1949 Dodge Rat Rod Truck

[RustyRatRod]

I thought I would create a build thread for my rat rod truck.

The truck: 1949 Dodge Pilothouse 5 window cab. Not much rust for the age.

Chassis: 1983 Dodge D150 with 1993 D350 Dana 70 dually rear and Dodge D350 one ton front suspension.

Custom made wood bed by me.

Here is the cab. This is the cab the day after it landed in Georgia from Nebraska.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Here is more of the cab.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Yall know me. I ain't doin it if it ain't cheap. I had it on single wheels at first, but secretly lusted for a short wheel base dually. Somehow, I knew it would never happen. Then, cruising CL one day. I found a "Dana 60" for 100 bucks.

So I called the guy. He's in Warner Robins, about 60 miles away from us. No biggie. When he found out we were in Jones County he says, "me and my son go huntin up there I'll just bring it to you".

So I ended up with this......which turned out to be a Dana 70 for 100 bucks. Delivered.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Over time, I found out why the rear axle was so cheap. The brakes were boogered up. Somebody had attempted to remove the driver's side drum. The large rear axle bearing was seized to the axle housing, so the drum was stuck.

After about 30 minutes with the slide hammer, the drum was on the ground. I gently used an air chisel and eased the bearing off the axle housing. Polished up the burr on the housing and on the inner race of the bearing, rebuilt the rear brakes and wheel cylinders on both sides and installed new parking brake cables.

I would have taken pictures, but, brakes are second nature to me and I was finished before I even thought about it.

 

[RustyRatRod]

First shots of the cab on the frame. I used my Ford 8N tractor (also a 49 model) to pull the cab onto the frame from the side using 2 2x4s as ramps. I was slow and deliberate and it worked with no damage. These pictures are when it still had the single wheels on it.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Now the good stuff. I thought about doing an axle flip and lowering it in the front as well. But.....I got motivated one Saturday morning and had the rear axle swapped in about an hour. I think it looks great like it is at the stock height. I figure this way, I can actually USE it as a truck if I want to when I am done. Here is the Dana installed.

 

[RustyRatRod]

With the graciousness of fellow FABO members A38Valaint (Will) and good friend clhyer (Calvin) I was able to get the one ton front suspension needed to match the dually rear. Here it is with those parts installed.

 

[RustyRatRod]

I was wondering what to do for a gas tank. I could run the stock one, but that would be boring. So I hawked Ebay and CL for months looking for ideas. I found one. I don't know what it came off of, but it is perfect. Doing the formula for volume, it comes out to about35 gallons. I cleaned it up good and simulated rust with red primer over several coats of Rustoleum. I built custom "feet" for it to mount on the bed. My gas tank mount straps were just thought up on the fly. Pretty ratty I think. And when they rust up a little, they will look good.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Here is the finished gas tank. I think it turned out real good, considerin I only have a little more than 50 bucks in it start to finish. It has a top mount supply line, a return line and is vented with a rollover vent as well.

 

[RustyRatRod]

This project is close to four years old now. It actually began when I found this on the local CL. The first picture is from the original ad and the rest from when it landed at home. It is a 1956 331 Chrysler truck Hemi. It was a total rustball on the outside, but I am not jokin, it was one of the cleanest used engines inside I have ever torn down. With wires and distributor and carburetor, it would have run as is.

 

[RustyRatRod]

As I said regarding the brakes, I didn't take a ton of pictures. I am not one for picture books. I never have been. Once torn down, I started cleaning everything up. Starting with the heads. They were in fantastic condition. The guides and seats were great. Since it is a truck engine, it even had hardened exhaust seat inserts from the factory in 1956. The only thing the machine shop had to do was enlarge the seats for 392 valves, set the springs up and mill the heads .025 to help achieve 9.2:1 compression.

 

[RustyRatRod]

I did have some machine work done to the block. It was square and parallel decked to the factory spec as like most all Chrysler blocks, the deck was high and crooked. I installed all the core and welch plugs and cam bearings myself at home. Again saving money. Every little bit helps. The block was already bored .030 over and had no ridge, so it was honed like it was. I got a set of the 1955 only 331 8:5:1 pistons from Egge on sale. Just my style. Hemi heads mill differently in a couple of aspects. First, since the chamber is round, the first .030" or so milled, removes a LOT of chamber volume compared to other style heads. So, only .025" was needed to get compression at my target of 9.2. I got a pair of NOS Fitzgerald thin steel head gaskets from TR Waters and figured them into the formula. I used APR rod bolts and had the rods reconditioned with new bushings in the small end.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Here is how the deck clearance ended up. A lot different from wedge stuff. lol

 

[RustyRatRod]

The 354/331 oil pumps are different tan the 392 oil pump. They are not available new. So I reconditioned my old one with a kit, installed the high pressure spring and reinstalled it. Modified 340 oil pumps are available, but they use the high volume 340 pump. They have to, because the Hemi's oiling system has a lot of displacement and the stock 340 pump would fall way short. That, coupled with the original oil pump having a factory swinging pickup, prompted me to recondition the old one. It was after all in good shape and once again, I saved money over a new pump. I am also reusing the factory 8 quart full deep sump oil pan. I plan on setting the engine back in the frame far enough that the cross member will not pose a problem.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Time to fit the heads and valve train. I cleaned and reconditioned the rocker gear. Ground the rocker arms myself. Yup. Saved more money.

 

[RustyRatRod]

About the timing gear and camshaft. The camshaft I had reground at Oregon Cam Grinders. Those guys are really sharp. They ground a stock hydraulic cam into a hot little solid flat tapped. It ended up .435 lift and 240* @ .050". I used custom adjustable pushrods from Hot Heads for valve adjustment. I chose a low lift, because the factory exhaust rockers are really long. Getting up in lift requires some stout valve springs and I don't want to risk breaking 60 year old rocker arms.

The Early Hemi accepts the Mopar small block timing chain set. I also modified the Cloyes timing chain tensioner for use on the front of the Hemi block. Only a few holes to locate properly and drill.

 

[RustyRatRod]

This is about where I am with it today. There has been a little more progress, but just small details. I am held up at the moment by a pretty large purchase. The adapter plate and flywheel kit to mate the 833 OD transmission to the early Hemi bellhousing. That's about 750 dollars. A big chunk for us all at one time, but it'll happen in time.

All of this has taken me about four years to date, so it's not something I have been able to just sling together be any means. It's a lot of hard work and sometimes it's hard to see progress. Posting it up like this helps though because I can look at it and see how far it has come. Hope yall like it so far.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

Love it Rusty!

 

[LocuMob]

Nice work Rusty! That's some impressive work. Like the dually rear. It won't be a Rat rod, it'll be a Thrifty Rod!

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

It blows my mind that you can still get parts for the old hemi!