Projects The rebirth of a 1952 pilot house dodge pickup

Cool thread. I'm at the beginning of an engine swap on my 52 PH. Just getting to the point where I'm close to pulling the original motor. Going to put a freshly rebuilt 354 Hemi in it.

Here's where I am with mine.



For your master cylinder, you might want to consider swapping to a modern one with dual reservoir. Here's a link to a post at the Pilothouse forum with some details.
http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=21870&highlight=cherokee+master

 

so far i'm stuck between 1 or 2 carbs but I think i'm just gonna keep it to 1 for now. If i get board i just might dow multiple carbs =)

thanks!

 

those two trucks are gorgeous guys! nice tutch with the hemi! I keep saying if i ever end up puting a v8 in it. its gotta be a hemi. my buddy has a awsome old hemi in one of his sheds.

 

Keep up the good work, nothing wrong with being "off brand"? ( I think this is the correct term) , I believe these trucks have a bit more room in the cab than an AD Chevrolet which can't be bad.

 

got the cab on! hopfull have the rest of the body on and intake/exhaust built soon!

 

keep up the good work, I love these old pilothouses, Mine is a 53.

 

Awesome!!


Keep on pluggin' my man.





BloodyKnuckles

 

hung some of the body on just to see what its gunna look like

 

i love how the black all around the engine sets off the blue..

 

i love that in that series of pictures you can see two different neighbors watching as you guys lugged that cab on the frame. hey-how bouts a hand?? ha.

 

You might want to check in with member moose for intake and exhaust, also old daddy (www.rustyhope.com) will split manifolds, and he sells a front disc brake adapters.

you might want to check the information on the Pilothouse side of the P15 d24 website.

If you are looking for better cruising speed, a B body, ranger Dakota, or cherokee rear end swap is a pretty easy way to go. Plus all but the early b bodies can be switched to rear discs pretty easily also.

 

Quick tip...just in case you haven't figured this out yet.

Put the brake & clutch pedals and the master cylinder in before you install the steering box/column. Otherwise, you'll never get the brake pedal installed without having to move the engine ( a lot ).

I recently took them off and it was a bitch to do ( I didn't want to remove the steering column).

 

thanks guys !

 

i just emailed moose about the manifolds!

 

ha ha ha ha ! i know right!


how dose the old saying go? " two men watchin' 1 man workin'? ha ha

 

Great thread....Good to see another pilot house coming back.....mine went a very different direction since it came with a chevy drivetrain and late model 8 3/4 differential. the original suspension has been redone as well as wiring, cooling, steering, seating (raised floor), gauges....with front disc conversion from ABS power brakes in so. cal. and dual master and booster from an '88 chev pickup. Only thing left on my wish list is an adaptable power steering conversion since I love the straight front axle.
I have another '50 that will stay traditional and a '47 1 1/2 ton that may get rat rodded on an s-10 or some similar modern chassis.
Keep up the good work....welcome to the fraternity......jim W.

 

nice! and thank you sir!

 

so i was looking at my old broken intake and it broke clean i was thinking about trying to braise it back together. i'm trying to keep the truck as stock as possible and a stock manifold replacement is $100... what dose everyone think?

 

Try it... It wouldn't hurt. And if you can't then get yourself another.

Cool build going along.

 

gonna be an awesome truck, I just bought a 50 model pilothouse with a marketside bed that I'm gonna get started on as soon as this hot ass weather breakes.

 

If it split dead center, send the manifold to Old Daddy (www.rustyhope.com) he will weld up the broken ends and make a split exhaust out of it. The only concern is that you won't have the heat riser for the intake, but you can address that on a need to basis. If your not gonna drive it in the winter, it won't be a problem. If you are gonna drive in cold weather you can route the heater hose along the intake and fasten it there. If you go with one of Mooses intakes, he can make you a water heated one that slos plumbs to the heater hose.

 

I have mine permantly blocked off. I drive in the 30's and 40's when I can. I have not had a problem with driveability after a warm up period. I have my heater return line tie wrapped to my intake manifold. So when my heater valve is opened, the intake gets warm but you gotta wait till the engine builds some temp. The riser is there to keep rich (choked ) mixture from going back into droplet form. This is really only a big concern if you start cold then do some heavy acceleration or jump right on the highway without allowing for a bit of warm up.

Guys have been running headers and split exhus for a long time so you gotta with cold operation against the cool factor........

 

thank you dude for the advice!

i really wanna find a stock manifold for now and then later get a spit header and a nice split intake later.. i just wanna hear it purr right now.. a place here in columbus ohio sells a ton of old dodge 218 parts there called American federated auto parts they said they could get me a stock manifold set up for 100 bucks.. i just might do that for now... =)

 

hoping to get new intake and exhaust wed or thurs! if i score it that means the truck will start and run!

 

ps i know a couple of guys have suggested i use a modern master cyl. but i was wondering if there is any thing wrong with using the original style one? dose it effect breaking a ton?

 

It shouldn't change the effectivness of the brakes but it will make it a ton safer if you switch to a dual reservoir system. If you bust a line at the front or the rear the other still works where with the old style you bust one line anywhere and you have to use the E brake and a tree to stop.

Ryland

 

alright so i FINALLY got a new intake and exhaust for the pilot house to replace the shattered intake and exhaust. somehow a total shot in the dark All city auto selvage here in Columbus Ohio just happened to have a old 49-52 Plymouth sedan with a 218 Flathead six. they sold it to me for $100 which is cheaper than i could find anywhere else! its a little different than the old intake which wasn't as smooth as the new one and had a weird little linkage spot on the side where the throttle linkage attached. but it should work! not to mention they had a running 28 for model A engine fully rebuilt and can be started on the stand ha ha! he also has an origionall ford flathead v8 4 carb set up made by offenhouser. (ofcorse he was asking a shitload for both $$$$) haha!

 

here the intake before i ceramic coated it.

 

here it is after ..... looks good i think