1926 Graham Brothers/Dodge Fire Truck

[Guest Dick Doan]

I bought a 26 Graham truck about 2-1/2 years ago. It has a Prospect Fire Equipment body, "Deluge" rotary pump, & 2 chemical tanks.

It was owned by the Paoli, Indiana VFW from about 1962 until I bought it. I have not been able to determine what fire department it served.

The body is pretty good, but the wooden tailboard needs to be replaced. The VFW had the engine & tranny replaced with a early 1970s Toyota set. The engine & tranny, which they removed, was included with the deal. The old engine is 4 cylinder, overhead valve, with a cast valve cover that says Morton and Brett, Indianapolis, Ind. I have not been able to determine if this was the original engine & tranny or if it was an earlier repowering. I also don't know the condition of the old set. The starter/generator is Northeastern.

I'm new to antique trucks, and just found this site tonight. I'm just an old firefighter, who had his first heart stent put the end of June. Please help me to gather information. I would like to rebuild & reinstall the old engine & tranny, if they are original.

Dick Doan dd@firehousemail.com

[nearchoclatetown]

Dick, welcome to this forum. The head would not be original to the engine, was probably added because it is a firetruck. The original head would have been a flathead.

[Guest alex_houston]

I have never heard of any of the early 20s Dodge Brothers trucks, or should I say Grahm Brothers trucks, with an overhead valve engine. DB did not make truck bodies.

Note "Dodge" did not exist until the early 30s.

You may want to look into the "Dodge Brothers" web site for much more help.

There is a "Romar" chat room on Tuesday nights where you can discuss with other Dodge Brothers owners as well as with Vern Barker, owner of Romar, a machine shop specializing in restoration of Dodge Brothers vehicles and sells much DB parts.

[keiser31]

alex_houston: Actually, Dodge started in 1914. They were "Dodge Brothers" from 1914 to 1938. Chrysler bought Dodge Brothers in 1928.

[jan arnett (2)]

The OHV head was added to increase the power of the truck. It could have been added when the fire truck was built or added later by the fire department. The OHV head is a nice accessory to have with the truck and can be removed if it is bad. You have a nice and rare truck. There is a fire engine club that I used to belong to called the ding a lings. As was said earlier Dodge/Graham would have built the chasis and then the body builder would have added the fire truck body. try this link to a local club who should be able to help you.

http://www.spaamfaa.org/

Lots of luck.

Jan

[jan arnett (2)]

I should have said that the original motor is the same motor as you will find in and automobile. If you want to sell the head I would be interested for my truck. Since you are in Ind. you might want to visit the cincinati fire museum and the next local muster which normally has a flea market.

Jan

[Steve Hagy]

There are many photos of Prospect built fire apparatus in the Youngstown Fire Forums at: Prospect Fire Apparatus Topic .

There is also an article written about Prospect on the SPAAMFAA web site at: http://www.spaamfaa.org/prospect.htm

Steve

[Guest Dick Doan]

Does anyone know where I can get wheel (lug) bolts and nuts for the 26 Graham Brothers Chemical Engine pictures in my original post? They have a carriage bolt type head, oval shaped shoulder under the head. There is also a shoulder near the inward end of the threads. The shoulders keep the bolts from squeezing the rims too close together.

[Bob Scafani]

here is a photo of my Morton Brett engine that was published years ago. The engine is being rebuilt now to run at Bonneville