Rod's New Project

[RodFru2u]

Afternoon all,

 

      A deal on a truck drove ( ok was towed ) into my garage, I was in the market for a truck that would not require a smog test, and an engine  I could work on . I was told she was a Dodge Pilothouse, A 1950’s vintage. A flat head inline 6  is where she gets her power , The previous owner  was not sure if it’s a 218 or a 230. He  tried  few Mods to fuel inject and then back to single carb . I went to the Mopar Spring Fling at Woodley Park in the San Fernando Valley out here in Southern California  a few  weekends ago Not one PH to look at and compare to what I have. I   picked up a Repro  shop manual for a 1950 B-2 series for $ 25.00,figuring  I’ve wasted more bucks buying spare Whitworth nuts and bolts  in the past, So if I got the wrong book no biggie. I have lurked in the attic of this forum for a little while and now I have a few questions.  The CA Title says it is a 1950 Dodge, From the pictures is there any way to tell  just what I have here ? Does the numbers/letters ( B-2-B , B-1-B etc. ) mean anything  or are they just Dodge model numbers ? Is there any way to tell from numbers on the block or vin what size engine I have ? 

     Thanks all in advance for all your help, This forum has been a wealth of information and look forward to spending many more hours of reading and learning about my truck.

                 Thanks again for everything,  Rod

[48Dodger]

Welcome!

 

Its definately a 48/49 or 50.

Cues are:

• the door body line goes to the jam (51-53 does not)

• front grille (48-50)

• round rear fenders (48-52)

• if you have an under dash hand pull trans brake..you are def a 50.

 

The ID Tag is in the driver's side door jam. If it sez B-2-B.....def a 50 

 

 

There are several websites to research your truck and engine.

 Start at the DPETCA first: ID TAG  and t137.com 

 

48D

Edited May 21, 2013 by 48dodger

[Jeff Balazs]

Welcome Rod;

Very cool. I have a 52 B-3-C and am down in Irvine. Have fun with it and dont be afraid to ask questions.

You found the right site here.

 

Jeff

[Merle Coggins]

Welcome to the Pilot-House family. You've got a good start there. Drive the wheels off that thing and enjoy it. There are a few mods that can make a daily driver a little better. You can upgrade the front brakes to discs with a kit from Rusty Hope. http://www.rustyhope.com/mopardiscbrakes.html There are other sources for this, but Charlie's kit is what I used, and what I recommend. Others have done a T5 trans upgrade and have reported good results. I have changed my diff with a 3.73 diff from a '50 Plymouth. This gives me good cruising speeds with the stock 4 speed. I just did a 120 mile run up to a car show this past weekend at 65-70 MPH on the freeway. You may also want to consider adding seatbelts from Juliano's. http://www.julianos.com/catalog.html And there's nothing wrong with carburators or points igniions. They work well for these engines and parts are readily available when needed.

 

I can't say I've ever wasted money on Whitworth bolts, or tools. You must have a history with old British vehicles. Your service manual is a good investment. You may also want to consider picking up a copy of Don Bunn's book "Dodge B-Series Trucks". There's a lot of good info in that book about these trucks.

 

As for the B1 / B2 reference... Yes it does tell the tale.

B1 is the first series of B-Series trucks built in '48 & '49

B2 is the second series built in '50

B3 is the third series built in '51 & '52

B4 is the 4th and final series built in '53

The letter designation at the end denotes the weight capacity. B=1/2 ton, C=3/4 ton, D=1 ton, and etc. up through the 4 ton trucks.  

 

Merle

Edited May 20, 2013 by Merle Coggins

[B1B Keven]

Welcome. More pics!!!

[ggdad1951]

welcome!  yes, more pics!

[RodFru2u]

Thanks all for the warm welcome and  quick replies. Later today I will check to see if there is an ID plate on the driver's door jam and try and get some more pictures and information. As far as Mods go, I want to get the truck back on the road first, Drive it in day to day conditions and then decide what I need to do to make it comfortable for me. We ( my father and I ) try and keep the fleet as original as we can except for safety upgrades like seat  belts and turn signals.

     I picked this project because she was a runner and had no rust or cancer ridden parts. One of our first projects 1934 Packard took longer and cost more then we expected because of the body work, but the results were spectacular. The next project was a 1951 MG TD. Pop is the second owner of her, It was his daily driver from 1959 - 1965 when he retired her. Both cars are numbers matching original California Cars. We still enjoy working on them and driving them, Before the Dodge joined the fleet, We had been working on a 1948 Packard Woody, Before we got it in the 80's some Butcher cut/ modified the station wagon body into a Pick Up. The conversion was poorly done and beyond reverting    back to "stock". That project is on hold and delayed so I can get my new project back on the road, and dragging parts to the sand blaster and paint. More Pictures later, Rod

 

[Dan Babb]

Great looking cars.  If your Pilot-house turns out half as nice, you'll have a stunner.