Projects 52 Dodge B3B Hemi Project

...tornado....

Good to see it back together. Hope there was no other damage.

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Actually I was exceptionally lucky; it removed 1/3rd of the rear of the far right of the shop and lifted the other third or half but didn't really hurt much else. I had my Cuda and Challenger in the shop but neither were hurt. USAA paid me immediately, I did all the work and got it not only fixed but extended and insulated (1/3 of the shop wasn't insulated previously). Also allowed/forced me to reorganized the entire shop which was AWESOME... I know have a dedicated metal fab side and everything else is organized.

 

Just seen your post, I was stationed at Clark in 1971 aug thru Dec71- good memories.

 

Gene,

I really appreciate you taking time to provide all that information, especially about the springs. In reference to the other items;

Heater - I am using the factory 52 Dodge heater
Wipers - Same deal here; stock 52 B3B. I tested the motor which works, but I am thinking either a wire fell off or the switch took a dump. I really like the factory one up on top of the dash.
Lights - I am using a hot rod wiring harness, the lights are mounted in the front bumper and the wire is already run, I just need to hook it up to the switch (just got lazy about it).

 

Yeah.. I didn't get there until 86 TDY from Okinawa, however I went TDY many times from 86 on.

 

Saw a Dakota on the '06 Power Tour with a '54 331 in it, don't know what was done to shoehorn it in there. My '60 had the /6 until I put the 331 in, seems to be OK. In one of the Tex Smith books someone was saying it would be workable on performance cars to go with the weakest spring & the stiffest shocks, instead of the stiffest springs available

 

The problem I have is enough force in the springs to hold up the front, I don't think Shocks are going to be helpful in this as that is not what they are intended to do. I am going to try and level it out perhaps today and see what I get. thanks to Gene, I have found some Shelby Dakota lowering springs on Summit for $172. I believe these would work, however I need to try and see if I can sort it with what I have now first.

 

Can't wait to hear all about the FiTech stuff..................

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Got to work on fitting the new tank today, began by removing the old tank. I have read on various forums that the Tanks Inc. 39-47 tank can be fitted to a 48-53 with "minor modifications". Well I guess this depends on what someone calls minor. It isn't horrible but definitely takes some work. First issue is that the factory tank raises up to the floor of the cab and the inlet neck then protrudes through the floor to be mated with the filler tube. Well, the filler neck that comes with the Tanks Inc tank is too short IMO not to mention the angle is off. Some modify the floor of the cab by opening the hole up to fit the tank filler neck; I chose a different path. I decided to make a new tank filler neck and then have it come up into the cab at the factory location. This required a little tweaking of the back edge of the cab underneath the truck to allow the fuel pump clearance. If a person wasn't running an in tank pump, this wouldn't be as much of an issue. Anyway, I got all that done and installed the tank but discovered that the angle of my new tank filler neck needed some more work to angle it up a little more.

I still need to address the brackets but that will actually be minor overall. I am going to make all lines and connection with short leads so that the tank can be installed and then connected once in place; currently this would be impossible as all of the connections are on top of the tank and there isn't any room to work. I will need to make short fuel lines (feed and return), fuel pump power and ground as well as sending unit power and ground.

I am including a picture of my new tool; its a tubing bead roller from Jegs, rolls a bead in tubing 5/8" and larger, works really well.

 

I have been informed that posting my ongoing conversion is not allowed by this site. It is very unfortunate because I really liked it here. Appreciate all the help, ***istance and comments I got during this build thus far, I guess since I wont be running a carb any longer I am not welcome.

 

I feel the same way, I cannot believe this was the case since Electronic Fuel Injection first came to the market in 1957 by AMC, not to mention the obvious benefits from converting to it. I thought this site was all about resurrecting and enjoying older vehicles, but evidentially this isn't the case. That's fine, I will switch over to For Dodge Trucks Only.

 

...for those who are interested...

http://fordodgetrucksonly.forumotion.com/t49p250-52-dodge-b3b-hemi-project#1740

 

Thanks

 

Hi all, been a little while since I posted and I figured I would provide an update. I got the EFI installed without much problem. For those who are thinking of replacing their gas tank with the one from Tanks Inc. I will say that it isn't super easy to adapt; not super difficult either but takes some work. I chose to position the tank so that the inlet of the tank where it comes through the floor was in the stock location. This required me to make alterations to the brackets under the truck to hold it. The rear mount had to be extended about 3 1/2" forward. I did have to make a spacer for the front bracket to drop the tank about 3/4" because the stock tank is raised in the front half. As for the new fuel system, only 4 wires required to be hooked up and it fired right up, idled immediately, was/is responsive; I am very happy with it.

While I am at this renovation, I decided to fix the heater and the wipers which were still the original 6V systems and neither worked. I ended up having to purchase a new blower motor which I got from Summit, its a generic motor that is said to be capable of working in this vehicle, I haven't received it yet so we will see. I also had to purchase a new wiper motor/system. I have 2 original motors but neither works and I thought about getting them rebuilt and running a 6V step down transformer but decided to go new 12V.

 

The blower motor works well, had to trim off all of the bolts as well as a part of the shaft, but it bolted right up. Waiting on the heater switch.

 

Hotrodding at its finest.....make it fit!

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Absolutely!!!
I ended up buying 2 blower motor switches; one was from Ron Francis (sp) and was a 2 speed version and the other is a Cole Hersee 3 speed switch. I had originally ordered the 2 speed switch but once I received it I realized that the 3 speed was what I really needed/wanted because of the extra speed as well as the fact that the knob is threaded (10-32) just like the original (also 10-32) and the bezel was much nicer (probably why it cost $44 and the 2 speed was only $27).
I also ordered and received the new wiper motor which is an aftermarket 12V replacement. As always, "bolt in" parts are far from that and this was no exception. It came with a support rod/strap that I never did figure out how to use (made my own), also I had to "tweek" the drivers side wiper pivot a little to get it all to work. It was a royal PIA on the drivers side. After some moments of emotional upheaval, some thinking and some tinkering, I finally got it all to fit and work.
Unfortunately the new wiper apparatus negated my ability to use a stereo in the dash as it occupies the space needed by the stereo, therefore I had to get creative with a replacement. I ended up finding a somewhat "retro" looking 2 knob stereo in Ebay that is media only (no CD) which is shorter and should work/look better. I have no illusions that this $28 stereo will be "t******* and bumping", however so long as it can receive a FM radio station I should be good; hard to hear anything over that Hemi anyway.

 

In case anyone is following this thread, I have been continuing to forge forward on the truck trying to fix a variety of small things left undone or not done well. One of the issues was the mirrors, I had a small hot rod clamp on mirror on the drivers door but couldn't see anything and the back window is pretty small so that isn't overly helpful either. I decided to install some 6" convex mirrors on the doors to allow me to see safely. I ordered and received the mirrors, then made a plan for the mounts. I looked at a wide variety of mounts and decided to build what you see here. I am sure there will be some who don't like them but it is what it is. I just built a new radio mount which I just painted. I also investigated why the headlights don't work and determined that the cheap parts store headlight switch died, so I ordered a new Cole Hersee switch; not cheap but quality.

 

Mounts look good.

 

Nice looking! Very appropriate design for a hot-rod truck.
....my old eyes might require a larger mirror.

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Thanks all, I could have purchased mounts but decided to make them which took way longer than I anticipated, but in the end they came out. I purposely tried to keep them tight to the truck, but also wanted them high enough to make them useful; I achieved both objectives IMO.

At the risk of having this post deleted, I will say that the Fitech system really works well, starts right up and idles nicely. I haven't had the opportunity to let it learn yet, but hopefully will get to that in the not too distant future. I still have to make a mount for the Fitech hand held controller.

I found a "retro" media only stereo on Ebay which was only $28; doesn't play CDs but who still uses those.... LOL. Hopefully I can make the handheld mount look somewhat like the stereo.

 

I am still moving along (albeit slowly) on the truck. I made a plate to hold the Fitech controller. I got to use my dimple dies to give it a little character. I painted it semi gloss black.

 

What's the story on this stereo/media player? Do you have a link or model#?

 

The stereo is a bit generic and comes from China, it does work but for less than $30 it isnt an alpine or anything. It does look very retro. I got it off Ebay; look for Digital Media decks. Here is a pic.

 

Hello all... Its been awhile since I was on here (obviously), however this is more of a result of not doing anything with the truck in sometime. I was able to get my 73 Cuda done and am not working on my 70 Roadrunner. Anyway, yesterday I finally pulled the 52 out as I have decided to actually use it for what I built it for, a local parts runner.

The truck fired right up (that EFI works great), although I have an issue with one lifter on the right side. When cold, it will clack but after driving for a little while it goes away. I did a quick once over, had to add some air to one tire, but all was well. I drove it into town, ran good. I stopped and got some gas, then went over to my local O'Reilly's to get a couple of parts for something else. Then decided to run it down the road some and let the EFI learn. All was good, but I started smelling something like brake. Turned around and came home and upon arrival had smoke rolling out of the left front brake (also noticed that the right side was "grabby" when slowing down to turn into the driveway). So, obviously I have an issue with the front brakes I am going to sort out.

As to the stereo, pretty much a POS. Will pick up a channel but seems to lose it frequently, its on my list for replacement. I wanted something vintage looking but I may have to go more modern.

 

Good to hear that the efi works as designed.
Curious to hear what you find in the brakes.

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Hey Gary.. long time hope all is well.

Yeah, I am interested to find out myself. All of the brakes, especially the front brakes are 88 Dakota. They weren't dragging when I took off, its like there was some line pressure building as I drove. I experienced this one on a Harley and it turned out to be a bad rotor that was pulsating badly which in turn was creating heat that expanded the fluid (or at least that is what I think was happening). I ended up replacing the rotor and re-bleeding the brakes to make it work).

 

I have not worked on the truck yet but I have noticed that the left front tire is flat, not sure if the 2 things are connected but I suspect they are in some way. I need to pull the tire and see what is going on. The truck is so low, its hard to see what is going on under there. Unfortunately I have my RR on my lift so I can't put it up on there. Going to have to go old school, floor jack and jack stands...