39 dodge pickup project "jeepers creepers"

[chillmiller]

well heres my project

a 1939 dodge TD .. flat head 218CI L6 been sittin on my this property since 65

and well im gonna get it running

i pulled the plugs and sprayed PB in the cylinder's put a breaker bar on the crank and was able to spin it by hand everying is still on the engine though i still need some parts
12v 1 wire alt
12v coil
30 more cans of pb plaster
and to re wire the little mule

but i was also thinking though having the original engine and trany in the truck makes to more "valuable" 75 hp in a 8,000 pound truck.... is never cool

so i was thinking of a 300 I6 ford
as i can get a motor and tranny out of a 806 ford truck that i have on my property strip all the emissions gear do a simple wiring job and have 170hp

or.... hunt for a cam pay out the nose and hunt for an air intake exhaust pay out the nose again... to gain maybe 100 or so hp

they both have cost

the 300 is wiring belts hoses new drive shaft gauges fuel and brake lines and a slue of other smaller stuff probaly around 400+ bucks but i would get an engine that is modern and that if something breaks i can go to the parts store and buy the part more power and an engine that i have seen reach far into the 400K mile range

the 218 well... a rebuild cam intake exhaust wiring 12v alt 12v coil and probably a few other small things... for around... 3-500 depending on what i need and where i can get it , what i would get though... an interesting engine in an even more interesting truck that i i could cruse around town in


or i could just slap a 12 coil and alt on it clean the carb fix the wiring and brakes... and drive it around as is for about 130 bucks

soo wiegh in what should i do?

i tryed pitching this on a dodge fourm and got " erka derka but a 24v cummin in it!" "put a hemi in dem dare frame walls"

 

[Tim...Ok]

find a 440 mopar out of an old motorhome and throw in it.. keeps it all dodge and way more power..if you patient they can be found pretty cheap.. very cool truck by the way,I like it

 

[Snake Farm]

Cool truck, kinda reminds ya of the 'Wrong Turn' wrecker [ddd
Like Tim said the 440 would be pretty cool but the Ford 6 would be kinda unique too. Good luck and welcome to RRR.

 

[chillmiller]

ooohhhh.. i love them 440's but a screamer this truck will never be... its a dually >.> , im looking more in the terms of... being able to do 70mph on I10 than anything else

BUUUUUUUT a 440 would help me chase them attractive woman folk down dirt roads bwahaha

i dont know yet im gonna do this in a 2 stage project i guess... in that i mean

stage one... seeing if i can get the L6 running

stage 2.... something with a bit more power

 

[hotwheels]

great lookin project man.......

 

[Toad]

Love it and please keep us posted on your progress! [cl

Toad

 

[CORPO]

love the old tow trucks!

 

[ace]

Man that's a cool project!!!

 

[chillmiller]

well update picked up my friend / engine buildin buddy at the airport today then got back and rewired the ground's and main power leads pulled the starter and for a 80 year old truck it looked brand new inside ( it might have been replaced at one point but then again the odometer says it only has 1046 miles on it )

but i pulled the starter and took it apart cleaned all the connections and found a problem with the starter gear the "clutch" is jammed and will not disengage from start position, another problem came up, the engine is locked again i sprayed more PB in there with a splash of engine oil then pulled the carb and cleaned it out

slowly gettin there to get the engine running , making sure to cross my T's and dot my I's ... but its not looking promising

pulled the alt of a 70's lee boy steam roller might nab the coil tomorrow ( the engine in it is seized )

still need to get a rotor ( not sure where to find that) spark plug wires and a bit of wire to hook up a key ignition

should be interesting

 

[BigIrish]

NAPA might just be able to get you a rotor. They used those flatheads on all kinds of stuff including industrial pumps, etc well after dodge stopped putting them in cars & trucks. If NAPA can't get it, this guy has everything you could need for that engine. Best to call them, website is not real complete.

http://www.robertsmotorparts.com/index.html

 

[chillmiller]

sweet thanks a bunch irish,


i still need to figure out why it locked back up and also figure out what i put the breaker bar on yesterday as today i couldn't figure it out

right not its just gettin the truck running enough to drive it over to the shop area so i can really work on it witch will end up with me putting a different engine inside of this truck (maybe)

 

[clamor]

I'm glad you're using the engine that's in it.

I love these 'brought back from the dead' stories.

Its so amazing that engines that have sat for decades can be running with just a little bit of maintenance on wear items.

-Chaz

 

[chillmiller]

ya id be even more amazing if i could get the starter to crank it over i load tested it and its within specs ... i need to get more pb blaster and spray about a can per cylinder

apart from that i need to nab the coil off the steam roller and just get a cap rotor condenser and she should run