Projects 52 Dodge B3B Hemi Project

They do make testers.....The JB Weld might or might not hold up. My Uncle used it on a block & traded the car @ a used car lot. The car lot called a week later & said not to come around there again.

 

...as if some dealers don't do the same thing.....

 

i have used JB with success and failure over the years, it all depends on the prep of the area, size of the crack, amount of pressure at the site and cure time. This is a seeping crack which I V'd out with a carbide bit, then using a 60 grit wheel cleaned the area, then wiped it all down with a cleaner and then pushed the JB into the crack. Not saying any of this will work but it has been a successful formula in the past. Marine-tex is a better product but not available locally. The crack has been there for years by the looks of it, so it cant be any worse than it was. The temp freeze plug coming out is what prompted me to dis***emble it at which point I discovered the crack. I beleive that when it originally occured, the freeze plug popped out, the previous owner/s installed the temp one and thought it was all good not knowing that the crack existed. It is hard to see as it is under a ridge on the block. We will see how it works out.

 

how true that is, I have seen dealers do all sorts of "repairs" to get a vehicle off the lot. Sawdust in the rearend was pretty common on muscle cars that saw lots of hard launches.

 

Lurk away, I am glad you enjoy reading it.

 

Just keep an eye on the visits number!

 

I'm watching just because you're from Yelm.....

 

got to stick together...

 

I can dig that....it sounded a little needy to me at first. Build away please

 

Keep it coming we are reading and enjoying.

 

I have been trying to build the radiator support and front bumper supports. Unfortunately many years of use and abuse, the bumper is far from straight; I have however got the mounts made and tacked in. It is level (for the most part) but not exactly centered. I am thinking that since I made the mounts removable, I will just weld the bumper to the original brackets once I get it all centered.

 

I need to make some bracket behind the bumper brackets; if not should I hit something or something hit me it will put all of the pressure onto the radiator support. I am going to run an electric fan so I am not worried about the fan eating the radiator so much, but I cant imagine it would do the radiator any good.

 

Here is a picture of my 98 diesel engine, if you look closely you can see the missing freeze plug (to the left of the visible one). Also, you can see the JB Weld directly below the freeze plugs.

 

I was reading sometime back about some of the early 12v engines that had an inherent design or casting flaw that resulted in the crack that you have.

http://www.stamey.info/Truck/***mins53BlockFAQ.htm

.

 

thanks Gary, it appears that I have one of these fine examples (lucky me). I am going with the JB fix for now and see how it works (maybe I will send to JB and get some promotional fame..).

 

I probably missed how you are mounting your radiator support. Previous experience tells me the radiator and fender support has to be pretty tough. With the design of the fenders, nose piece, hood, and radiator all hanging on the radiator support, it needs to be substantial or the nose will drop down in a couple years causing cracks around the fender/nose/hood support junction.

When I did my 50, (on a full sized Dodge frame, the Dakota is a lot easier) I used rubber sandwich mounts with brackets welded to the frame to mount the radiator support (think 70s Dodge truck radiator support mounting). I had all the inner 50 Dodge bracing, radiator support, fenders, and nose bolted together like they did in the 50s plus I added a little extra bracing above the rubber bushing. In a couple short years I noticed cracks starting to appear at the fender to nose bolt area, on both sides at the top. I shimmed the rubber bushings thinking it must have been too low, and repaired the tops of the fenders and nose (I run a welding shop, the repair was done right). in another couple years, I noticed cracking again in about the same area. I took it apart and reinforced the entire bottom of the radiator support with angle iron welded to the support to sit on top of the rubber sandwhich mounts (which still looked like new).

After 12 years, and probably less then 35,000 miles on the road, the truck was involved in a major head on crash. Upon dis***emble, I discovered the angle iron that was welded to the bottom of the radiator support had been separated for some time. There were structure cracks on all the under the nose factory braces, and the nose was cracked under the hood attaching bracket.

Granted, my truck was used like a truck, it was a 4x4 and was used to plow snow, but since my truck was wrecked 2 years ago, I have noticed nearly any 50s Dodge truck has cracks at the top corners where the fenders and nose bolt together. I presume there is not enough support for the nose.fender/radiator & hood weight.

As far as your bumper bracing, bolt or weld a tube, side to side between the two bumper brackets, just behind the nose piece. any bump will have to bend both bumper brackets, the bumper, and the tube. A harder hit then that will bend the truck frame. Gene

 

it would seem that the crack is somewhat common and the repairs varied. Since this crack has obviously been present for years and who knows how many miles, my repair can't be worse than that. I will go with the JB followed by a good flushing followed by some moroso block sealant and see where it ends up. I am not pulling the engine for this; far too many other issues to deal with; plus it does run good. worst case I have to carry a container of water/anti freeze and check it often.

 

Gene - I appreciate the insight and experience. what I have done thus far is to weld the sides of the radiator brace to the frame as they come in direct contact with the Dakota front clip very well. Then I made a cross member our of 1x3" rectangular steel running from frame to frame. This piece is removable but it connected to the frame by 1/4" U channel I made. The radiator support sides on top of this cross member and is bolted to it. I will put in all of the factory X bracing on the fenders and radiator support.

Based on your comments, I might look at running some tubular steel from the frame to the top of the radiator supprt to provide some "fore and aft" support as currently it is just the fenders keeping the nose from moving forward.

 

I am finished with the front end for the most part, I made a brace that runs from the radiator support to the K frame. This has 2 functions; 1) it will help prevent things from come up and hitting the front of the engine/radiator as well as provide some support to the radiator support/bumper.

 

I ended up welding the bumper to the old brackets because I just could not get it centered with the mounts. The bumper was bent, straightened, welded, rebent etc so it wasn't cooperating.

 

...any thoughts on trying to clean out the crack and then force the goober into the void? Little to no structural value in doing so but would make for a cleaner finish.

.

 

after seemingly hours of looking at forums and other internet based sources of information, it appears that those who have tried an epoxy fix have been unsuccessful, however most that I have found who tried it admit that they just tried to smear some on the crack. I have read accounts of "stapling", welding, brazing, welding plates, bolting plates, using RTV, and on and on. The common consenus is to replace the block, but I am unwilling to do that now; I will go and trade it in before that happens I think. A replacement engine is about $7k (long block); havent found a replacement block but I can't beleive it is that much of a savings once you rebuild it. So, we will see what happens here and how badly it begins to leak if it does.

 

new break through in the diesel saga; ceramic block sealer... found a lot of success stories there and I just happen to have some. Off to the races...

 

I was going to mention ceramic block sealer: (we used to buy a powdered substance made from egg whites and other ingredients from the drug store in the '50s...it was called "Water Gl***". NEVER had a failure on an external crack with this stuff.)

About the core support on the Pilothouse: My '55 100 has a pair of strut rods (3/8" solid, threaded on one end each for adjustment)
They run from the upper firewall (spot-welded brackets) diagonally to the upper front fenders at the drip rails, just inside the hood sides.
Without these strut rods the F100's fenders loosen up at their rear bolts, tending to rub sheet metal off at the washers! Grille and headlamps vibrate, hood fit changes, etc.

When I first planted the engine, I was busy at the shop...had to get the F100 back on the air as it was my shop truck. The struts stood in the corner for months...until I slowed down and reasoned that "Hey, maybe I should install my struts?" Duh.

But we all get busy...

 

i have read about the water gl***; seems to work. This ceramic sealer I think takes it to another level (or at least I hope so).

I am going to fab some struts from the frame to the top of the radiator support. Since I am welding in the side components of the radiator support, I will weld these in as well. this should hopefully be strong enough but I guess time will tell.

 

I may not need side radiator support braces as the hood in bolted between the cowl and the radiator support.

 

Just found your thread and spent the last five hrs reading every part and looking at every picture, love what you are doing so far I am compiling info on the same style of project 1951 Dodge panel with a Dakota 94 2wd front clip 318 auto ,I like to research as much info as possible and I appreciate all the time you have taken to write and take pictures of what you have done . Keep up all the great work .


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I am very happy that it has been of use/interest to you; this is why I did it if you have any questions please feel free to ask. I did the same as you when I started, looked at all of the forums for similar projects, researched various aspects and components and then finally took the plunge. It isnt as hard as it seems but does require a lot of thinking, planning, setup, measuring and rethinking..

I would say that I am very happy I bought a whole Dakota to salvage. I have and continue to use a lot of parts from that; the s**** steel alone was worth it.

 

fit the hood tonight and began work the inner fenderwells. i think they will work out pretty well but will require some fab work to clear the UCA's. As most if not all of you know, the hook that the hood grabs on to is on the inner fender well so I need at least a part of them. Hopefully I will continue work on them tomorrow and get some pics up. After that, I will blow apart the front sheet metal, finish welding the radiator support and whatever else needs it, then I will install the new firewall followed by installing the engine trans after setting up the shifter and kickdown cable (easier to do with the engine/trans on the floor). My goal is to have the engine and trans between the frame rails before Xmas.

 

I want your thoughts on using more of the dakota frame and joining the old and new back behind the transmission where the Dakota frame goes into a channel , the only reason I want to join the two is the original rear frame part on my 51 Panel is flat and the dakota rear portion has a hump that would sacrifice the interior floor .


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