fargorat

jbneal, thanks for the info. checked into the aviation ducting and ordered it up and arrived yesterday afternoon. very nice product yup this looks like what i got yesterday, it is a rubbery type product with the wire inside and very flexible. maybe the more cloth type material is out there somewhere but i am very happy with this. ordered it from Aircraft Spruce out of Peachtree City, Georgia.

thanks for all the nice compliments. yes very happy how it turned out. i say finally done but dont believe these things arent really ever completed. still need a few things like temp knob, the 4" fresh air intake duct. have the original duct but it has seen better days and not going on. after putting about 60 miles on this rebuilt motor im hearing a little tappet noise. they were set up cold when rebuilt and has just ran for short spurts over the years. will have to get in there and set them hot to try and quiet them down a bit. just want to break the motor in for a bit. any advice on break in period? was going to get to about 100 miles or so before i started pushing it a little bit thanks

im about an hour from niagara falls border. yes that would be something we would be interested in. very doable. sidenote we have tickets to nascar race martinsville va oct. 31 and border is closed. fingers crossed

hope you can see them now. not good with some technology. lol

yes my apologies for pics. i just seen that. im changing settings and maybe take new pics. diehard dodge guys wont like this but i took it off a 92 blazer we had years ago. Indigo blue

and again

hope pics showed up now

well after 10 years of blood, sweat and swearing i was finally able to take my truck for its first drive on the road in 36 years. it came off the road in 1984. Bought it from a farm in saskatchewan and had it trucked to ontario where i live. i received it labor day weekend 2011. with only having pictures to go by on the purchase it was amazingly complete. of course the usual badges and other small pieces that were picked off it i still had a good start to work with. a couple of years in and all apart in pieces had a setback with a head on collision while at work that delayed putting it back together. i was going to sell it a couple of times frustrated that i couldnt work on it. my son talked me out of it every time because he was a big help in this build also. glad i listened to him. lol. and of course other things get in the way. what i have found with dodge fargo trucks around here is that there arent any. lol. there seems to be a good supply of ford and chevys but not so much with fargo. i have made contacts on this forum that has helped locating that piece i needed. when i retired last year i made a point of getting this thing done by labor day 2021 and here we are. just installed rear fenders yesterday to complete. still little things to do just wanted to say a big thank you to the members of this forum for the abundant knowledge you guys provide to get people in the right direction. its funny that i didnt have to ask a lot of questions because the answers were already on this forum. and boy do i ask a lot of questions. some of you guys like pictures and i took hundreds over the years with things apart and back together and could have offered that to someone asking about something but i was broken into at my shop and got cleaned out of tools, computer, cameras. all pictures were on my computer. hope the bad guys enjoy the pics. anyways, hope the pics show up so you can see. thanks again Don

Ok no problem, thanks anyways. Looks like you have a good template for future gaskets.

jbneal yes if there was a foam type material installed in these trucks it makes sense that after almost 70 years it could have worn away. i had 2 other boxes to choose from also and when i removed the fenders there was nothing left to go by. the only remaining material was the rubbery type material where there would be gaps when fender is installed. hope pic shows up. i kept these pieces for future reference 20210825_060312.heic

Billrigsby, thanks for the info. It pretty well confirms there was something there. Didn't think it would be metal on metal. Maybe some type of gasket material would do the trick B1bkeven, thanks for the link. Just ordered it.

getting ready to install rear 53 fenders to boxsides and was just wondering if there is anything that goes between them. is it just metal on metal or what did you guys use, when i took them apart years ago i didnt remember anything except the the little duct like sealant that was in the grooves of the boxside. couldnt find any threads on this

just wanted to mention what i did to fix the problem i had with the door fit that was having me stumped. some were maybe wondering what the heck did i do to fix the door fit because i never did get back. took all the info that was suggested and a big thanks to los_control for the measurements. it has been almost a year since i walked away from it because of work, kids and what not. i just completed the repair last week and it damn near made me sick grinding my new paint job. i ground off the weld at the pillar and floor and tightened down with c clamp to bring pillar against floor, measured and welded. when i clamped it brought the pillar back to where it was originally with a little persuasion to give me the correct gap. pic shows pillar is now against floor with a flush fit. door is installed and fits the way it should.

You make a good point of removing the bolts. i am binding on the lower hinge. I was leaning toward a pillar because the measurements were not the same at each door. i did move the hinges to their outmost travel and was getting the same result. did not think of removing the bolts. cant get back to truck till the weekend but will try it with bolts out. i do appreciate the feedback i have received from everyone.

I totally agree with what you are saying. especially convertibles if they are not braced somehow before removing from frame things can go south. saying that im thinking others have removed the cabs without bracing and put back together and havent heard the issues. or maybe they are just not saying

Los_Control thanks for the measurements. that is where i measured. i am roughly a 1/4" tighter opening from what you have but pretty well the same as you pillar to pillar

Yes that is what i need. much appreciated

If you could that would be great.i thought the fargo and dodge 48-53 cabs were the same.

I have tried adjusting the door many times with hinges adjusted in and out. that is why i was leaning toward the a pillar tweaked out. i am hoping someone here can just do a quick measurement to confirm my thoughts that this a pillar was repaired wrong and is out of alignment

http://www.imperialclub.com/Repair/Lit/Master/025/cover.htm You may need to read all of this to see if applies to your truck. Good read! While everything on here was written for cars it is they same ideas for trucks too. Also for all brands of the era except for the very few unitized bodies made. DJ okay thanks. i will give this a read

guess I am confused by the pictures...looks like a weld bead that does not look factory...reasons for my questions. IF they worked prior to just removing the bolts and taking the doors off...I cannot see how you could have rolled a pillar or stressed the body. Did the cab come off the frame would be the next question and if so how was it removed and how was it protected against shifting with doors removed etc....something has gone wrong...until the manner in which it was damaged/shifted is discovered or related....suggesting on undoing the error would be a guess and may cause further damage that would lead to not ever being able to align the setup yes that is why i took the picture of the welds. i was hoping someone could say that does not look original from what other owners have. i did take off the cab with my car hoist. raised it off frame and lowered it on car trailer and took to body shop. i made up jig to set cab on and could be rolled around at body shop. these welds were already there.this is a full restoration, removing everything .the cab was stripped down to bare metal and there was no rot on this cab. im thinking the door had been flung open at some time and pillar was pulled from floor and rewelded. just not done very good.

Are these the original doors to the body? Was there any repairs made to the floor/rocker of the body before prep and paint...and were these door if taken off for paint ever fitted prior to the body regardless of any repair actions that could or could not have been performed. these are the original doors and i had them dipped down to bare metal. when i got them back there was no body work needed. i took them off myself and they did close. there was no seal, weatherstripping on the doors that i can remember, making the doors close easier i guess. there was no work done to the pillars either just prep and paint. the 1 picture i sent looks like the a pillar is away from the floor which i didnt pick up on when i was taking apart. thats why i was asking for measurements. they werent fitted prior to paint. i had that conversation with my bodyguy that we should fit first before paint. that did not get done.

Hello all, i could use some help on getting passenger door to fit on my 53 fargo 1/2 ton. i have got many, many hours into this fit and now at wits end. the stubborness in me tells me i can do this myself but it is now time to get another opinion. i am sure i am not the first that has come across this but the door binds about 1/4 to 1/2 inch before shutting. take out latch and just close door and still doesnt close all the way binds at the hinge location. i have already done the hinge adjustments. i have looked quite extensively on this site for any work on the pillars and all i could find is that there was a measurement posted of 56" from pillar to pillar across cab and 30 7/8" from A pillar to B pillar at the bottom. i have 56 3/8 pillar to pillar. Pass. side 30 5/8., dr. side 31" a to b pillar. drivers door doesnt fit 100% either meaning i have to give it a bit of a slam to close.i guess i am asking a couple of things here, if someone could confirm measurements from A pillar to A pillar across the cab at the bottom and measurement from A pillar to B pillar at the bottom of the door opening. Also what did you do to fix this possible roll. i am guessing i am cutting the welds and forming it back to get proper measurement. my problem is that this was painted not too long ago and i wont get into the conversation i had with body shop about fitting prior to paint. any suggestions would be appreciated thanks Don

I also just received my parking lenses for my 53 Fargo from Roberts yesterday amongst other things. I tried them in the housings and they fit perfectly. the one pic is of original with the new one beside it, and the other pic shows it in the housing. Very pleased with this. The # from Roberts says T242 PARKING LIGHT LENSE 51-56 and they were $22.50 each. Don

ggdad yes , that is where I did see it. nice job. I printed the pics off a while ago knowing I would be getting to this stage sometime and I made them out of 1" x 1/8' flat bar stock. they turned out very nice but very rigid. that is why I was wondering if there was some kind of rubber grommet or insulator in between the frame and hanger. I guess I went too beefy. I will try and make it out of lighter gauge material and see how that works. thanks don