deconstructing B-3

under seat

I have never completely restored a truck like this before so a lot of this is new to me. I have set my sights on this truck for years and its a dream come true just to work on it. So here are some pics from the tare down. This truck had a great back story just as it sat. The more I have been working on it the more it shares its history with me. Like where else to find the key to a 80 year old truck (under the seat! with two inches of New Mexico dust!). I was shaking dust out of the door when the Vics vapor drops bottle fell out. The engine had been turning over then i went to see if the valves were opening and the motor locked up! after my Father and me pulled the transmission off we found why. The pack rats had taken all the seat stuffing and made a nice nest in the fly wheel housing. Amazing how a rat can stuff two pounds of batting thew a 3/4 inch hole!. We pulled the cab off and are starting to replace the broken and dry rotted pieces. Soon I will start to strip the frame and prep for powder coating. And any advice on how to restore a truck will be welcome. and how not to restore will be too!

this is one listing on Ebay for a bottle like that: http://www.ebay.com/itm/OLD-VINTAGE-TIN ... 3f3d0f62f3
Have seen them range from 99 cents on up. That is a very neat piece of history!

Cool project! I'm wondering if the things you're finding qualify as history or archaeology?

I noticed your flywheel has surface cracks from heat. Hopefully, they are not deep and resurfacing will make it like new.

Dean

Please be very careful and do not breath any of the dust. Rodent poop is very harmful and can be fatal, if breathed.
I have had really bad experiences with powder coat paint. While the product is very durable and resistant to just about everything, it has one major flaw. If it is penetrated and opened to expose the metal under the coating, the metal will start to rust. Now, add to that some moisture from washing your truck or road splash from driving and the rust, KAK corrosion, will accelerate. Under these circumstances, the plastic powder paint will trap and hold the moisture and corrosion will consume your frame. I worked on smart hydraulics for a company who used wheelchair lifts on hundreds of vehicles. It was common to have the main carriage collapse in a few years from corrosion. This carriage was made from .375" or 3/8" plate steel and the rust had eaten through. What was happening is this, the road splash, which is a terrific electrolyte, was trapped behind the plastic coating and never had a chance to dry. The company fabrication shop built new carriages and after some metal cleaning with a garnet abrasive, the parts were sprayed with a PPG etching primer and then a three part epoxy paint. The corrosion problem was solved, 99%.
The two pictures are of powder paint failures, pictures taken by me. Here is another example. The hitch on my 2002 Ram 4x4 was plastic powder coated and rock chips have opened the coating to moisture and held the road splash, electrolyte, against the steel hitch. The hitch must be replaced because it is heavily corroded up to half way through.
There are several responsible powder paint shops in this area who refuse to do automotive frames unless a waver of responsibility is signed. They carefully explain the problems that can and will happen in this damp climate.
Metal cleaning is a serious situation that should be understood. "Sand" blasting tends to open the surface of the steel frame and corrosion will start instantly. A garnet abrasive seems to have less damaging effect on the metal. The best blast and paint place in this area uses a garnet blast and then immediately rolls the pieces into their paint booth and applies a PPG etching primer. This primer can be tinted and it can be your final coating. This is what we will be using on our L110-Shorty build.
In the end, it is your choice. I hope this helps someone.

Thanks Nikki I wore a tyvec suit and a full face respirator for clean out I pulled over 80 pounds of cow crap dust and other unknown things out I was not taking any chances! Thanks for the warning lots of people don't know how dangerous the crud in the dust can be! Thank you for the tips.

Have to agree with Brian I am not a fan of powder coating.

Here is my restoration story I did on my 27 it was also on here on the old site but we lost it when things crashed.
http://www.hcvc.com.au/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1309875910

A lot of the pictures that showed the painting have been removed only because a friend got caught spraying at home from his local council and was lucky not to cop a massive fine and the council only found out because the neighbour showed them the pictures from a forum. If you want the other pictures just send me your email and I will send them to you.

When I get time I might do some copy and pasting and put together a restoration follow up on here.

Keep up the great work

Trevor

My sympathy and understanding go out to your friend. We have a nosy jerk in this neighbourhood. He has called the City Council Land Use Inspector many times, on me, in the last two decades. I documented over 60 "inspection visits" . I had to confront the neighbourhood bully about his harassment and ask him to stop. As an alternative, I threatened him with reporting his illegal suite renovation and his detached garage add-on and renovation, all done without permits and inspections. BTW, his front driveway is not legal, either. I know who did the work, for under the table cash and I am sure that this other person did not declare his income to Revenue Canada. Very suddenly, everything went quiet on the Western Front. Just in case, I have all of the documentation in a safe place. Now, if only I can remember where that was.
Four decades ago my, now deceased, friend laid a beating on this jerk but he must have hit him too hard because the message was missed. I had one of those random visits, from this jerk, this morning. He drives by slowly, in the lane, and just stares into the open garage door.
After a very long time, the constant visits from the inspectors became annoying because there was one or two who liked to stay and chat, sometimes for hours, on my tax dollar. What does one talk about with a person who is there to try and find fault and put the screws to me. I had to call the city and make a complaint about the annoying visits just to get it stopped. I had documented every visit, how long and what was talked about. I never kiss @@.
If there was one lesson that I have learned, sometimes the hard way, was keep the receipts and write the rest down. Have a nice day.

The Vicks bottles are an old school trick. They used to smear a little around the edges of the air cleaner intake to keep the engine breathing properly in cold weather. It was especially useful for getting up hills.

Since we are telling funny stories:

My Father told a story of the neighbour kid getting a horse. The kid was on the horse and riding all day and developed saddle sores. The kid's mother was going to put some petroleum jelly on the painful areas and in the dimly lit room, of the rural Alberta 1920's, Mom applied Vicks. The story goes on to say that the kid could be heard for a country mile.

I thought a build thread was started for this truck? Wouldn't this post fall under that category? It would be easier to follow with everything in the same place.