To Do List

This list is in no particular order. Click on the item for details on my progress for that particular item.

1. Repair Wipers (completed 10/5/06)


2. Repair Radio (completed, 12/20/06, hear it play)


3. Add Wood Rails (completed 9/2/06)


4. Add Seatbelts (completed 9/4/07)


5. Add Signal Lights


6. Repair Gas Tank Filler Tube Leak (completed 8/22/07)


7. Repair Gas Sending Unit (completed 9/10/07)
   
8. Add Passenger Side Mirror
9. Add Firewall Pad/Acoustic Pad
   
10. Refurbish Spare Oil Bath Air Filter (completed 3/22/07)
    
11. Add arm rests to door interior (completed 6/25/07)
    
12. Locate or fabricate missing center trim piece for Fulton Sun Visor (completed 7/30/07)
    
13. Add side-mounted spare tire
14. Carburetor Rebuild (completed 7/26/10)
    

1950 1/2 Dodge PU sold at auction.....

for $26,500.
Dana Mecum's Original Spring Classic Auction - 21st Year
May 15 - 18, 2008
SPECIFICATIONS
-Year 1950
-Make Dodge
-Model 1/2 Ton Truck
-Body
-Exterior Color Green / Black
-Interior Color Green / Black
-Transmission Manual
Description
*** This car to be offered at
Dana Mecum’s Original Spring Classic Auction
May 15-16-17-18 in Indianapolis, IN ***

*** Auction Selling Time For This Lot is Friday 11:35 AM ***
- Rare 1950 Dodge 1/2 ton short box with only 30,625 actual miles
- Completely original, repainted once
- Whisper quiet smooth running original 6 cylinder engine
- 3-speed manual transmission
- Unique pilot house cab
- Chrome bumpers
- Bumper guards
- 4 new Firestone wide white walls
- New brakes
- This truck has been maintained to not only be a show truck but an excellent driver
- This truck speaks for itself
- Has been stored in a private collection for years

Side Mounted Spare

The blue pilot house pictured here is my motivation to mount my spare on the side of the bed. I have always liked that look and have slowly procuring the items I need to get this accomplished. I briefly considered staying original to my '49 and mounting the spare under the bed, but what fun is there in that. I want to show off the classic B.F. Goodrich white walls.

The tire: Purchased from Coker Tire
710-15 B.F.GOODRICH 2 1/2" WW
SKU 58000
Construction: 4 ply polyester
Load Capacity: 1550 @ 32 psi
Tube Type: Tubeless
Overall Diameter: 27.98
Cross Section: 7.4
Tread Width: 4.6
Tread Depth: 11
Max Inflation: 32
Rec. Rim Width: 5.5--7

The Wheel: Provided by fellow pilot house owner and enthusiast, Tony Cipponeri, for the cost of shipping and a donation to the Pilot-House.com website. It was received in great condition, with a black powdercoat even!

The Mount: Purchased on eBay
I believe it belonged to a Jeep CJ and I was
lucky to find that the 5 bolt pattern matched up nicely.

Glad I kept my truck original!

A 1952 1/2 ton Dodge Pilot House fetches top dollar at a Kruse International Auction in 2007.

Rojo Pencil Sketch

Best 6 Volt Battery for Your Classic Vehicle

Traditional batteries use lead plates suspended in acid. However, the plates are not pure lead, but an alloy of lead, antimony, and other metals. It is these other metals that allow sulphation (irreversible coating of the plates) to occur. When a battery sits idle, sulphation occurs at a greatly increased rate. As the plates develop more of this coating, the battery is less & less able to accept a full charge and finally dies.Battery designers can't use pure lead plates in a traditional design because they're too soft, and will bend and touch each other inside the case, shorting out the battery.Spiral cell batteries use a pure lead sheet, wound in spiral with a fiberglass mat that absorbs the liquid acid. This allows a much greater resistance to sulphation, and an ability to sit idle for long periods without losing charge. Just the ticket for vintage cars.

Washing Rojo

Fulton Sun Visor

For as long as I've owned the truck, the Fulton sun visor has been missing the center stainless steel trim piece that covers the screws that hold the two leafs together. This has been one of those visual tings that have bothered me because the truck seems to look incomplete without it. I have been looking for quite a while and almost came to the conclusion that I would have to buy a new one entirely just for this one piece, until I came across Loupees Classic Car Parts on eBay. Spoke to them this morning: the part is on its way!

Dodge Truck VIN Decoder

Camera + Dodge = Dodge Pics

Radio Manual

The MoPar Model 802 Radio was the original factory radio offered for my 1949 Dodge Truck.

MoPar 802 features

• 8 tubes
• Manual and Electric Push Button Tuning
• Color Tone Control (Mello, Music, Voice)
• Vertically Dash Mounted
• 1 Electromagnet Speaker

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Changing Oil the Right Way

It's more than a simple "drain and fill"...
How often you should change your car's oil depends on when it was built. On cars manufactured before oil filters were common, you need to change the oil every thousand miles in order to prevent sludge buildup in the pan and oil galleries. On cars from the late thirties, forties and fifties, every two thousand miles is usual. More modern cars only require an oil change every three to six thousand miles to keep them in the pink.
Changing oil is no big deal, but there is a right and wrong way to do it. Click here for the right way. Also, see Lube chart

Parts List

A list of parts, part numbers and suppliers for the routine maintenance of Rojo.

Oil Filter (sock type) - NAPA #FIL1011

• Air Filter - NAPA #FIL6179, Fram CA3924, Carquest 88179



• Battery - Optima Model 6V



• Brakes (Shoes, Master Cylinders, Wheel Kits) - Andy Bernbaum Auto Parts



• Wiper Blades - Part#U164



• Universal Joint - Carquest #1-5900



• Front Shocks at AutoZone Monroe #410126 guardian shock



• Rear Shocks at AutoZone Monroe #078476 proguard shock



• Rear brake cylinders;Left Upper W10580Right Upper W10581Left Lower W10582Right Lower W10583



• Carburetor rebuild kit for Carter Ball & Ball E7T2 - Carquest #101A , NAPA CRB25066A




• In-line fuel filter - WIX 33046, NAPA FIL 3046




• Fuel pump - NAPA NFP M2091

Dodge Truck Lube Chart

Interactive map

An customized map with important data points (Car wash, DMV, Autoparts Store, Service garage) and cruise routes (scenic drives, dump runs, etc.).

Slow leak is getting faster

Recently a somewhat annoying slow leak in my tire has become a faster one. It appears that the problem is the tire stem valve. I noticed the one that is leaking is slightly different than the 2 rear tires. This one isn't bolted to the steel rim like the others. It turns out that rims on these old trucks have an oval, not round, cutout for the valve stem. And I now realize how scarce the required oval stems are to come by, which probably explains why only 2 of my four tires had the correct ones in them. My local tire guy was able to locate 4 new oval valve stems from an olditme supplier he has been dealing with for years. Later this Spring I will swap out all four with these new ones.

NADA value as of 3/20/07

Truck, Van, & SUV
1949 Dodge Pickup 1/2 Ton
Original MSRP: $1,263
Low Retail $4,700
Average Retail Value $9,300
High Retail $15,500

Arm rests for Rojo

Although not very common on Pilot House trucks, arm rest were an option. I have wanted to add these to my truck, not for the comfort of my arm, but out of concern that I might pull off the door handle when closing the truck door from the inside. This is not really an issue when the window is rolled down, but early Spring or late Fall one does not want to roll down the window simply to get a better grip to close the truck door. Fellow pilot house trucker, Reg Evans, has supplied me with a photo of his.

....Continued.....

Well, I was lucky enough to locate these MoPar original arm rests. Can't wait to get them installed.

Here is an alternative that Jim Shepard used. I really like it and may still go that route. He used an inexpensive door pull manufactured by Stanley purchased at Home Depot.

Here is the finished product. The armrests look good and feel solid. I am very happy with the result

To convert or not to convert......

...that is the question. I am considering coverting my oil bath air filter to a paper filter type. I have seen several examples other peoples work posted on the web. It looks like a relatively simple project, but I am somewhat reluctant to proceed. Will I be affecting the value of my "completely stock" and "as close to original as you can get" truck for the sake of convenience?

Example 1: Norm's Coupe
Example 2: How-to article on a F*&d website

I decided to convert. The filter I used is a Carquest #88179 for anyone that has a similar type filter housing. It seems to seal quite nicely at the top and the bottom when the wingnut is tightened. Looks pretty darn close to original to me.

Finished product complete with original manufacturer instruction decals:

Spare oil bath air filter

I recently picked up an oil bath air filter on ebay with the intention of testing my refinishing skills on a spare rather than the one currently on my flat-six. If the result is a good one, I will swap it out with the one I'm currently running. Although the filter was advertised as in good condition, it is over 50 years old and had a fair amount of worn paint, rust and pitted in areas - nothing a little grinding and paint can't fix.

....Continued

I decided to convert the original oil bath air filter setup to a more modern paper element style. The canister will look original but the innards will be modern. See for yourself here.