My little girls 1956 Dodge Pickup

Seat belts are a most definite. If I can find me a set out of a Cherokee that will plug into the female receptor already on the seat for a good price that is the way I'll go. I don't think she would drive it without them anyway. This is the little girl who when she was four or five we would buckle her into her car seat and then she would sit there yelling "SEAT! SEAT!" until my wife and I put on our seat belts. As far as the motor goes, like I said, no plans of supping it up at this time. I'll rebuild the carb and stick a ready to run electronic distributer in it and call it good for now. If I can get the money what I would really like to add is a four barrel intake and a FAST EZ-EFI. Safety, reliability and ease of use are certainly my top priorities right now considering the person I intend on putting behind the wheel. Cause I honestly figure she will drive it for a few years and when she gets ready to go onto to college (hopefully) or whatever is next, I'll put her in something more appropriate. At that point I can turn it into whatever I want, or more than likely drive it like it is because I will be broke from A: Paying for college and B: Building something for my now 8 year old son who has already made it clear to me that what he would really like is a Ferrari. Damn kids.

I've had a couple of Ford trucks, a 5.0 Mustang (which I'm still not sure how I survived), a V-12 BMW, an old Jimmy with a 400 SBC, a Mini-van, a PT Cruiser, an old 7 Series with the inline six and of course my wife lets me drive her SRT-8 Charger. But my first car was a poop brown MGB with the original four banger in it and I probably had more fun and picked up more chicks in that ride than anything else. And my wife and I agree and like the idea of first cars being two seaters. As we all know, kids get dumber in groups and it's amazing looking back on it the amount of dumb **** I would find myself in when I was able to pile a bunch of friends in the car with me as opposed to when I could only have one (or as I know from experience-two girls in an MGB as long as they’re not too large). And hell, nowadays some punk kid can get his hands on something like a WRX or SRT-4 Neon that would have out run my '91 5.0, much less cars like the SRT-8's, SS's and GT-500's out there that are pushing 500 hp off the showroom floor (not to mention the rich old ******* in the lane next to you in a new Cadillac that will take you from street light to street light in just about anything short of a full out build or an exotic). So, bottom line, a good running small block V-8 that will start up every morning, has enough power to break traction if I try and that I can afford to feed is pretty much all I'm after for now. The plan isn't necessarily to beat the guy next to me to the next stop light, but to look really cool in his rear view mirror as I pull up and his girlfriend waves at me. Or in my daughter’s case, make the punk kid think twice before putting the moves on a girl who has a father that would build a truck like that for her and that she would then drive. My wife is that girl and damn it turns me on...but she does scare the hell out of me.

 

Hey bro i am lovin this. The build is coming along great and as for gage tell that crazy little kid if he plays his cards right maybe one day he will end up with uncle levis caddy. Love you and miss you. Hope all is well

 

Good looking build here. Great story to boot. IMO i would keep the original wheels that came with it and wrap it with some wide whites. The 17s are pretty hideous. I know it was already said more than once but i couldn't bite my tongue.

 

Well, it's been almost six weeks and I hate to admit, I just haven't seemed to accomplish a whole hell of allot. Of course about five weeks of that I wasn't home, so that was kinda expected. The problem is during those five weeks I came up with all kinds of plans and ideas only to return home and find that my ideas and plans didn't exactly jive with my bank account or calendar.

Anyway, the first weekend home I decided if I couldn't do all the things I wanted to right now, I was at least going to drive the ******* around the block. It hadn't moved in a couple of years and after getting the interior pretty squared away I figured what the hell. Knowing the brakes where still the major hurtle I was facing in being able to drive the beast without destroying too much personnel property I sat about pulling drums and checking shoes and pistons. The rears went incredibly smooth. Good looking drums and shoes and the pistons didn't leak when I bled them. The fronts on the other hand were all but completely destroyed. I still have full intentions of replacing the fronts with a disc brake conversion from Rusty Hope, but figured for now since it is not going into the hands of my daughter yet nor is it going to be a daily driver for a while I would see if I could freshen up what is on there and call it good for a bit. Yeah right. The brake shoes seem to be non-existent.

Not to be deterred (and being certifiably crazy) I put it all back together figuring two brakes in the rear were good enough for what I wanted to do (a simple cruise around the block). And they were. And the truck was incredibly loud (might as well be straight pipes with the rot in the mufflers). And it didn't seem to want to shift. And was pretty gutless all around. But it did indeed make it around the block. A couple of times as a matter of fact and ultimately back up into the driveway. I called it a success. But I am also a pretty simple guy. My daughter and her friend went with me once around the block and her friend commented on how loud it was. I was so proud when my daughter said "Yeah, but I have a running truck...let’s hear your car run." Good girl.

So, it's parked again and getting some more attention. It looks as though I will be deploying again soon so I really would like to get it in a state that the wife can at least move it around if she has too and at best use it for Home Depot or dump runs. And maybe, just maybe drop it off somewhere to have some body and paint work done while I'm gone.

This being the current scenario I rebuilt the carburetor this past weekend and had a look at the timing (I was way off on the timing and the carburetor was so junked up I'm not even sure how the motor was running) and the motor starts and runs much smoother now. This obviously could have contributed to my shifting and gutless problem, but we'll have to wait several days to find out as I have found a guy to reline my brake shoes and am waiting to get the shoes and drums back. In the mean time I figure I'll slip on a couple of new mufflers and continue to tinker with the little things that I already have or just don't cost much.

I had acquired a mid 70's GM wiper/washer motor for free and have been in the process of installing it. I got the motor/washer mounted and wired with switches in the cab and need to build a couple of pieces to finish up the ***embly but it all looks as though it is going to work out quit well. I will try to get some pictures as soon as I finish it up, but regardless it should be an improvement over the vacuum motor that was in it. I actually toyed with the idea of staying with the vacuum motor just for cool points, but the benefits of electric and adding a washer was too much to p*** up.

Lucky for me it looks as though I will be working over the weekend at least this week and possibly next but with it not getting dark till damn near 10 PM here in the Great Northwest I plan on getting the brakes back together, slipping on a new set of mufflers, finishing up the wipers, flushing the transmission, replacing the intake gasket and then giving it another go around the block. I’ll let ya’ll know how it all turns out and get some pictures of it sitting in another location for “proof of life”.

 

COOL TRUCK !!!!! My son had (and i still do have) a bigfoot 4x4 and he drove the same way,pedal down till crash then reverse till crash.Got to love it.Good luck and dont forget BIG BUMPERS.......LOL...............................YG

 

Got the mufflers on tonight. I went with a set of Flowtech Raptors and for the price am pretty happy. $70 installed ($30 each for the mufflers, $10 for clamps, and my free labor). Of course, just like with everything else, it made itself difficult. The old mufflers (what was left of them) had managed to grow themselves onto the exhaust pipes so I had to cut them off with a grinder. My grinding wheel was on it's last leg and didn't have enough meat left on it to finish the job so about half way through I found myself on the way to the tool store for another wheel. So, add the $5 grinding wheel and $4 for the gallon of gas and I suppose it was actually about an $80 install. But it's done, it sounds good and the little girl is happy. Tomorrow I'll try to round up some gaskets and work on the motor a little more and hopefully I'll get the brakes back Friday and be cruising around the block by the weekend. We'll see, it briefs well.

 

Briefs vs Boxers?

 

What a bad at***ude from the wife, the 318 drive train in the new car would be very unique, might raise cain with the warranty. Good luck with the Dodge, really dig those trucks, very cool grill. ~sololobo~

 

nice start for a build for sure, if ya need any help on things with it, personally own and drive 1 and travel everywhere in it, and have had it down to just a frame before.
killer55pickup@yahoo.com

 

Keep at it. Each little finished item is a success.

Oh yeh, keep your head down and your powder dry....

.

 

Roger that 73RR. Rogers standing orders http://www.psywarrior.com/ranger.html haven't changed in over 200 years...still good advice to this day.

And I'm with ya sololobo, I tried everything. I even tried playing the fuel economy card since she *****es every time she has to fill up, which is pretty damn often in that car. But I guess when you got to get groceries you got to get em fast.

I got the call today that my shoes and drums are ready for pickup tomorrow, but the cylinder rebuild kits are still in the mail and I don't know when they'll show up so even though I found out that I won't have to be working over the weekend I'm not sure I'll get it on the road. But, I pulled the valve covers and intake today and got them cleaned and painted and tomorrow I'll pick up the gaskets to get the motor back together (I had to find out what size intake ports I had first...).

Of course there is plenty left to do without being able to drive it...but hey, you guys know how it is. I will try to get enough done to get some pictures though for your viewing pleasure, or maybe just for my sanity, so I can prove I'm making at least a little headway.

 

RIP David Hackworth.

 

Speaking from experience (a girl who had a BIG BUMPERED starter car) you're an awesome dad for hooking her up

Can't wait to see your progress!

 

For the record...Commando.

 

Yesterday I commented to another member on the fact that you could spend two days working on something and show a before and after picture and nobody would be able to tell the difference. Such is the way of life when working on an old truck.

I took off a little early from work yesterday and the wife and I headed to Tacoma to pick up the front shoes and drums from Gary over at South side Brakes (Had to give them a shout out-in case anyone else is looking for a place in the Tacoma, WA area for brake relining). Of course, that put us close enough to a Sonic Drive In we couldn't p*** it up (Sonic is somewhat of a novelty to us now-Where we grew up it was an everyday thing). After that we stopped for some gaskets and misc. parts then for fluids and such and finally back to the house. A couple hundred dollars poorer and really not a whole lot to show for it, and not a damn thing that will be seen when I'm done. But let me ***ure you, I will certainly point out that it has the "original" front brake shoes on it every time somebody comments on the truck.

Of course I'm still waiting on the cylinder rebuild kits to show up so I won't be doing the brakes today, but I will probably pull the master cylinder and see what it will take to fit a GM dual port unit in there. Not the power brake set up I want, but kinda like sticking with the drums on the front for now, it's cheap and will get me by till a later date. And anything has got to be better than what I have now (old master cylinder and rear brakes only).

I did get the intake and valve gaskets on (and painted the intake and valve covers-I swear I'll get pictures this weekend) and the motor starts and runs pretty good but I have a ticking noise. Any ideas? It doesn't seem to be coming from a head, but it's kinda hard to tell and it was damn near midnight when I got it running so I didn't spend too much time looking (or listening for that matter).

Well, I have some home maintenance stuff to do before I can play with the truck today so I guess I better get off here and get that stuff knocked out so that I can go back to banging my knuckles and staining my hands, cussing at nothing in particular, ruining clothes and generally making myself miserable. Basically what we call a hobby.

 

You should be able to find a late 60s Mopar dual that'll bolt on, maybe with a rod adjustment.

 

And yeah...I know, asking somebody to diagnose a "ticking sound" in the motor over the internet is really pretty dumb. It used to drive my father absolutely crazy when a customer would call up and ask him to diagnose an abstract noise over the phone. I have no **** heard him tell a guy to "Hold the phone real close to it so I can see the problem.", then hang up the phone look at me and mumble "That guys an idiot."

 

Thanks George. My thought is that the GM one is so readily available and not to mention $20 for a rebuilt unit from the local parts store. I'd spend that much in gas driving around trying to find an old Mopar one. I'm all about sticking with Mopar when I can...but like most rodders am constantly on a budget and I do get some perverse satisfaction out of making something cool on the cheap. I think what I'll do is go down the street to this sign maker who lives in the neighborhood and have him make me a bunch of little Mopar decals, that way anything I buy can become Mopar. Hell, everythings made in China anyway...

 

Minor caution here, recall that the new MC bore size should be fairly close to what is existing so that the pedal feel is similar.

Sua Sponte

.

 

Thanks 73RR. I don't think the one that is on it now is the original part anyway (the flange doesn't exactly line up) so I don't know what bore size it was when it was born. But once agian, I figure if it has any feel at all (as opposed to bleeding out and falling to the floor) it will be better than what I have. Or not. I guess we'll see if after I get it together and take it for a drive I'm on here looking for a new front end.

 

Can't recall cost, but it didn't take long for the guy @ AZ to match up a later dual to go on my '60 Plym. Might see if there are relevant comments @ www.forwardlook.net

 

Well damn. Yesterday as I was working on the truck the FedEx lady showed up with a package. I was so excited. Till I opened it. The brake hose I needed is perfect. The cylinder rebuild kits are invisible. Apparently they are on backorder so I am still front brakeless.

So, I have the front end on stands and had spent the previous two days scouring the internet for ideas, options and opinions on lowering the truck. I really hadn't planned on doing that just yet, but figured what the hell. Originally I had intended on moving the axles on top of the springs and going that route. The problem I was going to run into with that however was that it was going to drop it too much so I was then going to have to install some blocks to raise it back up, because I didn't want to get into steering issues or having to notch the oil pan. And, once again it's for my daughter so I don't really need it dragging the ground. I figured there had to be another way. So after much research and getting some ideas from people and their different approaches I finally came up with one (at least for the front-still need to attack the back).

Kevin (stubbsrodandcustom) had told me how to easily remove the two bottom springs from the front stack (it’s a seven spring stack) and his looked pretty good, but I wasn't sure it was quite low enough for me. So as I'm staring at the set up I realize that if the top spring was flipped over it would move the spring eyes to the bottom of the spring effectively setting it about an inch or so higher. And that is what I did. I removed the springs, tore the stack apart, flipped the top spring and re***embled without the two bottom springs. Really a pretty straight forward process (and as always the p***enger side took about half the time of the driver’s side). The only real issues I ran into had to do with lack of tools and misc. parts. I could only find one large C clamp and it wasn't quite big enough to reach around the first and second spring to compress them (I didn't dearch the top spring) so I used a ratcheting tie down to get them close enough together that I could use the C clamp. The second issue came when my spring alignment bolt came out a 1/4" short on thread since I had removed the two bottom springs. So, at about 15 minutes till closing time it was off to the parts store for about .50 cents worth of parts to finish up. I really hate that. But, all said and done, I got something accomplished that you can actually see and since the parts guys couldn't bring themselves to ring me up for two 3/8” bolts it was basically a free accomplishment. Of course I did determine that the rear spring bolts/shackles are just about done, so I now feel compelled to replace those, but hey, I figure old trucks are like old houses and my grandfather always told me that if you ever get your house exactly the way you want it, you die.

It was just after 9:30 last night when I finally dropped the jack and set her back on the ground so I didn't get any pictures (I **** at the whole getting pictures thing I know) but maybe I will this afternoon. At least I say that. After seeing it this morning I need to get the rear end dropped ASAP as it irks me the way it's sitting right now. And I may or may not put one of the bottom springs back in after I have a good look at it in daylight so that I am comfortable with the clearances under the truck. I like the spacing between the tires and fenders, but not at the expense of hitting the stops or the oil pan anytime I hit a bump to hard (things can get a little crazy during high speed police chases, especially with no brakes). We’ll see.

Now if I can just get my hands on some damn cylinder rebuild kits...

 

Finally...a few pictures. I fought and fought with the front end till I finally landed on a height that I think I'm happy with. Low enough I'm OK with the way the tires fill the fender wells but high enough I won't be hitting stops or oil pan all the time. And if worse comes to worse I can modify the oil pan if I have to...just really don't wanna right now. The rear was easy compared to the front. I had read somewhere that an Old Timer had said to pull the 3rd and 5th leafs out of the stack. Once I got it apart (the driver side) I noticed that the 3rd and 5th leafs where actually a little different (they had a slot down the length of them), so I pulled those out (made the requisite trip to the parts store for two bolts) and put it all back together. When I moved to the p***enger side, I actually had luck on my side for a change. When I pulled that stack apart one of the two leafs I planned on removing was broke. A very small victory, but a victory none the less and at this point in my life I will take it. So, here’s a few before and after shots:

Before:


After:


I have also mentioned the electric wiper conversion. I still need to make a couple of small linkages for the inside and plumb the washers but all indications are that it is going to work out good. Oh yeah, and wiper arms. I swear I had two at some point in this project but can't find the p***enger side one for the life of me. Anyway, the two switches to the right of the starter ****on are the wiper controls. The first switch is an OFF/ON/ON momentary that controls ON/OFF and the washer in the momentary position. The second switch is a simple ON/ON that controls HI/LOW. Using some creative wiring and relays I got it so that it automatically goes to HI when the washer is engaged and the wipers return to park whether they are turned off by the switch or if power is cut through the ignition key. A small thing, but a cool feature none the less.



And finally, as I was pulling pieces to replace gaskets and rebuild carbs I did some touch up work to the motor. It is far from perfect but I'm happy enough with it for now. I had to cut out my own patterns for the Mopar emblems and my wife was absolutely no help what so ever when it came to that. She walks out while I fighting with paper, masking tape an exacto blade and some patterns I had printed off and says "What you need is contact paper. I have some inside." Well thanks b!^&#, I'm done now! However, I think the worst part was the valve cover breather. I bought a new one and when I got home realized that in big block letters, stamped right across the top of it was "MADE IN TIAWAN". I tried sanding it off but that wasn't working so I finally filled it in with super glue, sanded it down and painted over it. Just cause it's made there doesn't mean I have to advertise it. And yeah, I'm biased that way. If it had said "MADE IN AMERICA" I wouldn't have touched it. So, a couple more before and afters:

Before:


After:


Now if I can just get the damn brakes finished...

 

looks tons better down a bit lower and that motor cleaned up real nice....

 

Nice, coming along very well. I agree, the stance is right where it needs to be...

 

Loops great! If you get a chance, please snap a few pics of the reversed springs under the truck. I'm curious about your pan and steering space. I will absolutely steal your idea if it will work with my motor.

 

Ok, heres some close ups of the springs:


As you can see, all I did was flip the top leaf.


I cut one lip (the back side) off the retainers leaving as much as possible to guide the leafs. It made it a little bit of a pain to put back together, but it wasn't all that bad. I did it with a ratchet strap, one c-clamp and a hammer sitting on the floor of my carport.


All said and done it lowered it right at 2 inches without removing any leafs and it keeps the stops in proportion to the oil pan so that even if I do bottom out, I'm not crushing the oil pan.


And these are the leafs I pulled from the rear. You can see clearly on the broken piece the channel I was referring to that was cut down the length of these leafs. However, today before I finally took it for a drive (yes I drove it today, more on that in a minute) I cleared out all the **** that had been ac***ulating in the bed, and I might try removing one more. I had no idea what was in there under the cardboard boxes that had been flattened and laid on top, but my front bumper, all four wheels and tires that it showed up on, a rug from Afghanistan (don't ask), a self contained re-breather complete with oxygen tank (again, don't ask), and a box of misc. **** that I'm not even going to go into are a few of the things that came out. Bottom line, once it was out, the *** popped up just a bit. I don't know though...I don't want to make it nonfunctional.

Anyway, yes, I drove it today. I still have the loud ticking noise in the motor. It stutters real bad if you jump the throttle, you have to ease into it. The brakes are grabby and it pulls a little bit. All in all...it was freakin awesome! I could have cruised the neighborhood all day if I thought I could get away with it. But, it's back in the carport and tomorrow I will start addressing some of the gremlins that continue to pop up. For instance, I replaced the master cylinder with the one used in late 60's and 70's heavy duty pickups, vans and suburbans and now the pressure switch that activates the brake lights decided to quite. Go figure. Good times.

 

Thanks man! That is just what I wanted to see.

 

Good stuff here! Thanks for the thread, and keep it up.

 

Well, as Fathers Day weekend comes to a close I didn't really accomplish any of the things I initially set out to do, but all in all I am going to chalk it up as a success.

I took Friday off and starting early thought I had finally located front brake cylinder rebuild kits. Nope...they didn't have them and couldn't get them till next week. After much grumbling I set about trying to find them the old fashioned way, with the phone book and calling different parts stores and brake places hoping to locate a set or get an idea on who to call. After several such calls I was told to call, of all people, the guys who had relined my shoes for me (I told my wife earlier that morning that that was probably going to happen). Although they didn't have the kits, they had the cups, and that would get me by. Problem was, it was going to cost me $20 in gas for $8 worth of parts and we couldn't think of another damn thing we needed in that area. So, I spent the time cleaning up my cylinders really well, scuffed up the cups that were in them, re***embled them, and so far so good. Along with the new MC mentioned in my previous post I finally got brakes and drove it just a bit.

Saturday morning, with the truck able to move under it's own power, I decided now was a good time to pull everything out, clean the carport and kinda regroup before I started on anything else. That turned into allot more than I had anticipated as I decided to pressure wash the carport, driveway, front porch and walkway and then proceeded to put up some shelves and rearrange my work area. Late last night as I was finally finishing up I had one small area left to clean and when I moved the stuff that was in my way I found the long missing second wiper arm! Made the whole day worth it (not to mention I now have a clean place to work).

So here it is Fathers Day. We had plans for the afternoon so I didn't want to delve into too much, and since I now had two wiper arms, I figured I would work on the wipers. It all actually went pretty smooth right up to the point that one of the nuts and bolts I was using as a temporary pin for one of the wiper rods tightened up on itself bogging down the motor. Since then, the park function is not working on the motor, but, I'll pull it apart later and see if I can fix it. If not, at least I know what to replace it with and they are readily available at the junk yard. Regardless...I now have working wipers, maybe not that big a deal to allot of people, but living in the Northwest, it's a way of life. After that, I threw the little girl (the one responsible for this whole project) in the truck and took her to the store on the corner. It's still cranky, still has some funny noises, still needs quite a bit of work...but it was a hell of ride and worth every penny, minute and ounce of sweat and blood that has been put into it. I gotta say...I kinda like being a father.