'52 B3B Resto-Mod

[Starman]

Just wanted to get started on the restoration of my 52 B3B. I guess the joke going around this part of the country is old guys retire, find themselves an old pickup truck, then have fun fixing it up and paint it red.  I found this baby on Craigslist after looking for several years and talked the wife into the idea. After the original owner passed away, it was stored in a barn for awhile, was picked up by a family member, then spent the next 30 some years outside on the farm. Some rust, but nothing totally eaten away. I had it parked out in the driveway until I could get the garage ready and I got a lot of people who stopped by to admire it and are looking forward to its restoration.

 

I have already had lots of questions and I appreciate everyone's responses. There's a massive wealth of experience, insight and support here. It's awesome!

 

At first, I was heading toward the full restoration approach, but things like seat belts, braking and other safety concerns along with wiring that's shot, etc. shifted my inclinations to the Resto-Mod approach (no rat-rod). The 218 runs good, despite having loose intake and exhaust manifolds, but I want it to look and run great. In the meantime, I've started pulling things off, organizing, photographing and documenting everything and naturally finding a fair number of things that need replacing/rebuilding.

 

So, I'm just getting started and am looking forward to restoring and driving this baby!

 

Dave

[Brent B3B]

Looks great, ? have fun with it Dave 

[Merle Coggins]

Break the local trend... paint it Blue again... ?

 

Nice lookin' project. Welcome to the "Family". 

[Lingle]

Welcome!  in the short time I have been on this site, its been super helpful.  Make sure to read all the various sticky forum posts at the beginning to help navigate some of the various resources.  The parts vendors and other websites have helped me significantly.  I look forward to seeing what you plan to do!

[JBNeal]

Paint it blue so when ppl ask what you're a-doin' to that buggy, you can tell'm that you're gonna smurf it up 

[Starman]

?

Red's not my fav, besides all the Ford and Chevy dudes are doing it and I'm to much a 60's guy to along with the crowd. But I really like the solid colors.  Couldn't find a match on a 1953 dodge paint chip sheet I downloaded.

 

Hope I can find somebody who likes working on these old trucks so I can work with them and not have to mortgage my house to pay for it. Oh well. back to the tear down.  Man that's relaxing.

 

D.

[Brent B3B]

I would have guessed the paint chart you show, to be for cars.....

did you look here? 

 

http://dodgepilothouseclub.org/know/color/imgcol/index.htm

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by Brent B3B

[Starman]

Ah! Waterway Blue! Thanks!

D

[PT81PlymouthPickup]

You Know!  Some would pay bunches of money to create that patina. Maybe don't paint it at all? ?

[Worden18]

Looks good!  Congrats on the purchase.  I'll be watching ?

[tom'sB2B]

I'll second with staying with the original patina. Save your money for:

Jeep cherokee rear axle 

Disk brakes 

Duel master cylinder 

6 volt alternator

Glass rubber, door seals and a new interior.

No matter which way you go, welcome aboard. You'll find everything you need to know on this forum.

 

 

 

 

 

[Jeff Balazs]

Have fun with it they are great trucks. I did my resto-mod 52 B-3-C a few years back. My approach was to go for a truck I could drive every day. And I do. These trucks were pretty well thought out and engineered. Tom's list above covers most of the stuff I did. As far as paint and cosmetics.....do what you want. I look forward to seeing your progress.

Jeff

[Starman]

On 1/26/2021 at 6:05 PM, PT81PlymouthPickup said:

You Know!  Some would pay bunches of money to create that patina. Maybe don't paint it at all? ?

Patin, isn’t that nice word for rust?

[billrigsby]

30 minutes ago, Starman said:

Patin, isn’t that nice word for rust?

 

I've seen several different references in several different threads about keeping this patina, personally, I like a nice prime coat and then a nice color coat.

 

Personal preference

[48Dodger]

"Definition: A usually green film formed naturally on copper and bronze by long exposure or artificially (as by acids) and often valued aesthetically for its color. b : a surface appearance of something grown beautiful especially with age. Use: 'the beautiful patina of this antique table.'

                                                                                                                                                                                                              Websters"

 

Other possible definitions.

               "Rust bucket extraordinaire"

                     "Paint? Whose got the money for paint??"

                             "Patina??"  " No, I said 'Paint not needed'.....geez, careful, you wanna start a trend???"

                 "Painted when parked".......❤️

 

48D

[Frank Elder]

7 hours ago, Starman said:

Patin, isn’t that nice word for rust?

Your Avatar has patina....lol.

[Plymouthy Adams]

no such thing as patina on steel....it oxidations is rust, it in not a protective barrier in any form of the word.....I like the term above

 

PAINTED WHEN PARKED.....probably the truthful description ever offered.

[PT81PlymouthPickup]

10 hours ago, Starman said:

Patin, isn’t that nice word for rust?

At my age , I no longer have the patience to do all the stripping, repairing, filling, sanding, priming, painting, wet sanding, and buffing. And after all that stuff, have a truck I'm afraid to get a scratch on and probably would be too old to drive. That's if I lived long enough to finish it? There is something to admire about a vintage vehicle that is mechanically sound and gets used without worry. If you can keep a vehicle in a garage and no longer drive it in wet salty conditions, the current rust will hold up just fine. Lols! Anyhow, just saying; I've come to appreciate things without all the shine. Kinda like women. Keeping up with those sporty shiny models will give you more pain. ?

[Jeff Balazs]

In the ten years I have had my truck.....and paid close attention to old Dodge trucks I have seen one that might have made a nice patina truck. If you care about preserving these trucks there are some not so obvious things that need to be considered. First and foremost is keeping water out of the cab. This is no easy task if they are used frequently and spend most or all their time outdoors.

And then there is maintenance and repairs. It is significantly easier to maintain and service something that has carefully cleaned, painted and reassembled than it is to fight with rusty or frozen fasteners every time you need to do something. And quite frankly if you plan on using the truck you will need as a minimum to replace all the brake and fuel lines and wiring. The list goes on and on. Once you get into it you will quickly realize that almost everything on the truck requires disassembly and that you might as well do it right and paint.

Just my take on it.......but it comes from someone who uses an almost 70 year old truck every day.

Jeff

[Starman]

Yeah, I never really planned a creating a "trailer queen". I'm going to try to get enough of the base level stuff to get it solid, de-rustified and functional.
Just finished getting the manifolds off. Talk about rusty locked-on nuts and bolts! I saw another posting that said there were 13 bolts total. I can attest to that. I had 11 of 'em off, and those manifolds weren't coming off no matter what I did. Found the last 2 kinda tucked in the middle and in between the top and bottom. I'd struggled with that for weeks. Sure goes easier when you know what you're doing.

Working my way down the drive train to get rid of the layers of grease and what I call the black stalactites. Once that's done, I plan on pulling the engine, tranny, drive shaft and the gas tank. When the weather's nicer, I'm going to experiment with a wet blaster attachment for my pressure washer and see if that cuts off rust and mud. It'll be a multiple pass approach as it'll be easier to clean under fenders and inside of doors without blowing them down the driveway.
Dave

[Starman]

Thanks Everyone. Jeff, I agree with you. It seems one thing leads to another either way - brakes, front then back, fuel lines and a leaky gas tank, etc., etc.
The thing is, each time I work on it I enjoy it. It's not like the old days when I had to get the car fixed so I could make it to work and back. I can be as detailed as I want to be, with no pressure.

I'm finishing up some greasy cleanup underneath, then I'm pulling the engine & tranny and get them ready to sell.

Hmm, can't seem to add any photos...

[Tooljunkie]

My 51 Fargo has a nice layer of surface rust. It earned that badge as a survivor. I have removed nearly every nut and bolt on this rig. Added my personal touches and am nearing the end. I cant wait to putt this truck around. 
 

paint is a personal preference,and i can picture your truck done in the original blue with gleaming chrome. It will get attention for sure. And it looks like the body is fairly straight, a good starting point. 
 

im not against paint, i have a gallon of metallic hemi orange to apply to my 65 Barracuda, paid a lot of money for it. Thats going to be way longer to finish. 

[Old CWO]

20 hours ago, Starman said:

I'm finishing up some greasy cleanup underneath, then I'm pulling the engine & tranny and get them ready to sell.

 

What's the plan for new drivetrain?

[Starman]

While it might be modified on the inside, I plan on keeping it really stock everywhere else (as much as I can) at least on the outside. That "patina" idea is sort of growing on me - though not as a long term solution. I still love the blue.

 

Looking at the engine mounts on the 360 LA -  it looks odd and I'm not sure how the motor mounts I've seen online bolt to the frame or if there's another bracket.  There are only mounts on the front of the engine and supposedly mounts on the tranny (727) behind the bell housing (plus at the output shaft), so hopefully between them they can handle the 400 HP, 420 Ft./Lb. of torque... I guess they did things differently back in 1971.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 26, 2021 by Starman
Reduce size of photo

[Starman]

'Bout time I got back and updated my progress -

Got the old dog stripped down to the bones...