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On the Road: 1951 Dodge B-2-B

Albertan restores classic pickup with a donor dose of 1991 Dodge Dakota

Greg Williams
Feb 13, 2021  •  April 21, 2021  •  4 minute read  •  Join the conversation
Finished in Walter Short's garage with Tremclad paint covered in clearcoat, the 1951 Dodge B-2-B/1991 Dodge Dakota looks very presentable.
Finished in Walter Short's garage with Tremclad paint covered in clearcoat, the 1951 Dodge B-2-B/1991 Dodge Dakota looks very presentable. Photo by Walter Short

Once a tired old farm truck, this 1951 Dodge B-2-B pickup has been given a new lease on life by Walter Short, who was given the Dodge when his sister-in-law cleaned up her yard.

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The Dodge then sat outside his garage just southwest of High River, Alberta for a couple of years while he formulated a plan. Instead of restoring the pickup, he decided to put the cab and box on a later Dodge truck platform. Searching Kijiji for a suitable donor, Short turned up a 1991 Dodge Dakota. Equipped with a 318 cubic-inch engine and automatic transmission, Short says he bought the donor Dakota for $800 and drove it home. It showed 134,000 kilometres on the odometer, and it is mileage that Short believes.

“Mechanically, it was sound,” Short says, and adds, “it started and ran nice, but somebody had made a mess stripping all of the emissions equipment off of it.”

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No stranger to things mechanical, Short holds four journeyman’s trade tickets, all earned at SAIT. He laughs, and says he’s got more training than he needs. As a youngster, his mom handed him a pair of pliers and a screwdriver and told him to keep himself occupied tinkering with an old washing machine. His dad was a mechanic, and also helped foster an appreciation for working on all things mechanical. At age 12, Short built a mini-bike out of a discarded bed frame and a rototiller engine. Motorcycles took on special appeal for Short, especially off-road machines. He competed in enduro racing, and took part in several International Six Day Enduro, or ISDE, events. He spent most of his life working in an agricultural equipment dealership before selling the business and moving into building oilfield equipment, and then took a management position in construction.

That’s where he was working when, in May during the COVID lockdown, he was laid off after some major contracts were cancelled. With time on his hands, Short dove into the Dodge project. His first goal was to remove the 1951 cab and box from the old Dodge chassis. He did this job in a hip-roof barn on his property he built using reclaimed wood sourced from oilfield equipment shipping pallets. Then, working in his heated two-car garage, Short repaired any of the 1951 Dodge sheet metal that needed attention

“It really wasn’t too bad,” he says of the truck’s condition. “There were some poorly done fixes on the fenders from 40 or 50 years ago that needed to be undone, but nothing too extraordinary.”

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  1. Walter Short started building his 1951 Dodge B-2-B/1991 Dodge Dakota in May, when he was laid off during Alberta’s first COVID lockdown. It took him just a few months before he was driving the project, seen here out for a cruise in late August.
    Walter Short started building his 1951 Dodge B-2-B/1991 Dodge Dakota in May, when he was laid off during Alberta’s first COVID lockdown. It took him just a few months before he was driving the project, seen here out for a cruise in late August. Photo by Walter Short
  2. As received, the 1951 Dodge B-2-B pickup Walter Short used to build his COVID truck, as he refers to it.
    As received, the 1951 Dodge B-2-B pickup Walter Short used to build his COVID truck, as he refers to it.
  3. Working in his hip roof barn, made out of reclaimed wood from shipping pallets, Walter Short removed the cab and box from the tired chassis of the 1951 Dodge truck.
    Working in his hip roof barn, made out of reclaimed wood from shipping pallets, Walter Short removed the cab and box from the tired chassis of the 1951 Dodge truck. Photo by Walter Short
  4. Bodywork completed and painted, the cab of Walter Short’s 1951 Dodge truck is ready to be mounted to a 1991 Dodge Dakota chassis.
    Bodywork completed and painted, the cab of Walter Short’s 1951 Dodge truck is ready to be mounted to a 1991 Dodge Dakota chassis. Photo by Walter Short
  5. Progress being made, as the 1991 Dodge Dakota frame has been shortened and cab and box mounts added to accept the 1951 Dodge body panels.
    Progress being made, as the 1991 Dodge Dakota frame has been shortened and cab and box mounts added to accept the 1951 Dodge body panels. Photo by Walter Short
  6. The finished cab from the rear.
    The finished cab from the rear. Photo by Walter Short
  7. Under the hood is the 1991 318 cubic-inch Dodge Dakota engine, which builder Walter Short freshened up with valve seals, timing chain and gaskets.
    Under the hood is the 1991 318 cubic-inch Dodge Dakota engine, which builder Walter Short freshened up with valve seals, timing chain and gaskets. Photo by Walter Short
  8. Inside, the gauges of the 1951 truck have been left in place, but a previous owner had cut a large hole to the left of the steering wheel. In that space, Walter Short installed the cluster from the 1991 Dodge Dakota. This gives him reliable information to monitor speed, temperature and fuel.
    Inside, the gauges of the 1951 truck have been left in place, but a previous owner had cut a large hole to the left of the steering wheel. In that space, Walter Short installed the cluster from the 1991 Dodge Dakota. This gives him reliable information to monitor speed, temperature and fuel. Photo by Walter Short
  9. Second-row seats from a Dodge Journey were repurposed to fit the cab of the 1951 truck, helping to keep everything in the Mopar family.
    Second-row seats from a Dodge Journey were repurposed to fit the cab of the 1951 truck, helping to keep everything in the Mopar family. Photo by Walter Short
  10. The cabin of the restored classic.
    The cabin of the restored classic. Photo by Walter Short

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After completing body repairs, Short painted the Dodge red using thinned Tremclad paint in his air-powered spray gun. Everything was then sealed off with a clearcoat. Next, he stripped the cab and box off of the 1991 Dakota chassis and began measuring the frame. To accept the older ’51 body parts, the frame of the ’91 Dakota needed to be shortened and new body mounts welded to the rails.

“I wanted the old cab and box to look stock on the newer chassis,” Short says of his ultimate goal in completing the union. “I wanted it to look like a stock truck.”

With the two trucks married together, Short began working on the details. At some point in the life of the ‘51, a large hole had been cut in the left side of the dash. Short simply installed the instrument cluster from the Dakota in this space and hooked everything up, including the speedometer. All of the steering wheel controls, including cruise and intermittent wiper switches, are present and accounted for. The instruments from the ’51 are still in place, but none of them are hooked up – they’re for show only.

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“There wasn’t a lot of money spent on this, most of my supplies came from Canadian Tire or Princess Auto,” he says.

It’s just like driving a Dakota with some character.

From a wrecked Dodge Journey, Short harvested the second-row seats and repurposed these to fit the cab of the ’51 Dodge. Mechanically, Short replaced the timing chain and valve seals together with a number of other gaskets. Brakes and bearings were replaced, and the front end rebuilt with new bushings – the ball joints, though, were still serviceable. A new seal went in the rear of the transmission and Short serviced the differential. The driveshaft also needed to be shortened and balanced.

“That was a $450 touch, and the driveshaft and the price of the Dakota was most of the $2,500 I figure I’ve got in the truck,” Short says.

By mid-August, the 1951 B-2-B/1991 Dakota was on the road. He now often uses it as a daily driver, and just days before we spoke, he’d driven it to Calgary to pick up lumber for a household project.

“It’s just like driving a Dakota with some character,” Short says. “Sometimes, you forget what you’re driving around in.”

Greg Williams is a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Have a column tip? Contact him at 403-287-1067 or gregwilliams@shaw.ca

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