new here: looking at '50ish Dodge 1.5 ton COE, need comments....

[DennisBT]

Hello:

Nice to be here. Am looking for FAQ's, etc., to learn before asking too many questions. But I do have one:

I expect to be offered a 1950 (?) Dodge COE, probably 1.5 ton. s/n8741028X, model: B1HMA161. It has 80% of it's original paint. Factory (?) tach, all gauges look nice, hoist, PTO runs to end of bed. Electric 2-speed. Has all service history since the owner bougt it when it had 8K miles on the truck. Owner replaced engine at 51K miles with, "251 Crysler 6-cyl. Industrial." Bored it .080 over; new pistons, etc. Oddly, note says, "bad pits 4-inches down in no. 1 cylinder. I cannot determine if that referes to old engine, or re-bored new engine. OR, they bored it until the boring bar ran into sand pits in the block casting. Owner bought it in 1953, so I think it is a 1950 or thereabouts.

Truck currently has 53K miles on it. That's 2K miles since rebuild.

I'm not sure what to offer for it. Can anyone tell me more about it, such as model year, from the stats listed above?

BTW, what is a, "pilot house," Dodge? Sorry, I'm new to this.

I'm trying to figure out how to handle a deal on this truck, so the more background I can learn, the better I will be informed when the time comes.

Thanks,

Dennis

E. WA state

[5.9diesel]

im new here too, so i may not help alot, but if i heard about 'bad pits' i would pull the number one sparkplug and rotate the engine by hand untill #1 is a bottom dead center (bdc) and then look thru the plug hole with a good flashlight. any imperfections should be noticeable. the model # you posted says B1H... the b means b series, and the 1 means it is a '48 or '49. a 1950 would be a b2. im not sure, but hma is usually part of the weight rating, and 161 is the wheelbase.

[Reg Evans]

Dennis,

Here's a thread started by Ken Foit who owns a 50 Cab Over. He hasn't posted here much but you might be able to contact him via a personal message by clicking on his name and then clicking on the appropriate link there.

http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=6454

I have a 41 COE I'll restore one of these days. Good luck !

Reg

[MBF]

Dennis-welcome! The Pilot House refers to the cab style used by Dodge for trucks manufactured between '48 and '53. The selling point was the large cab and great visibility-hence the pilot house name. I've seen this "pitting" problem on another Chrysler I own. It is most likely due to a leaky head gasket allowing coolant into the cylinder on a motor that has been sitting, or the vehicle sitting for a long period of time in a damp area with the intake valve open allowing it to wick in and hold moisture. Judging from the mileage in your note, I would tend to believe this truck has been sitting both prior to and after the engine swap. I would do the best inspection that you can through the spark plug hole (there are scopes available nowadays for this) but you're probably going to end up pulling the head to make the repairs anyway which is when you'll really be able to see what you've got and what needs to be done. You may have to sleeve that cylinder if the pitting is really bad. Hopefully he's talking about the old engine. At least its #1 so that makes it somewhat easier in the cabover. Good luck-Mike

[Reg Evans]

To determine the health of the engine how about warming it up and then remove the plugs and give it a compression test. That way you'll know if #1 is as healthy as the rest of them.

[anthonyb]

Dennis,

To add on to what 5.9 Diesel and Mike wrote:

B - B series truck

1 - '48 or '49 year model

H - 2 ton rating *

M - COE cab design

A - 2 speed rear axle

161 - 161" wheel base

* - The weight rating is just a nominal figure as there are several gross weights in the same general range. I believe the 'H' designator was a gross weight between 14,500 and 16,500. I'd have to check my book to confirm that.

You won't be able to look down the plug hole to see the cylinder bore as the plugs are centered over the valves and not the piston. Unless you have a flexible bore scope you will have to pull the head to see the pitting you described.

As Reg said, get ahold of Ken Foit. He has a nice COE and has done a lot with it so he should be able to answer most of your COE specific questions. There's a couple of us who have the larger trucks so finding info on them will not be too hard. Just ask. The guys (and girls) around the forum are more than happy to help out any way they can.

[grey beard]

Howdy and welcome to our forum. There are several COE's out there, and a few in this group who use the frorum. I'm posting a pic of one owned by my son in NW Montana. Unfortunately, his has a siezed engine, and engine swaps or overhauls on this truck body style are not for the raint of heart. To put it plainly, they are very hard to work on - you have a choice of working through two small holes in the floor or kneeling down underneath to do carb or ignition work, etc. To pull a motor you must remove the nose completely and bring everything out the front. That all said, they are fine looking trucks.

Where do you live? Tell us more about your find after you have had a little time with it. As has been pointed out already in this thread, you will see nothing down a pug hole on these flatheads except edges of valves. A compression test is the best resource for diagnosis.

Lastly, we are lookking for Pilothouse COE parts. Do you have knowledge of where any of these are that may be fror sale, either complete or for parts?

Thanks

[DennisBT]

Thanks, everyone, for all the replies. I'll do some of the things suggested. Note that I have yet to buy the truck or even be certain they will deal on it, but indications look promissing.

I'm working 12 hour days, so my replies here are a little fuzzy at times. I am located in Eastern Washington state.

Dennis

[grey beard]

If you DON'T buy the truck and it is still available, please let us know. If you DO buy the truck let us know so we can help you. You may wish to contact my son at Kalispell. He is not too far from you in Eastern WA. His email is <kkcncerb@hotmail.com>. He has a line on several of these COE units.

Good Luck

[DennisBT]

Hello again....

Finally finished my wheat harvest job yesterday...those 12 hour days kept me out of the house 14 hours each time, so I've had little opportunity to follow and answer this forum until now.

The COE: The farm where it is located, decided earlier this week that they were going to, "continue to use the truck," for a while yet. (Occasional use) They have all my contact information and I see their manager from time-to-time, so all I can do is wait and when they declare it surplus I hope they call me. I also realize that if a postponement such as this occurs, my chances of being remembered go way down. We'll see. I WILL buy the truck if I have the chance, and they are very, very set on it's remaining in the immediate area, so I think that will eliminate some risk.

Incidentally, that serial number I posted at the beginning IS the exact number that appears on the door plate. No opportunity to check inside the front tire for the frame number. They have owned the truck since it was new. And it has all the handwritten service records. Wow.

Thanks for all the help, I'll be checking in periodically here.

Dennis

E. WA state