Projects 1958 Dodge Sweptside

That would be great.
There are companies that make the covers for the GM trucks and for the Ford trucks, both of which have different part numbers, and no information concerning sizes, but somehow they think both would work on a Dodge truck. Yea, that makes perfect sense.

 

Yeah I wish parts like that had good measurements to go off of. I'm sure there's a whole range of different year models and brands that stuff like that would be able to be used on, or close enough to be made to work, but without measurements the only other way to know is to have it in hand and like you mentioned earlier a lot of the time you're stuck with it if it doesn't work.

 

I had a 54 Dodge pickup I made a sheet metal bed cover for, but it fit inside of the bed sides with a light gage square tube framework (I have no pictures of it). That one the closed cover sat on an angle iron inside of the bed at the top of the valley. the top was in two sections, split not quite at the center, front to back. The back section folded forward over top of the front section so the back 1/2 could be opened, or once folded over top, the entire thing could be lifted on the hinges at the front to gain access for the entire bed. It was held open with a prop rod. Even with a water channel, it was not dry in a heavy rain, and was a bit heavy to open. Both the inside and the outside was painted. It worked OK, but I would rather be over the top of the bed sides rather then down in the valley, and lighter material would be nice. I probably would rather go with a soft cover like the Chevy one shown, something I could access any part of the bed. Gene

 

One other variable is the bed sides on the Dodge step side beds that are older then a 56 model year (I believe) have the top of the bed rails angled at 45 degrees rather then at 90 degrees like the bed rails on your truck. On those, the front panel, and the tail gate only come up as high as the lower vertical part before the 45 degree bend. I've raised the tailgate on my truck, and raised up and squared off the front of the bed to match the highest point on the side rails, but the rails themselves are still 45 degree bends.

My truck came without a tailgate. I bought a mid 70s beat to death tailgate to cut down and modify for my truck. The 1st pic shows the original bed side angle at the top of the pic along with the tailgate clamped into position. All 4 corners of the bed sides have the same gap.
Pic 2 shows how I filled the difference between the original bed side and the raised tailgate. The tailgate was more robust because the gate opens and closes. The front was much less elaborate, it is always closed.
Pic 3 is with the tailgate closed.

My truck is on a Dakota chassis with the Dakota steel floor, its not pretty, and never will be, it is a work truck. A bed cover to hide this mess and add the ability to keep things placed in the bed dry would be good. Something easily removed to haul something that wouldn't fit in the bed would be another plus, this bed is not very deep. Gene

 

I see what you mean Gene. I bet finding a soft cover for that bed shape really would be difficult just since there's no flat spot anywhere to help support it. It also seems like the cover like is on that Chevrolet I found earlier would be difficult to get pulled tight around the rolled edge of the bed.

 

Very very cool truck! Unique with a touch of bad-ass... The Hemi adds class and you plans for the tail-gate put it over the top! I'm wondering about how quad head-lights might look?

 

You may want to look at how this rodder built a bed and rails to finish his former sedan into a pickup. The posts are about half way down page 1.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1949-shoebox-ranchero-build.1130961/

 

Thanks @Jacksmith! I like the '58 trucks with both quad and single headlights. I actually saw a set of quad headlight bezels the other day and thought about getting them just in case I wanted to switch it up sometimes. You don't see the single headlights very often. Seems like I read somewhere that in certain states back then that quad headlights were not legal. I'm not sure if this is correct or not.

I'm really glad you reminded me about this build @pprather. I had been led to it before but it completely slipped my mind. Lot of great ideas and awesome craftsmanship.

 

JMHO, but to my eye, the fly in the ointment is the straight, rolled edge of the bed that sticks above the swept wing panel... Is there a panel on a station wagon that could be blended in to ease that transition?
This truck is coming along great, by the way!

 

Thanks @Jeff Norwell and @'28phonebooth! Looking at the wagons it looks like the fin blends right in to where the glass starts so I don't thing there is any panel in that area. I'm thinking I'll give it a shot covering it with the vinyl. I think at least that way it will make the rolled edge not as noticeable.

 

Cool material!
One of the options Buddy and I have been kicking around on his rusty truck is to maybe get rid of the upper bed sides and rolled edge and mold the wagon bodywork to the bed.
I'd be hesitant to try it on a truck as nice as yours though

Bobby

 

I bet that would look really good Bobby. It'll be interesting to see what the wagon side panel looks like underneath the flat bed box. Shining a light at the very back of mine you can't see much but it looks like it was probably cut off with a torch.

 

I just love this truck!!!! Lippy

 

I wouldn't be surprised...LOL
Since Buddy's truck is so rusty we're going to have to remove the wagon body side. He has one wagon side panel that came with the truck. To do any kind of body work and paint I think the bedside would have to come off. How else would you get paint back under that bed roll? It will be interesting.

 

That's very true. I coated the inside of the wagon panels and the anywhere else I could get to with POR-15 because there was surface rust all inside and I was covered in it by the time I was done. At least with y'all taking it all the way apart it will be easier to get everything painted.

 

I know a few things about a 57 Dodge wagon, my son had a parts car parked here for 6 years. The 57 had the "wing" quarters welded right over the top of the 55 & 56 Dodge wagon rear quarters, the earlier quarters were not even removed (at least on my son's car), the new sheet metal was simply welded over the top of the old quarters. There was an inner section for the wing, and the outer quarter. That inner section slopes down from the high point into a curve below the side windows where it was welded to the top of the 55/56 quarters, just outside of the glass run. Those two sections were welded together at the top of the wing and the back 15" or so inches was covered with a piece of chrome trim.
When Dodge hung the wagon quarters on the truck beds, the inner panel was left off.

My son had a parts car we cut up a few years ago (after all the good stuff was removed) We spent hours with a plasma cutter trying to cut off the rear quarters, but ended up just saving the back 2' or so. The double and tripled panels and bracing were a royal pain. The bottom 6" of the 55/56 quarters and the 57 quarters are about 1/4" of air space between them and are welded together at the bottom as it curves under. It was no wonder these cars rusted out so fast!

 

What if you used another box,you could cut and hack it all you want.You could save your old box sides and it could be returned to original if you didnt like it?.Not sure if the boxes are the same or not,but might be worth a look into.I love the motor in your truck,if i had one id want it to be like yours,ive never even seen one in person,but i would love to have one. harvey

 

I too am thoroughly enjoying this. I may be biased but I love seeing a swept side that isn’t being restored to stock. They are beautiful trucks.

 

Wow that's wild @gene-koning I wonder why they'd use so much extra sheet metal like that? Just to get rid of the extra panels from the year before?

That's a good idea about a donor box @37 caddy. It's funny because even though the early hemi has always been my favorite engine and I've collected a bunch of different parts for them over the last ten years, this is actually the first one I've ever seen run in person myself!

@Jeff Norwell I haven't mentioned it in the thread yet but I have been thinking about incorporating the flat tailgate in some way. I wondered what it might look like turned around as an inside panel to the wagon tailgate. It's pretty heavy gauge steel though so it might be too much extra weight and might look odd to read DODGE from the inside of the bed.

@57 Fargo that's one of the things I liked so much about this truck. I know a lot of people base the value of these old vehicles by how original they are but that's not something that's ever bothered me. Since the original drivetrain was already gone I had free rein to do what I wanted without being the one to "ruin" the value of the truck!

 

I thought keeping the original 56 wagon quarters under the 57 quarters was pretty strange as well. My only thought was maybe there were a lot of unsold 56 wagons sitting, and it was cheaper to throw the "new" 57 quarters on top rather then to remove the the old ones and then have to redesign something. We also have no concept how far into the production curve either of the two 57 wagons my son had were, maybe both were very early cars and the extra quarters were gone after the old stock was used up. Of note here, if you looked at the quarters from under the car, you could only see the 56 quarters. You had to look through the tail light opening to even see the two quarters, and then you had to know what you were looking at. It was a pretty slick coverup, they did it well.

Another interesting thing, Dodge advertised the 57 Dodge was the 1st fully unibody car with torsion bars, but both 57 wagons were full frame with torsion bars.

About the tailgate, those early tailgates are not easy to find. I'd give a lot of thought before cutting one up. The embossed DODGE logo isn't that hard to find, cut up a more modern one. Gene

 

@gene-koning I bet that was actually very interesting when y'all were cutting up the scrap wagon to be able to dissect what all was underneath there. I'm like you no wonder they rusted out so fast with so many places to hold moisture! I also appreciate the advice about the embossed tailgate. I'm betting I probably won't be using an embossed gate turned around as the flat panel for the wagon gate just because it's such heavy gauge steel I think it would make the whole tailgate very heavy.

 

I was just catching up on my reading this evening and must say this is an enjoyable was to pass the time. It is like waiting for the next installment of a new show, I'm giddy with anticipation on how the tail gate will play out and that amp material? Very far out.

 

"Giddy"? "Giddy"? @Bandit Billy ... step away from the bar before you start spilling alcohol on skin!! Take a deep breath! There.... is the "giddy" gone now?

 

I’ve been quietly following along with your progress and it’s just great. Always liked those trucks. Can’t wait to see how you work out the tailgate swap. The engine compartment and the Hemi are perfect.
Where did you get the alternator with the single belt pulley and how many amps does it put out? Our local parts stores only get the one with a two groove pulley.

 

Thanks @bchctybob! The alternator is a one wire Powermaster 75191 rated at 95 amps that I got from Speedway. There's also a chrome version numbered 17519.

 

Thats interesting about the wagon quarters.
Packard/Studebaker did something similar. On the 58 Packard Starlight we've been customizing, the factory basically added and extra fin on the rear quarters. They basically took a Studebaker Hawk and slapped an additional fin over the top of the existing fin. They screwed it in place and covered the lower seam with chrome trim. For the upper seam that runs along the trunk deck they just covered it with a piece of molding painted body color (we removed this and leaded it in to smooth the car out)

Sorry for the hijack....you can continue to your regularly scheduled program....

 

Decided I would put the tailgate and bed stuff on the back burner for just a minute. Going to try to get it moving under its own power so I can free up my rack when I need to. Got the hoses and fittings for my remote filter headed this way.
Got my bracket made for the throttle cable and the pedal all set up.
Don't like the aluminum look so I'm going to paint that all black tomorrow before all the rain gets here. Probably wont last too long on the on the pad itself.
Also got the line made up from the Filcoolator to the valley pan and the lines for my oil catch can. Going to run clear hoses from the PCV valve and valley pan to the copper lines so I can see how it's pulling. I've got the old top end oiler unit sealed up good with a new rubber gasket from McMaster Carr to replace the cork gasket that seals the jar. My only concern is if it might be too restrictive to be able to efficiently pull the crankcase vapors. I'll just have to see how it does once it's running. I put a copper scrub pad in the bottom below the copper tube to help capture any oil vapor that might make it that far.

Have a few more things to do like running the choke cable and mounting my gauge panel under the dash before I get started wiring. Saving that for last because electricity and I don't get along too well!

 

Great progress!!

Don't let the wiring intimidate you. Just take it one step at a time and you'll do just fine. Keep an eye on your grounds. I'd hazard a guess and say that 90% of electrical issues are due to poor grounds. When I do my wiring I don't like the look of the yellow, blue, red, ends of the standard crimp type connectors. I typically use a small punch and push the metal bits out of the insulation and toss it aside. Then a piece of heat shrink and some solder they look decent.
Also, don't make any terminations until you are happy with the routing of the wiring. When I wired my 49 Ford I think I rerouted the harness 3 times until I was happy with where it lived.

Keep at it, you're making amazing progress
Bobby