.

You also see adapters like that on multi-carb manifolds.

And I'm pretty sure one of my L6 boat anchors, I mean, buildable cores, has one as well. Now I want to go look, but it's dark out and there is a skunk living under my truck.