Dan's 1953 B4B 1/2 Ton Restoration Project has started

[Dan693]

Hello all,

On August 18th, 2023 I purchased and brought home a 1953 Dodge B4B Truck-O-Matic 1/2 Ton truck.

The previous and also the second owner bought the truck from the estate of the original owner with 47,330 miles showing on the odometer and went about taking the truck apart down to the bear frame.

The PO did provide a video of him driving the truck before taking it apart.  I usually would not buy an old vehicle that someone else took apart but he did a really good job of documenting and bagging the parts with many photos.  He had also already purchased new springs and shackles, a great looking tailgate, and a few other items.  There are a few small non-structural rusted out ares on the cab and front fenders at the mounting points with the carriage bolts and the running boards are pretty much shot.  the bed and rear fenders have surface rust but no holes.  All and all is appears to be a nice complete truck and an interesting project.  The good news is that PO saved me the of taking it apart!!!!

 

I have started the following preliminary activities:

Made wheeled dollies to get all heavy pieces on wheels

Cleaned the engine in preparation for an internal inspection

Cleaned the front and rear axles

Started going through the boxes and inventorying the parts.

 

Initial plan of action:

Inspect the engine to see what needs to be done.  Minimum will be new gaskets and seals and paint. (need recommendation on silver paint)

Have the frame media blasted to better inspect and paint

Clean, inspect, and paint the axles

Replace the seals, bearings and bushings as required, and all brake parts on both axles

I would like to install a dual circuit master cylinder (will need guidance on that)

Make and install new brake lines

Clean, inspect and paint the fluid drive components.  (will need guidance on this)

Install a new pilot bearing, clutch plate pressure plate. and throw out bearing.  Resurface flywheel if needed

Clean inspect and paint everything attached to the transmission and bell housing.

Install engine, transmission, and axles onto the frame with new rubber mounts and radial tires to end up with restored rolling chassis.

The wheels are out getting media blasted and will be primed and painted the original ivory (need a paint code for the color)

Once I have a good rolling chassis, I will focus on the body, bed, interior, instruments and trim.

The original body color is dark green with a black bed and rear fenders.  I will paint it as it left the factory. (need paint code for the dark green)

I will update this post regularly and add photos.  Right now there would only be photos of parts in boxes.

Please feel free to ask questions and make suggestions and comments.  I know there is a lot of experience and wisdom on this forum that will need and appreciate.

The more time I spend with this nice old truck the more I think I made the correct decision to rescue it and get it back on the road.  I am retired and need to stay busy and I am looking forward to the challenge!  I will be doing all of the work myself with the exception of media blasting, paint and upholstery.

Dan

 

 

 

[Lingle]

nice start to the project!  I would recommend getting the Dunn book as it contains alot of information.  This site search will help you with many of your questions like master cylinder, etc.  With the closure of the other pilothouse site, I dont know if there are paint codes here but I am sure we can find some.  if I remember I will check my book at home if Dunn happened to put those there.

 

Good luck and look forward to seeing your posts

[ggdad1951]

A shop manual and parts book are also nice tools to decipher how some things go back together.

[Dan693]

Hello Lingle and ggdad1951,

Thank you both for the replies.

I saw the Dunn book but have not ordered one yet since I am still clean off everything.  I have the shop manual and parts book which will be a great help.

I need to find three 16" wheels.  Two of the four on the truck have thin flanges out on the edge of the rim from rust and there was not a spare wheel.  I put a want ad in this forum but have not received an replies.

We are making a little progress every day!!

Dan

 

[bkahler]

Dan, sounds like a great project.  You need to get some pictures posted so we can watch your progress.

 

Check with DCM Classic's in Wisconsin and Vintage Power Wagons in Iowa.  There are several used part sellers on Facebook Market Place as well.

 

Brad

[Dan693]

Hi Brad,

Thanks.  I will get some photos posted soon.

Dan

[Los_Control]

Good luck with your project, is a big job to take something completely disassembled by someone else and you put it back together.  Sounds like you have a solid plan though.

 

Truck-0-matic sounds cool as heck ?

I had a friend long ago that had a 1957 chebby truck with factory 6 cyl/automatic .... it was no speed demon would be slow getting to 55 mph but would cruise just fine when it got there  .... it was just a really fun truck .... I have never seen another factory truck like it.

I have heard of some dodge trucks with a fluid drive .... I have never heard of the Truck-0-matic before.

 

Since you want to go to a dual MC, I'm thinking you want drive-ability over 100 point show restoration.

One of the "gotcha" that Dodge truck owners run into is brake drums. If you have good drums you are golden .... need new drums? I have only found replacements on E-bay for $400 each .... so over $800 + shipping for the 2 brake drums. You still need new hydraulics & shoes ...... At this point several choose to upgrade the rear end.

Several more advantages to a modern rear end ..... If you need new drums it would be cheaper to do a rear end swap ..... The sooner in the build you figure out what you will do the better. ....... I'm cheap, my drums are good so staying stock .... In the future I will swap.

 

The Toyota master cylinder works really well for us, some good information in this thread. That is what I installed.

 

nicop or nickle copper brake line seems to be the go to line today. Easy to work with and should not rust out, reasonable on cost.

[Dan693]

Thanks Los_Control,

I pulled the drums off of both axles last week but have not cleaned them up and inspected yet. On a quick glance there was no ridge and surface looked good.  The shoes had a good bit of lining still on them.  The problem is with the wheel cylinders looking to be corroded beyond using kits.

 

The odometer shows 49K miles and what I am seeing, that maybe true.  I pulled the head and oil pan last week also.  The cylinders are standard bore and the cylinder wear is between .006 and .007. just below the ridge The rod journal I measured was also dead on stock and the edges on the valves and seats look great.   I will get deeper into the engine when I get back from Hershey.

I am not going for a 100 point show truck for the judges that like to find fly poop in a pepper shake to pick at it!!!!  I want a nice looking reliable truck painted in the original paint scheme. 

 

My largest challenge will be repairing the front fenders that have rusted where the carriage bolts go through for the fender mount.  There is minor rust out on the bottom rear of the cab under the gas tank and a few minor holes in the floor.  The door hinges have no sag, close like new, and the line at the cab is great.  The box has surface rust bit no holes.  There is still original black paint under the strip that is between the box and fender.  The rear fender have a lot of surface rust bit no holes.  The bed wood and supports are beyond saving.

 

I can go on and on!!!  I am really liking this old truck!!!!!!!

[Los_Control]

It sounds great, is it really 2 pedal  (gas / brake) automatic transmission?

 

Sounds great, I'm in the same boat my truck had issues but was in pretty decent mechanical shape when retired to a field. My shoes & drums all look like brand new ... 1 drum shows slight wear but very good condition. ..... While I want the rear end swap for better gearing, just cheaper to keep it as is now and worry about that later.

 

The fenders is a common issue they all rust there .... just a poor design. Weld in a patch and use carriage bolts to imitate the rivets you grind out .... I will be doing this soon.

 

Same with the back of the cab .... water gets inside and puddles up in that area and they rust out.

I just finished this a couple weeks ago ..... My welding sucks I'm in the process of teaching myself. ..... Not so sure I would do it the same way next time.

 

I kept the patch as small as I could .... just wanted good metal to weld to. .... I would have loved to completed the patch with no bondo ..... I'm just not good enough.

Problem is, you need to be able to hammer dolly your seams as you go. Such a area you just cant reach both arms around .... either one side or the other but not both.

After fighting it several times I finally gave in and I hammered the seam low & mudded it in. Looks fine now, but I will always know there is 1/8" bondo there.

All welded solid with no pin holes and is covered with seam seal on the inside .... it will be fine. ..... Currently working on the dent in the cab corner .... there will be mud there also.

 

It is great you have the engine out and can inspect it ... find much sludge in the pan?

Mine took little work to get it running, Most issues it has should disappear with a nice long drive ..... I expect to pull it out in the future. I just want to get some shake down miles on it then make a list of all that is needed. ..... I simply will not be comfortable driving it without pulling the pan to check for sludge.

[Dan693]

Los_Control,

Thank you for sharing the photos.  That is the spot on my cab.  I have done some sheet metal welding.  Back in the 1960's I gas welded in a few repair panels and have recently tried MIG.  With the MIG I spent more time grinding than welding!!!  My friend has recently bought a TIG welder and it is still in the box.  I will try to get him to let me unbox it and break it in.

 

There was some slug in the oil pan.  About an inch or so.  Not as bad as I expected.

 

The Truck-O-MAtic is what Chrysler used on many cars and called it Fluid Drive.  There is a clutch connected to a fluid coupler which is an early torque converter.  the transmission is like a normal standard transmission but different!!!  I will post a better explanation later.  Not sure if I mentioned this before, but the previous owner found and bought a complete junker engine with all of the 3 speed on the tree hardware including the steering column.  I plan to stay with the Truck-O-Matic unless it is in poor condition.  Here is an explanation from this forum: 

•  

Posted June 18, 2019

A Truck-O-Matic would be cool to have. It’s essentially the M6 transmission behind a Fluid Drive coupler. The same setup that Chrysler, DeSoto, and Dodge cars used under different names. Prestomatic, Tip-Toe Shift, Gyromatic. It may have been a 1 year only in the trucks. Shortly after that the automatics came out.  As you may have read, it’s a 4 speed trans with semi-automatic shifts between 1st/2nd, or 3rd/4th. You have to manually shift between the low and high range gears. For most driving around you could put it into high range and drive it like an automatic vehicle. Only need the clutch to get into gear initially, or to shift ranges or directions. 

[Los_Control]

Thanks for the explanation.

 

I hear ya on the tig welder ...... the best way to go. ...... If you know what you are doing.

 

I'm only suggesting your welder will be fine when you run a few miles of wire through it and get used to it.

I did say I had to teach myself how to weld. I think it is important you spend time with your welder ..... make up project to weld together and learn how to use your welder.

I have a multi process welder, it will do fluxcore, mig, tig, stick ..... What a mind puzzle for someone trying to learn ...... Do not make it complicated.

 

Do not expect to be a pro .... work on things that do not matter. Does this make sense? This is one of my early projects .... my goal to teach myself to weld.

It served a very good purpose the electronic ignition on the motor now stays dry & not cut out while running in the rain.

 

 

Nothing I really cared about, just a chore that needed to be done.

I was still messing around between mig & fluxcore at this time. ..... I learned a lot from this mess.

 

When I bought my daily driver truck, someone in the past cut a access hole to get to the fuel pump .... normal job is to lift the bed off the frame to get access.

I just feel lucky they saved the pieces they took out when they cut a access hole to the fuel pump.

While I certainly care about the truck, I tried to weld it together 5 years ago when I first bought it .... I failed and kept burning through the metal.

 

 

So a couple months ago I decided it was time to take on this project and this is the result.

This panel appeared to be cut out with maybe a cold chisel? If you follow the curve of the bottom line .... Sometimes a zip disk .... It was 3 separate pieces & I welded it back to 1 piece then fabricated mounts so I can remove it in the future if I need a new fuel pump.

You might think the obvious weld was from the left corner in ..... that is simply damage I never cared to remove & left it .....3 pieces of metal welded together there and zero bondo .... spray can paint job to protect it.

 

My only point is, your welder is just fine as it is .... you need to learn to read it and respond to it.

I got tired of messing with gas .... I have a 1/2 bottle in the back room if I need it ..... So I just run fluxcore. No professional body man does that.

You will be fine just learning to use mig and getting really comfortable with it.

 

Do not blame your welder, blame your skills on using your welder & step up your game.

[Los_Control]

I'm just saying most people would not guess where it was welded back together ... It is not the quality of the machine .... It is what can you do with it?

Learn one process at a time .... you do not need to add tig into it.