Projects 1922 Dodge Bros Roadster (almost none of this is true)

I picked up this heap off FB Marketplace in trade thinking I would slap it together, rust and all, and let er rip. Unfortunately, the body was pretty floppy, and finally broke when I was shuffling it around my already overcrowded shop.
It was listed as a 1917 Dodge Bros Roadster, which I think only the Dodge Bros is correct. Ah well, it doesn't really matter, at this point.

 

Luckily, the tie down strap came with it, since it was the only thing holding the body together.

20241023_201511 by fatassbuick posted May 21, 2025 at 9:13 AM

20241023_191930 by fatassbuick posted May 21, 2025 at 9:13 AM

20241020_182336 by fatassbuick posted May 21, 2025 at 9:13 AM

 

I decided I wasn't going to run the speedway frame. Actually, I decided I was using nothing that came with the "car" except the body. Most of it. Well, some of it.

I picked up a rough A frame and started making it fit. I'm thinking of running a T turtledeck, so I pinched the frame to fit better.


I wanted to run a T rear crossmember and spring:

20250320_183604 by fatassbuick posted May 21, 2025 at 9:13 AM

I took all the X bracing I was trying to use to square it up and started on a different path. These were the body parts without the strap holding it together.

20250402_185649 by fatassbuick posted May 21, 2025 at 9:13 AM

 

Moving ahead, I was able to find an unfrozen flathead. I'd love to have found a matching 4 banger Dodge Bros drivetrain, frame and even a body, but then that would be a different project altogether. It side tracked me a bit to build a scrappy engine check stand, so I did my usual 50% and went back to working on the body.


Got to bracing the floor a little better:


Then started doing some Harbor Freight metal work:


Thats where I got last night. I've been wanting to do a build post, but I procrastinated because I wasn't sure if I was gonna work on this, with all the other crap I think I can work on.

 

Your Dodge body is a '20-'22 Touring car front half.

Dave

 

Cool project Here's my friends car mostly Dodge. 1924 or 25 Dodge Touring front half, he was going to use a 22 to 25 Ford turtle deck, he couldn't get the proportions right. Ended up using some 28 or 29 Ford Model A Quarters and deck lid. Sits on a shortened Dodge Frame with a quick change and has a Dodge Flathead Engine.

 

i think you and anthony on here are real "do-er's"--congrats!

 

Thanks, Dave. It's got a number on the firewall I want to research eventually.

Wow, that's awesome!

Hahaha...let's talk to my wife about that. Actually, these pics span over about 9 months, but thanks!

 

I like your tastes.
Thanks for the views.

 

Saw this this morning..
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/689689560136008


Don't see them every day.
Mike

 

That would be really cool if it was closer....and I wasn't dead ass broke. Thanks for the link.

 

@fatassbuick the number on the firewall is just a body number. Nothing to do with year or serial number. Dodge Brothers stamped the serial number on the frame crossmember right in front of the passengers heels on '22 and earlier and on the right front frame rail by the shackle on '23-'27.

Dave

 

@51 mercules that is a slick conversion! I have a '25 DB roadster, fenderless, with 318. I have a bunch of early DB's.

Dave

 

Good to know! Ah well, I'm glad I picked up the toe board from Corn Fed.

 

Serial number was also on a metal plate on the toe board!

Dave

 

Turned out really nice. Originally my buddy wanted a turtle deck. I found him a couple of 1922-25 turtledecks to modify to fit the frame and fit the width of the cab.Just didn't look right, then my buddy Shug who was putting the car together for JJ suggested Model A quarters. We thought he was crazy. My other buddy had some Model A quarters and Shug tacked the buddy together and actually worked to our surprise.

 

Yes sir, it is

 

Looking forward to seeing how this comes along

 

As Dave said the number on the firewall is just a body number. If it were stamped with T 123 it would be the 123rd Touring car that year. If R123 it would be the 123rd Roadster. Cool project.

 

I have a 1925 touring and there is the number on vertical outside face of the passenger side frame rail, near the rear hanger for front spring, on the top of the frame rail in the same area but under the fender, also the toe board tag and engine block. My engine block not original matching. Dad purchased the car in 1964 out of the contested estate of Joan Davis,died 1961, vaudevillian, movie and film actress. The California DMV in Palm Springs had the title all messed up because they could not find any database in DMV records for 1920's Dodges. Pinning down production numbers to dates then was near impossible. Joan Davis had been driving it on California Dealer plates ! ! Took almost 2 years to get the paperwork fixed. Now clubs have all that pinned down.

 

Heres mine, 25 dodge cowl to b pillars. 27 chev roadster quarters

 

Looks great so far.
Thanks for sharing.

 

C & M, the club now has records that sets an early car by month and sometimes week. The later cars like my '29 DB almost to the day. There's also records for those later cars that would tell color by the day or week it was built. For example, all sedans were painted one color for a specific number of days or weeks, then switched to another color. Same with all the other body styles. That's if that floats your boat and need that info. My '29 was painted black with red wire wheels and pinstripes for 4 days in that run. Doesn't make a difference for a hotrod but the info is available.

 

BTW, DB engine numbers are never the same as the serial number. They were usually about 50,000 higher give or take than the serail number.

Dave

 

That roadster combo parts look really smooth, like a factory built car. Mixing loose parts like this is really satisfying. When I was a young kid, I tried putting a 28 Sports Coup body on a 37 hump back chassis. Now that did NOT work !

 

Mine really does not match, its out of a 1926 sedan. Back about 1959 they pulled parts from a local sedan for swap outs long before Dad ever saw it. All of that stuff was original to the Indio and Palm Springs area from the 1920's and 30's. We later found a Fast Four with transmission from a date grove junk pile.

 

Nice!

 

Thanks everyone!

After I got all my fancy parts tacked in, the door was out of wack pretty bad. It stuck out abouy a half inch on the bottom, and took both hands, a shoulder and a knee to force it to barely latch. I messed around with it for a few hours and finally got it pretty decent; closes fairly easy, gaps are acceptable (to my sorry eyes) and doesn't grind while swinging open. My next option was to cut it all out and start over.



I had a week off, and was hoping to get something done on it, however I ended up doing practically everything BUT working on it. Ah well..it waited 100+ years for someone to violate it, a few days won't matter much.

 

That's as good or better than factory fit!

Dave

 

Dave, I was thinking that but didn't say it. I think as long as the door stays closed when you hit a bump it's perfect. I sell the rubber door bumpers if you want them.