Projects '35 Dodge Brothers KCL 1/2T Commercial Pickup

after half a life of dreaming of something worth driving, I finally got my hands on this little Dodge Truck.

1! Transport!
I was driving behind the carriage in my '67 Volvo amazon


halfway we halted to have another look

 

four years ago this car came to Belgium from Ohio..

in those years, the only thing thas I believe was done, is another exhaust..


some nice local extras in the cabin

 

it was a shame to have caught some decent Belgian rain on the road getting it,
we saw the rust getting more red by the minute...

so we gave the car a rust-stop-bath


I was lucky to find semi-fitting headlights in my archives..

 

Nice find. Do you plan on fixing that dip above the doors in the chop?

 

now, I'll probably get executed upon here, but this is the engine :



it's a freakin' Toyota Celica 1800cc 88Hp...plan is to put a FlatV8 in, no worries

 

righthandside is a bit of a shame indeed..
allover the car there's shamefull stuff, apart from the engine..

For the moment I'm merely planning out the works and looking what's to be done, so hints are always welcome..

now I'd say yes, get that out..

main plan is to leave the cabin in this used state (not gonna repaint the whole) and get it technically perfect. I'd love to drive this as a daily car her in Belgium. (that would be véry extraordinary over here)

 

there's been some very dodgey welding going on in the past:



now, I have little experience in cl***ic hotrodtechniques, so forgive me for perhaps saying awkward stuff from time to time, or asking what seems to be stupid questions, I'm here to learn how it's supposed to be done..

clearly the front has been dropped by cutting and re-welding the holder of the front spring, letting the spring rest against the ch***is, I find somewhat weird science? Also the fron axle is about 10cm's closer to the front, so that connecting rods from the shockabsorbers have no more function (luckily they are still on it, for I intend to reuse them)


it is starting to look like an oiled trainwagon, I like that in a pickup..

 

off course (as it should be on the start of a new project) the list of questions gets longer and longer, hopefully somebody on this board is willing to help me out on some of them...

looking on the net I haven't found a single photo of an exact same pickup.. the model before this with suicide doors yes, and the model after with a straight grille.. a picture or two on rebuilt ones also, but none of them had these big headlights. I'm wondering if they were on it originally.

front axle also holds some mysteries, standard ground clearance for example, could be about anything with this suspension..
rear axle has been moved also I guess..

the 'behind piece' was also shortened I think, It shure was welded vertically..
just in front of the wheels

in the grille there is a strange welding at the underside,(foto above) just next to the headlight, the small finns are not shrotened or anything, it's only in the outside.

that's it for now, I'm gonne touch it some more now :-D

 

o, and I spotted this engine, which I tought would be somewhat of the same spirit as the car..?

 

Oh hail yes! Regardless of it's history or origin that is one sweet rod! Look forward to seeing what you're going to do with it...

 

thank you! just my thought also! It's gonna be 'something different' I guess

I've made a lot of 'different' things (my job is kinda of an industrial inventor)

 

its a dodge but that looks like a ford front end. Dodge always ran with semi elliptical front springs - not transverse ones as shown here. While the flathead V8 is more desireable than the 4 banger in there now it would be ****** neat to put a mopar engine into that Mopar frame. Just my .02c

 

How about a picture of that little flathead powered track vehicle?

 

That sure is a sweet pickup I can't wait to see it come together! Good Luck!

 

eventually an authentic souped up flat six would indeed be the end..
but I'm afraid that isn't an option for the close future. Such engines -over here- are as good as non-existant..

Also the real definition of what exactly is 'real' Mopar remains unclear to me..

the front axle is a frankenstein-soup, I dismantled the rest of the front yesterdaynight:



luckily the welding is poorly done, so it will be easily removed..

if only I found a photo of an original bare front..

 

next works is removal of the headlights and the Japanese mushroom, so I can make plans for the front-rebuild.

I'd like to put on the original fenders and footboards,(this, alas, is not California) so an exact positioning of the front axle will be crucial.

 

Neat looking little truck.....unfortunately it looks like it was built for looks alone. That front end is flat scary! I would check the ENTIRE truck for **** welds, brackets, etc.

 

nail on the head.. it was done quick, and probably without too much love for the work,
some welding broke just pulling it up onto the trailer, a lot of uneven things too, like the handbrake cableholders in the back, one's on the ch***is, the other one on the (what's the name of the metal piece in the back )

all wheels have only three bolts on them, a bracket on the rear axle pointing the wrong way etc etc ..

checking literally everything for the moment.. even thinking of redoing the entire chop.. The Belgian vehicule-check is harsh, so I can't take any risks.. (and have longterm plans with the whole truck)

 

Nice truck! Looks like you have your work cut out for you!

A "REAL" mopar engine would have to be a hemi! Although I have to say the flat head is a much better fit than that late model 4 banger.

And for the truck, it has to be a late 1935 model, as it has the '36-'38 style cab on it (no suicide doors). Dodge switched to the new style cab a little over half way through the model year. Not that it looks like you will need much in the way of stock parts, but I thought I'd p*** it along. Good luck with the project!

 

I got the Dodge manual today..

got a little wiser about the front, ..

so there used to be two springs in the length along the ch***is,
luckily the sawn off hinges are still there, so by dividing the length in two, I can locate the exact place of the front axle, in order to fix the Frankenstein front and get the wheels where they belong..

alas no news yet about the engine..

 

under the frame (ch***is) you can also locate the original holes where a rubber bump stop was fitted, find the center of those holes & that's the correct position for the front axle......

 

I like the headlights, I believe they are from a 36 or 37 buick?

 

thanks for the tip, it seemst that the precedor has put the axle about 4cm's more ahead.. plan is to keep the fordaxle, put it in place, and raise about 5cm's to get some clearance and make an adaptor for the original shockabsorbers. I'll have to shorten the siderods a bit, but I guess that wont be a problem, since they've been welded poorly..

next question appearing is wether the original wheels (steels with holes) would fit the Ford bolts?

 

I have no idea where they came from, but they're bad***, so I'm definately gonna keep'em

strange thing is that they have the same colour as the front hood, my guess is that they've been fitted a loong time ago.. so original enough for me!!

 

next works will be the removal of the engine, I found out it was a colollablock instead of the previous idea of being celica, either way the jap gotta go..

and let's hope the flat V8 won't be to long after shortening the wheelbase

big luck that the floorboard of the cab was not modified to get the jap in..
I'll remove the cab too, in order to make the ch***is a 100% and paint it black, after removing all later modifications and fitting new supports for the engine.

I'm gonna put the cab on silent blocks, and find rubbers for the doors.. I'd really like to only hear the engine when driving..

 

Dude, that truck is awesome. Wish I could find one of those for myself. Get r done buddy.

Laine.

 

the more I learn about this car, the more it get's clear that this was a chance of a lifetime..

seems this specific type also is pretty rare in the US?

 

found a good photo of the bare front ('34 model)


another question I have is what's supposed to be in the hole, top center right of this pic.. I have some sort of bracket sitting there looks like a 'pipe-p***-through' but no clue what it is for..?

 

Ha! That's the horn - Beep-Beep!

Cool project, *****6

 

Wait a minute, ok, now I have my MoPar hat on! Love that pick up, super lines and you are going to have a unique ride. It is always great to be a little off the norm, must be why I love those MoPars. Good Luck with this sweet build. ~Sololobo~