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Your choice of course, but as is, you have a piece of American. That exterior, cleaned and polished would amaze you, and I yet have had no one disappointed to see and hear a nice running flat head six. I replaced the 4:11 rear axle with a 3:73, and lowered it two inches front and back. I can cruse at 65 if need be, but I just run mostly with the semis. A five speed overdrive would be really nice, especially on the open road. 

 

 Whatever,,WELCOME! 

Edited by pflaming
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That straight 6 will run smooth like a sewing machine, suggest you give it a try before you make the leap. Just my thoughts if you haven't tried it yet. Welcome to the board and good luck. 

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There are two that I know of that have used the 5.7 Hemi....Charles Furman and Brian Lohmiller....both like'em.

I have a 408 stroker 500hp, others have put in 360's 440's and early Hemi's....we all be here.

Search the forum and you may find a build you like which includes building up the L6.

 

48D

Edited by 48Dodger
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The new 5.7 takes up a lot of real estate and requires a lot of technology and fabrication. I am in the process of killing the originality of my 47 by dropping in a 360 with automatic. Everytime I work on it, I wonder if that was the right decision. These things are so cool to drive with the original running gear.

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The B-series were designed around the flathead with economical pulling power at low speed in mind.  Powertrain upgrades for speed require commitment of resources to safely control that speed with modifications to chassis frame, suspension, steering, brakes and sheet metal....this is some serious cheddar in time and $$$ that requires skills that may depend on a learning curve.  Another alternative is to put the Pilot-House sheet metal on a modern chassis, such as 1st gen Dakota, which requires skill in grafting the bodies together, while the powertrain needs only refreshing.  This is also a serious undertaking, but viable.  Having said that, my side yard is populated with the remnants of 5 beasts where the previous owner had grand ideas but insufficient skills and resources to make those dreams a reality before eventually abandoning those plans...I suggest making a plan that includes a budget of time and $$$ before diving in, just to get an idea of the task at hand.  It is clear from the work/butchering of the rescued projects I have (as well as a couple more I've spotted over the hill) that the plans of attack employed were variations of "Willy Nilly":  sheet metal stripped of paint then left to rust in the yard, powertrains and axles sold for scrap with nothing to put back in their places, a cheap stereo hacked into the dash with no speakers...talking with previous owners, they had visions of cruising Congress at the Lone Star Round Up, but then it got too cold, then it started raining, then it got too hot, then it was football season, then it got cold again, and time just slips away as life gets in the way.  I am not breaking any speed records with completing my projects, but I have a plan and a budget in place and the skills to get most of the work done, so I'm holding off on major work until I get all of my ducks in a row...at any rate, take your time and choose wisely :cool:

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JB.  Well stated! I repaired a  truck and thought a suburban would be about the same amount of time and money, how wrong I was. Just to repair and replace, not restore, takes $$$$$. $500, disc brakes,; minimum $1000 just to clean up an engine valves, starter,  alternator, water pump etc.;  $400 for tires and rims; $$ floor; electrical $400,  the first $3000 goes FAST, AND THATS JUST TO REPAIR. If you do as Casper. Plymouthy, etc does, much more, and I haven't mentioned body work, painting, and upholstery.

 

To put a different engine in, ???????? But only you know your resources, skills, time etc my best to you. 

Paul

 

IMG_5349.JPG

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I do love seeing a new project start.  If the truck is in good condition I'm always one for hoping it gets a resto job or a refresh.  But it's always up to the owner.  What I love about this truck is the wheels...the wheels look to have original paint....paint that might be able to be used to once and for all put to bed the recipe for the "Dodge Cream" wheel paint.

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Welcome to the forums , that is a nice looking truck. I wish you luck with any route you decide to go.

 

What I am doing on my truck, first get it working as it came from the factory, just fix and clean to get everything in operational condition.

Then drive it, and as time goes by I will decide what I want to upgrade.

You take a ol stock pilothouse truck down the road at 50 mph, it has pucker factor.

 

I would probably upgrade the brakes first, then the rear axle to highway friendly gears, maybe replace the 60 year old shocks, then consider steering.

All depends on what you want.

Do you want a old truck to drive, or do you want a modern car that looks like a old truck.

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7 minutes ago, ggdad1951 said:

What I love about this truck is the wheels...the wheels look to have original paint....paint that might be able to be used to once and for all put to bed the recipe for the "Dodge Cream" wheel paint.

last spring when the handle on my old wheel barrow finally broke, I made new handles and painted it the color I thought I wanted my truck to be. red with cream wheels and black fenders/running boards  :D .... I also like the color of the posters truck, pretty close what I have been dreaming about, torn between painting the bed sides black or red though.

IMG_20181105_101514170.jpg

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Practice on a wheelbarrow??  that is a great idea!  if ya can slick up a well-worn wheelbarrow, knocking out the dents and rust, replacing the wood and tire, and get the paint to look good, maybe even putting some pinstripes on it, all for the practice, then ya have a scaled down, simplified version of restoring one of these old beasts...I think I just had another project put on my to-do list :cool:

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7 hours ago, JBNeal said:

 I suggest making a plan that includes a budget of time and $$$ before diving in, just to get an idea of the task at hand.  

 

That is good advice.  The only thing I would add is that after you get your budget in order and a time line set out you should, at least, double the dollars and time allotted.  Then you won't go over the budget quite so badly.

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3 hours ago, lonejacklarry said:

 

That is good advice.  The only thing I would add is that after you get your budget in order and a time line set out you should, at least, double the dollars and time allotted.  Then you won't go over the budget quite so badly.

 

Thats what my wife does with every project of mine! We wont discuss the hemi build cost budget versus actual cost. 

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19 minutes ago, Flatlander_summit said:

I farm part time with my dad and we had a little road trip the other day. In discussing this pickup he recommended keeping it original as well, now you guys have me thinking about it. 

 

Honestly, the first decision is what you want the truck for, if you want a local cruiser and attend local car shows and not get too heavily invested, then stock original is just fine with a few slight upgrades, BUT if you want a highway cruiser and plans for longer trips and really make it a good “driver” then I’d say look at a more modern power train, but the hemi might be a stretch unless your really looking for a big investment and a lot of learning and fabricating.

 

I have one regret, that I built my  truck thinking I’d be happy just keeping it local and slow and easy, so I invested and built the truck around improving and maintaining the flat 6, but if I could go back I would swap that and do an IFS and be running a V8.  I do love my truck, it will do 60/70mph all day and I did add power steering to make it even easier to drive, but when you cruise in a group of more muscle type cars and hot rods it doesn’t take long to get left behind and or feel like I’m beating on the truck a little too much.  Same thing for long distance shows, it’s not that easy to roll into a local parts shop and get anything for these motors...so I have to either trailer it or have back ups of any common failure parts.

 

At the end of the day, it’s your truck and only you can decide it’s path and don’t let anyone steer you away unless it’s to save you from heartache or failure 

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On 11/4/2018 at 10:24 PM, Flatlander_summit said:

New guy here. I think I may actually get a chance to work on this thing this winter. I bought it about 8 years ago from a family friends estate. The pickup had been in their family its entire life. Has anyone considered putting a newer hemi in these pickups? 

DC66F5AA-8578-43B5-8C5D-7D045E1AECD7.jpeg

 

I think you found FEF's little brother!

 

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9 hours ago, Flatlander_summit said:

I farm part time with my dad and we had a little road trip the other day. In discussing this pickup he recommended keeping it original as well, now you guys have me thinking about it. 

Since you've had it for 8 years already and haven't done any modifications to this point, you should seriously consider just keeping it original, play w/it for a few more years as it is, w/safety upgrades and regular maintenance that is, until you've figured out what you want. Seeing other vehicles at shows or cruises will give you an idea of what you might like. Reading about other Mopar forum members experiences and advice will also help get your decision made for you. Seems that if you start making changes to modernize it, you'll lose forever the original look & feel. For some, I suppose, that's okay, because they didn't really want the hassles of being original w/all of the attendant limits & problems. Maybe you would go "back" to original after the modernization, if you didn't like it. Or, as many others have experienced, the project will remain partly done, and you'll never "get around to it", as life gets in the way. 

 

Enjoy it for what it is, now, and then take your time to decide later what you want to do. 

(You're mileage may vary). 

 

Best of luck to you whatever you decide, and, Welcome to the Forum. ?

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Nice original truck? 

More good pictures of under the hood and interior please!!!

 

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On 11/4/2018 at 8:24 PM, Flatlander_summit said:

The pickup had been in their family its entire life. 

 

Kinda makes a good argument for keeping it original.

Plenty of half-baked trucks out there you could hot-rod in the future....

 

48D

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