Father/Son Build 1952 Dodge

[w scott]

I new to this site and looking for a bit of direction/ideas or anything else constructive that anyone might have.

My 15 year old son wanted to have a car when he turned 16 to drive, he then told me what he wanted to do..... he wanted an old classic pickup truck and rat rod it. He found the 1952 on his own we went down to purchase it got it home. We have be going back and forth on what to do with it do we find an S10 or Dakota chassis or do we repower the one we have with a V8 and redo the brakes/rear suspension etc.

I know that there are a lot of pro's and cons to both and that's were we stand to remove the cab and drop it on a chassis sounds not all that bad at least it will have a newer running gear and disk brakes etc. but it sounds to easy

I'm sure that I'm not the first person to ask this question on this site, if you can direct me to any threads that have been done in the past that would help out greatly

thanks

Father/son

 

[Sam_Fear]

Welcome to RRR! You don't mention what brand or size of truck it is? And we like pics....


[EDIT] Just noticed it said DODGE in the title....DOH!

 

[smallfoot]

Welcome from Flawda! There's been several Dodges built on here. I suggest you cruise the "Build" threads and I'm sure some of the guys will link to their builds here when they read your post. Regardless of how you go, you can make it easier by keeping in mind you can do anything as long as you keep focussed on what you want. Lots of talented people here when you run into snags and you'll hear many different approaches to solve anything that comes up!

 

[Old Iron]

Welcome to the site

 

[kenny c]

Welcome to the site. Check out the bild threads, lot of great info.

 

[w scott]

My son and I are going to build a 1952 Dodge pickup truck, I will start looking around in the build section and will post pictures this weekend

thanks

 

[Torchie]

Welcome from Northern Mich.
Always good to see a Father and son or daughter project.
Start that build thread and ask all the questions that you need to.
Torchie

 

[endicott_jb]

Welcome aboard from southern Canadia(Montana.) lots of different approaches and lots of different pros and cons to both ideas. Modern chassis means more modern drive train and electrical. I prefer the KISS solution myself. Use existing frame, repower it to a v8 with an auto(keeping mopar cause i like them, a 318 or 360 with a 727torque flight would make her scoot on the cheap)and upgrade stuff like brakes when time/money allow. Drop it down about 3" by moving your axles above the leaf springs doesnt require much fab work and if the springs are wore out a bit will give it a little softer ride. Nothing wrong with drum brakes just require more maintenance to keep them adjusted. The nice thing about keeping the stock frame though, you don't have to make new body mounts and try to center the wheels in the wheel wells but you won't get a cushy ride. If you got a welder, a torch, and enough creativity, anything is possible. Just takes time. Skills can be learned throughout the process both for you and your son. I learned a lot on my first build and am looking forward to seeing yours through all the stages no matter which direction you go.

 

[26Troadster]

welcome to rrr, from bama.

 

[soltz]

Welcome from SoCal.
it's always more fun when do it with your kid.[cl My daughter and i have work on a few over the years, she's 26 now, started when she was 14
Enjoy your time a do lots of pictures so we can follow along. [

 

[HALLnRODZ]

Welcome aboard, as already stated lots of great builds and advice on here.
I built a 54 Dodge 1/2 ton pick up late '90's. Ran a 245CI Chrysler 6 with 3 on the floor. It copped a frame graft from our local GM product that gave me coil springs, tight steering box and disc brakes. Spliced at firewall and chassis rails were same width apart. Fitted a late diff, 15 inch rims with radials and drove it every day including moving from Tasmania to Queensland.

 

[w scott]

Well it’s been a while since I have posted anything here but with hockey season starting it sure limits your time that you can spend on a project like this. My son and I have been working on it when we can and we have made somewhat good progress on it, we have stripped and sold everything off the 2000 Dakota that we are using as the donor truck and was able to make back all the money that I purchased the truck for, so that was a bonus.

We have cut the Dakota frame down from 132inchs to 108 inches, with the way the frame is made from factory in two sections it was very easy, I ground down the welds and separated it measured back and cut it off and welded it back on, which took a bit of time as I use to stick weld a fare bit but had to go out and buy a Mig welder and practice a bit and watch a few U-Tube videos it turned out not bad

I was able to get the cab on the frame this weekend and just starting to measure up the height and location of the cab so I can get that done before it really gets cold and put the project away to March and it start warming up a bit


Take care happy New Year everyone

 

[53 stickfigure]

Very nice truck. Maybe after i get my car done and let my son drive it, he will get into it. Right now its just computers for him.