Lady at work told me she just wants it gone and is wanting an offer- i could only afford to offer her maybe 150-200 bucks for it -which she may just take. Dont know what year it is but it is a B due to the two piece windshield. Her dad parked it amongst the cedars in 96, when his kids had to take his keys from him. The cab looks sound. Two layers of old brushed on paint. One fender could use a kink knocked out of it to be ok, the grill is caved in though. All that's left of the bed is a farmer-built pile of rust/woodrot now, but the truck frame under neath appears solid. Under hood is the flat six covered up with leaves (dry). We couldn't dig out enough leaves to reach the head. Since it's all cedar, the leaves had to be brought in by nesting critter. so i'm sure it'll need new wiring-but if the air cleaner(stock- i'm assuming oil bath?)is undisturbed, would it be safe to assume the intake tract is clear-or should i pull the carb? the main goal for this would be exactly what it is-a 200dollar truck to revive for my son to drive, maybe parts chaser duty, or maybe part it out? I have NO experience with dodge flat 6 or whatever stick trans this thing has in it or rear axle- durable? full oiling or splash? good trans/rear? pain in the ass? What does the HAMB think-worth it or no? yeah there's a flat six under that!
For $200, can you afford not to buy it? As others have said, you can recoup your money on just a few parts off there. I'd go ahead.
No, you should not buy this truck - you should let me know where it is!!! Seriously, these are starting to catch on and starting to increase in value. Since I have been working on mine I have seen the parts prices go up significantly. And by buying the truck you would be getting it, or parts of it, back into circulation. Mine is a grandfather-grandsons project so I like the idea of a father-son project. By the way, from the pictures I can tell you it is a 51 - 53. Buy it and keep us posted! Larry
I'd tell her you'll haul it away for her and not charge her! Otherwise, unless other people are lookin', stick with $100 or so. Good thing is, a ton of '46-'51 parts, Ply. and Dodge will swap out. I sure like 'em and the build your own bed factor is cool. Those flat 6 MoPars have lots of torque and some cool 2 1bbl. intakes, split cast iron headers, etc. are available. Great project...
I haven't talked to her again yet, but i'll go ahead and offer her the 100-150ish for it. I definitely dont need another project right now- but what i'd love to find is some type of heavy truck from 30's-mid50s to make a ramp truck/tilt bed for my Falcon Gasser. She didn't know anything about this truck just that she wants it gone. She's executrix of dad's estate and the state told her if she got them the vin they could get her a copy of the title to make it legit.- somewhat risky, but i know her and the only risk is if there's a problem -not risk about her fraudin' me. But i'd need to know where to find the vin on this truck. If she wants more cash, i'll have to ask her if i can post her contact info on the HAMB- i'd be happy to post it up in the classifieds for her. she didn't want to set a price- kept saying she's VERY reasonable on it -i think she just wants' an offer and not to set the price herself. I didn't want to offend her, then before i offered a benjamin i figured i'd better ask my son if he had interest in it, and also the HAMB for advice. how hard would it be to get a new snout for this thing? -rick.
Rick---VIN should be on a plate on the left door jam (front edge). Parts show up on eBay so you may want to check that out as to prices and availability. Do a Google or Yahoo image search for 1951 - 1953 Dodge trucks for some good pictures of them done and see if your son gets into them. My grandsons were fine until we started the tedious side of body work. If it was something with more immediate results (installing the glass, making a trans mount) they were up for it. I guess the first test would be if he helped clean the leaves out from under the hood! Larry
lol-you aint kiddin about the tedious work- the Falcon Gasser is left all to me as i fab up the suspension- the bolt on stuff is where he jumps in haha. He was all about trying to find the engine with me out in the field, dont think either of us are looking forward to clearing out the cab- think i can toss a bug bomb inside to snuff the spiders/millipedes? If we get this and try to put her back on the road-it will be as you see her with only some mechanical updates, some type of bed and maybe a single color applied. A parts chaser/old cruiser for my son. What would be nice is if we can awaken her with minimal input and keep her running till the other projects get finished. thanks guys! Rick
yes, they are a kick inna pants the truck is almost done, just need odds & ends, like getting the hood on and seats in, then l'm calling it finished for a while, gonna just drive the snot outta it. it's a "trubite to my son" 1948 dodge truck and l love it. if ya recycle all that aluminum in the truck, might just make back your'e money. Later
I'd buy it! But that's probably obvious. The emblems on the dash and nose of the truck make it a '51 or '52. In '52 everything got painted headlight rings etc because of the Korean War (chrome production was reduced), so I'd lean toward it being a '51. But those parts are easy enough to change. The data plate on the driver's door jamb should tell you for sure. 4 speed gearbox was an option, the 3 speeds were "on the tree" so the floor shifter indicates its a four speed. Wing vent windows indicate it's at least a De Luxe cab, lack of a driver's armrest and the rear corner windows (doesn't look like they're there, but hard to tell) would mean it is in fact a De Luxe cab and not a Custom cab. The mopar flat 6's are very durable if the rev's are kept down, high rev's for long periods can lead to crankshaft issues as the stock oiling left a little to be desired (partial bypass). This can be dealt with by drilling the oil passages in the crank if its apart. Transmissions and rear ends are more than strong enough for the 6, the rear is similar in design to the later 8 3/4's (although smaller), with the removable carrier. Tapered axles with nuts (PITA!). Body parts are hard to find and aren't as of yet reproduced (except for the bed parts). The flat 6's came in everything from the mid thirties all the way up to 1960, with a few minor changes along the way. Based on the pile of leaves, I'm guessing its going to take some work to get that 6 working! That mirror bracket is in fact pretty rare, and even just the dash knobs and things can bring a decent price when you start adding them up. The Pilot House Dodge's have been gaining popularity recently, so prices have been rising (although, they still don't bring as much as their Ford or Chevy counterparts). Replacing the nose would be pretty spendy. The grille parts are almost always damaged (they're trucks!), so they get big money on eBay. The parking light housings alone usually go for close to $200. Based on what I see, I'd get a hammer and dolly. The grille bars themselves are just sheet metal, and can be duplicated pretty easily if you've got a sheet metal brake. In the condition its in, in the location its in, a few hundred bucks is a fair offer.
Moparmonkey is right on target with what he said. You have a 51 or 52 1/2 ton pickup. I can add some more insight. With all the leaves under the hood, I really doubt the engine is any good, for sure anything electrical will be junk being under cedar tree leaves. If, when you get is dug out, and the thing rolls, it might be worth all the repair work to the brakes, but I'm betting it won't roll either. For the record, these cabs fit well on Dakota frames. Most of the tin work on the nose comes off easily leaving the nose cone. That can be straightened and the lighting can be updated for a lot less then replacing all the mangled tin work. The front sheet metal will swap out between a 48 and a 53. For inspiration, or to use as an example of what not to do, here is my 50 (with a 52 nose) mounted on an 80 Dodge 1/2 ton 4x4 frame. I made my own box sides and used rear fenders from a 50 pickup. The Dakota frame fits much better then the full size frames do. Gene
Man, that gear shifter sure brought back memories. Dad had a '48 and it served as my first car. Stock, they get around okay but are pretty slow. It would get stuck if a dog pissed on a rear wheel and the truck was parked on grass. The only real pertinent info I have to offer is about the tranny. They were 4 speed clash boxes. First was a real stump pulling granny. Would do maybe 5 mph in low. Nice for pulling wagons around in rough fields. Useless on the street. But it was a trouble free tranny. Bill
Thanks abunch! very helpful info! Good to know about the nose- The interesting thing about cedars all around is that it's all pine type needles from the cedars and that may have helped stave off some of the creepy crawlers, But the leaves under hood were from diciduous leafy trees, that were dry but turned to dust-indicating something that nests brought them in from somewhere else- no leafy trees within 500 feet any direction. I'd like to do a hose check, and wire it up enough to see if she'll lite off with clean oil, carb and gas- who knows might get lucky. Just the type of info I'm looking for. Thanks! It'll be fun teaching my son to drive a non synchro trans- I drove big rigs for years and love gear matching and the feel of that shifter notching in. -rick
Just to clarify this, not ALL the 4 speeds were non-synchro. In fact, from what I've read '51 was the first year they started putting synchro 4 speeds in the Pilot House trucks. So, there's actually a decent chance its not a clash box.
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