Build thread 37 Dodge PU

[40FordDeluxe]

Giggity, giggitty, giggitty! Congrats to you. That had to feel great! The battery box is a nice touch too. I really like that. I could probably do the same in the trunk of the 40. Hey, I just might to save some time. Haha

[34_40]

I used one of those old coke coolers as a battery box.
The tool box idea was much cheaper I'm sure... but it works just the same!


Good Job Mike.

[53 Chevy5]

I don't know how to improve that truck, I just love the look of it. Congrats on the first drive, its going to be a fun truck!

[Mike P]

The sites' back up



"..........I don't know how to improve that truck, I just love the look of it......"

I don't know, I think having all the fenders on makes it look a whole lot better



I really hadn't planned on getting them back on yet, but I want to get the front end alignment roughed in to make sure there aren't going to be any issues when I take it to the alignment shop. To do that I decided that I need to get the tires and wheels that I'll be using on it. I only want to buy the tires once, so I decided that I I should probably get the fenders on it and roll it outside to see how it looked.

Uncle Bob put it pretty well in another thread. ".......... move the hardware out into the driveway or where ever you have space to step back about 20 feet from all angles to gauge proportion. After years of playing with this stuff it's not hard to spot a car that was built in a garage and all the decisions were made from a 3 foot distance..................they're always just off somehow......."

This is probably the 7th or 8th time I've rolled the truck out just to check it over the years......and the most enjoyable as it can be driven now instead of pushing it.





I'm glad I did. The rear tires looked great on the truck inside the shop, but being able to step back from it a bit more made me decide that I really needed to use a bit shorter tire than what is on it.



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[NTFDAY]

The ones on it sure do fill up the wheel well and like you I feel the one or two sizes shorter will look a lot better. Sure wouldn't want to go any taller. That's going to be fun to cruise in.

[40FordDeluxe]

It sure looks nice! I saw a 38 Dodge pick up for sale here locally so I stopped the other day. That guy has watched too much Barrett Jackson. It was really rough, just pulled out of a swamp I think. They should go get the rest of it back for the $5k price tag they want.

[Mike P]

As long as the front fenders are on I decided I wanted to bend a little metal today. The truck came with the original front bumper and bracket. The bumper has a bend in the center but that would be an easy repair. I always thought the bumper looked too big and sat too far away from the fenders/grill. It was the first thing I took off the truck and had just planned on not running a front bumper at all.




After I got the rear bumper on I started looking at the front again and decided it might actually look better with a much smaller bumper on it after all. So this morning I dug up a piece of flat stock and built a simple one piece bumper bracket and hung the short leaf from the spring pack that donated the leaf for the rear bumper.




I don't think it came out too bad.......although I'm considering pulling both bumpers back off and painting them black.

[40FordDeluxe]

That came out very nice Mike! That'll be a strong bumper too!

[34_40]

Not bad, not bad at all! Can't say I've really ever seen one like it - so it'll be original.

[53 Chevy5]

Beautiful, that grill is something else and the bumper blends well with it. I like the bumpers silver.

[Whiplash23T]

And will protect the nice grille as I would think they can't be picked up at the local Pick-a-part now. I kinda of liked the look of the big and littles on the truck as they certainly fill the opening.

[randyr]

Such a cool truck!!! At this stage of the game most all the finishing touches boil down to personal preference...it's your truck, so your preference! LOL!

Based on the 2 pics you posted, the tire size looks pretty good to me. Like Whiplash said, they fill the wheel well up nicely. If you go shorter on the rear, you'll probably need shorter on the front, too because more gap between the tire and fender on the rear will make the front tires look too tall with no gap. Perhaps the tire shop would mount up a couple different sizes and let you look at it before you decide.

The front bumper is innovative but also a tough call since the truck looks so cool without one... Sure it might offer a little protection if you bump into a pole at low speed but otherwise, not much. I'd probably keep it the matte silver or give it some kind of patina that doesn't draw attention to it and looks like it's been on there a while. The front fenders & grille are too great and don't need the distraction

Of course, these are just my opinions and you know what they say about opinions....Hahaha!!

Awesome truck! Great work!!

[ScooterCO]

I am liking the stance, but maybe a bit shorter might look just a little better. Good looking truck. I wonder what a good buff and polish would do?

[stovens]

Such a cool looking truck!

[Mike P]

Thanks for all the comments on the bumper guys. If Arizona was a state that required a front bumper, or a front license plate (which would mean needing a place to hang it) I would be absolutely sold on it. As neither applies here I'm still kind of up in the air as to whether it stays or not. Sometimes when I walk out and look at it I really like it, other times I think it would look better without it. At least the whole thing can be removed in about 30 seconds.

"..........I'd probably keep it the matte silver or give it some kind of patina that doesn't draw attention to it and looks like it's been on there a while........"


Randy I totally agree. With the current state of the paint/patina on the rest of the truck anything freshly painted or chromed stands out way too much. Fortunately silver paint (especially spray can stuff ) seems to age fairly rapidly. The current plan is to pull the bumper and bracket off and set it out in the Arizona sun and rain for a while to take a bit of the shine off of it.



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