Thread: 1937 Dodge Pickup

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Here’s my ‘37 Dodge, got it for $650 but it was ruff. There was lots of surface rust, dents and rust out. Along with the normal damage an old farm truck had, it looked like kids had done some damage also.

The previous owner had it sand blasted and primed but it sat outside so long it began to rust again. The cab’s lower cowl and lower rear section were rusted out and the roof was damaged. The doors had some rust out and the hinges were damaged. All four fenders and running boards had been severely damaged, the bed floor was bad and the whole bed was covered with dents. The grille and shell were also damaged, someone had sat on the hood and bent it. The front axel was bent not sure how that happened, the frame may have been bent also.

There was so much surface damage I decided to fix the rusted out areas and beat out the dents but not cover it with filler. The surface rust would have required sand blasting again and high build primer. I worked on it weekends for 3 years, it would have taken at least another year to fill the dents and repair the surface rust. I’ll be driving it for years and would rather see dents than failed filler and paint. I saw a ‘36 Ford pickup the other day with tons of filler that had begun to fail, wasn’t a pretty site. There are repair panels available for the cab but they would have cost over $500, I made them myself with a hammer/shot bag and English wheel.

After a little research I found that an S10 long bed frame was about the same wheel base, it was about 3/4” longer, I decided this was the way to go. I had to narrow the cab section of the frame about 15”, removed about 10” off the rear frame. The front frame section had to be shortened so much that I could not mount any type of steering box, ended up using a power rack and pinion out of a late model Chrysler.

An S10’s front suspension has problems with bump steer when using a standard rack unit, the Chrysler rack has center mounted tie rods which allowed for factory length tie rods. It has a SBC with a GM power steering pump, they put out more pressure than the Chrysler rack uses so a regulator is required. The first time I tested the steering all hell broke loose, the truck was on stands engine at idle, I move the wheel slightly right and it shot full lock to the left in a second! The rack was a rebuild that had been plumbed backwards, left was right etc., with too much pump pressure and reversed plumbing it was an accident waiting to happen. The steering has been the biggest issue I had to deal with, but it does work well.

I was able to mount the body low enough that I didn’t have to lower the front suspension, the rear uses Belltech 3” drop springs to get the ride height I wanted. The front suspension sets a little high, used coils made for a 4 cylinder but the engine is so far back there’s not enough weight to level it out, I may have to cut a coil to get it right.

I found a 1986 Chevy truck for $800 that had a good 350 engine and 350 Turbo transmission. It turned out the engine was a rebuild with roller cam and rockers, it also had a new Holley intake and an Edlebrock carb with new starter, alternator and battery.

With so much surface damage I decided to use flat paint to help hide it, I’ve tried urethane with flattener but don’t like the look. I’ve got a chopped ‘30 Model A that has flat black Van Sickle tracker paint, looks great and cost $29 a gallon. They only make flat black and 3 camo colors, I chose tan, when my brother saw it he said “wow reminds me of Afghanistan” so I painted the fenders and running boards brown. If the truck had been in better condition it would have been crème and turquoise.

I found a vinyl that is a perfect color match for the tan so the interior will be tan, I do all my upholstery work. A friend from work gave me boxes full of high heat insulator material like Kevlar, Nomex and fiberglass, the cab has been insulated and sound proofed to the max. The body and paint are not great but the interior will deluxe!

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