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Front end is finished.

Looks like a very solid, straight truck. I had the twin to it in 1967. Mine had 6ply tires, overload springs, and the granny gear 4speed. Once hauled 3200 lbs of rock in it. These old Dodges are rino tough, and dependable. I am not in favor of cutting them up. Personally, I would drive to Texas, rent a U haul car trailer and forget the Dakota. The money saved on shipping two trucks would go a long way on giving you a vacation. Buy a shop manual and rebuild what you've got. They are low geared, but a rear differential swap would let you run at today's highway speeds. With dual carburetors and split exhaust these flatheads will haul a load and climb a hill very well. They are famous for torque. Now, with what being said, I realize not everyone likes the same thing. As someone who loves old Mopars, I hope you will think it over and consider my suggestions. Good luck to you whatever you decide.

Navy engines run just fine, thank you very much. As for the Marines, we gave them a ride whenever they needed it, and to wherever they wanted to go. And, when they were done, we were there to bring them back home. Obviously, I’m a Navy vet, and I have a lot of very high regard for my Marine partners. To quote them: “Semper Fidelis” – “Always Faithful”. ‘Nuff said!!!

My opinion only but if you intend to use it for promotion of your store I'd leave the body 100% as it is and just get some logos painted on the doors. I believe the weathered look would attract more attention than the hot rod new paint.

More pics here: http://imgur.com/a/9RT04 Good evening all, proud new owner of a 1947 Plymouth Deluxe 2dr Sedan, picked this up as sort of a "barn find" yesterday. Been sitting for the better part of 20 years. Previous owner said they did start it, took it down the driveway & back once a few years ago. Looks darn solid for the most part, floors are good, trunk pan is good, inner fenderwells in fair shape, but the gas tank looks like swiss cheese. Fortunately, a replacement gas tank was included. Tires hold air but are pretty weather-checked. Looks like under all that dirt is pretty decent paint and chrome, but won't know for sure until I get it cleaned up. I'm not sure at this point what's original and what's been restored, the seats definitely look recovered to me, but I don't know enough about these cars to be sure. I'm thinking this might be an older partial restoration maybe from the 80's or 90's that's just been sitting for 20 years. Cranked the motor over by hand this afternoon, not frozen, didn't feel too loose or clunky either. Plan on pulling the plugs, lubricate the cylinders, change all fluids and hopefully try to fire it sometime this week. I know old cars well, been a Mopar fan all my life, I can tear down and rebuild a 318 with my eyes closed. Grew up in a Pontiac family (my dad still owns two 1967 GTO's), but this old girl with a flat six is new territory for me. Any advice or parts resources you can offer are much appreciated!

What he says.

I worked at the Chevy dealership when I was a teen detailing cars. A boy I worked with had an old 68 Chevy truck he had bought at a yard sale one day while we were on our lunch brake for $200 bucks. It loved oil, used it pretty bad. We always had to work late, well after the mechanics had left. He would find a pan where someone had changed oil and pour it in his truck. One day he grabbed a pan of gear oil by mistake and poured it in. It was awful the smell of burnt gear oil following him down the road. If you just walked beside it while parked the smell was bad. He drove that truck for several years after that. It was one of those engines that just wouldn't give up.

When I was a kid working at the local gas station, pumping gas and oil, wash the windows and check the air in the tires etc ... After pouring a quart of oil in the customers car, we would put the card board container with oil spout in a drain barrel, to Finnish draining the last ounce out of it. Then in the evenings when it was slow, we could pull our cars in and work on them. I would use that mixed oil to clean gummed up engines, It was all new oil, but it was mixed weight and brands and also trans fluid mixed in as well. I had a 1970 torino I got for next to nothing it ran so bad and lifters clattering. I changed a valve cover gasket and it was bad inside. I changed the oil and ran it a couple hundred miles, then change it again. That atf cleaned the old torino right out. One lifter was still a little noisy, but in time it may have quieted down also. I sold the car after a couple weeks and tripled my money on it.

All of the clothing catalogs I see have distressed trucks and cars in them. Keep it real, new paint is for those who put bodies on new frames. Old frame old body, old paint. Hit the rusty spots with CLR and let the rest shine through. You'll get more curb appeal with original than redone. Just sayin. Best of luck.

My tires were 25+ yrs old when I got the '48 running, so I tossed the old tires, sandblasted primed and krylon rattle canned semigloss black to the rims and put new tubes and tires on the cleaned up rims...the bias ply tires lasted 10 yrs (10k miles), only had 2 flats, and the paint still looks good

I certainly wouldn't leave the tires. I'd probably paint the wheels too if there is rust in the bead area. Don't want leakers

I head up to Manhattan once or twice a year with my other old(ish) Mopar to bang around Tuttle Creek ORV. Good times.

I know submarines have engines in them that are designed to run completely submerged, the trick there is to keep all the hatches closed.

I second the oil pan swap, as well as relocating the oil sump...when you pull the stuck motor, remove its oil pan to get a look at how the sump is configured, ya might have to swap those out too

Couldn't you just swap the oil pans? Nice looking truck by the way.

Yes.....and they are quite confused when we tell them that we did this stuff...and survived without any apps. OMG!

A few years back my city slicker over protected granddaughter was at our place for a few days in the fall. Her grandma picked some green beans and ate them right in the garden. Our granddaughter couldn't believe grandma did not wash it first. Now she comes over and will pull out a carrot and wipe if off on her pants and eat it right in the garden. Another time I had her drive my utility tractor and she was to light so I put a jumper wire in the safety switch so she could drive it without the tractor shutting off. Her mom showed up and she had to show her how she could drive grandpas tractor all by herself. Her mom overheard me telling someone that I had to override the safety switch, mom just gave me a dirty look and walked away. The good news is that the parents have realized that the kids get a great education when they are here.

I just ordered a copy of this book here in Oz. The old version of the book looks better (than the later edition) as it has the old blue Dodge truck on the cover. I suspect that I have some fun reading ahead!