'34 Dodge Brothers, double build.

[MercuryMac]

Pic one is me making a pattern of the back of the transmission brake so I can take it to town and order a new driveshaft.
Pic two is the fender and running board clamped together.
Pics three, four, and five are showing the fender fitment here and there. I was worried about that big old valve cover hitting the fender but it's cool.

 

[bob w]

Coming along nicely, Mac.

 

[Torch]

I'm trying this thread for the second time. Anyhow, my plan for this '34 Dodge Brothers truck was to make it into a ratrod with a wide block, poly 318, New Process 435, 4 speed, and a Dodge Dart rear-end. The whole truck is a rough barn find, in fact too rough for a ratrod, so I'd have to tinker it up a wee bit to make it a rat.
This summer a lady phoned me and asked if I was the guy who had a lot of jalopies. I was almost offended but thought maybe she didn't know that we didn't use that term anymore. I nodded, so she wanted to come out to the farm and look them over. I am always up for an old car tour with a nice sounding lady. She came out and looked over the cars and trucks, all the while telling me her story. She was part of a team putting on a play in town, [The Grapes of Wrath] and needed an old jalopy. I was thinking my Model A, but no, she needed a truck to carry a big family and their stuff. [I was supposed to read this book in grade 12, but it was summer out and I had things to do.] She picked the '34 Dodge Bros truck. It was a bit rough in places for her liking and too nice in others. Could I rough up the wheels that I had already sand-blasted, primed, painted and installed new tires on? Could I fix up a better seat and throw away the 12" x12" block of wood and mouse poopy towel that was there? Could I fix up the grille a wee bit?
Anyhow I was putty in her hands and meekly said yes, all the while scheming what it would take after this play was over and I could make it back to the original planned ratrod.
Think of the fame and fortune, guys.
The pictures are of the truck in the shed where I found it.

I've seen some guys on here beat stuff like that out clean and smooth

 

[bob w]

Welcome back, Torch.

 

[MercuryMac]

Hello again Torch.

 

[Old Iron]

Hey Torch, good to see you're still around

 

[MercuryMac]

The front fender that I was fitting on the truck is off again and some minor tweaking is done. At the back where it bolts onto the running board I had to reshape the fender a wee bit. Then around at the front I realized that I needed to put the fender bracing in first. That's the piece of channel iron that goes under the radiator and curls up under each fender, keeping it steadier and holding the headlights. It was broken in places, [pic one] so I welded it up. And it turned out that these better fenders had the holes in them to mount the headlight pedestals horizontally and I needed them aligned vertically. I cut some little tin circles, [quite a bit harder done than said], convexed them somewhat, and welded them into two of the holes, [pic two].

 

[MercuryMac]

If I'd have left the fender brace broken and slightly bent, the fender would have fit on the truck a lot better. There will be some tinkering in my future. No pictures of the poor fitment.
The driveline guys in town said I had to take my rear-end yoke off and exchange it for one of theirs. I was not looking forward to that job. It wouldn't budge, so I made a wrench to hold the yoke steady, [pic one], and then put a snipe on the three-quarter-drive ratchet and voila, unscrewed the pinion nut. [pic two].

 

[Old Stuff]

Nice. Will file that away in the mental hard drive....

 

[smallfoot]

Good thinking Mac! My buds thought I wasted $40 back in the 70s when I spent it on a cheap 3/4" drive socket set at a flea market. Little did I or they know how handy it has come during my time. Generally you would only need them working on tractors or large vehicles where standard wrenches generally failed to offer the larger sized sockets. It has surely come in handy in my lifetime. One of the only sets which remains complete in my barn, but have added pieces like adapters and even larger stuff that it didn't come with over the years. There is not much you can't conquer when big bertha comes out with an extra length of pipe..

 

[Old Iron]

I use my 3/4 ratchet and breaker bar a time or two a year.
OK, you got me, I know what a snipe is around here but, what's a snipe?

 

[smallfoot]

Probably not the subject of the infamous "snipe hunt" or the real Wilson's snipe which are truly an effort to shoot with a shotgun, but probably a pipe added to the 3/4 drive wrench for leverage. I'm guessing tho. Our Canadian brothers have their own language which you can't find in any textbook...