My little girls 1956 Dodge Pickup

Trucks looking good man... I couldnt have you getting lower than me so I decided to bring mine down lower with a 3" drop axle... haha... hope all is going good man...

 

Hey ya'll, just checking in. Still in Afghanistan, so obviously no updates on the truck. If I'm guessing correctly it's probably sitting under several inches of snow right now feeling very neglected. I did however get to go home (well, Texas) for the holidays for R&R. So although I have no updates on the truck, I can tell you that the "little" girl just turned 15 and is nagging her mother daily to take Drivers Ed. So, if anyone is in Texas and happens to see two cute girls swerving down the highway at a high rate of speed in a blacked out Charger SRT8, just wave and thank God their my responsibility and not yours. And that damn dog. I kid you not he’s in the area of 170 lbs now and still not quite a year old. His head comes up past my hips when he's on all fours next to me and if he decides to hug you by standing on his back legs he's over 6 foot. The worst part...yeah, he still sleeps in the bed with my wife. But hey, better him than some other guy I suppose...at least he let me sleep there too.

Anyway, just about half way and on the downward slope of this trip. Looking forward to getting back to work on the truck and hopefully finishing up in time for my little girl to drive it to school next year. For all my friends in the Great Northwest ya'll try to stay warm for a few more days as I'm sure it will soon get back to the normal wet, dreary, kinda cold, over cast weather you’re used to. And with any luck I'll have at least a little bit of time between coming back and PCS'ing to finally get the truck out a bit for a few cruises and hang outs with you guys. Ya'll stay cl***y and I'll talk to ya'll later.

 

Keep yur head down and yur powder dry......

RLTW

.

 

all i can say is thank you and a great thing ur doing for ur little girl

 

Thank you for your service.. Your little girl will be proud!!! John

 

Not a pick-up, but, here's a pic to show you how gorgeous these trucks were. This was a pic of one of my Grandfathers trucks when it was new in 1954. Enjoy.

 

For putting the turn signal lights/lenses in to tubular bedrails, check out turn signal/marker lights for motorcycles.

Also, first chance you get, stroll thru the lighting section of a store inside a large truck stop. LOTS and LOTS of lights/lenses in diff sizes, incl many in LED.

 

Hell yeah Moose. My dad has an old International two ton he used as a service truck for years that he is turning into a big pickup. Took an old Ford bed, split it down the middle and widened it to fit. Dirves it around like a daily...crazy old fart.

And Energy, that's one of the things I'm really looking forward to if I end up back around my old man after this deployment. His shop and tools, and the fact we live in the middle of an oil field area where I can walk into a truck supply shop and spend hours looking for and trying all kinds of stuff that most people don't even know exsists. Entire shops dedicated to just lighting, or hoses, or bolts, or suspensions. Fabrication shops that can build you just about anything and sand blasters and painters who will throw your project in the mix for a case of beer.

 

The International "Pickup" and it's crazy owner/builder.



New "rims". Rollin on 22.5's. A whole different scale then what I'm working on.

 

You can see though why he refers to it as his "little truck".

 

Ya got a killer truck there for your daughter! Been watching your buildup and enjoying your writing style as well.
Stay safe over there and come home soon! Many thanks to you and your buds for doing what ya have to do!

 

That's a cool pickup, Mr. C. My daughter (now 26) wants the old man to fix up an old pickup for her. The International must be fun to drive. A little paint and body work and it'd be a real head turner. Keep us up to date on yours, and, as stated by 1950, be safe.
PS: The crazy owner/builder you mention earlier looks like a really nice guy.

 

That's pretty cool man. Good on you!


I gotta 69 318 from a cuda in my truck backed by a 904..

 

Excellent build-up story. Thanks.

Dodge trucks of that era are much less common than Fords or Chevys & it's good to see one being rescued.

Here's mine, a '52...

 

Nobody mentioned it but it could be a lifter thats ticking.......really nice budget truck, I wouldn't worry too much about the body work all 3 of my daughters managed to m***age the sheetmetal on our car when they drove it


Ps on the commando......you're out of uniform mister!
AMCM Elder 79-09 USN

 

Fool, that is a nice ride. I love the lines and the shiny black paint, but Frankie has a point, I figure it's proportional...the straighter and shinier I make the truck, the more likely my daughter will be to do her own custom work. I don't know if anyone ever noticed the spray paint that would randomly appear on the truck throughout the build, but that would have been her and her friends "decorating". If she had her way it would be painted in chalk board paint so she could just randomly draw on it. Really with the rough flat black job it has now, it's not too far off. And I told her what I would do was tether a piece of chalk by the tailgate so that her and her friends could use that as a chalk board. This probably makes some of ya'll cringe, but keep in mind it's her truck. And at the end of the day it probably won't be the heated seats, power windows, custom stereo, power steering or disc brakes that she brags to all her friends about...it'll be that the tailgate is a chalk board.

And Moose, I gotta agree, on most days the old man is a pretty good guy. Hell, he brought me up and taught me more than I would ever be able to list here. But like any good dad, he certainly had his moments when he would put the fear of god in me. I'm one of the lucky ones though, he used to be my best friend. I say used to, because when I had a son of my own he gladly and proudly stepped down to second best.

 

Excellent build info and pics. Getting your daughter involved will make the pickup a long term connection between the two of you. In todays world, that is a rare thing. She will also have the personal pride of ownership when shes driving such a cool old PU she helped build while all her friends are in cookie cutter boxes on wheels.
Ive been a Dodge man for 30 years and have included a photo of my Spring 2012 project, a 1958 Dodge PU I picked up this last November. I also want to say thank you for your servive and sacrifice for your country. Take care and I will continue to follow this family build.

 

your story is very inspiring to me as me and my fifteen year old daughter are just getting ready to start on her 56 ford pickup. All we have is the body, hood and two beds right now. Plans are for a later model frame and running gear out of an old donor chevy truck. Good luck.

 

First off, thanks for your service... glad you got to see the fam for a bit. Just fyi, the rains came and washed all the snow away today in Seattle....

My daughter and I are also working on a '55 C3...http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=611374

Like you, brakes are number one... I have all the parts, it's just finding time for her to work with me. She gets righty mad at this old man if she finds me working on it myself. My truck induced injury really (literally) kept me off my feet this summer, and now her robot school team is taking all her time, but I hope to get it running by June.

We got the Rustyhope kit. While the kit is reasonable, its all the little things that add up to real money. Oh well, at least it'll stop fast.. at least that's the idea.

I think ultimately, I'd like to do a Jag IFS swap on it, and then add a T5 to the 273 to get some better highway gearing. OR.. just finding a 318 and an auto like you have and call it quits. Which reminds me... when you get home, can you shoot some pics of how the 318 is mounted in there? I think it'll be easier to find powersteering brackets for the 318 then it is for the 273. (It's kinda oddball engine for accessories. I'm fabbing a getto alternator bracket to replace the generator setup. I've got an Rebel wiring setup ready as well...)

Anyhoo... hope to start our own thread once we got something to write about!

Love your Dad's truck!

 

4msfam, I've seen the Jag IFS's, but never on one of ours. That set up is nice though. As far as the motor, I'm not a Mopar man by birth so really don't know alot about all the different motors. I do know that the 318 is supposed to be a bullet proof engine that has been around in the same form for years making it super easy and realitvely cheap to find parts and things for. You might check out craigslist. I'm always cruising for odd stuff on there and have seen several running 318/****** combo's that have been pulled out to make room for bigger motors on there for pretty decent pricing. Just a thought if your looking at going that route. And I can't get you any pictures for a while, and the 318 was already in my truck when I got it, but it all looked pretty straight forward. If you want some great info on the 318 install in a truck just like ours, hit up Stubs http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/member.php?u=134930. Looking forward to seeing the progress on your truck.

 

I roll mine everywhere... 1000 mile weekends... stock engine out of a 69 coronet 2 barrel and rolls great down the freeway and light to light... dont knock the 318s...

Look forward to yall hopefully comming here man... we will have to cruise some roads together for sure with these two ole gals..

 

Thanks again for your service to our country. And thanks for the information on the steering wheel/adapter you did on your truck. I ordered a wheel and adapter the next day from Summit and had it two days later. Installed it in about an hour. I am also going to shorten the steering shaft as those steering wheels are too close. I have a friend who has a 318 with a 727 (? the larger automatic) that he is donating free to my project. He had it in an early 70's Dodge pickup that his son wrecked several years ago. Right now I have the obsolete 241 V-8 with the 3 speed on the column. I also have a vibration (and noise) in the drive train that I can't seem to fix. I've put in new U-joints but that didn't fix it. My truck sat for eight years before I got it, so I think it is the rear-end (it leaks). Last week I picked up some 15x7 wheels and installed Cooper Cobra 255/60-15's. My neighbor that I bought the truck from, and who is a Mopar freak, sold me the center caps. In fact, he has a Mopar parts depot in his ba*****t, it's awesome. Now to follow your example and pull those front springs and lower it. I had tried to get Stubbsrodandcustom to give me some info on his disc brake swap. Anyway, keep your head down, stay safe and come home.

 

Steve, did you really say that????
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=646065

.

 

73RR...sorry, but one of my Mopar acquaintances told me that the 241 was an obsolete engine...replaced by the 318. I haven't had this truck long enough to really know. Still learning.

 

Steve, cool deal. I never have decided if I have the 727 or 904 in my truck. Pretty sure it's the 727 but whatever. My rear end is an 8.25 with like a 2:45 gear set. I haven't driven it a ton, but it did ok the little bit I drove it around town and the one time I had it on the highway. As far as the brakes, there is another guy on here who has got the Rustyhope kit and will hopefully be installing it soon, so maybe we can get some fresh info on that from him. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/member.php?u=155132.

 

All I can says is a great read, great at***ude, thanks and be safe and finally thats one big frick'n dog !!!

 

A Mopar guy huh....kinda sad, actually.

If you poke around a little you will find a tremendous amount of support for the obsolete EarlyHemi engines.
Yes, they are expensive to rebuild. No, not real common on the road.
However, Eye Candy by the bushel. Properly rebuilt you get 1hp/inch as a starting point.

If you decide to replace your 241 you will have no problem selling it.

...now, back to our regularly scheduled programme...


Grady, look on my web site for trans ID info.
.

 

73RR, thanks for the information about the 241. The information on your site has been very helpful. At this point I am leaning toward keeping the engine in my truck. The engine as far as I know is original and stock, runs very well, does not smoke. It's dirty and greasy right now and I am planning to clean it up and repaint it. The odometer on the truck had 16,800 miles showing when I bought the truck, so there is really no knowing how many miles are on this engine. The real problem for me is the low gearing in my '55 C-3. I'll admit I'm lost when it comes to rear-end gearing etc. and long term I think I will be replacing the rear-end and possibly going to an auto ******. Old Mopar is new to me and I'm doing research to try to learn all that I can. I've owned 3 Dodge pickups...a Ram 50, and two Dakota's ('95 & '05) and was impressed with all three. But I sold the '05 to fund the '55. I just want a daily driver that is reliable, but cool...as in old truck cool. That's why I'm here on the HAMB. I appreciate all you guys and all the helpful info I've found here.

 

Hey, that's what we're all looking for...something old, cool and cheap that runs good, makes a great daily driver and has 500 hp and gets close to 30 mpg. Let me know if anyone runs across something like this.

 

Yeah, I'll get right on that !