Picked up a new-to-me truck today. It’s a 1956 Dodge C3-B6 truck. I’ve been looking out for an 1950s American truck for a couple years now, finding the right one with decent condition, and right price was a bit of a goose chase.
Power on
Currently, it doesn’t run. It powers on, but does not start with a solenoid appearing to be stuck.
Money and taxes
I’ve started the expensive process of looking for parts, and books to learn what I’m actually looking at. By October 1st I need to get it running, new tires, and make sure the lights work so Colorado State Patrol can do a VIN verification. I bought this truck without a title (it was lost), so I get to do the governmental dance to get it correctly titled/registered to me. It should cost around $70 to get this all titled to me; registration estimated at around $100.
Rust
Cars of this vintage will likely have some rust. Luckily it’s spent its entire life in Colorado with a single owner. However, since 1984 it’s been sitting in a field so there’s some rust where you’d expect. The running boards have a tad bit of rust, the frame has a lot but nothing appears to be impacting the structural elements of it.
A big task will be fixing the bed of the truck. The floor was rotted and the last owner removed the rotted wood. The metal components that go into the bed will need to be fully sand blasted, and/or remanufactured.
Goals
In the end I’m looking to keep this as original as possible. That said, in the case that the part is impossible to find (already hitting this) or cost prohibitive I’ll look for “in style” pieces to complete the project.
Exterior Color
I am looking to do two tone, similar to this:
However, instead of red I’m going with a dark green and cream combo like this:
Interior Finishes
I am looking to do a fair bit of leather for the fabrics of the car. With stitched leather on the seat I’d like to carry that into the door side panels, and the roof liner.
Additionally, I’ll likely do the cream color on the upper components of the cab (matching the height from the outside) and do the green or black on the lower components depending on location.
What is in a name?
Honestly, my (5 year old) son is sad that this is not either a convertible, nor has a second row. Given his disappointment I gave him naming rights on the truck. We’ve had some un-spellable/silly options, but at least for today have settled on “Johnny”, so that’s a good start. – Also the cheapest fix I have made yet, or likely will make on this project