After some questioning of who was asleep at the wheel when they were deciding about the tailgate I was still curious about what a station wagon tailgate would look like to match the fins. @themoose was kind enough to do a picture for me. What do y'all think?
That is a nice test stand. I like the gauges and panel you have mounted on the stand. Mine has off the shelf gauges from Auto-Zombie but I'm the only one on my street with a test stand classy or not. The engine looks and sounds great. Thanks for the video. Yes to the wagon tailgate. Don't sweat the HEI distributor. If it makes it reliable then run it. Keep posting.
Thanks Moedog07 I'm going to mount them under the dash of the truck. I figured they'd work good on the stand as well. I'm liking the wagon gate too. Makes me want to try and find one just to mess around with it.
I get the feeling the truck is wider then the wagon, making an original tail gate from a wagon to small. As hard as finding a tail gate for a 58 wagon would be , I think making a tail gate from a repurposed hood may be another option. Damn near anything would be better then the original gate. Cool truck and great job saving that cylinder head. Keep up the good work.
I think I'd be searching for a wagon tailgate..or rolling some sheet metal to form something similar.
I was thinking this as well. Was wondering how hard it would be, if one could be sourced, to split it in the middle and add some length to it. I know the tailgate that's on it is how it was originally but I don't believe it's original to the truck because it looks like someone painted it to match the rest of the truck plus it could always be changed back if I did do something like the wagon tailgate.
The wagon tailgate is the same from 57 to about 60 I think. One would be real hard to find, the bottoms tended to rot out, and I'm pretty sure they would not be wide enough. My son has a 57 wagon, if I remember, I'll try to get a width on it. I suspect the main reason Dodge didn't use the wagon tailgate on the truck was because of the bottom hinging, the truck and the wagon were way different. The truck had a simple hinge pin that fit into the bottom hollow tube on the tailgate and bolted to the bed rear uprights. The wagon has a double hinge that is torsion rod sprung, the wagon gate had to swing up and out as it opened. also, method for holding the gate closed was pretty different, the truck tailgates were held closed with chains on the outside, the wagons had a center latch on the inside. You also need to take into account the wagon has a rear window, window tracks, and a window crank mechanism that the truck doesn't need. The wagon tailgates were very heavy, the truck tailgate is pretty light. One more little thing about the differences between the two, the truck tailgate stands vertical to seal against the inner bed sides. the wagon tailgate sits at about an 80 degree angle, won't be an issue at the top, but could be a real problem with hinging at the bottom, because you would want to keep the truck box side level when opened, but the car side needs to clear the bumper when its open. The wagon had a filler plate that was attached to the inside of the tailgate that filled the gap between the gate and the floor when it was open, but folded up against the lower tailgate when closed. That filler plate probably wouldn't survive inside of a pickup bed very long. Having laid hands on both, a standard pickup tailgate, and a wagon tailgate, merging the two to function correctly would be challenging. Gene
Thanks a lot for that information Gene. Sounds like there was way more to the wagon's tailgate than I would have imagined.
I think you might be ahead just getting a hood or some sheet metal and starting from scratch. There is no denying that the wagon gate is a huge improvement, but starting with more of a blank slate gives you the chance to do something more custom. That fancy truck deserves a fancy gate. For example, it would look great to continue the side trim and two-tone paint in a design that goes around the corner onto the gate.
Wow very cool 34 GAZ! I've never seen these before. It's like a '56 Plymouth as a truck. I bet they're pretty rare.
DIG IT MAN... good to see another Dodge guy here... Yours is super rare man... I would almost be on the fence about even trying to change the tailgate due to the rarity of her. You have the holy grail of dodge trucks from the 50s man... You are really making me want to slap a hemi in here now... But my LA318 is so damn good....
Very slick truck stubbrodandcustom. I really like the paint scheme and what you did with the grill. I've got a '55 Dodge truck sitting in pieces that was my dad's and I'm saving pictures of yours for if I ever get it back together.
I've had it apart and back together a few times so If you ever need any help or get stumped just send me a message. Look forward to seeing yours. Thanks... Its a good tried and true driver... Kept it simple and made it best I could with what I had. Garage paintjob by some buddies and I, 11 years ago...
While I'll agree with Gene's assessment of the difficulty of using a wagon tailgate, that doesn't mean it wouldn't look better, much better. If your metalworking skills are up to it, why not just build a tailgate? Using the profile at the ends of the 'fenders', extend that straight across, eliminating the compound curve of the wagon gate. Thin the tailgate to the minimum; after all, you no longer need the 'thickness' without a window. Some creative engineering on a simple hinge pair, maybe a pair of bear-claw latches to keep it closed or simple chains inside the bed. You'll end up with the tailgate platform higher than the bed level when open, but not objectionably so. Extend the bed floor to make up the remaining gap. 'Open' the lower flange under the tailgate so any crap that falls though goes to the ground instead of collecting under the gate. Done!
Thanks for all the tips Crazy Steve. Sheet metal work is definitely not my strong suit. While I don't have the tools or skill to fabricate a tailgate like that from scratch, I do think if I had a donor wagon gate that I could possibly be able to make one. I'm thinking if I just used the outer skin of the door I could lengthen it if needed and fabricate a back for it so it would also be a lot lighter. I think I might have a line on a wagon tailgate. He said it's rust free and it is reasonably priced. He's supposed to send me some pictures so hopefully it'll end up being just what I need.
Here's what I've done to the rear end and suspension. I didn't take a whole lot of before pictures but here are a few from when it was listed for sale. It had a plywood bed with carpet on top. I'm going to be installing a wood bed with the polished aluminum strips. 3.00:1 open 9" Ford rear end that had a real good leak. One of the exhaust pipes was actually touching the plywood. I had a B body 8-3/4" rear end that was the perfect length. I went through it and checked all the play and installed new seals and bearings. The third member is a 489 case 3.55:1 cone type Sure Grip. The truck had a lot of body roll, I reckon because of the length of the wheelbase and the weight. It cracked me up any time someone rode with me because I had the steering wheel to hold on to but the passenger was all over the place! I finally found a sway bar that was the right length for my frame. I'm running it backwards because of the shocks being mounted towards the front but there's plenty of clearance between the front bar and the snout of the third member. Looks kind of funny but I didn't see why the concept wouldn't be the same regardless of which way it was mounted.
The leaf springs had a lot of wear in them. Also the spring perches on the 9" Ford weren't exactly the right length apart which made the springs kind of fan out. The front leaf spring eye had a bushing in it which I replaced with a bronze bushing. The rear shackle assembly was a little more involved. The shackle slid into the rear eye of the spring then the bushing part threaded on it and also in to the shackle mount. I could never really wrap my head around what was supposed to be the wear item here. I guess since the grease fitting is in the threaded bushing it was supposed to stay stationary and spin on the threads of the U shackle. However it was meant to work it did all the wearing on the shackle mount. I drilled out all the rivets thinking I might bore it out and put a bushing in it. Instead I ended up finding another set of shackles and modified them. I offset the shackle and made it the right width for the leaf spring. I turned a bronze bushing for the rear spring eye and drilled and tapped a grade eight bolt so that I could grease it. Hopefully this will wear a lot better and at least be easily rebuilt. I also installed some spring clamps to get them all back in line. It's definitely a lot tighter now and I hope will make the ride better too.
Love that truck, I've never seen one in person. You weren't kidding about the way the rear fenders were just "added" around the existing box..... Now I can see why they didn't do anything fancy with the tailgate.
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