My first build - 1950 Dodge Pickup

Today I turned a wrench on my 1950 Dodge Pickup for the first time. A meager beginning by the high standards on the HAMB, I removed the rear bumper/brackets and unbolted the bed. Not much accomplished on the truck, but every builds got to start somewhere. I found the truck on Craigslist and purchased it on July 20th.

The picture shown above shows my new truck (the 1950) alongside the first vehicle I ever purchased, my current daily driver (the 1996). I'm hopeful that the old Dodge will be as good to me as the '96 has been (270,000 miles and counting).

Having only recently purchased my house, the time between the purchase on the old truck and now have been spent making the house liveable and the shop buildable. Having a shop is awesome, but you still need a surface to work on. I didn't own a shop table and couldn't find one that I like at a price I could afford, so I built my own. The tabletop is 8' x 40". I plan to cover the surface with a steel plate to act as a wear surface.


My plans for the old truck are still a bit up in the air. If the old flathead engine runs, I'll probably buy an adapter from Wilcap and run a 200r4 transmission. I know its not traditional but the 88 horse flathead would benefit from the .65 to 1 overdrive. If I go this route, I'll use the existing rearend and lower the truck keeping the existing leaf spring suspension.


If the flathead doesn't work for some reason, I'll go with a V8. The only V8 I even want to think about is a Hemi. The little voices in my head are hoping the flathead is junk. If I go with the Hemi option, I'd upgrade the rearend to a Dana 60 or Ford 9". The tranny for this option is still in question, but the suspension would be upgrade to a 4 link with bags out back and an independant front with bags.

Regardless of which running gear option ends up in the vehicle, there are other things on the to do list. Upgrading to power brakes and 12 volts is high on the list. Power steering is a possibility as well. Being a bit larger that average, 6'5" and to damn much, the interior will need to be modified to fit me. The factory steering wheel will be downsized and the factory seat will be removed and replaced by a bomber style bench.

Now for the progress pics, laugh all you want but I'm finally working on my truck and have a goofy grin that I can't seem to wipe off my face.
Before:


Sans Bumper:


I think it looks better already.

 

cool truck,,,,cool table,,,cool plan,,,,
good luck with it,,im sure it'll turn out fine,,,
half (if not more) of the fun is planning and building a car or truck,,,
if you need any advice, there are a ton of knowledgeabe guys here,,
the more you can learn from other peoples mistakes and experiences, the better...

 

that is a good looking starting point. Not sure if the bed is factory or not, seems like its a little short (on height). Are you on the PilotHouse site with all the other Dodge truck guys...

 

You guys are quick. The truck came with two beds, the high side bed everyone is used to seeing and the short sided "market bed" that's currently on it. I'm not sure the bed is factory for this model of truck or not, but it is from a Dodge.

 

forgot about the the model having the lowerside bed, as you stated, you see most with the high side.

I hope your motor is bad so I can watch the progress to the newer motor and susp..



Forgot to add, I am looking for a 48 - 50+ panel version. I want to build one to go with my 48 woodie.

 

I'm a member of the Pilothouse forum as well. I forgot to mention wheels/tires in the original post. If I keep the flathead, I'll stick with the factory wheels and run some tall skinnys. I'm giving some serious thought to wide whites. I know a lot of people don't like wide whites of pickups, but I like them on this era truck. If the truck ends up with a Hemi, some wider meats will be in order. I saw some "pie crust??" slicks on another vehicle that would fit the bill

 

A big part of me hopes the motor is bad but the Hemi option would put a hurtin' on an already stressed bank account. Either route, if its done well it should be a nice truck.

 

I assume the other bed looks like this one...

That one was on a bone stock 1950 Dodge.

Yours looks like a great project. Looks much better without the rear bumper also.
I had one of those trucks for almost 7 years and really enjoyed it.
You may be surprised- that old flat 6 may run without too much work. They're a really durable, reliable engine although not that powerful.

I added disc brakes to my stock front-end that I got from a good outfit called AAJ Brakes. They're online although I don't have the web address at my disposal.

I also swapped out the factory rear axle for a Ford 9" unit. I did the measuring and found that the axle from a 1967-1972 F100 are a very good match width-wise. It just needed some new brackets welded on and the driveshaft slightly modified to work. The benefits of better brakes and gearing made the truck a lot more driveable.

I also did a 12 volt swap on mine and at the time installed a GM 10-SI alternator that I had laying around in the garage. I made some simple brackets out of an old basketball hoop mounting bracket that worked out well.

There's not a ton of aftermarket support for these vehicles so you have to be willing to get a little creative sometimes.
Have fun with it!

Jay

 

Good luck with your project. Looks like your starting with a solid truck. Oh yeah piecrust slicks and a hemi, I can see it now. later shawn

 

That's a nice looking truck. The other bed that came with the truck has high side like the one you posted. I checked out AAJ Brakes. They look like a good option to help stop the truck.

 

Cool project you got there. BTW, since your just getting your garage started, you ought to check out www.garagejournal.com. Lots of great advice on tools and garage construction.

 

That's good advice Frank, I'm already a member. Lots of cool stuff on that site as well. I learned about both the HAMB and Garage Journal on Pirate4x4.com. Lots of smart people out there and I'm trying to get as much info as I can from all of them.

 

Nice truck you have, that is a great starting place. I did a Volare/Aspen cilp on a 54 Dodge pickup that worked OK. I have seen Dakota fromes stuck under these 50s Dodge pickups that also worked.

On my current ride, I went the other way. My cab is mounted om an 80 Dodge 1/2 t 4x4 short box frame. My cab came from a 2 ton dump truck, so I did some fender modification. I hand built the box using 50 rear fenders. Originally my truck was thrown together to replasce a rusted out snow plow truck, so the finish leaves a lot to be desired. After 5 winters of plowing snow, I finally working on making it presentable. Gene

 

Nice truck you have there Gene. The blue and black color combo has always appealed to me. I also like the corner windows. With the small mirrors the trucks have, you could hide an army in the blind spot.

 

Thanks.
The truck looks much better in the pictures then it does in real life. The blue paint is brushed on and the black is spray bombed. Finest paint job $25 can buy. The brushed paint hides a lot of problems, after only 5 years, some of the rust is coming back through. I will have to go back in and weld on some more patches. Plowing snow it rough on em. Gene

 

great project! had a 51' many years ago with a 331 hemi that screamed but even with a stock front end rebuilt including steering box was SCARY! got a 55' panel that i need to do something with.

 

...I'm not laughin,...I like those lil Dodges, I think more people should build em.

Boones, ...there's a 50 panel here locally for sale, but it's way back here in Illinois.
PS,...I still have the Fleetline...

 

I got a 51 low style like yours.ill' post some pics soon

 

cool dodge...I have had a 50 and a 52 and currently have a 54 panel...the little flathead 6's will serve you will if ya let em breathe, give em some highway gears and a couple of carbs doesn't hurt...my 54 gets me where I need to go though it is sluggish on some of the steeper grades out here...but a hemi would be sweet in your truck...good luck with your project

 

Well, I've been busy. I'm not sure I've made any progress or if I'm doing the right things, but I have spent some time in the shop. I pulled the rear bumper last week and earlier this week I removed the front bumper. I also removed the bolts holding the bed on. When I get another set of hands in the shop, the bed will be removed. I had planned to remove the front sheet metal to have better access to the engine compartment.




With the bumper removed, I was struck by how flat the front end of these trucks are. It's as aerodynamic as a brick, but I like it.

 

you know lassie will love you for it! cool truck i remember it from the T.V. show

 

A friend from work stopped by today. While he was here we lifted the body off the frame. I plan to disassemble it and move it into storage. It needs some work but I need to work on my sheetmetal skills before I start messing with my old steel.


Next, we removed the factory seat. I plan to try my hand at building a bomber style bench seat for the truck. Being a big guy, I think a thin seat could free up some space in the cab. I also think building a seat will be a good job to get me comfortable working with sheetmetal. I want to have some experience before I tackle the bed. I neglected to take a photo but the underside of the seat has a vent built into it that is accessed via a lever on the front edge. I'm guessing its some type of early heater or something. Post up if you can fill me in on what's its purpose is.

 

Congrats on taking on a not so popular body style.

I had a 1951 fargo, (canadian version) pulled it out of the bush and redid it back in about "75. red with white diamond stich inside. Ahhhh those were the days. The flathead smoked big time. I owned part of STP in the end. The springs were worn out and the sagged so I had a lowered truck without trying! It also had the fluid drive. I alway loved the big front windows for driving.

 

I'm gonna have to check out some episodes of the old lassie show. It's been mentioned by more than a couple people who know about the truck. I know the show but it was a bit before my time.

 

I ordered a carb kit at Advance earlier this week. I gotta admit, I enjoyed the look on the parts guys face when I told him what I needed.

1950??

Yea, 1950.

I picked up the carb kit earlier this afternoon. After my coworker and I removed the bed and seat, we removed the hood to gain better access to the engine. I thought it was kinda neat the way the hood is removed in one piece. The outer wings slide into a grove in the center section. Its an interesting movable joint without a hinge.

 

WANNA RACE?!

Hahaha... you'd probably still beat me... i'm running the original "Super Hurricane" flat head 226-6. 95ish horse I think... Slow, but indestructable. I think your truck would be awesome with a tricked out flatty 6.

I really like the way your truck looks with the short side bed. It's different, in a cool way.



Forgive the nerdy friend...

 

Doing one for a customer. I didn't like the seam going across the front end so decided to "weld & blend" that in along with some frenched headlites and rolled front pan sans the bumper. Installed a Volari front cllip, 9" Ford rear...............

 

With the hood out of the way, it was time to start checking into the old flathead. As I had written earlier, the engine is the key part that will determine the direction the build will take. My wallet has been hoping that the old flathead will be up to the task and operational. The guy I bought the truck from had put a little Marvel Mystery Oil in each cylinder when he bought the truck so I was hopeful that the engine would turn over easy. I pulled the plugs and got the hand crank out to see if everything was in order. It was almost to good to be true. The engine spins freely, smooth as butter. Needless to say, I was happy with the outcome.


I had my friend turn the crank as I watched from above. Here's when the day took a turn. As he was turning the crank, I noticed that the piston in cylinder 3 (#3 from front to back) was not moving. I didn't hear anything out of the norm as the engine was spinning, no grinding or scraping noises. Here's where I need so advice from the HAMB. If only one piston isn't moving and everything else spins freely, the single piston has got to be disconnected from the crank. This means the connecting rod is broke or the pin connecting it to the piston is broke. I would think that I would be able to hear something, maybe some scrapeing or something.

Thoughts, suggestions, ideas....

A special thanks goes out to Jeremiah for the office for helping out. It's always more fun working when you've got someone to shoot the breeze with.

 

I'm fond of the CJ's as well. Here a pick of my '81 CJ-7, a work in progress.

 

This is my 51 dually flatbed with a 283 that runs like a champ. I don't think I will ever spend too much time on resoration but it makes a great shop truck.

I have a 6 in my Plymouth but the 283 is much more fun to drive.



Working truck

This last summer during roof tear-off