1939 Dodge TD 20 update and oddments

This page runs in reverse chronology, so newest images at the top, oldest ones furthest down.

September 2003

Mid September

Plumbed and wired all the brakes and re-assembled all the hubs. New brake linings were expensive but a nice job, and front wheel cylinder rebuild was embarrassingly costly too. One replacement tie rod end was sourced from Bob Hunt, and all the truck wiring was fitted and checked, with the exception of the wiring at the three-wire ammeter which is going to take some head scratching - I may use a jeep / military Dodge type Klixon cutout instead of a fuse there. Purchased and fitted all new material for the seats - wife did the sewing, fortunately, as I couldn't. I managed to get a hold of the engine rebuilder, who told me they struggled to get the original T72 code engine apart, but when they did it looked like it hadn't done much, and would only have to be bored 10thou with the same on a crankshaft grind. It's also being rebuilt with new hardened valves, guides, and seats so I can use it on current unleaded.

What else is still to do? well, wiring that ammeter, fitting the new tie rod end, doing something with the fuel tank - repair or replace. Pretty much everything else is in the engine bay and will have to wait for it to come back, or stuff like the canvas cover which will have to be specially made when I have the money......

 

Early September

No time for an August update - too busy in the garage. During august the truck was back together and looked like a truck, but there was much to be done which involved dismantling it again, hence the shots below are out of strict sequence and not all the work is shown. After the initial assembly I took all the sheetmetal forward of the firewall off again and piled it in the back, with all the welting and the like completed. Fitted five new tyres (quicker to type than to do...)

Front axle was pulled off, serviced, and re-fitted on new bushes and shackles, same for the rear axle. Hubs were stripped and shoes sent off for re-lining. New cylinders on the back wheels, bored and sleeved the cylinders on the front wheels as the size was difficult to replace easily. New Cunifer brake and fuel lines all round. One of the tie rod ends was junk, as were three of the shocks, so it's back to searching e-bay and asking people to get me the new interchange numbers for the shocks. Inside the cab all the instruments were re-fitted (less the temperature guage which was toast, as usual) speedo rebuilt with new disc from Jim in Calgary, new ignition and door locks, new headlight and panel light switches, and I started to strip and salvage parts of the wiring harness - basically cutting up the lower harness and some old harness to repair the under-dash sections. Replaced a lot of the missing and damaged seat cushion springs and one of the seat back hinges. Fitted RH and interior mirrors and replaced all the glass. Next is the hub reassembly all round and finishing dash and truck wiring.

 

July 2003

I was particularly keen to get the back body together as the parts, when loose, take up a lot of floorspace. Body construction is now about finished, except for fitting rub rails and tailgate hinges. Front end sheetmetal is just sitting in place as it takes up less room that way.

 

At the start of July I separated the engine and transmission. The transmission was cleaned and checked, fitted a new brake band and did a 'by the book' adjustment. The original T72 code engine was sent off to Dallas Autos in England for a complete rebuild, including alterations for unleaded fuel. I got the rest of the loose sheetmetal back blasted and primed, so I put a coat of paint on it and started re-assembly. Blasting had opened up a couple of holes in the running boards where the mounting blocks had trapped moisture, and the glovebox lid, which looked fine initially, came back with the front sheet blasted through and will have to be re-covered.

June 2003

25th June 2003, four additional images. Cab repairs finished and screen position checked and adjusted, cab primed and two coats of OD applied. There are a few areas that will need very small amounts of addtional filling and painting but very little really. Wheeled a trailer full of parts out to the blast and prime place today too, so when I get that stuff back I'll be able to start serious re-assembly. Big outstanding job at the minute is to separate the engine and transmission and get the engine off for a rebuild.

 

Image directly above shows cab outer front panel grafted on. Drivers side of screen outer panel was cut at the bottom as the skin panel had some rot in it. Passengers side was cut across the top corner. Note that the inner header panel had to be removed by drilling out spot welds as it's impossible to get into the cab roof seam with the header panel in place. Second image up is the job almost complete with both outer and inner panels welded in place. Third image is passengers side, note the seam weld in top corner, top image is the cab interior showing the header panel in place.

There is minor finishing to do on both the outer joints, and some of the original holes still to weld up, but the next job is a trial fit of the screen to see if the fit is OK before I do any more work on the finishing.

 

May 2003

There is some metal moth in the left hand screen pillar that will have to be cut out, and the main top panel has been cut back to the cab seam. The four images below show the work in progress. Cutting the donor panel will be left until the main cab is fully repaired, even so I might have to separate the roof and header sections of the donor panel to get room to re-make the main cab roof joint.

The header panel is a bit of a disaster, top edge of screen landing is totally gone and whole section will need to be replaced, including cutting into the screen pillars - ouch