Update: It's Alive!

[1951woody]

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.

Edited November 29, 2010 by 1951woody

[pflaming]

Wow! Someone's gonna want that!

[1951woody]

Wow! Someone's gonna want that!

Not so far!

[Reg Evans]

Not so far!

I want it. Just can't find the spare $$$$$

[HanksB3B]

are you having trouble sleeping?

Hank