Rawge's B2-B Project

My son and I worked on restoring this B-2-B 1950 Dodge truck for over a year. Somewhere during the truck's 50 years, the front end was replaced with a 1952 grill. We found the truck  when some ole boy dragged it out to the road and hung a "for sale" sign on it. I was skeptical, but a 10 year old boy can be pretty convincing (and fortunately, very optimistic).  The truck had been disassembled several years before and most of the stuff was piled in the bed.  A quick inspection showed that much of it was rusted through, and many pieces were missing, but it had that "please help me" look.   My beautiful wife, who had spent her childhood working in her Dad's parts store and machine shop, felt pretty confident that we could put the puzzle back together. 

 We found that we needed a number of hard-to-find parts, so I called my Dad and told him what we had started. He reminded me that my Uncle Charles had received a truck from my Grandpa and that he was pretty sure it was also a 1950 1/2 ton.  He was also pretty sure that it was still sitting out on the farm where I had grown up. I made the 4-hr trip back out to the ranch to pay a visit to my Uncle Charles. Sure enough, it was still there!! That truck had been sitting there in the boneyard, overgrown with weeds, for over 30 years. Talk about fate!

Even though we knew almost nothing about trucks, especially Dodges, we jumped into the project.  With the help from some very friendly Dodge truck folks that we met via the Internet, we managed to get the old thing in pretty good shape. We did all of the work ourselves, from painting it in the backyard to sewing the upholstery and other vinyl items. This was a great father and son project. Below are a few pictures taken during the process.  We are now addicted to these pilothouse trucks and have completed a second project - a 1949 B-1 FA. I am now looking to find a 1948 B-1-B to restore. 

I have since parted a 1948 B-1-B and a 1949 B-1-B and have a bunch of parts left over, as well as some NOS parts that I have accumulated, so if you are needing something please let me know.

Back to Rawge's Pilothouse Information

This 1950 Dodge belonged to my Uncle. I had forgotten about it until I started looking for parts. My Dad mentioned that It might still be out at the farm. I made the 3-hour trip, and there it was, covered with weeds. It had sat there for over 20 years. I dragged out to the road with a tractor and started pullin' parts	After taking an inventory of missing parts, we started taking the body apart, and rebuilding the engine. Parts that I couldn't get from my farm truck were located using the Internet. I located several other people that were doing similar projects and they have been a big help.	The bed had been converted to a piece of plywood. I replaced it with wood strips that I ripped from a 100 year old barn. They are strong, but still have that "vintage" look. I planed them to get rid of the oxidized wood, but it retained the fine age cracks. After sanding them smooth, I treated them with several coats outdoor Varathane.	I managed to get all of the original gauges to work. I also used the stock switches and knobs. Since I converted it from 6 v positive ground to 12v negative ground, I couldn't use the existing radio. So, I installed a CD Player and 4 speakers hidden inside the black diamond-tuck on the doors and headliner.
This is the 218 CID flathead engine after it was rebuilt. It starts instantly, and purrs like a kitten. I added a custom built header, 2" dual exhaust, optical ignition, and a larger carburetor. With 3.5:1 rearend gears, it can reach 65 mph and cruises nicely at 55mph. It sounds pretty good, too.	We had no use for the speaker grill, so we created a ram's head in red transparency using overhead projection material. It lights up when the headlights come on.	Well, here it is. I wanted a more contemporary Dodge Ram look, but also wanted to retain the flavor of the old truck. So, I replaced the grill with chrome tubing. The parking lights, rearview mirror, visors, and other parts  were taken from a 60's era Mopar car.	It's amazing what a farmboy can do with a few dollars and a couple of Crescent wrenches. To make it safer, we installed seat/shoulder belts, and  large brake lights. We rebuilt the entire braking and steering system. Now it's fun to drive and safe, too
UPDATE!!... After the Sept.11 attack on the World Trade Center, I was ashamed to find that I didn't own a flag. Every store in the State was sold out, so I improvised...We have now given away over  600 American flags from the new Red-White-and Blue Dodge God Bless America!	"My washing Crew"

Dodge Trucks Color History Book	Truck: On rebuilding a 1950 Dodge	Dodge Trucks History and Restoration Guide	How to Build Plymouth/Dodge and Chrysler  Hot Rods	Dodge Pickup Trucks (Enthusiast Color Series)	JC Whitney offers parts for vintage autos... The catalogs are free. They also sell a new (not rebuilt) water pump for the Dodge flathead engine

Rawge and Rhonda's 6th Annual Horseshoe Tournament Party
and Hot Wing Contest Photos