So I finally bought it: 1955 E12

[kurtruk]

Good luck with it. You don't find them in that condition around here (even 30 years ago). Your towing pickup also appears to be an antique without rust.

My Dad bought the Dodge brand new. Never been garaged a day in it's life in Central California. Not great paint in that era, and he washed it a lot. So a little rust showing through the paint.

[kurtruk]

After studying your pictures closely it looks like your rust problems are minor. I was lucky that my truck came from further south in California (by way of Mississippi), but I would have bought one like that. I think you will find that the original color was a bit less gray than Bell Telephone green.

There's Bondo covering it in many of the usual places on the body.

[jclary]

There's Bondo covering it in many of the usual places on the body.

Depending upon the “Bondo” (body filler) used, and the technique employed, your approach to deal with that should be carefully considered. It is OK to keep the vehicle in it’s current “warrior” appearance (I hate the term rat-rod unless it a truly contrived heap), but if the bondo repairs were old-school with the bondo applied to bare metal you will probably want to remove it and upgrade the repairs. That will mean either welding, replacing, and working the bare metal areas, then applying a quality epoxy primer over the exposed metal and then body filler before final priming and paint.

If you do any metal repairs by overlapping new patches over slightly rusted areas, just make sure to use some of the better (POR15?) rust converter products and seal the patch thoroughly with a quality undercoat material.

The purpose is to deny oxygen to the metal substrate. When done properly, no oxygen means no more rusting. It sounds daunting to the inexperienced, but with some patient calm spare time slogging along...it can be accomplished by targeting specific areas, stick with it, and learn as you go. Do the least visible and smaller areas first, and by the time you get to more visible cosmetic areas (fenders/door skins, etc.) you will have more experience & confidence in your abilities.

You may already be up to speed on the techniques, but others might benefit from the information. Also, for tooling, there are some excellent bench-top wire feed welders available that will serve the backyard hobbyist well. Lincoln, Hobart, Northern Tool and even Harbor Freight have them at reasonable prices. I bought mine over two decades ago, but they are even more available today and can be found used even cheaper. I just hope you don’t get discouraged, enjoy the truck and I look forward to you sharing the project with future posts.

[52-fan]

My Dad bought the Dodge brand new. Never been garaged a day in it's life in Central California. Not great paint in that era, and he washed it a lot. So a little rust showing through the paint.

The paint then was pitiful. The clear coat on my 89 was already going away when we bought it 15 or so years ago. Most of the ones with good finishes have been repainted. They are good trucks though.

[Robert Crandall]

I like it! Nice truck and nice project. If you are able to keep it and your Champion indoors, then they will be available for whenever and whatever time you can spare for them. My 1949 1/2 ton sat for 25 years before I could do anything to it, but I do have it driveable now. My son has some interest in working on it. Somewhere on this forum there is a photo of him wiring the front turn signals for me. Learning to solder then helped him now. He is helping with some research at college, and because he already knew how to solder, he was allowed the task of soldering a circuit board together for the project. My daughter's interest is in driving it.

Regarding your dad's clutch, my experience may be of some help. I bought a new 1978 C20 with manual shift. I could not find what I wanted, so I ordered it. When it arrived, the clutch was as you describe. However, a few months later I heard a loud 'bang' from somewhere under the dash, and the clutch suddenly got very easy to use. When I got home to look I found that there were two springs on the pedal. The heavier of the two was dangling because one end of it had snapped off. I never replaced it. I do not know if the heavy operation is made to push the sale of automatic transmissions or to give the impression that a big heavy truck should have a hard to push pedal. I also put a lighter spring on my 2R5. Maybe something like a spring change will ease the use of your dad's clutch. I spent some time driving a tractor trailer. That had a big heavy clutch, but it was very easy to use.

Good luck with your project, and thanks for showing us!

[Studebaker Wheel]

May be of interest? Large poster size advertising. If interested can reproduce.

[RadioRoy]

A friend took a 3/4 ton, changed the axles and springs to those fronm a 1/2 ton, and he had a very nice riding truck when done

I can see changing the springs, but am puzzled about having to change the axles.

[PackardV8]

I can see changing the springs, but am puzzled about having to change the axles.

Roy, the 3/4-ton Timken or Dana 60 axle, 16" wheels with tube-type truck tires plus the larger brakes, are many pounds heavier than the 1/2-ton Dana 44 axle and 15" tubeless car tires. The lessened unsprung weight can definitely be felt. However, I much prefer my trucks to look like trucks, rather than the low-rider look of 15" low-profile car tires.

I've lived with mine for going on forty years, so it can be tolerable.

jack vines

[RadioRoy]

That makes sense. Thanks Jack.