Projects The rebirth of a 1952 pilot house dodge pickup

hopefully getting to the pilothouse this next week.. i really wanna hear this puppy run!

 

thanks do Dan Babb i should be getting the fuel pump this week! thanks dan!

 

Keep up the good work......mine's pretty much in hibernation for now.....good luck....try andy birnbaum and roberts' motors for parts..........jim
also plydo..........

 

It looks like the original. In '51 the hood ornament was changed to an option and the design was changed to the style that you have. I like the '51-53 style a lot better than the earlier type, but the downside is that the horns are pretty easily damaged.

Great work so far, keep it up!

 

nice choice!! you dont see alot of those year dodges out there!! looks good.

 

got the fuel pump! THANKS AGAIN DAN BABB!

 

mooved the trruck again1 BIG NEW DODGE

 

MOVED THE 52 DODGE TO MY HOUSE TO WORK ON FOR THE WINTER..

bIg new dodge pulling lil old dodge HAHA

 

Nice!

Can't wait to see that thing back on the road!

 

I might be too late on this, but if you try it, tack it while you still have it on the block. I tried to weld mine, and it shrank just enough so now it doesn't line up with the studs. Had to get a new one. I don't know if brazing would've changed anything, but I didn't have the right tools. Good luck, great build. I love my flathead 6, wouldn't swap it for a hemi. Ever.

 

Yep I've heard that.. I actually found a exhaust/intake manifold for 100bucks.. bolted right up.. now I just gotta get my title situation out =(

 

Ooh, what title situation? That's no bueno. I have a tiny one with the Desoto as well. Glad you got new manifolds. I did too. The bastard wanted $125 for the intake alone (because I don't have external genitalila and he's a chauvinist pig), but he couldn't get them apart, after stripping the bolts on three different sets, I got both manifolds for that price. Lol! I love Karma.

 

I Had to meet up with the guy who owned it before my step dad bought the truck because my step dad never had the title put in his name (he had the truck for 4 years then sold it to me) so we got to meet up with Jim today and we got the title transferred into my name. would have sucked if i did all this work and couldn't drive it because it wasn't in my name haha. Jim was a pretty cool old veteran hot rodder. he was a driver for my step dad and had bought the 52 dodge about 15 years ago and did a bunch of body work on it but unfortunately he got bladder cancer and was not able to finish the truck. i found out the floors of my truck are made out of some silly stuff haha. (we'll just say that there is a Lil bit of dump truck in the floors of my hot rod hahahahah) i wish i would have wrote down the name of the guy that had the truck before Jim. Jim found the old pick up in a corn field and i guess the old farmer just gave it to Jim! (the farmer owned the truck since new in 1952) so i'm gonna try and remember what the name was of the original owner that was on the title of the truck before Jim bought it. id like to find out the history on the truck. and Jim said he found a 5 gallon bucket of extra parts for the pilothouse so i'm gonna go pick those up soon!
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ps. i found some pics from when we pulled the engine right after paint..

 

Glad you got the title taken care of. Good pics too.

 

this ohio weather sucks! its been a average of a balmy (sacasm) 17 degrees and snow! i havent been able to work on it since i moved it.. =( but here is some more pics i found from when i first started working on the truck!

 

Love it! Got great memories from being a kid, riding with my dad in our old red dodge. Got a lot of work out of it, lots of firewood and loads of hay, trips to the river hanging half out of the bed. Bought a '50 with the lowside bed back in the '80's... head gasket, clean out the carb and a water pump, dad used it for years around his place. Only issue I can remember was water pump seals. Here's a couple that are waiting for love in my secret boneyard. Couple of dad's old red dodge too. Thanks for the reminder!

 

That's amazing!!

 

Cool project!!! Brings back memories for me! Way back in 1973 (when I was just 18 years old) I had a black '52 Pilothouse that was as much fun to drive as my '69 Z28..... well, almost....... But I sure had a blast with that old truck. It hauled my Suzuki dirt bike in style. It hauled about a dozen friends in style along with a "few" cases of brewskis. It also towed my Z28 home on more than one occasion, especially after a night of drag racing. (Funny how I would break a drive line component anytime I beat on the ol' Z with more than 2 people in the car.)

Wow, you just sparked a great trip down memory lane for me!! Hope you stick with it and complete your project. I am looking forward to the end result. Plus, look at all of the cool memories you are amassing with your buds!!! Absolutely irreplaceable!!!

Keep us posted!

 

That's too cool! I can't wait to get it running! Its been a blast so far!

 

the snow seems to be taking a break. so i think i might clean out the garage this week and get the truck in there. I gotta get this thing done driving by spring!

keep finding pics from the first night i got the truck...
hope you guys enjoy =)

 

new fuel pump thanks to DANBABB!

 

here is the origional carb. needs a good rebuild. gonna get the kit and start on it soon!

 

some of the grill pieces. gonna start shaving the old barn paint off of it and prepping them to paint. I'm gonna paint the center (job rated piece) the original silver but instead of red lettering and pin striping i'm gonna redo all that in the same colour of the truck (dark/navy blue.) I actually found the guy who owned the truck before my step dad. I guess he found it on a old farm. the engine wasn't locked up so he worked on it in the field (cleaned up the plugs/new fluids and drove it home that day.) which is pretty awesome! he said he has a crate full of extra goodies for the pickup that he is gonna let me have!

 

Hey nice work so far, I think these trucks are often overlooked. I'm keeping mine stock so far, but that can change once I begin working on it.

 

here is some more of the front end body pieces. they're the original pieces but they were so rotted away they had to be rebuilt. used fiberglass matting and rebuild them so the truck stays all original.







here is the end pieces. also rebuilt the same way.


when you hold them up to the light you can see where the old metal had rotted away and how it was rebuilt.


the end pieces was just as bad. the center was totally rotted away! RUST SUCKS! lol

 

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off subject. haha don't get mad! lol.. I've been managing my girlfriends professional pin up modeling. she just got her first contract! i'm proud of her! so i wanted to share it with you guys! plus who doesn't wanna see a pretty classic lady posing with a old car! haha!

 

i agree totally! that's awesome man! and thank you!

 

Nice work. I may pull my grills off when I'm done with my engine swap. There are a few dents that could be hammered out.

I'd also like to see about getting them chromed.

Stainless grill bars were an option from the factory and looks pretty good in pictures I've seen.

 

nice! i'm getting ready to work on getting the dents out of the visor right now!