Grandfather's 1936 Dodge D2

My wife’s grandfather parked his 1936 Dodge D2 about 10 years ago, when the engine was starting to act up. His mechanic friend offered to fix it. The mechanic rebuilt the carburetor and removed the exhaust manifold and fuel pump. The car shop was closed before the project was completed, and the car was towed back to my in-law’s and parked in the garage with the parts (less the fuel pump) in the back seat.

This year, my wife and I moved closer to my in-laws, and they decided they want to drive the car, or get rid of it. I don’t have the garage space to take the car, so I’m working on making the car drivable for my wife’s grandfather.

As any classic car that has been in a family a long time, the exact details of what has been fixed/replaced/changed on the car is a little foggy, but to the best of my knowledge, here is the car’s history:

My wife’s great grandfather was a mechanic and car dealer in the 1930’s. He sold this car (new) to a woman in 1936 and bought it back from her in approximately 1950 and then drove it until his death in 1963. My wife’s grandfather (current owner) took ownership of the car. From the 1960’s – 1990’s various family members drove the car. My wife’s grandfather and my father in law rebuilt the engine, repainted the car, and re-upholstered the interior. It was my father in law’s highs school and college car.

As most family members were mechanically inclined, they have made several modifications to the car that I do not believe are original. The modification that stands out to me is that turn signals have been added to the rear end of the vehicle.

The current goal for this car is to make it drivable, not to make it a museum piece. I’ll do my best to keep as much as possible original, despite the modifications that have been made already.

I’ve been acquiring the missing pieces over the last couple of months, and have the following game plan: Reattach manifold, install new fuel pump, drain/replace coolant, oil, gas, new tires and battery.

We’re hoping that since it was drivable when it was parked, that it won’t need anything else to make the engine start. Once this is done, I’ll assess what further work needs to be done. Any advice would be appreciated! My in-laws have really enjoyed watching me work on this car and are excited to see it run again. Maybe someday I’ll have the garage space and will get the car as my own. In the mean time, I enjoy having a project to work on.

That being said, can anyone provide advice on how to drain/clean the fuel system? I have a new fuel pump, so that won’t need any rebuilding. The carburetor (not the original carb) has already been rebuilt as well.

The garage that houses the car has a lot of other stuff in it, making it difficult to get good photos of the car itself, but I’ll upload some as soon as I can. Additionally, I travel a lot for work so my progress will be somewhat slow, but I thought you guys might enjoy seeing another 1936 Dodge D2 being brought back to life.

It is great to see another old Dodge being brought back to life. I have a D-2 as well and have owned it for a long time with very little progress lol. There are a LOT of people on this forum that are willing to help where they can so don't be shy about asking. Good luck and please keep us posted.

First thing I'd do is clear some space and push her out into the daylight so she can shine again, even if it's just to dust her off and get some better pics ...

Hey Bob,,, there's the grill you have been looking for

Your best bet in cleaning the fuel system, in my opinion, is to completely remove the old fuel lines and tank. Thoroughly inspect the inside of the tank for corrosion and loose rust, then either have it cleaned and recoated with a good tank sealant or have a new tank made. I'm not particularly fond of the tank sealants as there are too many variables that can cause failure but some have used them with good service. After repairing the tank, then replace all the fuel lines with new ones. They can be easily made from sections of modern brake lines. I would also check to see if the fuel sender is operational and that the float is still good. It has been suggested in previous threads to replace the old cork float with a modern plastic one to prevent future damage from the ethanol gasoline which can ruin rubber, cork and leather parts of the fuel system. I would also replace the short flexible fuel line that feeds the fuel pump with a modern lined hose to prevent the same damaging effects of the fuel on the old rubber lines. Small pieces of rubber can break away and plug up the fuel pump and swelling in the line can cause fuel restriction. it's also a good idea to find a good Stromberg EXV-2 carb, which is original to the car, so you get the maximum performance from your engine. They are available and are usually well priced. I had a new fuel tank made for my '36 at a neighborhood tinsmith shop. Looks and fits like new! Good luck in your project and if you need help ,parts or have any questions please do not hesitate to PM me . Do you have any idea why they replaced the original horns with the ones on the firewall?

This looks to be a nice complete Dodge and yes, it does have the grill I am needing LOL.

Bob

Welcome Dude,

Its always good to see another 36 on the road again. Enjoy!

What are you asking for it and when can I pick it up??................

Thanks for the complements and advice! I'm hoping to get it out of the garage soon, but work will consume a majority of my time starting in January, so I don't have high hopes for getting a lot of wrench turning done between January and April. That being said, last week I installed a new fuel pump and am in the process of reattaching the exhaust manifold. Jpage, I appreciate the fuel system advice as that and flushing other fluids will be my next step. I was not aware that the horns are not original, but I'm not surprised. As family members have taken turns driving the car since the 50's they have made modifications to the car. I'll have to look around the forum for a picture of original horns to see what the difference is. If anyone has a picture, feel free to upload it!

Another question: I put the car on jack stands and removed the front passenger tire to access the fuel pump. When I took off the tire I noticed there was no panel covering the engine block behind the wheel. Shouldn't there be a panel that goes on here? If so, I'm guessing my best bet is to find someone parting out a similar car to get a replacement?

Thanks for the complements and advice! I'm hoping to get it out of the garage soon, but work will consume a majority of my time starting in January, so I don't have high hopes for getting a lot of wrench turning done between January and April. That being said, last week I installed a new fuel pump and am in the process of reattaching the exhaust manifold. Jpage, I appreciate the fuel system advice as that and flushing other fluids will be my next step. I was not aware that the horns are not original, but I'm not surprised. As family members have taken turns driving the car since the 50's they have made modifications to the car. I'll have to look around the forum for a picture of original horns to see what the difference is. If anyone has a picture, feel free to upload it!

Another question: I put the car on jack stands and removed the front passenger tire to access the fuel pump. When I took off the tire I noticed there was no panel covering the engine block behind the wheel. Shouldn't there be a panel that goes on here? If so, I'm guessing my best bet is to find someone parting out a similar car to get a replacement?

I may have a set......

There should be an inner panel on the right side that looks like the one on the left. The left panel is welded to the fender but the right side is fastened with bolts so as to gain more access to the valve lifter covers. This panel should be readily available. Someone probably just left it off as it may have been too much work to re-install it. The horns mount on brackets fastened to the front fender and radiator supports. They are a trumpet style horn with about a 7 in long trumpet and are located behind the horn grilles on the front catwalks below the headlamps. Standard equip. was one horn but many buyers opted for the accessory dual horn package. All the cars I have had the dual horns. Like the dual tailamps, I suppose that these options might have been factory installed for safety purposes much like the factory included options today. The horns are made in left and right side and one is high tone and the other low tone. I think the left horn has a short wire lead and the right has a longer lead. They are quite loud too! This is a left panel but the right looks the same.

Hard to believe it's been several years since I last posted - No progress made on this 1936 Dodge during that time but I'm looking to trailer and tow it 500 miles in April 2018.  Does anyone know if a uhaul trailer works for these old cars?  Other recommendations for renting a trailer/towing?

I rented one of their car trailers to bring mine home.  No issues.

UHaul trailers are good and reasonable to rent. Make sure that the vehicle that you plan to tow with is rated for the trailer and vehicle weight.  Otherwise UHaul won't rent the trailer to you.

Agree with JayG's comment about UHaul not being willing to rent the trailers if the tow vehicle doesn't have the power/brakes to handle the towed load, which is just good sense for all concerned.  I have towed all of my 34 Mopars at one time or another on UHaul car trailers without problem.  You might figure out what weighs about the same as your 36 but is more recent vintage because they have in the past asked me what I was towing and their book doesn't go back into the 30s.  I also always bring a couple of extra tie-down straps with a ratchet.  While they have front wheel straps and chains for the rear end, a little extra security helps.  When I towed my 34 Dodge coupe a couple of years ago  I used the straps to  pull the rear down tight, which kept it from working on the Dodge suspension (since it is already on the trailer suspension) and the tow, down twisty Pacific Coast Highway in Northern California, was a lot smoother.  Final note:  they have stopped putting winches on the front of these trailers, even the hand-crank type, so make sure you have some extra bodies to push your truck up on the trailer if it is not running.  Bottom line, UHaul has always been an easy, efficient way to get my cars around when they needed to be trailered. 

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I work at a shop that does UHaul rentals as a small side business.  In UHaul terminology what you're looking for is an "auto transport" so that might eliminate some confusion.  I've used them several times and they work quite well.  As Scott notes they do lack a winch so a non-running car can be difficult to load.

As a relatively new D2 owner myself I'm interested to hear more about your car.  I can't tell from your pics which body style it has.

It's so easy to let large chunks of time pass between sessions with my Dodge.  And having it in a cramped, unheated garage during a cold winter doesn't help.  But spring is near and I'm looking forward to making some significant progress on mine this year.

Where are you located?

Relocating the car tomorrow. Discovered the ignition key had gone missing over the past 10+ years.Does anyone have a solution for this? Locksmith? Contact Dodge (the car is 82 years old, I doubt they know what the key would look like to replicate it). 

We turned a lot of heads and sure did slow down traffic while loading the dodge today. Hoping to get wrench turning on this beaut soon and can at least get it fired up. My wife would love to cruise in it and her family is excited to see someone showing it love again. 

Nice looking car, wish mine were in that good of shape! I see that it has been adapted to sealed beam headlamps and has had a repaint sometime in its life.The fender lights are an add on, non factory. Looks like a good buy. If you have any questions or need parts don't hesitate to PM me.

Make certain you secure that VERY RARE crank hole cover onto the grille. If you lose it, you will have a very tough time finding a reasonably priced one (IF you can ever find another).

It has already been wired to the rest of the grille and is secure. Thanks for the advice!

Still can't tell what body style it is from the pics.  Almost certainly a touring sedan (hump trunk out back) but you never know!  Good luck and I hope we both make some progress on our D2s soon.

Great looking solid car. It likely won't take much to get it running again. These are pretty simple engines and reliable when serviced.  Get it cranking over, then a compression test is due. Go from there based on compression results. Lots more to go but that's a good base.

10 hours ago, Pete in PA said:

Still can't tell what body style it is from the pics.  Almost certainly a touring sedan (hump trunk out back) but you never know!  Good luck and I hope we both make some progress on our D2s soon.

It is a hump trunk

10 hours ago, Pete in PA said:

Still can't tell what body style it is from the pics.  Almost certainly a touring sedan (hump trunk out back) but you never know!  Good luck and I hope we both make some progress on our D2s soon.

+1 for calling a touring sedan!

7 minutes ago, 36DodgeDude said:

It is a hump trunk

Back in the day they were marketed by Chrysler corporation as "touring sedans" if they had the trunk. If no trunk then they were simply "sedans". Ones with no trunk are sometimes called slope back nowadays.

Cool car.

Okay, four door touring sedan it is.

FYI: Of the 265,000 1936 D2s built, the vast majority (over 174,000) were four door touring sedans.  Second most popular was the two door touring sedan with about 37,500 built, third most popular was the two door business coupe with about 33,000 built.  Of the 8 remaining body styles the four door non-touring sedan sold about 6000 units (I have one of these) and after that production for the remaining body styles plummeted.  Of the remaining 7 styles, 5 sold less than 2000 unit each.

While it has had a repaint, the two tone style my have been somewhat close to the original. Solid colors were the norm, but new colors and two tone styles were marketed in the spring to freshen up the line. 

I have never seen any reference to '36 Dodges being painted in 2 tone colors. Many '36 Plymouths came from the factory with black fenders as standard but solid body options were available. All info I've seen shows only solid paint combos for '36 Dodge but I would imagine that options could be had for extra cost. If fenders were any other color, it probably would have been black. Dodge did offer "Spring" colors for awhile but they were mostly for the east coast area. Color choices were fairly limited for '36 Dodges. Some wheel accent colors did have some options but very few.

1 hour ago, jpage said:

I have never seen any reference to '36 Dodges being painted in 2 tone colors. Many '36 Plymouths came from the factory with black fenders as standard but solid body options were available. All info I've seen shows only solid paint combos for '36 Dodge but I would imagine that options could be had for extra cost. If fenders were any other color, it probably would have been black. Dodge did offer "Spring" colors for awhile but they were mostly for the east coast area. Color choices were fairly limited for '36 Dodges. Some wheel accent colors did have some options but very few.

I'm sorry that I've never kept any photos of them. They are rare -- probably because they aren't very attractive at all. Tan with brown fenders was one and another was a not very compatible two shades of green. I bought my first '36 Dodge forty eight years ago, so I know these cars pretty well.

Here are some colour charts.

More here perhaps:

http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/chipdisplay.cgi?year=1936&manuf=Chrysler&smodel=DeSoto&info=&page=7

This dodge was originally gold. It was repainted by my father in law who drove the car as his high school/ college car. In some places the newer layer of paint has chipped and you can see the gold. I'll snap a picture next time I'm at the shop. 

Dodge Dudes car was probably painted in the Golden Beige Metallic color which, by all indications, was a gold/bronze color;  there was , I believe, a '37 on the forum for sale that was painted in a similar color. I have never seen that color in person on an original or repaint. I really like to see some color factory photos or factory references of any '36 Dodge 2 tone paint jobs. I have seen one restoration that has 2 tone paint , notably a convertible sedan in tan with root beer colored metallic fenders but those colors don't show up on any of the paint charts but there might have been variances that may or may not have been documented or cars that were repainted by dealers upon customer request, which to me would seem unlikely given the depression. So many mysteries, so little info!