dodge postal motor

hi all,

i just found this forum. I thought i would show you guys my project. It is a dodge railcar built for the victorian railways. It is currently being restored at the daylesford spa country railway in daylesford, victoria, australia.

www.dscr.com

brad

Cool railcar! Looks to be a 1936 LE series front end.

That is correct, the chassie was built in canada. They were imported to victoria and shipped to the south australian railway workshops. the bodies were built locally.

This is the last surviving example as only six were built.

this one is numbered rm74 (ie railmotor no.74)

brad

Where did the rim come from. There was a Model T that had been modified by Ford for their railroad at the National Model T meet this summer. Nice opertion.

the rims/wheels are steel. they were made at the railway workshops in south australia. the front end has been modified. there is no steering. so the driver sits in the vehical without a steering wheel.

Are the steel "tires" held on with rivets or bolts, I can't tell by the picture? Very interesting vehicle.

the tires are held with bolts. they are hollow. two plates bolt to the hub, there is then a ring of bolts between them and the tire. and yes it is correct to call them a tire.

they are heavy but should make for a smooth ride on rails.

Be very careful with those grille bars. I looked unsuccesfully for years before hand fabricating the bars for my 36 LE31. Very interesting vehicle. Good luck.

the grill is no good, i fear either a long look or i will make one up myself. half the grill is missing. This vehical was in a very poor state when i started. all the wood in the frame was replaced and as it was a hand built car to begin with. all i had was the old timber as patterns. has taken around a decade of weekends so far. The worst thing is that the car had lived outside for 30 years or so in salt air, when it was brought up to daylesford slings for the crane went over the body. when the car was lifted the whole body was streched out of wack. this was before my time of coarse.

but all that has been fixed, the only piece of original timber is a piece above the windscreen wiper motor. as people probable know these cars had nothing but curved timber.

brad

and sorry to, i added the wrong link

try

www.dscr.com.au

heres a few more pics. i'll scan some oldies at some stage showing the car befor i started. these ive taken with my digital camera. The real old photo is taken is a museum were is sat for some time. The current state is far more advenced than these photos. i took these about 3 years ago.

brad

Brad,

Do u know who made the body. Holden, T. J. Richards or the railways?

Looks like a great job you are doing.

Cheers,

Manuel in Oz

yes tj richards got the contract for the bodies. all the mechanical modifications were done by the south australian railways.

i brought some more pics in to scan, hope to post later today

brad

Hi Brad, Wow what a project! I admire blokes like you who take on the super rare, super hard, and more importantly, the super important vehicles to preserve.

Anyone can restore an everyday car but few have the heart to tackle something unusual and possibly worth little in $ terms to the average bloke.

I helped a mate restore a 1947 Fargo semi trailer caravan over a 10 year period that took up 5 yrs worth of Saturdays. Only one was ever built and now it's alive again for allto see. I feel that I have acheived something worthwhile in my life by being a part of it's restoration. You will too.

Try the Chrysler resorers club of Australia for parts and help.

Good luck mate

Graham Bailey

That is how the 1936 LE series was styled. 1935 look from the radiator shell back.

I agree with keiser's pictures of hood sides--larger trucks had vertical slots, that's the way mine is. Pickups and light deliveries had horizontal trim. Elmhurst---I still have forms to bend grille bars if you get to that point that you are going to make a new grille. Let me know if you want some help. Attached are some pics of my truck.

Wow! What a GORGEOUS dump truck. Did you do that yourself and if you did, BEAUTIFUL!! Love the fender mounted turn signals.

Thanks Keiser for the kind words. Yes I did the restoration except for seat covers and engine machine work. Took two parts trucks and 3 1/2 years to do it. I rebuilt the Penn Body dump bed using all new steel bent to the original dimensions. I bought the turn signals at the Hershey show in the pouring down rain a number of years ago. They have arrow cutouts in front and back--Plastic behind cutouts shines yellow in frt and red in back.

hi all,

i got some photo's

i have spent the past 4 days preping and painting the first coat. needs a few more coats but it looks good.

i'm not sure how the dodge left the factory. the body does have welds though the middle of the body with a 4 inch section inserted. i would say that everything bar the bonnet and the radiator housing was built by hand locally.

thankyou to ed joyce i am very interested in the jigs to make the grill.

the posted pics were taken today.

the image from the rear looks a little out for some reason near the rear window on the right. it isn't.

brad

Brad,

My Richards firewall looks the same as yours.

There weren't any ID tags on my car [a KC] when I got it and there doesn't appear to be any holes for them.

There is a TJR tag on the floor tho.

Manuel in Oz

there is no tags on the firewall other than the tjr. i have two little brass tags from richards. there are about 1"x1.5" in size. they were located above the running boards on the barge boards(the main chassie timber) in the 3 door.

there is no series number or anything. i do think however that the railway has that info somewhere. i will try to find out. The good victorian railways wrote down everything.

brad

If the frame has not been altered then the original serial number should still exist stamped into the left frame cheek just aft of the left front spring's rear shackle and just above the bottom edge of the frame face. It will be numbers about 1" high and there will be 7 numbers stringing out about 6". If it was Canadian production the number will start with a 9 and be 9XXXXXX in other words 9 million something. In Canada and the U.S. you would need this number to put it on the road.

ok, i will look next time i'm at daylesford. that part of the chassie is still there.

brad

brad,

Just noticed this on eBay. It's not in great shape, but looks like lots more is there than on yours.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1936-dodge-brothers-grille-hot-rat-rod-gasser-cool_W0QQitemZ180322232250QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item180322232250&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

Hmm, that's a long url, the ebay auction number is:

180322232250

Right now it's at $75 US

good luck!

David D.

PS, your grill and hood look exactly like what I remember on our family's '36 Dodge Truck 1-ton with pickup bed (had 20" Budd wheels--sad story why it's still not in the family).

I saw that on ebay. Unfortunately if you try and staighten those thin sheet metal bars they will probably crack and break. About the only restorable thing on that is the shell. Attached is a couple pictures of the one I made.

Ed,

That looks fantastic. Wish I could find a pic of our old '36--but they're somewhere in storage--film--remember that stuff??

David D.

hi all.

here is a link to my blog.

i have updated it recently with a few pictures of some recent happenings on the dodge.

brad

http://rm74workings.blogspot.com/

hi all.

have been busy on the dodge.

have started in the radiator surrounds. i redid the rivets and have repaired

a crack in the base. i havn't come accross a decent grill so i will probably make a new one.

also does anyone have a photo of the dash with instraments, i have to start thinking about all the switches etc.

brad

Update on this project.

BTTT

i do have one question. the dodge is an LE 30, the front shackles are missing, the tapered pins in the chassis are badly worn

are the pins pressed in? or are they part of the casting that is riveted on the chassis?

i have attached an image from the parts book (part 1 is the part)

The pins press in.  These are Tryon Shackles and a bit of a pain to find these days.

If you can find a NOS set, they look like this fresh out of the box.  You press out the old pins and press in the new ones.  The oval shaped springs set the correct tension on the shackle.

My 32 Dodge Brothers uses the same shackles.

Thanks for that taylormade. Most helpful.

Is there a a supplier that makes a modern same type of part?

There is some that look close supplied by fcrc.

Thanks for that taylormade. Most helpful.

Is there a a supplier that makes a modern same type of part?

There is some that look close supplied by fcrc.

Some of those look close, but the diameter of the pin has to be correct.  I had no luck finding any of these when I had my 29 Plymouth Model U, and I discovered that shackles from an early Chevrolet would fit, although they didn't look original.  The ones on my Dodge are in excellent shape so I escaped the problem.  You may have to do some adapting to make things work.  I found on the Plymouth that not only were the pins worn into an oval shape, but that the two cast sides were also worn and the holes had enlarged to the point they had to be replaced.

You might try advertising in the Buy and Sell threads.  Best of luck.

I have used ones on trucks in the yard. Let me know.

thankyou countrytravler, i have sent an email

regards

Got your email. Need diameter and size from the arrows if possible.

Thanks

Dave

An image i took today.