Hello, How is everyone. Just got a new truck. 1945 Dodge 1/2 ton blackout pickup. I can't seem to find any sources, at least as good as the ones for Chevy, for Dodge. This truck is complete and pristine but never has had any restoration done so parts resources and any forums like here would be very helpfull. If anyone could direct me I would sure appreciate it . Thanx Tim
Try Sweptline.com and Sweptline.org. They cater to later models that hav the "sweptline" beds but will still hae some discussion around older trucks and Power wagons. Be careful not to talk about Chevys much. them Dodge guys envy, I mean hate chevys.
dodge info Thanx Tailgater, Imagine my fear when I brought up another make on this forum, thanx for remaining openminded, this is a DODGE not a f**d so I thought I would give it a shot. Any more help out there is welcome. Thanx
Brand " D " Truck Dodge ? did someone say DODGE ? Very cool ! . Those old flatheads are super strong , nearly indestructable , the only thing they won't tolerate is : speed ~ DO NOT run this truck howling down the freeway as you'll soon burn all the valves and these engine also bent crankshafts if over speeded . Valve adjust is very important and must be done with the engine hot , remove the inner fender panel and get it hot , jack up & block , remove right wheel and drape over the brake drum , it's not so hard and only needs doing once a year or so . If the water pump fails , be _sure_ to use a long coat hanger to clean the crud out of the holes along the top of the water distribution tube , no need to remove it and it's prolly stuck fast anyway , the original ones were brass , last thing I knew , Dorman still had galvanized replacements . The magazine " Vintage Truck " by Pat , has been running a series on fixing up an old Dodge cross grille pickup so look into that plus it's a good mag. all 'round . I usta-did have a 1949 B1B Dodge 1/2 tonner with flathead 6 banger three on the tree and a fluid drive , this was an interesting deal that allowed it to pull out of deep mud or up steep loading ramps when horribly overloaded Plus I could leave it in 2nd gear and wrap my right arm around Teresa's shoulders when we went cruising....
Hey Timmer, congrats on the truck! when you posted in "stovebolt" the other day, you said you were thinking about it. i love blackout models. send us a picture. you do know that everytime you stop at a stop sign, somebody's gonna say (all together now!) "Hey man, does that thing got a Hemi in it?" Do a "google" word search for "1945 Dodge trucks". there's a lot of info including a site that has an owner's registry of folks that have dodge trucks with their email addresses. that should give you a lot of info. Keep on truckin'!
Dad has a 46 Dodge pickup. We're putting race slicks and a blown 440 in it though. Sorry Nate no flathead. Flathead would last a LOT longer but the 440 is so much faster .
i've got a great idea! Let's talk Timmer into putting a 426 Hemi in his and then set up a drag between timmer and kevin's dad's truck and then we'll have solved the age-old agrument "magnum vs hemi, which is the better engine". the hemi needs dual quads on a cross ram manifold.
shhhhhh, dont tell anyone but ive got a shotgun injection setup for a hemi and a freshly overhauled blower, now THAT would be fun!!!!!!!!!!!! ________ Lesbian latina
Gotta say that the 440 will be fast, but in the dodge world nothing beats a Hemi. Love the look and sound of a Hemi. But the race would be a darn good time!!!!!
Man You guys are full of great ideas. Plan on keeping the truck stock and original though. There is a lot of history in this old truck and it deserves to stay intact. It's fascinating the steps they took to preserve resources during the war, and the restrictions they put on private ownership of any vehicle. Thanx for the caution on high speeds Nate, can I get a new ring and pinion setup like I did from Patricks for my 51 chev? I have found a sight with a forum for trucks up to '47 so once I get connected there I should get good info on parts sources but as of yet haven't really found much of anything like chevyduty or Jim Carter. So if anyone can point towards any good parts sights I'd sure appreciate it. Pictures to follow. Waiting for my daughter to get back from Hawaii so that she can get it done for me. Thanx for all the responses. Tim
Tim, by the way, I agree with you 110% on keeping your truck original. There aren't too many kids out there who know about what happened to the automotive industry from Dec 7, 1941 through August of 1945. You truly have a piece of history there and I, personally, would love to see you put it back together just like it was when it rolled off of the assembly line. I know that my grandfather, my 2 favorite uncles, and many of their friends who fought in WWII would agree. They made it possible for us to be talking about this tonight. Please keep us posted on your progress and let me know if there is anything that I can do to help.
I agree with the original part as well. It's hard to find a vehicle period that was marked as 1942 and a 1945 due to the stop in production because of the war. This truck would be worth so much more to you and also worth more monetarily as an original. Post pics when you can. The reason for street rodding ours is #1 original is not our style, #2 the truck is pretty rough and it would be much easier to customize than to go original. But seriously don't forget about us and keep us updated.
High Speed R & P ? Tim ; I'm not sure as I don't do Dodges a whole lot . If it's a 1.2 ton rig I'd say prolly so but you'll need to open the diffy and look at the ration plus count how many bolts hold the ring gear to it's carrier then go ask around some older rear ebd shops or perhaps on a WPC board , let me know and I know one guy I can maybe ask , he's a rabid WPC nut but doen't like to wrench much , he may have the connections to ask what models of WPC products might surrender higher ratio R & P you can swap in... FWIW , there were a few trucks & car available during the war but you had to get a premission slip from the local rationing board to purchase , I know one guy who was travelling across America on Gov't. business in his old 30's Chevy pickup and on the way back home it died a horrible sudden death in Colorado so he was able to finagle a purchase order and continued his trip in a spiffy new 1941 Chevy pickup , he kept it foever , I was unable to pry it loose from him in the 1970's.... Most passenger cars sold from early 1942 onwards actually came with wooden planks in lieu of bumpers.... Strange but true .
Thanx Nate Cool Stuff. I'll let you now about the differential as we start to tear into the truck. Finally getting it delivered today. Tim
Remember before you rip it all to pieces , skinny , tall tires help a _LOT_ , I run them on my '49 , Light Truck radials and they work out well... My guess is : a Giro-matic (SP ?) equipped passenger car will have a good ration you can use . Anyone here remember Chrysler's world beating Giro-Matic transmission with it's ' Safety Clutch ' ? . It was a world better than Studebaker's " Hill Holder " deal and that was pretty sweet .
Nate, are you saying that you never converted from the 4.11 rearend and are getting by with the taller tires? what size tires are they? That sould help me out even more on my Chevy too. Thanx Tim
No , DPO sez he put a Patric's 3:55 R & P in it before I got it , it's quiet and doesn't leak so I don't screw with it , I just drain and re-fill it every year or 10,000 miles. My truck came with silly 14" spoked circus wheels , I tossed them out and bought a set of Dayton LT215/85X16 tires ~ I think . the truck is far away to-day but if you look in the archives under tire size it's in there . Getting the correct aspect ratio is very important as you want the largest diameter tire you can get without buying too wide . most tire size converters are wrong so putting ' 6.50 X 16 ' into them gets you a low profile tire that will make your engine scream .
My guess is : a Giro-matic (SP ?) equipped passenger car will have a good ration you can use . Anyone here remember Chrysler's world beating Giro-Matic transmission with it's ' Safety Clutch ' ? . Right as rain again. go to www.allpar.com/mopar/fluidrive.html interesting article on the above mentioned tranny.
