Very cool non belly-button truck. It is what it is, wagon quarters tacked onto a pickup - leave the tailgate alone, it’s part of the magic of a unique Dodge.
Absolutely love your truck and the engine too. I also prefer the wagon tailgate but it looks impossible to make a functional one. You could make one that just attaches but is not functional. I know its not ideal but to make a functional one would be difficult. The (actual/inside) bedsides don't go all the way back so those would have to be extended first. Anyway, its definitely a sweet looking truck. Good luck/have fun!
I was thinking the same thing when I was looking at what it would take to make the wagon tailgate functional on the truck yesterday NashRodMan. If I just kept the regular tailgate and made a cover out of a wagon tailgate I could have it either way depending on what I felt like. I'm like you that it being nonfunctional isn't ideal, but once it has the nice wood floor there's not going to be anything going in the bed anyways.
If it's too hard to make a wagon tailgate that folds down then how about a wagon gate that swings open like a door gate?
I don't remember the name of the thread, but if you can find it, check out the '49/'50 Ranchero build. He posted a bunch of pictures on how he did the tailgate area. Good luck!
That's not a bad idea either. Communication on the wagon tailgate I found has went quiet for now but hopefully he'll get back with me. Thanks a lot for leading me to that Ranchero build '28phonebooth and impala4speed. Lot of great ideas on it and an awesome build.
You're welcome. That Ranchero build by Jakes Backyard truly is amazing. Really digging your project too.
Started cleaning up the engine bay to get ready to drop the hemi in. It's filthy with oil spray from that leaking 318. Still have some welding to finish on the frame. One thing that's been real handy working on this truck is the hood opening to ninety degrees so I didn't have to take it off. I don't know a lot about where all the work was done on this truck. There was a sticker in the back window for a shop in Oregon if I remember correctly. While I guess they get points for at least using a period correct 318 Poly and some other cool old parts it mostly strikes me as something that was thrown together quickly to turn a profit. They had a good way for the leaking front main seal to not mark its territory wherever it was parked. Run the driver's side exhaust pipe in front of the engine right under the seal. I'm sure this was because of space constrictions but it worked twofold. One cool thing that was on it was the Filcoolator on the firewall. Almost all the original decals were gone so I cleaned it up and repainted it. They were running it with no filter. I bought a couple of Baldwin P67 filters for it. The questions I have about these units are do they flow and filter good enough for my hemi and also is the P67 the correct filter? It seemed to fit in the canister good but from what I've read there seems to be a little debate over the right filter.
My son tells me the width of his 57 Dodge wagon tailgate is about 55 1/2" wide. Should be plenty wide for the pickup bed, you may even be trimming the side edges off of it. If I was doing it, I would probably cut the inner structure off the wagon tailgate and attach the outer metal to the truck tailgate. Making a hinge work is still going to be a challenge. You will have to allow for clearance of the wagon sheet metal thickness on the bottom to clear the bumper when opened, and have it look right closed. the original truck tailgate opened down to where the side vertical rails sat on the rear bumper extensions. Whatever thickness you add to the tailgate at those contact points has to be accounted for if you want the tailgate to fully open. Those two rubber strips running up and down on each side of the wagon tailgate would meet with the extended pads on the bumper, to support the tailgate weight when it was opened and had weight put on it. Back when this stuff was first built, it was all expected to actually do work. As far as the cool looking filter housing, Having it hang around under the hood and look like its attached might be cool, but I believes I would stick with the modern Hemi oil filtration. Especially if your not sure the cartridge is the correct filter for the housing. If the cartridge doesn't seal in the housing, it won't do much filtering, and it may cause a huge oil leak. Gene
Thank you for all the tips and the measurement Gene. You're right probably not worth risking good oil flow and filtration. Might end up sticking with the spin on filter adapter I have on the engine right now.
I have a 1958 Sweptside and would be interested in getting in touch sometime. Mine was sitting in a garage since 1975. I like your ideas and engine is great. I’m planning on doing a three tone paint job …white top, Mazda Cranberry red where white usually is and black bottom and fins
That filter is a bypass filter and is not designed to take the full volume of oil from the engine. You can use that filter in conjunction with the spin on filter, but not in place of it.
Cool truck! But I’d definitely have to address the gap between the fenders and the bed. I would probably think about eliminating the top of the bedsides with the roll on them. Using the wagon gate would really make it look nicer. If the wagon gate was hinged at the back of it, it shouldn’t interfere with anything? It wouldn’t lay flat with the bed when opened, but would give you easier access to what you have in the bed. Guys have posted pics of using seatbelt latches on their tail gates. One on each side. You could use that coated cable as “chains” on the inside as well, to hold the gate level when open like newer trucks use. But for now, just get the Hemi in it and have some fun!
Ya know, I was thinking (uh oh!), you could mount the bottom of the wagon gate to a sliding platform that slides under the bed. Like you see in ads for truck beds. When you want to open the gate unlatch it at the top, slide it out past the bumper and then hinge it down. The hinge would be simple. The "platform" could just be 2 rails or an extension of the bed.
Thanks for that information slayer. I guess now I'll just have to decide if I want to run them both or just stick with a spin on. Lot of great ideas for the tailgate everybody. Still haven't heard back yet about the one I'm trying to buy. Would be a lot easier to figure over if I had one in hand.
For many years heavy truck diesels ran both a full flow and a bypass filter. Your Filcoolator is a bypass filter.
I do really like the look of the Filcoolator on the firewall and if it's on there I would rather it actually be functional. Plus where the spin on adapter is on the block oil would be dripping right on the exhaust every time I change the filter. I already have the remote oil filter adapter plate for the block where I was planning on running it to the Filcoolator. Would you run first to a remote spin on filter then through the bypass filter and back to the engine?
Fantastic truck! I really like your idea of the wagon tailgate. I've always thought the tailgate on the sweptsides looked unfinished. A good friend of mine (Buddy Crofton - who posted earlier) and I have been discussing the wagon tailgate idea since I forwarded him the photoshopped pic of your truck that Moose did. It might entail also using the rear bumper from the wagon instead of the truck bumper. As gene-koning mentioned the thickness of the tailgate will have to be accounted for when opened. I've always had a softspot for MOPAR stuff. I'm still kicking myself for letting my old Dodge truck go away. Mine was a 59 Dodge D-100 Utiline with a 318 Poly and 4spd manual. Good luck with your truck. You're off to a heck of a good start! Bobby
Thanks Bobby! That's a good looking '59. Looks like it was a real straight and solid truck. After reading some more about how full flow and bypass filters are supposed to be used in conjunction and some helpful advice from gimpyshotrods, I think I'll probably end up using just a spin on filter by itself. I see now that my earlier post asking if the oil needed to go through the full flow filter first then the bypass filter and back to the engine isn't how that setup should work and that on engines that have both the oil that is being pumped to the bearings is straight from the full flow filter with just a little bit being diverted to the bypass filter for finer filtration before going back to the sump.
I sent you a message. Cool trucks man. We have a 57/58 also. Very hard to find. Starting to do metal work on my 57. We’re gonna make some sheetmetal parts and sell them . Check us out on insta @madmooks_trifive
Love the truck, love the hemi! I am hoping the wagon tail gate makes it to the final project. It deserves better than the truck gate.
Thanks Bandit Billy! I was able to find a tailgate off of a '59 Plymouth in California. Supposed to ship out first part of this week. Using the measurement Gene got for me off his son's wagon at 55 1/2" it turns out slayer was right about the truck being wider. Side panel to side panel the truck comes in at 59 1/2". Not too much to add on each side. Will be interesting to mess around with once it gets here.
Love your truck. It's quite interesting that your truck and another came from Washington. That's where I'm originally from and back in the mid-80s to early 90's there was one of these sitting in a junkyard in Kent. It was complete and looked to be junked just because it was old. I thought it was cool, but had no idea how rare they were. If only... Looking forward to seeing how the tailgate idea works out.
@Rolleiflex that's pretty cool! I don't have any information on who did the work on the truck before I got it or what became of the original drivetrain. Who knows it might be the one you saw in the junkyard! If not hopefully somebody saved it. I'll definitely keep this in mind as I'm looking at it too. I think the wagon tailgate would look awesome on there too but I don't really want to modify the truck a whole lot if possible. Like @razoo lew mentioned earlier the flat tailgate is part of what makes it unique so I'd like to be able to switch back to the original set up if I ever wanted to. I got this Desoto clock in the mail today. I thought it would look pretty good on the dash since the face is the same color. The contour of the base matches the dash perfectly. The movement looks really clean and I was getting ready to test it when I thought I'd better check here first. It was listed for either a '55 or '56 Desoto. From what I've read in '55 they were 6V positive ground and in '56 they went to 12V negative ground. I think from what I've seen this is a '56 clock but the movement isn't marked either way. Does anybody happen to know?
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