1951woody

Here is a shot of our woodie when my father-in-law first purchased it...sometime in the early '70s. Early restoration: When it first came to AZ (early 90s): And now:

Hank, Thanks for the great illustration. I'm fairly certain I haven't seen any inner fender skirts laying around my father-in-law's place so they were either never there or he got rid of them. Not like him to toss valuable metal, so I'll have another look when we visit his property. If I can't find the inner skirts or they won't fit, I'm thinking I might be able to just find and mount the hooks themselves to the lip of the outer fender.

That explains it: I don't have inner fenders. Heck, I don't even know if they'd fit if I DID have them with the frame/engine transfer.

Another hood question for ya'll: What do the hood latches actually latch onto to "lock" down? I haven't put the wings back on yet, but rested them in place and I couldn't see how they actually locked down. Maybe mine are missing some pieces? Anyone explain or have pics of how they latch?

Ah, so the center piece has to be off the vehicle and the entire assembly put on at once. Will try that tomorrow.... thanks!

I've finally got the woodie back up and running, and was attempting to put the three-piece hood back together, but I was not successful. I can see how the two wings fit onto the center piece, but they're just not rotating on. Is there a trick to get them back together easily?

If the woodie sells without the frame, I will be sure to contact you. Thanks! And if anyone else has any thoughts on the value of this rolling frame, please speak up.

I'm new to the world of Pilot House trucks, so I have NO idea what other bodies this frame would be compatible with. The woodie is titled as a 1951 but it's obviously a 49-50 model, if that makes any difference. I also know that the PO (my father-in-law) at some point removed the original transmission and put a 4-speed in it from some paperwork/correspondence I found. Not sure we even are going to sell it YET. I brought this up because we have a potential buyer of the woodie, but they stated pretty strongly that they will not want the frame, period. So IF they buy it (which by the history - every interested person has fallen through so far) then we'll be willing to selling the frame. But as far as it goes now, we're trying to sell them together as a package deal. Beggars can't be choosers and we will be willing to split them up if this rolling frame has a good chance of being sold as-is. We don't want to sell the woodie and still have the frame to worry about. The whole point of me starting the thread to see what it would be worth to you all. Honestly, I'm not sure how much to ask for it.

Hey all... as you probably know, we're trying to sell our woodie. We just got contacted by a fellow who might be interested, but he doesn't want the original rolling frame. I know many of you are cursing us for even considering the possibility of splitting the frame/body up, but it is what it is.... So that being said, what would the good rolling frame be worth to you? As far as I know, it's in good shape, and was running quite well before they were separated: What would be a good asking price for this?

Yes, they do... thanks!

My father-in-law removed the front door windows to have the internals repaired and/or painted (not sure when or why). I BELIEVE I have everything I need to get it back together, but it's a bit of a jigsaw puzzle. Are the internals the same in the rear doors? I'm thinking I can remove a rear door panel and get the front windows together using the rear window as a reference. Before I start pulling interior wood panels off, I want to make sure that I'm heading down the right road. Also, does anyone happen to have a good photo of the front door window regulator guts? That might be helpful, too.

Thanks for the information, and the link! Unfortunately, the metal VIN/ID plate on the driver's side doorframe has gone missing. I've got relatively recent photos of it there, but sometime in the last couple of years, it was removed... most likely because of the frame-swap. I have yet to find it. I'm hoping it didn't get lost in the shuffle.

Beautiful woody, Jeremy. Good to see another one around!

Here is our 1951 woodie: I'm not sure why it's titled as a 1951, even though it's got the older front clip and dashboard. It is all original as far as I know, though the history before about the mid-70s is unknown. Currently sitting on the frame/drivetrain and a 318 from a mid-80s D150 pickup, though we still have the original unmolested frame/drivetrain.

Not so far!

Hello all... I'm more of a lurker than anything else, and some of you might know the story of how my wife and I came to inherit her father's 1951 Dodge woodie when he passed away in November 2009. It's been a hard road and we've still got the woodie. Though we still are trying to sell it, as we can't afford to keep it. (separate thread in the Trucks - For Sale forum) I know many of you, if you were in our shoes, would like to see us keep it. Part of me does, too. But the the lack of space and funds to either finish the conversion OR take it back to original, not to mention my wife's slightly negative emotions associated with it... it's still on the selling-block. But that's beside the point. I have to admit, I've had a bit of fun tinkering on the old Dodge to see if I could get her up and running. My father-in-law left her in an unfinished state. I finally managed to get the time and some money scraped together, and fixed what needed to be fixed to at least get it running. $300 got me new hoses, battery, fuel pump, fuel filter, thermostat, and a frustrating carb rebuilding experience. Which led me to this: With it running, I was able to verify that the brake lights headlights, and running lights work, so she's street legal! I'm now going to try and figure out how to wire in the original fender-mounted turn signals, matching rear bumper-mounted turn signals, and the original "dodge" brake/license plate light, utilizing the modern 12volt system. I'm pricing out a custom speedometer cable that will attach the original speedo gauge to the 1984 auto transmission. The fuel gauge shouldn't be too hard to hook up with an in-line 12-to-6 volt converter. Still need to figure out how to use the original oil and temp "Bourdon tube" with the new engine, and not sure I even CAN do that. Will also get around to reinstalling the front door window glass and regulators, as well as the freshly painted windshield interior trim. Anyway, that's the update. I'll probably be around a bit more, asking questions as I come across. And if anyone has suggestions on how I could get the old Bourdon tube gauges to work with the modern engine, I'm all ears.

Very cool, Charles.

We just had the woodie reappraised this weekend, and its not as much as you might think. If anyone is interested, please don't hesitate to contact me. Much thanks...

Thanks everyone... we truly do want this to go to someone who will appreciate it. It is unfortunate that we can't keep it, but we don't have the space to keep such a vehicle. We are not trying to "make money" on this vehicle, but we don't want to just give it away, either. John put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this old wagon. It does need some work, as the body transfer small details weren't finished. We are willing to lower the price because of such details, especially if anyone interested is willing to take the Woody "as is." If not, we're going to have her fixed up as best we can, and sell at a higher (closer to appraisal value) price. Here are a few photos...enjoy: Before John began the woodwork: Interior: Dash: Rear view:

Hi, Bob and thank you for posting for me. This is Graeme, who emailed you the information above. I began researching Pilot House vehicles and came across this site after I emailed you that information. Your help has been very much appreciated. To everyone: Please contact me directly if you are interested in this beautiful Woody. I have an online photo album of it's history, up until this past weekend. I plan on getting it to a local custom car shop (who did the body transfer) this month so we can get the repairs started and this beauty back on the road. While John did have it appraised and we know it's worth, we do understand it is not perfect, and we are open to offers within reason. I am happy to answer any and all questions. Unfortunately, the matching trailer John was building is no longer available. However, the original frame/engine/drivetrain/wheels, etc is still going to be part of the final sale. Thanks for your time... Sincerely, Graeme