Thread: 1953 Dodge Pilothouse

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I finally got started on one of my Dodge pickups. I'm going to graft the cab onto the Dakota floor and firewall, everyone says its super easy so we'll see if it's true. I got the 53 cab gutted and chopped up as far as I want now and the Dakota cut up. I want to get the rough grafting done, then I'm going to blast the interior and door jams to repaint them red. We're not sure what's going to happen with the outside yet, all I know is there will be not filler, it won't be shiny and there probably will be some rust on it. I'm not sure if we'll chemically strip the last of the blue paint off and leave it or clean it up a bit and shoot it flat red in a patina way. I have time to make a decision, hopefully not 20 yrs like Rita

Oh wow, that's a big project! Should be fun to watch. Is the track and wheelbase close on those? The old trucks were pretty narrow and small.

Originally Posted by v8nutz

Oh wow, that's a big project! Should be fun to watch. Is the track and wheelbase close on those? The old trucks were pretty narrow and small.

The track width is very close, I will have to shorten the frame though. It does look pretty intimating but I don't think it will go to bad. A guy on a FB forum backed his out of his shop after he and his dad worked on it for 20 hours, it was his first one too.

Look forward to watching the progress.


Bill S.

Oh yeah! Cuttin' tin........................

Neat project Seth, gotta love those old Dodge pickups!

Not a swap I'd ever think of! Should be cool doing something a bit different.

Dakota floor was the worst shape than I'd hoped but it is what I expected. 1993 with 200k on it, I've got to rebuild the cab mounts on the bottom side of the floor pan, and replace some of the floor pan. I think it's going to get all new brake lines and fuel lines well.

Just curious, when it's done will Iowa title it as a 1993 Dakota, a 1953 B Series or a 2023 Specialty Vehicle or some such name depicting a vehicle assembled from multiple sources? Knew a guy who did a '40 Ford truck on a Chevy S-10 chassis, and his Ford was a Chevy!!

Originally Posted by rspears

Just curious, when it's done will Iowa title it as a 1993 Dakota, a 1953 B Series or a 2023 Specialty Vehicle or some such name depicting a vehicle assembled from multiple sources? Knew a guy who did a '40 Ford truck on a Chevy S-10 chassis, and his Ford was a Chevy!!

I'm not sure yet. Supposedly a previous owner may have a title for it . Otherwise I'm not sure if I'm going to get a bonded title for it or register it as a 93 Dakota, from what I understand it's all up to me. If I get it titled as a 53 dodge, I can stick it on my specialty insurance plan which is super cheap.

It might only become a problem if it's sold out of state, then the process of verifying the VIN could raise a stink. Here I think I would get the '93 titled in my name before touching it, then know that it would probably forever be a Kansas truck!

Subscribed. I like your sanitary shop. The old Dodge kinda looks like "MATER".
Nolan

Originally Posted by rspears

It might only become a problem if it's sold out of state, then the process of verifying the VIN could raise a stink. Here I think I would get the '93 titled in my name before touching it, then know that it would probably forever be a Kansas truck!

I never thought about the selling part, I will probably try to get it registered as a 53, it has a VIN in the door.

Originally Posted by JOATMON

Subscribed. I like your sanitary shop. The old Dodge kinda looks like "MATER".
Nolan

I never used to keep up with housekeeping as much as I do now, it's a discipline lol. I never thought of Mater, we have a habit of naming our vehicles, that may be it!

I'm digressing a bit, but...
The sun visors in the front windows of our bus are roll-down canvas blinds.
We got a picture of Tow Mater's eyes, blew them up, and transferred them to the canvas.
When we're parked up at night to sleep in it with all curtains/blinds closed, Mater is looking out through the windscreen keeping an eye out on things for us.