My 41 Dodge

[Neverdone]

Well I been checking out this site for the last week or so gathering information, figured it was about time that I start a build thread for my Dodge. I picked it up in July this year for a pretty good price. It was a project that my buddy had started a few years before I meet him, and I never saw him work on it...... at all. He is getting kicked out of the house that he lived in and had to get rid of it. Saw the opportunity and snatched it up. She is a 1941 Dodge truck with a F250 straight six backed by a c4 turning a 9" rear end. He built the chassis under it out of 2x3" tube, sat the cab on it, put in the motor and trans, all of it, then quit before he ever even heard it run. Here is how it looked when I bought it.

The day that was pulled out of the garage was actually the first time it had been out of the garage since he started building it.

Since I bought it, I got it running, put in a throttle cable, gas pedal, hooked up some guages he bought for it, hung the grill, built seat brackets for the Lincoln Town Car seats he had for it, bolted in the seats, started mocking up some sort of bed for the back, and have been just sort of running down misc parts for it, headlight buckets, sun visor, mirrors, 41 license plate/dash ornament, just stuff I guess......

I plan to chop it 3-4", and put suicide doors on it, and air bag it. Oh yea and I am ditching that straight six for a 5.0 HO from an 88 lincoln that I am throwing a carb on and ditching the fuel injection, just to help it get around.

Here is how she looks now.

Right now I have a few questions that I havent figured out yet. Where is a good place to get a speedometer that I can hook to that C4 and calibrate it so it reads right? And where is a good place to find parts for an old headlight bucket (not sure what they are off of but believe it is from a 39 Dodge)?

Thanks

 

[Neverdone]

Is there some one out there that could PS a picture for me so I could see how it would look at a 4 and 6" chop. If you look at the pictures from the back you can see where my buddy had it marked for a 6", but I don't think I want to go that far. I am a little tall for that, but 4" would bee good. Still want to see it both ways to kind of help my decide ya know.....

 

[cantwell.colton]

heres a rough idea of where it was marked.

before you cut you should take into consideration how much space will be left on the inside - remember you still have to sit in there, then remember theres probably going to be a seat in there, are you going to put a visor on it ?
those cabs arent the roomiest things to begin with ...
dont think im trying to talk you out of it -- it would look great with a 6in haircut -- but i think it would look just as good with a 5in or 4in -- shoot it looks great now..
but when i look at where the seats headrests are in comparison with the lines already drawn whew - if youre any taller than those headrests and you take out the full 6 watch for bumps in the road or youre going to have them on your head

great lookin truck though -- makes me want to get started NOW on my new one.

 

[Got Rust?]

Truck looks good,
I'll give this a try then someone can correct me.
assume you have headlight trim rings for the buckets, if not may have to find some or another pair, then the old style round headlights may fit, with some modificatin. then can mount where you want with a arm type bracket, like a model A, or"T" bucket would.
might be fun to keep the stock speedo face in the dash then find a rod shop parts house to supply adapter at trans.

 

[cantwell.colton]

i dont know where to find parts for the actual bucket --
what parts were you needing? this site is a mighty fine place
to find odds and ends - just put up an ad" in the wanted section.

 

[rainman]

Me personally I wouldn't chop it, but I would lower those bed sides. I like the overall look of the truck, got some questions about you're rear set up tho.

 

[Sam_Fear]

Since you asked, I did a few. First is the 6", second - 4", and the last is about 5" in the front and 4" in the rear.

 

[Neverdone]

Thanks Sam_Fear I think I like the last one the best. Might have to look into that.

And Rainman what are you wanting to know about the back? The only reason the bedsides go so high is so that it would cover the rear Z that he built. I could probably lower them some, but not much. I plan on putting a wood floor and what not in the back. I would just hate to cut up the back after he already spent the time and effort to build it the way it is.

 

[cantwell.colton]

Since you asked, I did a few. First is the 6", second - 4", and the last is about 5" in the front and 4" in the rear.

way to show me up lol.

 

[cantwell.colton]

Thanks Sam_Fear I think I like the last one the best. Might have to look into that.

And Rainman what are you wanting to know about the back? The only reason the bedsides go so high is so that it would cover the rear Z that he built. I could probably lower them some, but not much. I plan on putting a wood floor and what not in the back. I would just hate to cut up the back after he already spent the time and effort to build it the way it is.

i think hes talking about the suspension design - at least
thats what im lookin at.

 

[Neverdone]

I figured that, but actually it handles pretty well what little driving I have done with it. I am ditching the spirings and shocks for bags, and the way he built it right now is a three link made from chromoly. What would you change?

 

[Sam_Fear]

way to show me up lol.

He had PM'd me earlier, so I had a head start.

Looks like the rear suspension is a wishbone 3-link?

The slant roof will look like more chop, but give a little more headroom. Ask around, a few guys on here have done it that way.

 

[cantwell.colton]

He had PM'd me earlier, so I had a head start.

Looks like the rear suspension is a wishbone 3-link?

The slant roof will look like more chop, but give a little more headroom. Ask around, a few guys on here have done it that way.

thats how i did mine - gives it that crouched lion ready to pounce a gazelle stance also
did 5 in the front 4 in the back i think?

 

[Neverdone]

Looks like the rear suspension is a wishbone 3-link?

I call it a y-link 3 Link, but that could be just my hillbilly talk......

 

[Neverdone]

Well I was out enjoying the sun yesterday and measured out 4" and marked it off on the top. Hopefully I did it right. This is what I came up with.

After I marked it, I was thinking that I don't like where I marked it in the front. Does it matter if where I cut it in the front is not straight in line with the back? I think I want to cut the front lower because of where the curves are. Also should I have the windshield frame in when I cut it? Would it make it go easier?

If I ever find my cahonies that went rolling away the other day, I might start cutting it. I bought new blades for the sawzall and wheels for the grinder, just can't muster the confidence to cut it.

 

[Neverdone]

Another quick question. Does anyone know where I can find narrow wheels, like 15x4 that will match what I have on the back? Or am I better off to get 2 more like on the back and have them cut and welded?

 

[Neverdone]

Got a step closer to making it road worthy last night. My tail lights showed up. Took apart the turn signal unit that was on it last night, going to clean up the contacts, replace the wiring and put a 12V bulb in it, and hopefully be able to reuse it.

 

[hotwheels]

Looking at your tape lines, the top lines are to high into the curve of the windshield frame. If you stand back and look at it, picture cutting the top line and placing it where the bottom cut is going to be. You are still in the curve of the windshield and it will be tough to make it square. If you move the top line down about an inch, i think you will have 2 straight points to weld back together. I kind of showed what i am talking about in this picture:

 

[nunattax]

try new vintage woodward gauges 1935 series can be calibrated to suit any box axle wheel combo im getting a set for my truck available at jegs.com (www.hotrod.ie)

 

[Neverdone]

nunattax thanks for the tip, I have never saw those before!!! really seems like that is probably what I will go with.

hotwheels I know what you are saying. That is why I was wondering if I could move down the fronts without moving down the backs. The backs are exactly where I want them. the reason the fronts are where they are is because that is straight in line with the back. I didn't think it should matter if they are not in line, but I am not sure. I don't really want to move the back lines because that is where I miss the curves in the back window, and that is where it will be easiest to line up the trim lines on the cab. But I would rather have it so it is easier to line the windows back up so..... I will do what I have to do.