rglowacki Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 I thought I would post some pictures of my great grandpa's Dodge truck since I pulled it out of the barn. This thing has only been out in the daylight 3 times since it was parked in 1971, the year my grandpa died. Once was when I was a 10 year old kid...I asked my grandma's brother to get his Farmall over to the "Dodge shed" and pull it out so I could wash it. My uncle said "Hey you know there are stakes for the bed of that truck somewhere around here....I'll see if I can find them.." He dug around for a while and came back with all the wood. The farm in the 50's had a sawmill up and running, hence the "fire wood, slab wood, rustic slabs", and also had hundreds of goats too, hence the "Get your goat at Timber Edge Farm". The second time this truck got pulled out was about 10 years ago. The Dodge shed was right next to a massively tall sycamore tree. An impressive tree well over 100 feet high. In a pretty bad storm the top 25 feet of that tree broke off, flew over the dodge shed, and embedded itself like a 12inch diameter spike in the ground on the opposite side of the dodge shed....meaning that thing, in any less wind, would have smashed the truck to pieces. So I cleared a new space for it in the barn, chained it up, and dragged it out of its shed. 2 weeks ago, I finally got the engine unsiezed using the "jack-up-the-rear-tire" method. I didn't have a breaker bar or a lot of room to work, so I read about this method and it worked. Poured WD-40 and liquid wrench into the cylinders and let them soak over the winter (I've got no timeline with this truck), then this spring I jacked up 1 rear tire, put the truck in high gear, and turned it as far as I could to one side. When it stuck, I jerked the tire a few times, then sprayed in liquid wrench and left it a few days. Came back, turned the wheel as far as I could the other way and did the same thing, figuring I was creating some pressure cracks in the rust that the oil could get into. Came back a few days later and could turn the wheel all the way around. This weekend I got it out, changed the oil and hooked to my neighbors tractor, and we pulled it in third gear down the lane and back at my place with the plugs out and a capful of oil in the chambers. The truck went about a mile. When we got back, we put a battery on and it turns over easily with battery power. I also drained the gas tank and added 2.5 gallons of E85 to soak in the tank to work on the varnish and will drain that out before I move the truck again. Anyways, I thought you would enjoy some pictures. The Dodge also got to formally meet "Mr.T." when he drove by. Mr. T.'s flatbed comes in handy as a mobile work station. We were headed down to check on my beehives in the woods. Interesting how modern the dodge looks next to a Ton Truck from 25 years prior. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 (edited) not only do I remember state bodied trucks for transporting livestock, as kids we used to get the slabs from the sawmill and use them to make shelters all along the road under rock overhangs and such for us to take shelter when a rain came up and we were out fishing etc..so yeah...slabs I know well.... we also would ride the slabs on the sawmills log roller conveyer...as a kid we did not have to have store bought toys to have bun..Mr White owned the mill...he would buy his timber after a cruise of the property and never was there a clear cut like today...he would fell the tree and pull it out of the woods by mule also..yeah...saw was powered by stationary diesel engine....small one man operation.. Edited May 5, 2014 by Plymouthy Adams 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reg Evans Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 What a great story ! I hope you preserve the patina on the truck and the lettering on the stake sides. I like it a lot ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
50desotocoupe Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 I am completely jealous. I say wash the windows and drive it with all the dust and dirt....sooo sooo cool! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rglowacki Posted May 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 This truck is an easy one when it comes to the question about body work/painting. Lets just say the look I'm gonna aim for is "Old Farm Truck", in which case, we've got her there! My entire place shows its age, so a restored truck would look out of place. I'd like to get the motor running strong, all the lights working...Brakes would be nice, and possibly some minor interior work, like a new seat and headliner. The interior is a bit mousey....lets say. If I wanted to make this truck straight, no rust, no dents, I would end up replacing a lot of the sheet metal, and would be left with someone else's truck, not my family's farm's truck. We just have to get it to run now. And this truck has way less rust than my tractor! I had to search forever to find one of these running that hadn't been restored to the battleship grey with red wheels (which looks awesome...just not what I wanted). I found this tractor that was all surface rust, gave it a scrubbing and treated it with a linseed oil/mineral spirits coating and it came out looking awesome. From afar it looks like it's made out of chocolate. Rust can be beautiful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBF Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 Welcome to the forum. I really enjoyed your story and photos. Good luck with Grandpa's truck. Mike 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertKB Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 Now that is patina. Great story and truck. Good luck with the project. I like your tractor, too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48Dodger Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 Its aged beautifully.....glad to hear you'll keep it close to the way it is. A good hand waxing should keep the elements out of the old paint and show it gets some well deserved love. Great story. 48D 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark D Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 What a beauty! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Balazs Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 Its aged beautifully.....glad to hear you'll keep it close to the way it is. A good hand waxing should keep the elements out of the old paint and show it gets some well deserved love. Great story. 48D Ditto. Your truck is soooooo cool. Thanks for sharing. Jeff 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rglowacki Posted May 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 I'm glad you guys appreciate the truck so much, and I'll be sure to keep the forum up-to-date on my progress in getting it back on the road. Your remarks really are encouraging as so many people I know have absolutely no interest in these things, or the preservation of them. I do a lot of the work on my place alone, so I have been using the forum heavily to get info for what I'm doing. My number one supporter for this truck, and my old car too, was my dad and he checked out a little early a year ago so I'm doing a lot of this on my own. I've got tomorrow off of work, and the weather is going to be nice so I plan on working on the fuel system again, draining the E85 out of the tank (its been in there for a few days eating at the varnish) and blowing out the lines. I also want to give it a wash and see if I cant get that wax off the side of the truck bed where some overly eager kid tried to wax the whole truck (including the rust) about 25 years ago. I'd kick him but I can't reach my own rear end with my foot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1952B3b23 Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 This is an awesome truck, cant wait to see your progress on it. Im also really glad to hear you're going to keep that old farm truck look! By the way, awesome tractor. -Chris 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDaddyO Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 Great truck just as it is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrampSteer Posted May 7, 2014 Report Share Posted May 7, 2014 And a hood ornament! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48Dodger Posted May 7, 2014 Report Share Posted May 7, 2014 And a hood ornament! 1948-50* recieved hood ornaments standard....it was an option in 51-53**. *1950: may have been a mid year transistion to an option ** 51-53 is a different casting number, same ornament design, almost impossible to find 48D 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBNeal Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 I highly recommend replacing the brake lines & fuel lines 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rglowacki Posted May 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 I'll definitely replace the brake lines. I know one of the reasons the truck was parked was because the brakes went out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desotodav Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 ...I know one of the reasons the truck was parked was because the brakes went out. Seems to be quite a common thing with these old trucks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rglowacki Posted May 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 Well I didn't get as much done as I had hoped this weekend. I hate getting hung up on things. New plug wires arrived so I was gonna try to install them but ended up deciding to clean the thing first, especially the bed and the cab. The bed had a hodge-podge of stuff: fishing poles and a tackle box, tool boxes (Do any of you have a Dodge tool box??? There was one in the back of this truck!), Model T headlights, Dodge Brothers drum headlamps, road flares and flags (grandpa was county road commissioner for a while), and tons of odds and ends tools. The cab had: a mouse nest and an inch of mouse poop in the glovebox, 2 inches of mouse/rat poop under the seat, and behind the seat were rubber dipped gloves, every type of portable jack you can imagine, a pack of Salem cigs, a meal ticket for the "Brite Spot" drive in...someone ordered a triple thick shake. God that sounds good. Anyways, cleaned it all out with the shop vac, then took a wire brush to the mouse turds to free them up, vacuumed again, then Mr. Clean and water with a scrub brush, then hosed out, then blown dry with my air compressor and there went the day. Here are some pictures of it with all the dirt off. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Balazs Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 OMG That thing is amazing! I really ....really like the way it looks. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TodFitch Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 Cleaned up really nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merle Coggins Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 (edited) Looks nice. Even has some shine to it, or is it just wet yet? By the way... I just noticed Somonauk, IL. I believe I've been there. Just down the road from Sandwich... Edited May 12, 2014 by Merle Coggins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Leibhart Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 Really really nice. I have wondered before when did milch become milk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggdad1951 Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 except for the large cancer spots that truck is great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B1B Keven Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 Awesome!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.