'34 Dodge Brothers, double build.

[MercuryMac]

Thank you E-man.

Went visiting today so nothing to report.

 

[MercuryMac]

I set the box on the truck today and found out that it was not level in any direction. It probably wasn't very level when it was beat all to heck but when I leveled the floor and welded the brackets back on it got worse. After some head scratching, I have cut and welded like mad and leveled it out quite well. There's still a wee bit of shaving to do at the front on the passenger side. You'll see that I've even got the top of the box fairly well on the same plane as the cab reveal.

 

[dutch]

That looks really good from where I set, Mac. I love the looks of the whole thing, it aged just beautiful. I`m surprised by how well the bed has helt up all those years.

 

[DozerII]

Nice job MM, it's all about the details.

 

[Old Iron]

Very nice

 

[smallfoot]

Good work Mac!

 

[MercuryMac]

Thank you Guys.
Yes Dutch, only the floor and the front of the box was beat up, --- and the back of the cab a wee bit. The sides aren't bowed out much and the tailgate was really good.
Dozer, you wouldn't think that if you were making a ratrod you'd have to worry about details, but you do.

 

[MercuryMac]

Not much picture worthy progress today, but a bunch of plan changes were made and now a viable solution has materialized to bolt down the front of that box and keep it level.

 

[MercuryMac]

The box is leveled, squared up and bolted down. Now the passenger side fender is bolted on and I'm happy with it. I can't mount the driver side fender until I remount the running board on that side, but I can't mount the running board until I string the brake line along the frame. And I can't string the brake line until I go to town and buy it. So I imagineered up a rear bumper that will look authentic, and you'll see in the second picture that I split a piece of 2"X 3" square tube. One of those pieces will be my rear bumper.

 

[Couper]

Cool Beans on splitting the 2x3 Mac!

 

[MercuryMac]

Thank You Coup. I've wracked my brains for quite a while trying to get the rounded corners on my homemade bumper like a chrome bumper would have. This is my solution; splitting a piece of square tubing. I really should have used a 3 1x2" tube but I only had a short chunk of that size. This one is only three inches across. Anyhow, I've been orange peeling the ends of the half tube so it will look like the real thing, [I hope]. It's all welded up, but one curve is not ground down yet, so no picture.
The weather report said it would warm up in the afternoon today, so I put cardboard in front of the radiator on my daily driver truck and headed to town for parts. It warmed up to -33C*, [the wind chill took it back down to -40C*or F*]. I got a couple of lengths of 1/4" brake line, and some other stuff and came home. The picture shows the long brake line strung along the outside of the frame, and I have a shorter one on the inside going back to where the rubber line goes to the rear axle. Now I can go forward again, on the running board and fender.

 

[MercuryMac]

I've finished making the bumper, but there are no mounting brackets made yet.
The running board on the left side is now bolted back on the truck and the left fender is mounted and partly bolted on.

 

[bob w]

I love your truck and what you are doing to it.

 

[MercuryMac]

Thank you Bob.
The driver side rear fender is all bolted on and cleaned up [long protruding bolts cut off]. I had quite a few square headed bolts and nuts left over from the Twin City build, but they were too long. The bumper is in primer now and it has been mocked up so I can come up with suitable bracketry. I am going to put a towing hitch under the centre of the bumper, mostly to look more rustic but maybe to pull a float in a parade or two.

 

[MercuryMac]

Here's a picture of the bumper in primer mocked up. The brackets are made, measured twice, and welded on now. I have the tow hitch figured out and almost made.

 

[MercuryMac]

Voila', the back bumper is on there for the last time. The paint is a wee bit too shiny yet in the picture because it's still wet. It'll dull up, [I hope].

 

[soltz]

Another sep forward

 

[MercuryMac]

I still had a bolt to be added to the hitch, at the front end of it where my hitch hooks onto the old farmers hitch. The first plan was chucked and the new plan even had to be changed a wee bit. It's in there now.
Both taillight brackets are made and installed, and one taillight is cobbled up and bolted on. [see picture]. The easy taillight has unmatched bucket to chrome ring and a swapmeet find Dodge lens, but the other light is going to be similar but a way more 'unmatched'.

 

[MercuryMac]

I promised that the second taillight would be more 'unmatched' than the first one, well, I wasn't lying this time. This righthand taillight was the light from 'heck'.
But there it is on the truck.

 

[MercuryMac]

While the truck was up on the hoist I thought I'd check out the frame for cracks. I was pretty sure I remembered one, well, it came into view and the more I looked at it the more it grew. After taking off some more parts, I traced the crack across the bottom and all of the way up the side of the frame right under the cab. It had been fishplated about fifty years ago, but not welded up. The running board bracket had been 'pigeonsh*t' welded to the bottom of the frame, but that didn't hold the frame together. Here is the break and then the finished fix.