Still working on identifying our hotrod. It is registered as a 1917 Dodge. I have been under the assumption that it is the forward half of a 17 Dodge and a rear half of a 26 Ford. While looking at pictures on the web I came across these two pics of a 17 Dodge and a 26 Ford. It is amazing how similar they look in the rear sections. Would anyone here with first hand knowledge be able to see any telltale signs of whether the rear of our car is Ford or Dodge? Thanks in advance, dan...
That is an open car cowl with what would appear to be a cut down closed car rear section. It is more likely that the car is all DB than part Ford, as a T would have needed to be widened.
The main body looks like it is a 1917 DB roadster by the look of the turned up corner in front of the top of the door. The turtle deck/lid may have been filled in or it may be from a Ford T. Look inside and see if there is a seam around what may have been a lid. I think someone added the side posts for the windshield. The rear section on your definitely looks more like about 1926 Ford T, to me.
Yup, that's the rear portion of a 26-27 Ford coupe on there. Not a roadster rear half, they're different. I've got no idear on the front, except that it ISN'T Ford.
Front half looks to be 1922 or earlier Dodge Brothers Roadster or Touring. Rear probably 26-7 T Coupe. How wide are the doors front to back? If 20" give or take, touring. If about 22", Roadster. How wide are the door hinges and what material? If cast/forged it would be 1919 or earlier for Touring and early 1922 or earlier for Roadster. All DB Roadsters 1923 and earlier had the cast/forged hinges and door tops screwed on to wood. 1920 - 23 Tourings went to 1 piece doors and wider stamped steel hinges. '23 had outside door handles. Hope that all makes sense. Dave
I will check on the door hinges and width. In my original post, is the 2nd pic a valid model Dodge? It comes from an ad being listed on ebay for a 1917 Dodge. The truck section seems much more rounded than the pic from 31dodger. Also, "Look inside and see if there is a seam around what may have been a lid.", not sure what you mean. In the trunk section, at the top, sides...???
Does the trunk area have a trunk lid? I can't tell from the photo. The photo of the Dodge you posted is a 1917, but it is a coupe which has a different body line at the doors and cowl.
Does this view show anything of value for identification? I have pics on my computer but I am not home to do check anything.
A picture is worth a thousand words. As I look at the rear deck in your pic and I look at the Dodge ad, I can see that the Dodge trunk section is flatter. The Ford has a slightly steeper angle. Your pic nails it. Any comments on the front suspension? It seems to be part Ford but I haven't seen the swaybar, steering box, or shock setup on any web pics when I've searched. Thanks to all in advance. dan...
That looks like about a '40 Ford axle but I don't recognize the shocks. Not at all like the originals I replaced on my '40. Dave
Front axle and wishbone is 35-36 Ford, the sway bar and the perches look like 40 Ford, the front half of the frame (and steering box) looks like 46 Ford. Shocks are not Ford.
The shocks are Delco Lovejoy shocks. They ran them on early '30s chevy and some dodge I believe. Rebuild kits are available from the Filling Station. I had to modify the set I have to run on my coupe. Had to change the ends of the arms and the angle the arms came off the shaft to work on my car. Hope that helps some.
Thanks so much for all the responses, I have a lot to work with here. The car was purchased as a homegrown with a Pontiac straight 8, three speed manual that I just changed to 37 unit to get the floor shift, (details about NOT being able to swap the tops between the early and later Pontiac transmissions is in another post on this site.). It is Ford front/rear suspension and brakes, the body is all steel and the VIN is 1917 Dodge, and I now know the rear half is 1926 Ford. What appealed to me was the "authenticity" of the car, i.e. built with what was on hand. I can imagine a 17yr old, with his dad's torch and arc welder, somewhere around 1954, scrounging around for whatever he could afford, to build it. ( I know it was built later because it has a 70's Ford F150 rear axle, master cyl, and Mustang disc brakes.) That had an enormous appeal to me, however, the crudeness is starting to wear a little thin. While I haven't put too much time in it as of late, (I drive truck over the road,) I feel I MUST redo some of the pieces because of the crudity. This is an example of the battery box, made from what looks to be bedframe rails. I don't think we realize how far we have come since the 50's with the tools that are available. This guy must have only had a torch and arc welder available. No angle grinder, no bench grinder, no wirefeed, no metal sources , he just used what he had. The rest of the car is sort of the same. I intend to deal with things that I think are less than safe but I'm troubled about the rest of the roughness. I'm less thrilled about torched off 1/4" steel, not ground smooth, arc welded, motor mounts, than I was initially. Sooooo, I'm not sure how much I intend to redo. I'm not going to try and make a "silk purse" out of it, that is not what I wanted. At the moment I am dealing with creating a regular driveshaft arrangement out of a torque tube transmission. Things are slow as I am dealing with property and the car is not a priority at the moment. Thanks again for all the comments, dan...
Well, here are some ideas I'm going to throw out there. If it were me, I'd want to see what the car looked like with that front bumper and the sheetmetal covers on the frame removed. I think those kinda disrupt the flow of the car and would benefit from a different approach. No bumper or nerf bars with Model A or T splash aprons down the sides would be an instant improvement I think. The radiator shell looks like it could sit a bit lower to me. It appears that it is set on a drop bracket in front of the crossmember, so you should be able to fab one up out of a piece of flat stock without a whole lot of fuss. These are things that will make a big visual difference without re-engineering the car.
Ha ! I once bought an 1931 model A Channeled Roadster and a 348 -three speed . The p.o. Apparently Did not own tools above a torch and stick welder ! The doors were welded shut the rear radius rods were 1-1/2” threaded rod from a building, Front crossmember was 1/2” U-channel, The front of the frame was 34 ford the rear was 40 or so ford . Both the steering box and master cylinder were WELDED TO YHE FRAME ! In the old days you did not look under a hot rod ! You might get a engineers boot In the Butt !
The Jalopy Journal
