Just bought this a few months ago and getting started on finishing it. Hoping to have it road trip ready by the end of May. I have a few questions for you guys. The truck originally had a tilt out windshield but that has been removed and I am wondering about fitting new glass. Did these truck also come out with fixed windshields? If not then should I glue in the custom glass or is there a rubber windshield gasket I could make work? Probably worrying too much about it but is my only serious concern. Will start wiring soon and will need to address the fuel tank and battery box but I have some ideas for those items. Check out the pics and let me know what you think. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
cool truck - I had a 35 Desoto with a wind out windscreen - used a new gasket and it lasted a good while. It was cool to still have it working and at the top of Summer it was the best air con at low speed - bit of a windy set up at high speed tho
I dig the truck! Great score..good luck on your build!:thumbup: Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Roberts Motor Parts is your friend. Vintage Power Wagons in Fairfield Iowa may have the original parts as well.
I've got a 39 1 1/2 ton we've tuned into a pick-up. The windshield frames that they all had originally, tended to rust out. I don't think anyone makes a reproduction. I've seen them on ebay but they are expensive. Red
Awesome looking truck...Have any more details on the truck? Is it sitting on a modern chassis? Has the box been shortened? How long is the box... Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Cool truck. All the 39-47 Dodge trucks are basically the same with only a few minor changes over the years, the biggest changes being the grille and headlight mounts. They all had crank out windshields and as Reds29 pointed out, they had major rust issues and are very expensive. I have a decent spare upper windshield frame, if you're interested send me a PM. The lower is the part that always rots out and is hard to find in good shape. Whats your truck running for suspension? Frame swap? I ended up doing a mustang II front end and 4 link rear in mine to get it sitting how I wanted. Heres my build thread http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=682126
I agree with 35 Desoto, the crank out windshield is worth finding and getting functional. They're very cool (two ways!) Not many pickups left for parts, but a lot of big Dodge farm trucks were made with the same cab and windshield.
Thanks for the compliments. I bought the truck already modified. The front clip is from a 1987 Dodge Dakota and the rear end is from the same Dakota. The engine and Trans are a 318 and a 727 put of a 1975 Dodge van as well as the steering column. The power brake setup is from the Dakota as well. The truck drives great even without the power steering hooked up and only front brakes. The Trans needs some work as it seems to be slipping a bit but will hopefully get that taken care of before the Hot Rod Power Tour in June. Hoping to do the long haul as a shakedown run! As you can tell from the pics I need to engineer a different gas tank and battery box as well. I am thinking of an aluminum tank (keg or other) mounted in the bed. If anyone has a 15-20 gal tank they want to part with let me know. Will start on the new wiring harness install soon and should be interesting as I have never wired an entire vehicle before. How bad could a mechanical engineer screw that up I suppose? I will post more pics, etc as the build goes along. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
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