My first build - 1950 Dodge Pickup

gotta pull the pan and get your eye in there

 

Nice CJ! I've been fond of the early CJ's as well... here's one I used to own.. and should have NEVER SOLD IT. It was a '49 2A.

Fell about 4 feet through a crappy bridge on my dad's ranch... don't ask me what I was doing... or how many Lone Stars I had in my system...

 

Matt i removed the seat riser from my truck. Gave me more leg room. Going to mount my seats to the floor. My gas tank is mounted in the frame under the bed.

 

My kid sister did a PhotoChop of the truck lowered.

 

Matt .... I don't know what you paid for that truck but I'm green with envy.... I love it. Your truck and your choice, of course, but I'm not crazy about the "in the weeds" look from Photochop. Congratulations. You scored well. Let's see some more progress pics.

 

Yea, its a bit low in the Chop. I know I want to lower it some but I'm not sure how much yet. Currently, the old Dodge sits higher than my '96 daily driver. I want to be able to slide in and out, rather than climb in (to high) or climb out (to low). It's all about finding that "happy medium".

Regarding the price I paid, I'm very happy with the purchase. My intro thread has info on the deal I got.

 

Yeah, just no way around it but to get inside it. Can you drop the pan and look? Can you see the piston through the spark plug hole? I'd like to see pictures when this comes apart.

I don't know if its the same motor, but I have a piston and rod from a 47 Plymouth if you wanted to repair it.

 

Matt...... now I'm greener than green with envy .... first of all you'd never find anything that clean here in Ontario. Secondly, $1250 ?? I'd be safe to say that same truck here in Ontario would be offered at around five thousand. And, you'd never find floors that clean. Again, I love the truck. Looking forward to seeing how it progresses.

 

I went out and got myself an engine hoist and stand. I plan to pull it next weekend. My dad came over to watch the Panthers beat the Falcons and went went out to look at it. He said he thinks one of the valves instead of a piston. We looked at a spare head I've got and I pretty sure dad was spot on in his opinion. He said if it were a piston, I should be hearing some scraping and grinding noises that are not there now. Also, after looking at the spare head, the pistons are offset from the spark plug hole. The movement we saw through the hole was a valve. There may still be life in the old flathead after all.

 

I wonder if what you're referring to the factory "Air ride" for the seat? On my Dodge there was a little metal tag (about 1" x 2") near the passenger-side visor that said "Air ride" (I think that was what they called it) and then showed an arrow with "soft" at one end and "firm" on the other. I think moving the lever did something to effect the feel of the seat. I've seen it in other Pilothouse Dodge trucks as well.

I'd like to comment more on yiour truck and will soon when I get back to the computer in a few days.

Seeing yours is making me really miss my old Dodge. Wish I'd given up the Effie instead in my last deal.

Jay

 

nice project. It looks nicer than alot of trucks I have seen around this end of NC.

 

You were spot on regarding the "Air Ride" seat. I looked over on the Dodge Pilothouse Club website and found the Air Ride mentioned on page 4 and 5 of a brochure. I'm including some photos in case someone else is interested. The great thing about the HAMB is that vast knowledge of the people on it. Thanks for filling me in on the seat.

 

I'm currently rebuilding my 55 now. Bought it in Jan 2007, drove it a little and then decided in Dec. 2007 to tear it down and rebuild it. Been working on it for almost a year now.

 

I plan to remove the front clip and engine this upcoming weekend. I read on the Pilot-House.com Forum that the front clip on this truck can be removed in one piece rather easily. Two bolts in each upper fender can be accessed from inside the cab and two bolts under the radiator. With only six bolts holding the clip on, I think the convenience of having the open space with pulling the engine more than makes up for the trouble removing the clip.

As mentioned earlier, I purchased an engine hoist and stand to remove the engine. Northern Tool had 10% off everything this past Saturday. I chose a two ton foldable hoist with leveler and a 1500 LB capacity engine stand. Both were made by Torin. I've got the stand assembled and everything looks in order with the exception of the pin that holds the head in. Instead of going completely through the pivot point, the pin only goes through the top half in the 12 o'clock position. I plan to get a longer pin to go through the entire pivot and drill a new hole from 3 o'clock to 9 o'clock. I think I'll feel a little safer with the pin in double sheer. I still need to finish assembly of the hoist.

On a side note, my table is working out great. I was a little worried that I had built the table top to high but it seems pretty good. I built it tall so I wouldn't have to stoop.

A couple of pics.

 

Hey man, that Dodge really looks to be in good shape. You should've seen some of the stuff we've started with.
Good Luck with it.

Cooter

 

That truck is cool. I like the 3 bumper guards, the mirror, the way the hoods open, and the winderupper on the front. Leave it as a truck.

Thanks,
Kurt

 

That's a nice truck you have there Pickupman55. You should start a thread on your build and document it for all to see.

 

Very nice truck, we never see anything that nice up here in the Northeast...

I also vote for keeping the flathead, and when you get it going, I could probably set you up with an intake and exhaust.

 

Great project.

My friend and his dad built a 50 p/u and drag raced it,was really quick for a flyin brick but most all Mopars are with built 440's.

I will be watching for updates.

 

HAMB Relay - Western Kentucky (Island,Ky) to Charlotte, NC <hr style="color: rgb(229, 229, 229); background-color: rgb(229, 229, 229);" size="1"> <!-- / icon and title --> <!-- message --> Good evening. I wanted to check and see if anyone would be traveling from western Kentucky to Charlotte with some free space in a truck. I purchased an engine and was hoping someone could pick it up on the way through. I know the Goodguys Show is in Charlotte this weekend and maybe someone would be willing to help.

 

You might want to post for a relay in a seperate thread...good luck

 

what did you chose for engine? going back to stock or updating for a more enjoyable driver

 

Cool truck, i have a 53 that i am presently putting on a chev s10 frame and will start the top chop tonite. Looks like you have a solid basis to start with. Bud

 

I'm not fully committed either way, but I purchased an old Hemi.

 

Last night I just cut off and rewelded a spring perch on a 97 Cherokee axle to go under my 50 dodge. It's good to see a few others working on these. I'm finally in the buildup instead of tear apart stage so I'm starting to get very anxious to get this thing together and on the road. However I still have a LOT of work to do.

Your project looks great. I will keep following your progress as well as that of bud with his chop.

 

2 cool.
When I had mine I was acquiring parts to hop up the original 6 but I was always dreaming of putting in an old Red Ram.
What variety of Hemi did you find for yours?

Jay

 

The engine I found was is a Chrysler Industrial 331 Hemi. I'll admit beforehand, I don't know a lot about the engine. I took the sellers word when he told me it was running. Even so, I'd like to rebuild it any way.

 

I took a day off from the office and went to pickup the engine. I left out at a quarter till one in the morning with a quarter tank of gas and high hopes of being back home in time to pass out some candy to any trick or treaters that may happen to stop by.

As is typical with most of my trips to unknown places, I took a couple of "sight seeing detours" that added to the time and distance of my trip. It's funny that missed the one exit I knew I needed to take. I drove right by the I-40 interchange in Statesville and finally caught on that I was in the wrong place about 40 miles later. At 2:11 AM, I turned around in Elkin at the Wilco, filled the tank, and drained the lizard. 24 gallons at $2.27/gallon for the truck and a couple bottles of H2O, a pack of Mallo Cups, and some chapstick and I was back on the road. There's nothing like backtracking at 2AM to sour the mood.

With the early morning detour behind me, I put the old Daily Driver Dodge in the wind. I didn't stop again until 5:55 AM in Jefferson City, TN. The two bottles of water I had drunk were calling so I stopped for a pit stop and breakfast. A sausage biscuit from Hardee's was the preferred breakfast on the road. $1.42 for the meal (I still had some water) and I was back on the road.

I made good time through the mountains in NC and TN. My next stop was for fuel at the Shell station in Gordonsville, TN. 25.41 gallons at @ $2.50/gallon and the truck was full. I’ve got to insert a little grip here regarding “Pay at the Pump”. I am a “PATP” type of person. I choose to PATP so that I can avoid going into the store. Why then when I want a receipt am I required to see attendant? This always irritates me. A short visit to the facilities and I was back on the road.

I pulled into Taylors’s Dairy Freeze in the small community of Island, Kentucky at 11:15 AM. I purchased the engine from Mr. Taylor via an Ebay auction. A short drive over to his house and the monster was loaded and strapped down for the trip back home. I stopped back by the Dairy Freeze to pick up some lunch for the road.

Being born the 1975, I don’t exactly know what a 50’s buger stand would look like. The Dairy Freeze in Island is what I picture as a small town 50’s burger stand. I pulled in and parked the truck and walked up to one of the two windows. I placed my order for two BLT’s and a large Iced Tea (sweet) and went back over to the truck to wait for the loudspeaker to announce my number. The old Hemi caught the eye of a few fellows waiting on their lunches. A half hour of car talk later and I was back on the road. It was around 12:15 when I pulled out on the way back home. $5.00 for two BLT’s (they threw in the tea). I may have just been really hungry, but those were two of the best BLT’s ever and the tea was perfect. If you’re ever in Island, stop by and visit Taylor’s Dairy Freeze. Tim’s a car guy and makes a mean BLT.

I made my second “sight seeing detour” on I-65 near the KY-TN border. I meant to take highway 31-41 over to I-40. After missing my exit I decided to continue on I-65 to Nashville and catch I-40 there. I don’t really even want to know how much time and mileage my error cost me. The worst part was that it put me driving through Chattanooga in rush hour.

My final stop was for fuel and facilities in Silver Point, TN. 24.20 gallons at $2.44/gallon, a couple granola bars, and a pack of gum for the mountain drive and I was back on the road.

I pulled back into the driveway at 9:11 PM. I’m not happy that I missed my first Halloween at my new house but I’ve got my Hemi. I didn’t take many photos along the road but I’ll post picks in my build thread. The trip stats are shown below.

Hemi Trip:

12:45 AM - 9:11 PM = 20.43 total hours
1191 miles
58.29 mph average

 

I had a 49 and a 50 when I was a kid. You can make a good looking truck out of these with a little cuttin'. Nova subframes fit very nicely under these. I stuck a 76 under mine,and the front end was so low you could not stick a pack of smokes under the front valance. That was without an engine too. The 68-74 frames set it up to a "practical"ride height. I know you say you're going for stock engine and such, but I figured I'd give you some food for thought.

 

Looks really cool. I can't wait to see that thing when it's finished.