Guess I did this introduction thing wrong the first time. Sorry about that. So, to reintroduce myself: I live in rural Minnesota and I have an old truck, a 1940 VC 1/2 ton Dodge, to be specific. And a few other things, like a 66 t-bird and a '50 Ford 1 1/2 ton bread truck which will go from 0 to 45 in a flash but not much higher due to the rear end gearing. I put a 390 and and a c-6 transmission in it. The t-bird is stock and sitting, waiting for $$$ to restore. With kids in college, funds are pretty tight. So the VC. I got it out of a barn in parts. 47,000 miles. Put it all together and have a nice running little farm truck. It is all original, and I've kept it stock since it works so well. I figured out how to fix the temperature gauge using ether and a copper sleeve. I even weathered some wood to blend with the worn bed. About a week ago I set out to fix an exhaust leak only to discover that the manifold was broken in several places. That's an opportunity in the making... The engine that came with the VC's was a 201. *1940 engine is 201.3 ci, 79 hp @ 3,600 rpm, 154 foot-lbs torque @ 1,200-1,900 rpm. For some reason, Dodge thought it was better to put a Plymouth engine in that model year truck instead of the 218. I think it was in 1941 that they switched to the 218. I was fortunate, the truck came with the optional 3.73 high speed rear end, so it goes 60 at about 2700 RPM. I have a baby hemi (a 249 or was it a 241?) that I have been thinking of dropping into it and a Mopar A-833 overdrive manual transmission that should bolt right up to the VC engine or the hemi (except the clutch plate will need to be traded). But right now, with funds being tight, and summer still being around, I don't want to sideline the truck for the swap. Plus who knows what that would cost with radiator changes, exhaust, headers and so on. On the other hand, the truck runs so well and is all original that I've thought I should keep it stock (with some basic changes like the overdrive transmission, a two barrel carb and split manifold) and put the hemi into some sort of bucket rod. That would be fun... Several years ago I started to hot rod an F-1 truck. Here's what I was up to: I had obtained a 1976 BMW 3.0 SI with a rotted body. I discovered that the BMW front end was a sort of c***ette. By welding the mounting blocks from the BMW onto the Ford frame (they fit perfectly), I was able to mount the whole front end of the BMW into the truck (and the back end, separately). Four bolts! Suddenly I had 4-wheel independent suspension and a very hot, screaming fuel injected engine (I had rebuilt it as a semi-race engine). The steering wheel bolted right into the Ford cab, too, like it was made to be a BMW. But time slipped by and I had other projects, so I turned it over to someone else and haven't seen it since. So that's my story. I'm 52, too young to have raced in the 50's, too old to be driving a pocket rocket, too poor to build a kit car. And if you haven't guessed by now, I enjoy working on old trucks and cars.
Poulsbo? I was there a month ago. Took my son on a road trip to visit my backyard... I went to South Kitsap high. That's when I was driving the '66 t-bird.
Hi from fellow newbie on this site from Rural Minnesota!!! Nice Truck! I have a '57 Chevy Short box waiting its turn in the barn
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