Customs Morticia the 1956 Dodge Pickup

Love the Supremes on it!!!

 

Looking good man, one day at a time is how I approach things these days, keep your eye on the prize man. Look forward to seeing yours done up man.

 

Hope everyone had a good Christmas. So I figured we needed some pics that were not garage related. Went and got some firewood for the recent cold snap. Figured I would stop at my spot and get some pics. Ole phone camera worked pretty good this time. Funny how the color changes in different light and on different angles.








So a few weeks ago hit the local cruise in also with some friends and family.

 

LOVE the new look!!!

 

Thanks man, dig yours also, that orange was my second choice of colors...

 

What a transformation! Looks great!!!

Dig the Supremes!

 

Truck looks great! Color and wheels are just right.

 

A walk around video from the other day...

 

Thanks guys... Was a huge change for sure all around.

 

Way to go and shine it all up. I was okay with version one. Hope you keep enjoying and using it.

 

Just found your thread, I love the current look with the supremes and pinner whites. Stance is bang on. Great that you have so much history with it, cool seeing the evolution from the start until now.

 

Hello,

Wow, what a transformation. That old truck has been around the block as the saying goes. It is in a great state of build now. Out West, there are only a few Dodge Pickup Trucks we have ever seen cruising around. The popular ones are, of course Fords and Chevy trucks.

One day, my wife and I were coming home from our weekly drive to the beach. We had just filled up the gas tank and a red “zip” of a truck flew by the gas station. The couple inside were all smiles and seemed like they were enjoying a bright and sunny day cruise. That was the first time we saw a Dodge Truck. I had to look up Dodge Trucks and keep an open mind as to what year/ model it was. The quick recognition of a red old truck was too fast for a digital camera shot.

One of the only old Dodge Trucks that we have seen in a long time. Not the most desirable model, but cool none-the-less. Although, with the happy couple driving around in this cool hot rod, all is good in So Cal.

Then, several weeks later, at the opposite end of town, we saw it again going away this time and I could not catch it to identify it or at least take a photo. But, it was red and not a Ford or Chevy that we are accustomed to seeing on the So Cal roads.

Jnaki

Then as we were headed home one day a month or so later, my wife says there is a "Red old truck" parked up ahead. It stood out against the homes and roadways. So, as we approached, it looked familiar. We were visiting a far away surf spot and sighted the Red Dodge Pickup sitting visiting some friends on a sunny day. Not too many non Ford/Chevy pickups anywhere, but here was a pristine Red Dodge Pickup enjoying the So Cal sunny day.


Your truck now has a nice cousin out West !!!

 

Nice find for sure. Yes they are scarce everywhere, but your seeing people start to restore them cause the fords and chevys are so dang expensive now. Thanks for the compliment, I try to do my best where I can.

Funny seeing that red one and realizing how much I have lowered this one total is staggering.

Thanks for thinking of me while seeing the red cousin. Always cool to see more of these for sure.

 

Thanks man. I was torn on getting rid of the Torque thrusts till I saw the supremes on it and it was instant "why didnt I do this sooner" moment. Better late than never I guess!

 

Cool story bro, dig the final rendition, thanks for keeping it all Mopar

 

Hauling motors still... Gota keep it used as a shop truck...

 

Very nice outcome and interesting project!
One thing especially got my attention and that was short mention of Ford F1 steering box worm gears to be exactly the same than in your gemmer. You wouldn´t to be able to provide more specific detail on those parts?
I have 1956 Fargo TownPanel under major overhaul and steering is pretty shot like your was. Same pitting etc. here.
Just curious 'cause as we know, there are a lot more ford parts available than mopar stuff in that sense.

 

Yeah, I thankfully had a spare worm gear from a f1 box laying around, but yes its the same except the shaft length is different. You can buy just a replacement worm and install it on your shaft but I would buy the worm and shaft from one of the suppliers for them, and then just splice the columns together. This will solve alot of the issues, the rebuild kit for the f1 is almost identical for parts also, just micrometer out the seal on the sector shaft output, and when putting back the sector housing onto the box, I don't use a regular seal, I use aviation gasket maker. Hasn't leaked a drop since.

Evilbay link to one here.

Hope this helps you out, any questions feel free to ask.

 

Just exactly does that mean in Southern Texan talk? Us westerners measure distances in spits & grins.

That is a interesting fix, cutting & welding the steering column is not for everyone.
Certainly is good to know the Ford parts are a option .....

I'm the blessed one, my 49 the box has almost zero play in it and is full of fluid with no leaks.
Over on the P-15 D-24 forum this is a common issue with little suggestions how to fix ....
Nice to have at least one suggestion to get around it besides find another box in better condition.

 

Its like a slide ruler with jaws on it...haha

Yeah cutting and welding the column is not for everyone for sure but its something that can be done as a fix since the parts are not available for us Dodge guys.

Since the 49 is cross steer and that box seems to be actually less prone to failure from all I have seen, glad to hear its still good... But I think its still a Gemmer box so this hack may work there also.

 

Maybe only new worm gear would do, i have atleast three different boxes in more or less no good condition. Upside: there are plenty of spare shafts available.

Nevertheless, so what I need is 48-52 F1 worm gear?
Does it work with old roller or does that need to be replaced as well?

This just because I did found one ford/mercury NOS worm w/ shaft in dads garage but that did not match existing roller due ***umably wrong axial pitch. And of course no roller for that, that would have been too easy.

 

Turned out that this 48-52 F1 worm gear DID work! Thanks for this valuable tip!
Now I can proceed with the project and maybe get it back on the road at spring time.

 

Glad to hear it worked out, sorry I didn't respond to the earlier post, never saw it till now. Its always fun to find stuff from other makes that cross reference so we can keep these old gals going. What I found so far in my dodge workings is the roller sector is always in pretty good shape its the worm that takes the brunt of the wear.

 

Same here, in these three boxes that I have, worm was shot and roller in mint condition.
And I have heard similar stories from my godfather as well. Somewhere around late 80´s worm gears were still available from local MoPar dealer in Helsinki, Finland but no-one cared to take notes about the part number...

 

Those wheels with the color sets that truck off.

 

Thanks, yeah it turned up the volume and added some extra style I think.

 

Well, updates? A few small wins here and there...

Not much to update other than fixed a trans fluid leak that has plagued me for years. I was dropping 1 quart every 4 months on the ground. I thought it was the selector shaft seal, but decided to go at this the right way. Cleaned everything off, used the small piece of paper towel at all common leak points approach. Found it. Damn neutral safety switch was leaking. Slid a new one in and leak fixed.

No big changes right now. But the little things... I did go ahead and install the interior panels uncovered to test fitment etc... Feels weird having some form of interior... Id run them as is and just get carpet to really just keep things on the bare bones feel. Who knows. Ill probably get them wrapped with vinyl most likely, possibly a black suede headliner. I need to do something with my audio to hide it more, so Ill probably put the door speakers in the kick panels and try to hide them that way but I like the way this truck has more volume than I need.



Onto other little projects.
I have had some issues with the fan shroud I was running, it was thrown together and was just there to kinda protect the fan. The bottom was open as the fan sticks below the tank a smidge, so it was not efficient at all. I had bought one of those 1/2 fan shrouds from our local hot rod supplier, I had cut a few inches off it in depth and took the 2" I took off and made the circle complete. This worked but not great, I was having temp swings in warmer weather, nothing too terrible or to be worried about but I knew this could work better.



So I doubled up the top with 22 gauge on top of the 18 to make it very sound, spot welded all around it to add to strength. Laid a piece of 1/8"x2" bar from one side of the rad to the other, then welded the new shroud piece to the bar to make things rigid and help direct. My plan is to fill the sides ultimately, this will ditch the brackets shown at the bottom, keep it two piece for ease of removal etc. So far testing has shown the thermostat cycling to be drastic drops, 10 degrees now between opening cycles, in this weather were having that is very expected and is almost back to the way this truck was before hanging an AC condenser on the front of the radiator. Next thing will be those trans cooler hoses, I need to hard pipe that area and really make new ones completely, may have to use my buddies 4 post for that.

Next little thing, I got tired of looking a bit, hmmm I don't know, trashy with the bungee cord holding the cooler in. So I was looking around, saw my old hood hold downs off the Model A and was like, Hmmm those may work well here. So I built some wood blocks and mounted them to them, this keeps the cooler nice and secure in the back of the truck, no more moving under corners etc. I have found it to work great with all the coolers so far. If I really wanted security I could use some turnbuckles to cinch down and be harder to remove. But this looks far cooler and is repurposing things.



Figured while I was at things, may as well shoot some photos that looked cool with the garage main lights off. And a random photo of me and her earlier this year.






I don't know why the lighting do that to the paint on that side... Makes it look all weird... Probably his filters or something. Eh. The door isn't perfect as I was going to try to find a replacement anyways due to not liking its fitment and how short the bottom is.

 

Still loving your pickup and the Model A hood hold downs for the cooler are too cool.

 

Enjoy watching your progress. I like the fact that it has been a ongoing work in progress while being a work horse around the shop.

It is the way I plan to build mine .... right now I'm going through everything and just making it a safe driver while looking presentable. ..... In the future I plan to take care of some minor dings and things.
I picked up a 318/3 spd column shift trans a few weeks ago ... a future project ... right now the original flathead runs really well .... I finally got the heater painted/installed yesterday so I was able to add antifreeze and run it awhile.
Also got the cab lights installed. Tail light wire harness is coming today.
Is the last thing to install on the frame before the bed goes back together .... I have everything here but time to get it on the road. .... I want to get the new 12 volt GM alternator wired up, go through with a complete tune up and valve adjustment before putting the front fenders on and building the body wire harness ....... Just a ton of little things need to be finished.

Then after driving it like it is for awhile, I can decide what future changes I want to do.
I just want to get it to a daily driver and it will always be a project.