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51 B3B build thread - after all these years


bkahler

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Ok, I think I figured out how to fasten the upper floorboard.  I believe it uses the same j-clips as the lower.  I was expecting to see the little rectangular notches in the upper as is used on the lower.  

 

One less thing to worry about :)

 

Brad

 

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24 minutes ago, bkahler said:

I believe Dodge moved the clutch pedal to the left for some unknown reason on the 51 and later trucks. 

And mine is a 1/2 ton 1950. No clue about the moving of the pedals, I would assume the 1-1/8" may still apply.

Here is a better photo, there is about 3/4" strip on my 1/2 ton between the two holes.

When the bronze bushing wears out, the clutch pedal leans to the left and scrapes that side ... the squeaking sound is obnoxious metal against metal.

I would just assume, if they were to lazy to fix it right, replace the bushing. They probably only trimmed the left side to fix the problem.

I would guess if you added metal back to the left side to make the opening 1-1/8" the new rubber boots and all would work.

Again just a guess, you will need to measure but I may at least be close  :)

 

And yes they are bolted down with the standard clips and body bolts used throughout the truck.

The hole around the column I only guess to be some sort of fastener for the rubber boot that fits in that hole.

Mine was removed when I bought the truck so  just a guess.

1113201815.jpg

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11 hours ago, JBNeal said:

 

JB, thanks for the links.  The 2nd one was especially enlightening.  It would appear I'm in need of a little patch panel that goes above the steering column.  That makes me feel a whole lot better!

 

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11 hours ago, Steve-L said:

My 52 B3B is marinating in the shed but here’s a couple of pics. Hope it helps. 

E7F4242D-F5E0-4A38-B585-C3E0A8AF9660.jpeg

DC710031-9870-4413-98D1-CA619EA6474F.jpeg

 

Steve, the top photo definitely shows the additional cover plate above the steering column as referenced in JB's links.  That shouldn't be all that difficult to replicate.  Thank you for posting the pictures.

 

Brad

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Digging through my old pictures last night I found one that shows the remains of my original upper panel.  A PO torched off a section to the right of the steering column and apparently felt it was too difficult to remove the whole upper panel in one piece so he cut it in half.

 

The clutch pedal opening looks to be very similar to Steve's.  

 

truck013x.jpg.d8110d013334c08a1c1b01731da1c91c.jpg

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4 hours ago, bkahler said:

 

 

JB, thanks for the links.  The 2nd one was especially enlightening.  It would appear I'm in need of a little patch panel that goes above the steering column.  That makes me feel a whole lot better!

 

I agree .... I have that piece somewhere, found it underneath the seat with a bunch of other junk I felt did not go with the truck. Going to have to dig it up and put it to use.

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On 11/13/2020 at 8:11 PM, Steve-L said:

My 52 B3B is marinating in the shed but here’s a couple of pics. Hope it helps. 

E7F4242D-F5E0-4A38-B585-C3E0A8AF9660.jpeg

 

 

Steve, your panel is the first one I've seen using the square washers to hold the kick panel in place.  I guess that might explain why I have so many of those square washers extra at the moment.  I had round flat washers set aside but it looks like I should be using the square washers.  Thanks for posting the picture.

 

Brad

 

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9 minutes ago, JBNeal said:

I heard a rumor that ya might have a NOS floormat that might cover this whole area...

 

Nice, I have one too, but the mice got to the jute backing and messed it up, rubber is un-scathed though. Needs a bit of cleaning!

 

20201116_174706.jpg.b058d5462e4ddecfe450ba48dc907094.jpg

 

20201116_174605.jpg.6a4a33d6d48a6a1c0fe6fe518e4f0389.jpg

 

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10 hours ago, billrigsby said:

 

 

Nice, I have one too, but the mice got to the jute backing and messed it up, rubber is un-scathed though. Needs a bit of cleaning!

 

20201116_174706.jpg.b058d5462e4ddecfe450ba48dc907094.jpg

 

20201116_174605.jpg.6a4a33d6d48a6a1c0fe6fe518e4f0389.jpg

 

 

Awesome!  We will probably have the only two trucks with original floor mats installed.  When/where did you get yours?  Mine came from Franke Mitchell Motors back in 1998.

 

The backing on yours looks to be the same stuff mine is made of.  If you want to replace your backing I found the Jute backing used on my 72 TR6 is very similar in thickness and makeup and readily available.  

 

The only issue I have with mine is wrinkles in the rubber from having been rolled up for so long.  Right now I have it laying on the floor with heavy weights over the wrinkles to see if that will take them out.

 

Brad

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12 hours ago, bkahler said:

 

Steve, your panel is the first one I've seen using the square washers to hold the kick panel in place.  I guess that might explain why I have so many of those square washers extra at the moment.  I had round flat washers set aside but it looks like I should be using the square washers.  Thanks for posting the picture.

 

Brad

 

 

pretty much the whole truck uses the square (lock/spring) washers anywhere there is a body panel.....

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37 minutes ago, bkahler said:

 

Awesome!  We will probably have the only two trucks with original floor mats installed.  When/where did you get yours?  Mine came from Franke Mitchell Motors back in 1998.

 

The backing on yours looks to be the same stuff mine is made of.  If you want to replace your backing I found the Jute backing used on my 72 TR6 is very similar in thickness and makeup and readily available.  

 

The only issue I have with mine is wrinkles in the rubber from having been rolled up for so long.  Right now I have it laying on the floor with heavy weights over the wrinkles to see if that will take them out.

 

Brad

 

Sadly a few years ago talking to one of Bunn's good friends that is into Power Wagons, he told me he knew were all the original molds were for the floor mats.  BUT no one would touch them due to low returns on investment.  Believe me I pressed him on hooking me up with the owners/holders of the tooling.  Was the story real or just hot air, one will never know now.  Kinda makes one wonder what else is still lurking in the bushes.

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6 hours ago, ggdad1951 said:

 

pretty much the whole truck uses the square (lock/spring) washers anywhere there is a body panel.....

 

That's what I thought but for some reason I had flat washers in the bag with the original screws and j-clips.  My guess is some PO swapped the square washers out for the round ones at some point in time.  

 

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11 hours ago, bkahler said:

 

When/where did you get yours?  Mine came from Franke Mitchell Motors back in 1998.

 

Brad

 

1991, Norms Antique Auto Supply in Iowa, $31.00  ?

 

img423.jpg.61a34875ef0503658726f3a1a402deb3.jpg

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1 hour ago, bkahler said:

Talk about a steal!   And $6 shipping, that's something that is long gone.

 

I paid $160 + about $20 shipping and I thought I got a reasonable deal at the time.  

 

 

And does that say please reimburse me for shipping? Like he actually trusted him to pay actual shipping price after the fact?

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30 minutes ago, Young Ed said:

And does that say please reimburse me for shipping? Like he actually trusted him to pay actual shipping price after the fact?

 

WHAT, YOU DON'T TRUST ME?

 

LOL ? 

 

Yes those were the days huh, used to sit around waiting for Hemmings Motor News to show up, and start scanning for any AD that was new.

 

All this was pre-real-internet

(I think we had dial-up back then) (and I'm guessing old Norm did not have a website), 

you paid for something and then once they actually got it in a box and prepped it for shipping then they knew how much it cost, simpler times.

 

 

Edited by billrigsby
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On 11/16/2020 at 3:44 PM, bkahler said:

 

Steve, your panel is the first one I've seen using the square washers to hold the kick panel in place.  I guess that might explain why I have so many of those square washers extra at the moment.  I had round flat washers set aside but it looks like I should be using the square washers.  Thanks for posting the picture.

 

Brad

 

It’s interesting the bits of info you can get from a pic that was taken for another reason entirely. Glad it helped. 

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On 11/18/2020 at 3:33 AM, Steve-L said:

It’s interesting the bits of info you can get from a pic that was taken for another reason entirely. Glad it helped. 

 

I save just about every picture of a pilot house truck that I run across.  It's amazing some of the detail that you can glean from a single picture.

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Made some progress on the carburetor linkage today.  Still need to fabricate the arm from the shaft down to the pedal linkage.  Also waiting on some 1/4" push nuts to be used to retain the linkage where it connects to the carburetor arms.  Also, I think I've figured out how to add a second throttle return spring to each carburetor.  I'm going to Ace hardware tomorrow to shop for some small springs.

 

Once the linkage is done that puts me one step closer to starting the engine for the first time :)

 

 

20201120_151112x.jpg.813ca72ea525d665fde85783446f8717.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I got the kick boards and transmission cover installed this morning.  I hadn't planned on installing them quite this soon but I needed to figure out how much stroke the gas pedal was going to provide so I can make the pivot arm for the carburetor linkage.

 

I found it interesting that the gas pedal has a slight kick to the right at the top which made it a tough fit over the studs on the transmission cover.  The replacement pedal that I bought is made identical to the original so for whatever reason Dodge just didn't line them up quite right.

 

The transmission cover will need to come off again so I can install the boot but that's for another day.

 

20201121_130927x.jpg.f9f45c5374f5afe370c653479815c915.jpg

 

20201121_130906.jpg.04c4b3291a2f194b43b53fba5189e663.jpg

 

 

Brad

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