Words & Photos: Tommy Parry
When Matt came upon this ‘35 Dodge, he was smitten; he wrote a check within minutes. It was a functional, roofless roller, but the body was clean and there wasn’t much in the way of rust. Check. The strong baseline gave him plenty of confidence – which he’d need, seeing as this was his first major first build. He loved the classic lines of the Dodge, and though he didn’t have much experience with hot rods, he couldn’t say no.
Undaunted and helped on by his friend, soon the cab was off the frame, and he started rebuilding the drums. Next he built the panhard bar, mounted the steering box and crafted a frame for the radiator. After building his headlight brackets, Matt rebuilt his carburetors and braced the Z while touching up the frame.
With the front end assembled and the radiator mounted, Matt mocked up the roof from a ‘41 Dodge before bringing out the blue tape to outline an 8” chop. Considering this was Matt’s first build, he was remarkably productive; he made all that headway over one spring break. Naturally, the a-pillars and doors didn’t align neatly, and Matt spent a good deal of time tweaking after his vacation ended.
Thankfully, Matt could put his metalworking skills to use when he built new door hinges. With the doors aligned, he started prepping the window frame for glass.
Matt added a plate to the roof where a seam had left an unsightly dip. Admittedly, he wasn’t too thrilled with the metalwork and committed himself to grinding out some of the seams, but he had given the truck some Mad Max-style bandages to add a little menace. Next, he set the bed down and tacked it in place, then moved back to the cabin with some metal that would serve as a floor. After framing the floor, Matt breezed through, installing the brake and clutch pedals – pretty impressive for a first-timer. Making the hump to accommodate the transmission was trickier; it required a few bends and relief cuts.
At the back end, Matt remade the tailgate brackets and then mounted the gas tank in the right place.
It wasn’t warm and welcoming yet, but he had a few plans for an interior – when he could get time away from his schooling. With a hefty wheel and a steering column chopped 2.5”, there was plenty of space despite the 8” chop off the top.
With the bed and cab coming along smoothly, Matt mounted the motor – the original 237 Flathead six with a three-speed. The motor ran smoothly and soundly, and since the car was intended to be shown and not run the drag strip, there was more than enough power for his purposes. Matt wanted to keep with the car’s original DNA, and he also wanted to keep the costs to a minimum, so he opted for plenty of simple, standard pieces.
The exterior wasn’t so smooth – so Matt took five cans of WD40 to make it semi-shiny. With a few planks laid down in the bed, some lettering on the doors, red paint on the wheels and some buffing so he could see his reflection in the doors, the bed and the whitewall tires, he had his beauty. Not bad for a first-timer, eh?
