Thread: Can I Do It In 98 Days?????????

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I've decided to try and get my '39 Dodge pickup drivable by November 21st to take it to Daytona for the Turkey Run. It hasn't been touched for a year and a half, and lots is left to do.

The reason I am doing this is because Dan's '29 isn't going to make it in time. He told me the other night that he has some additional things he wants to do to it (Louvered belly pan, chrome front end, etc) and doesn't want to rush it just for the sake of making that deadline. He is fine with it, but I'm not. I really want him to have a rod to drive there, especially since he has been so unselfish with his time and money helping me get the T running. Every few days the UPS guy shows up with something Dan has bought me for the T, and I want to do something to repay him.

So, today I cleaned up the area around the Dodge and made a list of things to do. The hard stuff is done. The 394 Olds is totally rebuilt, the rear suspension is done, the top has been chopped (only the doors are left to do) and the body has been subframed. We built a custom frame for it a couple of years ago, and I stored away a lot of the expensive parts, like aluminum radiator, tires and wheels, and stuff like that.

I haven't mentioned it to him yet because first I want to get the front end painted and hung. I went to the local spring shop today and they are making me a shortened main leaf for the Speedway spring. Tonight I sandblasted all the front end parts, and tomorrow night I will prime and hopefully get some black paint on them. I'm not going to go crazy with cosmetics on this rod, as it was slated to be sort of rat roddish from the beginning. I plan to paint the suspension and frame black, and the body will probably be a flat color of some kind.

Once I get the front end painted and hung I will tell Dan what I'm up to, and if he wants he can take over the fabrication of the interior panels, build a new bed, and do some of those chores, he is welcome to do that. His forte' is building stuff out of steel, so he will probably enjoy doing those things. I know he is going to say it's impossible to do, but I am betting on it.

Here are some pictures of how it sits now, and the parts I blasted tonight.

Don