Tom & Ken's 1942 Dodge

This truck started out as a parts truck for the 1947 Dodge 1-Ton Tow Truck we were going to "refurbish". When we got all done POWERWASHING it, we decided that it would be better for us to fix it up instead.

Even though we guess we've been working on it off and on for about five years, I am completely amazed at how many people who have told us that they would never have the patience to do what we did. Our response to them always is... If it starts getting to you, then just put it aside and come back to it later. This truck has been around for 58 years, a few more weeks or so won't hurt.

Probably the hardest part is finding all the parts. If it was a Ford or a Chevy, we'd just open up a J.C.Whitney Catalog (1-800-J C WHITNEY) and fill in the order form. No Such Luck.

But that's O.K. We've gone to countless Swap-Meets, Junk-Yards, and met many new & interesting people, all in the Father & Son Quest For '39-'47 Dodge Truck Parts. At Swap-Meets he would generally pull the cart while I wore a Sandwich-Board Sign, (Flouresent PINK ! ) that said "WANTED '39-'47 Dodge Truck Parts" with a list of what we needed.

You might not believe the amount of great people who would come up to us out of nowhere and say, "Hey I know a guy who has this-and-that for your truck, or someone else would ask us if we wanted a 19** So-and-So truck for cheap or even sometimes free. We've gotten so many leads this way that I even had to put together a 3"x5" Filing Card System of Parts, Vehicles, Junkyards, People, ETC.

Some of the "Junkyards" we've found were adventures in themselves. Jim House Towing, in Clatskanie Oregon has more older classics than some yards I've seen as a kid. Then there's Howards Wrecking Yard in Underwood Washington, where there are Studebaker Commanders, '39 Ford P.U. and a FEW Dodge Trucks. (It seems that no matter how many great cars & trucks there are in all the yards we saw, not many had more than a few Dodge Trucks.

But that's O.K. too. It seems that my Vocation as a Sheet Metal Worker really comes in handy. When we finally found a pair of great Running Boards, it wasn't untill we got the bed on later that we found out that they were 3" to long....(To long is not a problem for me.) Now they fit PERFECTLY ! When we counted 30-40 unwanted holes in the bed, No Problem ! (Again.)

Some of the modifications/repairs include, (Front End) cutting back the frame, filling in the grille, adding "Frenched Stainless Steel Turn Signals and License Plate Box" Smoothing all holes used to mount stock Grill Trim....(Middle) Completely rebuilding the rear bottoms of the front fenders where the running boards tuck under them, compound radius involved there... Fabricating new filler panels between the bed & the running boards... Fabrication of "front of bed panel" which was tricky because of the 360 degree roll on the top...(Rear) Cleaning up all the bed pockets, the rear ones were pretty chewed up.... Capped the ends of the Bed Rails... Did anybody notice the Hidden Tail gate Hindges in the later photo's??... Designed the rear roll pan which incorperates "Recessed Tail-Lights, Illuminated Licence Plate Box, & Recessed 2 1/2" Dual Exhaust for when we drop in a Small Block (Or maybe a 440 HEMI?)


I'm also finally starting to learn how to PINSTRIPE. It's not really all that hard... Just takes a lot of practice and the right tools... (Sound Familiar???)

All in all there are a whole lot more things that I could say here, but there are a "few things" that we still want to do to the old truck before we're "done"...

With that said, we'll get back to work on the '42 and we'll try to keep everyone informed of the progress.....

Please let me know if there are any questions I/we can answer for anyone.
Thank You.