Build thread 37 Dodge PU

[Bob Parmenter]

Don't listen to him Mike............

[Mike P]

“….Don't listen to him Mike....”

No worries Bob

Sorry Seth, but it already has another Dodge truck (kind of) to sit next to.

87 Ram 50 by M Patterson, on Flickr


When they’ve both been in the shop at the same time it’s hard not to mentally compare the 37 to the 87 and how much the American auto industry and customer expectations changed in 50 years.

Right now I’m just keeping my fingers crossed there are no issues that turn up that would keep the truck from making the car show on the 14th. Very few people have ever seen the truck although most of my friends know I’ve got it. A few years ago one said something to the effect of …..

your 37 is kind of like Big Foot or the Loch Ness monster....you hear about it occasionally and once in a while see a picture that claims to show it but you don't know if it's real or just a story

Anyway here in a little bit I’ll get some gas in it and see how far from the house I make it



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[stovens]

That 1937 truck is iconic between the fender designs and curves to the classic truck look, One of the best periods of design in my opinion

[Mike P]

Well the first real road test was a fizzle.

I did the primary setup on the transmission controller and took it out on the road to drive the 2 miles I needed to calibrate the speedometer. I made it a little less than a mile and all at once I had a severe vibration. I ended up managing to limp it back home and got it back up in the air.

I’d spit out one of the bearing caps on the front U Joint. So I pull the drive shaft out to inspect the damage and see if I could figure out what happened to cause the new U joint to come apart. Of course to add insult to injury when I went to take out the bolts that hold the straps on the rear yolk one of them seized and snapped off.


I inspected the drive shaft and front yolk closely and fortunately they’ll live. So I decided to go into town and pick up a new U Joint and strap kits with new bolts. I told the counter guy what I needed and he knew the part number (or thought he did) off the top of his head and brought out a new U joint. I’d taken what was left of the joint that had blown up in and we matched them up, and at a glance they looked good. I told him what had happened to the old joint and just to be on the safe side he asked me for an application for the joint and looked it up in the catalog. The catalog showed a different part number than the joint he had brought out. When we compared the two new joints the cross and bearing caps on both U joints measured the same…..the difference was the spacing on the groove for the internal snap rings. What I’m thinking now is that I had put the wrong joint in and one of the snap rings didn’t fully seat and I didn’t catch it.

When I got back to the shop I crawled back under the truck again to take a look at the broken bolt in the differential yolk. Back in my younger (dumber) days I probably would have crawled under there with a drill and easy out but being a little wiser now I pulled the yolk off and just took it over to Dave at the machine shop. I was kind of hoping Dave maybe had a spare yolk laying around but no such luck. Anyway Dave drilled it out for me (it’s a hardened bolt) and after getting the new front U joint in, it was time for another road test.


The second road test went much better, I drove out to Dave’s (69Bee) machine shop. On the way I managed to get the speedometer calibrated (which was a good thing as the state police had set up a speed trap on the road between Dave’s and my place sometime while I was over there).

37 Road Test 2 by M Patterson, on Flickr

I stopped by the gas station on the way back and topped the tank off to verify the sending unit was set up correctly and by the time I got back to the house I’d put about 15 miles on it.

The truck is a ball to drive, it goes down the road straight and is not as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. The 4.56s are a ton of fun and the overdrive transmission was a good choice. At 65 it drops the RPM down from 3300 RPM to around 2200. I’ve got to do some more dialing in with the controller for the OD and lockup which I’ll probably play with tomorrow.

All and all it was a pretty good afternoon. I got a bunch of thumbs up (except for the cop with the radar gun who seemed to be scowling )




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[40FordDeluxe]

Sorry to hear about the u joint situation, but at least it didn't come clear out and cause damage. Plus it sounds like it was a pretty easy fix. That's awesome your trans controller is working well. I still haven't gotten mine to work. Someday I'll send it in to be reflashed like they asked. Oh well.

[34_40]

Congrats on the drive Mike! Glad it was a success after all.

[stovens]

WhooooooHooo the first ride is always fun! Especially when things seem to work out in the end!

[Bob Parmenter]

Some of us been waitin' a loooooonnnnggg time to see that post. Congrats man.........how cool is that!?

[Mike P]

Thanks Bob, yup way to long. I ended up doing 9 other project cars/trucks (plus customer cars) from the time I brought it home until now. I do believe you just shook your head every time I started a new build thread.

I've put a few more miles on it over the weekend and today and been taking care of a few of the little issues you normally find on a fresh build. I think the little ride I took Cade on yesterday and the look on his face has been the biggest pay off on the project so far.


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[Mike P]

Been driving the truck a bit, mostly short trips in the morning before it gets too hot out. Actually for not having any insulation in it the cab doesn't really seem to pick up a lot of engine/transmission heat.

The transmission controller seems to work well, but it's critical to get the kickdown cable properly adjusted before you start playing with the controller. I'm still playing with the lockup setting to see where I want it. It seems like when ever I seem to have it, I end up on a street that happens to have a speed limit right where I set the converter to lock up and it locks and unlocks until I speed up or slow down.

The only issue so far happened this morning. I drove the truck to town and when I got back to the shop it had a lifter that was clattering pretty bad. I ran thru the possibilities that it could be and most of them involved a lot of work at at least some expense.

The first step regardless of what it turned out to be was to get the valve cover off.

rockers by M Patterson, on Flickr

I've got to admit it's a lot easier on this HEMI than it is on the one in the 57 (on that one just to get the covers off involves removing the heater box, master cylinder, and draining the coolant)

Anyway, the problem turned out to be minor. One of the lock nuts on the adjustable push rods had backed off and loosened the push rod. I got that taken care off and pulled the other valve cover and checked the rest of them just to be safe. It was a good excuse for another road test and all seems good again.


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[v8nutz]

Lifter ticking has never been that easy a fix for me. Your old hemi sure is cool.

[Mike P]

:……Lifter ticking has never been that easy a fix for me……”

Usually not for me either. Until I got the valve cover off, I was envisioning a wiped lobe or bad lifter (neither of which would be a fun job).


“….Your old hemi sure is cool…..”

Yeah, I’m pretty happy with it. I had originally intended putting it into another truck I had. I’d originally picked up a 1954 Studebaker 3R pickup for it to call home. I even had a Volare front suspension I was going to graft to the original frame. It was pretty rust free, but there wasn’t a straight panel on it. When I came across the 37 Dodge that plan pretty much changed and the Stude ended up going on E Bay to help offset the cost of the Dodge. I did keep the ash tray from the Studebaker and It's living in the 37


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[40FordDeluxe]

Very nice Mike! I'm glad it was something really simple.

[Mike P]

Me too Ryan.

I did want to let you know that that Federal PS pump I used seems like a good match for the rack. The pressure is lower than the Saginaw pumps but still a little more than the Ford Pumps. The steering has a real nice road feel.

The pictures from when I built the brackets for the HEMI were posted from photo bucket so they are gone now. If you want me to repost them on your 40 Ford build thread I'd be happy to.


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[40FordDeluxe]

Mike, that would be great! I had thoughts of purchasing all hot heads brackets and pullies a few months ago. Then I came back down to reality and decided I did want to drive it next year, and not have it be in a huge pile of parts still......