Hey HAMBers, Well I had this pickup follow me home from GoodGuys on Saturday. I really wasn't looking for another project cause I have the '29 and I am still piecing together my '38 Dodge coupe. But after walking by this in the swap area my wife called me back over to it and said "this thing is kinda cool and it's in really nice shape". She was right. It's probably one of the straightest, rust free mid fifties project trucks I've seen. The story is some older guy was restoring it for ~ 30 years but realized he was getting too old to finish it. The truck was his for over 30 years and lived in the CA desert before moving to the AZ desert. He sold it to the guy I bought it from who picked it up out in the desert and brought it to Goodguys. I gave $1350 for it. I spent Sunday pulling the front clip, cleaning out the cab and pressure washing everything. Only one black widow (jeez those things give me the creeps). I pulled the original flat 6 and the 3 speed was in the bed. My son spent a few hours on the front frame and crossmembers cleaning and painting today (he's on Spring Break now). I'm going to do a budget build on it and drive it around for a while. It needs some of the glass, wiring, paint, a seat and a drive train refresh. I am thinking of putting in a MOPAR overhead valve small v8 or 6 banger w/ auto and a later (non-tapered axel) MOPAR rear end. The steering box seems tight and the kingpins seem ok. Some of the brake hardware is missing and God only knows if the hubs have any life left in them. I don't know how easily I will be able to find the brake hardware, but I'm ok leaving it stock. Any ideas or suggestions? I know they are a little ugly but anyone built one here?
For the price you paid for it, how could you go wrong? I agree with the keeping it MOPAR. Personally I would opt for the V8. Ugly?..humm, that's subjective. Great rust free project. Your idea to keep it a budget build, sounds like a great plan.
I'm doing a v8 swap in my 53 Dodge, but also went with a Dakota frame swap too. I am putting in a 318, but if I had to do over again, I would have went with a 360.
Hey thanks guys. The guy I got the truck from has a 360 w/ 727 he said he wanted $500 for. I may go that route. Except he is in Sedona, so I'm looking in the Phoenix area first. The flat 6 I pulled out turns over and may run for all I know. It's real complete. I am planning on selling it with the bell housing and the trans and it will help fund the new drive train.
Cool truck, especially for the price! If the Flathead 6 is in good shape, why not rebuild it, dual intake, split exhaust and a updated 5-speed? Those 6's were used for alot of things for alot of years. From my understanding, they were used for pumps and industrial equipment up until just a few years ago. So they must be pretty durable.
I thought about it and I guess it isn't out of the question but it would be a pretty simple swap to a newer motor and maybe cheaper in the long run. I guess if this one ran it would be a no-brainer, but it needs plugs, wires, carb rebuild, starter, etc... before I could even make that determination.
Nice truck! You dont have to change the rear end just the ends on the housing & axles, it will save you some money. keep the pictures on the progress. Congrats on the find
I'd suggest bolting the flatty back in after a little cleanup and seeing if it runs. Just clean out the carb, toss some plugs points and condenser in and give it a try. It will be pretty easy, and if you like it, great. If it runs and you sell it, you will get more money. If it doesn't or has issues, you can be honest when selling.
Well my son and I decided it would have more "cool" factor with the flatty, so here we go. We got it on a stand and will pop the head and oil pan tomorrow to see what we're dealing with. My guess is the truck is just north of 100K miles based on gauges, time since running, condition, etc... Hopefully gaskets and maybe a set of rings is all she'll need but who knows. I feel good about running the flatty. That is what 90% of the folks that look at my Model A get jazzed about, the old flathead engine. The oil level is full and there is no water or antifreeze in there so that is a good early sign.
Sweet buy! I have always liked those trucks because they are different and you don't see them a lot. That was a hell of a good price and running the flathead will be cool as well. Good luck and keep posting pics!!
See the attached thread for updates. After determining the 230 was a '50 218 Plymouth motor I elected to put in my '52 331 Chrysler Hemi I had lying around http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=457010&highlight=331+cragar
Nice truck and I think you got a great deal on it! A 318 or 360 would be logical and practical and make for nice daily driver.....but a 383, 400, or 440, even in mild form would be soooo much fun..... and not really much or any more work to fit it. You might be able to find a deal on a complete mid '60's-early'70's full size Chryler or Imperial parts car and tranfer the entire drivetrain (and a bunch of other neat usuable bits and pieces) to your truck. If you did decide to go with a big block, a really nice alternatibe to headers that *should* work on your truck are the stock 'rams horm' style exhaust manifolds used on late-50's-through early-70's D500 and up Dodge 'big trucks' that came with either a 361 or 413 engine. They kind of look like the old 'rams horm-style' small block Chevy manifolds, but are sized and flanged to fit a BB Chysler head, have 2 3/4 or 3 inch diamiter outlets, and flow like gangbusters. Most people don't know about them and they're not commonly used because they won't fit normal Chrysler passenger car applications, but with your truck frame and stock 'leaf spring & straight axle' suspension, they should fit and would work nicely. Mart3406 =============================
Well, you're close on that one. the 361/413 truck motors use a different exhaust flange from the rest of the big blocks, so those manifolds will not work. Note the bolt hole inbetween the center ports. These manifolds used on 383s, 400's and 440's in pickups, trucks and motorhomes should work for you. In stock form the outlet is 2 1/4", but can be hogged out to 2 1/2 easily. The will flow way better than a Shorty "Header", but weigh a bunch (won't leak though). I agree, go big block, cheap torque, great reliability.
Hey guys thanks for the info on the exhaust manifolds, but pls note I am using a '52 Chrysler Imperial 331 Hemi, Cragar adapter and early Ford ('49 F1) 3 spd top loader - see updates here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=457010&highlight=331+cragar
Thanks for the correction and clarification on the 'big truck' manifolds. One question thouigh - it was a long time ago when I had the truck, but was there perhaps another, earller big block "big truck' manifold that was different than the truck manifold in your first picture?. The reason I ask is, about 25-plus years ago I had a '62 or '63 Dodge C700 LCF straight truck with a 361 in it, for a while. While I could be mistaken, I seem to remember the manfolds looking a bit different They had the big diamiter, 4-bolt, square flanged outlets, but If I remember correctly, they were more of a true 'rams-horn' shape, closer in apearence to a small block Chevy manifold on steroids and also somewhat closer but not exacltly like, the 383-440 Dodge 'pick-up & motorhome' manifolds in your second pic. I don't recall if they had the center bolt, either - they or may not have - which is why I assumed they would also fit a BB passenger car head. Is my mind and memory just going, or was there another perhaps somewhat earler, version of the 'rams head' big truck manifold - that may (or may not) fit the BB passenger car head?? Inquiring (and apparently feeble!) minds *need* to know! Mart3406 ================================
There may have been some different manifolds for the 361/413 truck motors, but they all had that bolt pattern on the head flange. here's a better pic of the 383/400/440 manifold
Hey Dustin...don't confuse the guys with facts....once MOPAR guys get started there's NO stopping 'em...
Not to hijack this tread, but you happen to have an extra set of those big block manifolds laying around you want to part with....cheap? PM me. Gene
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