Projects '24 Dodge Brothers 'Gow Job' Build

Or at least thats what it is at the moment. I purchased a 1924 Dodge tourer 5 years ago. I drove it for the first time last weekend. I took a **** load of photos along the way. I'll post them in order with a description. The project started as a restoration, but now, after driving it, and seeing the public response, it is shifting more towards a 'Gow Job'. The first photo is where i found her, bit of a Barn Find, but a nice barn, she is better than she looks, and much worse than she looks. More on that later.

 

I love those old DB's. I have 17 of them! Mostly stock but also a couple hot rods. Yours looks like a great start.

Dave

 

That's great. Very interesting.......

Ya got more pics??

 

It took two years to talk the guy into selling, and two years to talk the misses into it as well, but I finally got it home. Let the fun and games begin.

 

I started with the steering wheel, 20 hours of sanding filling and polishing.

 

Dug through boxes of rust and found the tail light next. I can't find my before photos of the tail light, but it was just rust brown.

 

The guy I bought the car off of found it in a barn over thirty years ago, stripped it and started to restore it. He sent the engine and transmission away to be rebuilt, installed new brake linings, kingpins, shacklepins, bushings, had the wooden spokes rebuilt and put new tyres on it. Then stopped working on it. The engine was never started, the car was left where I found it for thirty years. The sad thing is, everything else that wasn't in that first photo was put under a tarp outside for thirty years and rusted away. By the time I found it the frame and every thing else was rusty again but only surface rust.

 

Nothing much happened until I built a new shed for the Dodge. Then the real fun began.

 

The first thing was to strip and inspect the supposedly rebuilt enging and transmission. And yes they were fully rebuilt with all new white metal bearings and valves. New clutch, and the trans mission was built with NOS gears, not a mark on them. The engine alone was worth the purchase price of the car.

 

Engine is looking better, all new gaskets and paint.

 

Stripped everything, sandblasted the ch***is and started building a car.

 

There are a lot of parts in an old car, just like building a model.

 

Starting to come together.

 

The Magneto was very weak, so I stripped it, checked the windings and condenser. Then I made this magnet recharger. The photo shows just the magnet on the charger, but I got a much better result charging the magnet while on the Magneto. It really cracks now.

 

What I like about the early dodges is compared to wrestling with the door hinge screws in a ford, with the doors open they lift out hinge pin and all...
..... nice gauw

 

Really starting to have fun now.

 

I used a full sheet of 19mm marine ply for the floors.

 

The first repaired rim and new tube.

 

The bonnet had rusted away under the tarp after 30 years, but some how i managed to find one for $100, and it's in really good nick. Dunked in the mol***es tank for a couple weeks and coated it with penitrol.

 

nice mopar im kinda partial to them too

 

I started to paint things, but I thought I had better test-fit everything first so I just gave everything a coat of Penitrol instead.

 

I had to do a lot of repair work to the rims, they were in very bad shape. I hammered them straight and cut sections out and replaced it from donor rims, i had to make the drive tabs and the locking tabs as well. The rims are supposed to be gal dipped, but i just painted them with gal paint for now.

 

For the first time since i have owned it, it has four tyres that hold air.

 

Cool build.

 

Quickly knocked up a front seat so i could sit in the Dodge and make engine noises.

 

The most important modification you can make if you are going to be crank starting a 3.5 litre engine. A pivoting hand grip on the crank handle. I dont have a starter chain so i have spent many hours cranking on this engine. Pain is a great teacher.

 

It took a lot of cranking and tuning to get it to this stage. I was pretty excited, getting really close to test driving it. This was just over two weeks ago.

 

I don't have as many DBs as Dave but I have a few. Have fun!! If you have no starter chain you have no generator. What are you going to do about that? What part of Australia?

 

I'll order a chain, about $300, just dont have one yet. I have rebuilt the starter/generator and it is good to go.

 

I had to make all four of the door catches.