’48 Dodge Panel Truck update

[Guest]

Here's the latest on the old panel truck.

Happy to report that today finished crimping on ends to the plug/dist wires and got them led in what I thought was the correct firing order according to the engine schematic. Then guess and by gollied thru the rat’s nest of disorganized, loose and broken wires that were supposed to connect all of the ign/charging system. Turned the key to on and pushed the start pedal down. I soon discovered no fuel was getting to the fuel pump. After blowing with compressed air back thru the line to the tank, I quickly had free flowing gasoline. Then tried cranking the engine again and wouldn’t you know it, as luck would have it, the engine coughed and fired, but would not start and run.

I did the switheroo on a few of the raggedy wires under the hood, found the timing marks on the damper, did a compression check on the #1 cylinder and found that the distributor rotor was one off on the rotation. So switched all the wires counterclockwise one spot and vualla, the sweet little flathead six fired and started. She purred like a kitten, quite and smooth. I suspect that the distributor shaft and gearing is one tooth off, so next I will pull the shaft and re-drop it in at TDC to the correct cylinder wire.

But for an engine that hadn’t run in 10 years and is 62 years old, I was quite impressed. Made my afternoon for sure! My future plans are now to first finish the brake system which includes either unplugging all the clogged brake lines, or replacing the lines. Next will be the exhaust system cause the exhaust pipe and muffler have holes like chipmunks have made a home out of it.

Last week found a ’52 Dodge pickup out in a heavily wooded cow pasture down next to a swamp. The property and farm belongs to a local automotive junk/scrap yard and they will sell me parts. So tomorrow will go out and pick a few interchangeable parts from the body, interior and engine. Last week when I discovered the truck, my dog who was with me did the Labrador Retriever back roll in a fresh cow pie. So guess what she smelled like on the ride home in my Astro Van?

[Guest]

Hey Jed,
Sounds great, keep us posted!!!
Richard D. Hord

[fomoco59]

Jed, I thought of you 2 wks ago when I passed a parked truck very much like yours in a small town in Pa. It was real nice black with white side panels and some advertisement in the white. It didn't have the big side window like yours.. I wish I had my camera ready.

[Dan Leavens]

Jed it sounds like your retriever is into the restoration project as well

[Guest]

Mike, the side window was someone's afterthought. Maybe some kind of aftermarket RV type window from yesteryear. Think I will eventually take it out and install a rectangle window with radiused corners, kinda like something you'd see in a moon or sunroof car. or else I will just sheet metal the hole closed and make the side panel solid again.

Dano, yes Jazmine goes with me near everywhere. Today we went back out to the cow pasture and picked about 10 parts off the 52 Dodge pickup. The junk yard owner charged me $10/part. Old fashion oil cartridge assbly, complete headlight assbly, the original aooga horn, door handles, door kick panels and misc other stuff. So think I got at least $300 worth of stuff for $100.

We've gotta go back again cause I was trying to take off the front bumper with a 3/8" drive ratchet. Bent the handle and stripped the rachet gears. Gotta go back with my 1/2" drive breaker bars and maybe my acetylene torch.

Today Jazmine stayed out of the cowpies, but she jumped in the swamp, chased frogs, then waited for me for 2 hours laying under the 52 truck chassis. Guess it was nice and cool under there for her. Man the deer flies sure were thick out in the woods today.

[simplyconnected]

Jed, nice to hear your progress. I often think of your truck story, and how it turned out ok for you.

My dogs do the same thing, but only with wild animal pies. My wife goes nuts when that happens, and immediately grabs them by the ear and marches them straight to the bath. (Robin is half Ojibway Indian. I won't mess with her. Neither will the dogs.)

Yeah, it's important you get the rotor below the correct tower, or the rotor will fire off to the side. After not too long, a carbon track starts inside the cap.

I'm still glad to hear you got the old girl goin'. - Dave

[Guest]

Folks, here’s a status report as to my continuing adventures with the ’48 Dodge Panel truck. Finally in early July was able to fully complete the brake system rebuild so I could take her down off the blocks and out on the street. Quickly found out the tranny is not syncromeshed. Guess I recall transmissions weren’t syncro’d from years ago when I had some early 50’s Ford trucks.

Previously I had drained the gasoline from the tank and put new gas in, but soon found that the screen pickup in the tank was clogged. Ended up taking the tank off the frame, muriatic acid treating it, pressure washing the inside and swished it with POR15 Metal Prep. As long as the tank was on my work table I also prepped and painted the exterior of the tank with POR15. The tank is now installed along with a pre fuel pump original glass sediment filter bowl and a microfilter just before the carb.

I believe the ’48-’51 models came without oil filters as the ‘48 engine block was not drilled out for the cartridge filter brackets. I found a filter canister complete on a junk ’52 PU that had a few rust holes in the canister. So brazed the holes up and mounted the bracket on the driver’s side fenderwall and hooked up the oil lines to the engine. Now she is filtered.

I removed all of the rusted flooring panels from the cab, 3 in all. 2 are bolted in and one was integral with the rest of the flooring, but was so rusted I was able to easily air saw it out. I have the 2 smaller panels ready to install as originals that I scrapped off the ’52 parts PU. For the larger floor pan section I picked up a piece of 2 x5 - 16 gauge stainless and am fabricating a new floor panel. In the meantime I have made a floor panel out of treated ½” plywood.

Found the clutch pedal to be worn to an oval where it fit onto/over the clutch fork shaft, so had a machine shop drill it out and install a permalube brass bushing. The pedal fit back on nicely and now it doesn’t slop all over from side to side.

The electrical wiring is/was a mess all frayed and bare, kinda like a rat’s nest. So went thru each wire circuit and replaced sections of wire with new wire, solderless terminals and shrink tubing. Most all now works except tail lights, parking lights and signals. Last night I took apart the headlight switch and restored some contact points in it, reassembled and now it is waiting to be wired back into the harness under the dash to see if I can get my tail lights working.

What did Forrest Gump say? Something like “Stupid is as stupid does.” Well here’s my stupid story; Found an old bent up front bumper off the ’52 PU and took time to straighten it all out with my torch and hammer, but didn’t weld the cracks up yet. Just to see how good it looked on my panel truck I just simply hung it on the front bumper frame brackets and held it there with 2 bolts, but no nuts. The bumper sat loose that way for about a month until the day I installed the rebuilt clutch pedal and did my 2nd oil change to the engine. Well I was so excited to get her out on the street for a test run I took off at pretty slow 2nd gear speed down around the golf course. Some moments later when rounding a corner, the bumper fell off, the new front driver’s side tire ran over it, slashed the sidewall and re-bent the bumper. I hopped out picked up the bent up bumper and drove her home on the flat tire. Now she’s got a totally bald salvage tire in place just so she’s drivable.

Below are two graphics I found online from the '48 Presidential Election that I am thinking of having reproduced into graphic appliqués so that I can display them on the panel sides or rear doors after the truck is painted.

[Guest]

Oh yes, here's a couple of pics of the Deweymobile on the street. These pics were taken 8-2-10. Now she has parking lights and tail lights, however they don't illuminate quite yet. Head lights work though.

[YellowRose]

’48 Dodge Panel Truck update

Hi Jed! Thanks for the pix, the account of what you have been doing to the truck and the anecdote about the fender. It is interesting what we forget to do when we want to get our project out on the road and try her out! Thanks for sharing. Also for that information regarding the Bulletbird steering wheels in the Bulletbird Forum. I think I will grab that information for the TRL.