Dan Babb

Good luck with the title. You might have to follow the process outlined on this page. http://www.ncdot.gov/dmv/vehicle/title/bonded/ I have called the DMV main office in Raleigh a couple times. Once you get a live person on the phone, they've been pretty helpful. The hard part might be getting an appraisal for the truck.

Google search GAA classic car auction and info should come up It's a good running truck with a 354 hemi and other upgrades.

If you're going to keep the stock engine, get in touch with me. I have the motor from my 52 Dodge 1/2 ton sitting in my garage and I'm over near Greensboro. I swapped it out for a 354 Hemi and might be able to help you with missing parts. I've been hesitant to list the motor for sale because the numbers in my title have the engine serial number incorporated into it. I'm going to try to sell my truck at an auction in March, and if it sells, then I'd be ready to sell the whole engine/trans combo for peanuts. I also have the stock radiator if you need it.

I think I have at least 20 feet of the stuff shaped like a "T" with the triangle on top. So are you guys saying that piece goes in the door jamb where the fender meets the cab? Is there supposed to be any type of trim on the door where the glass slides down into the door? Something that seals off the window so water doesn't drip down into the door?

I know the spot you're talking about. So I guess the fender has to be off in order to install it...right? Do you think an adhesive be used so they could be installed while the fenders are on the truck? Any idea on that other stuff I have?

I have a long roll of this stuff I have 2 sections of this stuff What are they and how do I install them?

Thank you for checking.

The driver door window never really has worked smoothly. Now it's gotten to the point where if I roll it all the way up, it's a real PITA to get down. I pulled everything apart today and it seems like it's the small gear at the handle the is the problem. The larger gears look ok, but with the cover over the smallest handle gear, you can't really see inside. But the handle gear feels wobbly and I think one of the teeth are bad...seems to hit a problem when that spot should mesh with the larger gear. Where can I buy a new regulator that will work for my 52 1/2 ton? Finding anyone who sells the Dodge parts isn't easy....will a ford or chevy part work? Need a quick solution...going to be taking my other car apart and working on it all winter, so I don't want to let this mini-project take forever.

Very cool. I have a 354 Hemi in my 52. It was a ton of work, but I used the stock frame and had to figure out how to make it all work. It does look cool though. I think there's another guy here who put one of the baby hemis in his truck. I got the idea for routing my exhaust from his pictures. Post up some pictures of your project when you can.

Wow...I'd think twice before driving my Jeep Wrangler Unlimited as hard as those guys drove that old Dodge.

Welcome and good luck with your new project. Search google for Roberts Truck Parts. He has a lot of stuff for these trucks. Steele Rubber also has a good mount of the rubber parts. I think some guys have also used a Ford piece for that and it works. Do a search here to confirm that.

Maybe give the people at Southern Rods a call. http://www.southernrods.com/ Ask if any of the units they sell would fit behind the dash in a truck. You might lose the glovebox (or have to make a smaller one), but that would be a small price to pay. I'm pretty sure they have compressors that are setup for v-belts. Making the bracket sounds like it would be the hardest part to figure out, but if you have any fabrication skills (or know someone who does), it shouldn't be that hard to figure out.

Don't think Bonneville is in my future...although it would be a blast. I enjoy road courses and have gotten into Auto-Cross with my other car (Cobra replica). Here's a link to a video I wasn't really driving it that hard, so I was quite a bit off the pace of other drivers that day. I wound up using my Dodge over the weekend to donate some sofa's to Goodwill and go pick-up new sofa's at a furniture store. It is nice having a truck. Maybe my next project will be another truck. Would like a more modern suspension and drivetrain in a cool looking old truck. That migh force me to have to look at a Ford or Chevy so I can buy some bolt in goodies instead of having to do a sub-frame swap on an old Dodge. Maybe even look at a 30's truck where I can buy a new frame that the body bolts up to.

I don't really drive it all that much and I'm pretty much done tinkering with it. I'm finding myself bored now that I don't have any real projects to work on and ready for something else. I'm probably going to finish cleaning it up, then drive to the cruise-ins I usually attend and put a sign on it. If I find a buyer...great. If not, I'll wait till one comes along. If I were to do another truck, I would want to do either a frame swap or install a modern front suspension to get an upgrade in performance.

Thinking about selling the truck, so I went to a friends house tonight and we buffed and waxed it. Amazing what using the right tools can do to a tired paint job. I'm not done yet, but so far, it's looking great. Here's a shot he took with his cellphone. I still have to do the doors and cab...but the rest is done.

Front disc conversion can be bought from Rustyhope.com Rear axle swap is most commonly done with a Jeep Cherokee rear end (not grand cherokee). Mine is from a 96. 3.55 rear gears and better drum brakes. The stock wheels will bolt right up. Do a search and a lot of posts will come up. You can boost the power of the flathead a little bit by having the head shaved to boost compression. Do a search to get the amount you can have taken off.

That's funny...I always thought it was the model name of the truck.

Proper link...but no picture of the truck on their site http://www.fairfieldcollectibles.com/p7841/1948+Dodge+B-Series+Pilot+House+Pickup+-+green/product_info.html#desc

To just get it level, taking out one of the shorter leafs should help a lot. Start with the second to shortest one and see how it looks. If you want to swap the axle to the top of the spring, I'm not sure you could do that without notching the frame. I don't think you'd have enough clearance for travel without doing that.

Here are a few back when I had the original engine installed. The headlights are wired through the connector that's mounted to the radiator support.

On the headliner you have, does it go all the way down to the top of the doors...or do you still need extra panels on the sides (above the doors)? It looks like they could make it out of a single piece...then you'd just need something to cover the back wall.

I put a 1996 Jeep Cherokee rear end under my 52 Dodge truck. Pretty simple process really. Cut off old perches and shock mounts Weld in new perches (bought at Tractor Supply) - after measuring and setting the angle. Install using the original plates that the shocks mount too. I got a unit with a 3.55 rear gear and it works great. I think the overall width might be around 3/4" shorter than the stock unit...but you can't tell when looking at it. The original wheels bolt right up to the truck too.

$169k....wonder what the profit margin is at that price? I'm sure a lot of money goes into the new parts and paying the skilled workers to put that together...but that's a lot of spare change.

Good question on the true originality of the engine. The block stamp looks right for my year and the number is part of the title. The head does have a casting number of top that I think it's a date stamp. If that's correct, then the head is dated 1955 (if I remember correctly), but my truck is a 52. So not sure what's up with that. I did think that at one point, I'd rebuild it just for the sake of doing it. I can see myself selling the truck at some point down the road (to make room for another project). So I guess I should hang onto it. When I do sell it, I'll offer it to the buyer as part of the deal. If they pass, I'd post it online here in case anyone wanted it.

I have the original engine and transmission for my truck stored in my garage. Haven't touched it since I pulled it out for the Hemi swap. I've been hestitant to get rid of it because the serial number on it is part of the serial number listed on the title. I guess I could take pictures, but that wouldn't really prove that I ever had it here. Was thinking about cleaning it up in case I wanted to use it for a future project or just to have in case I ever sell the truck ( so the next owner could have it). It wasn't broken (that I know of), but the carb needed a rebuild. It's not really in the way, but I could use the space back. Not even sure what this hunk of metal is really worth. What would you do with it?