New project 58 Sweptside

[Ron in Indiana]

Ok I know it's not 4 wheel drive but it's still a Power Giant series truck. I'm working on rebuilding a 58 Sweptside and wanted to pass along my link to pictures of the project. The truck itself is in pretty good shape outside of the rear fenders being rusted out. From what I've seen this is a common problem with these trucks. A little rust protection would have gone a long way back in the day. Take a look http://imageevent.com/ron55/1958dodg...970fei3.frog_s It's going to be a sweet ride when it's done. This one belongs to the same owner as the 58 Town Wagon I restored.

[W_A_Watson_II]

Your amazing work just keeps doing amazing things. Looking great!

[JReed]

Wow. Can't believe you tackled that. That bedside looks awesome. A lot of hand forming, a lot of skilled work... i can appreciate it.
It's a really strange bed. Never realized that those finned swept sides were built that way... just a station wagon side attached to the the typical bed side. Can't believe Dodge actually made um that way.

[Ron in Indiana]

I figured I didn't have anything to lose by trying a challenge like this one. I made profile templates from the other side to make sure I kept everything in place as I went along. That's the 40+ years of carpenter in me, measure twice cut once. I measured more than twice on most of it though. Thanks guys for the comments.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

Ron, that is incredible. I cannot imagine the time, and effort you have in that it is. Coming along beautifully. Thank you so much for sharing it with all of us.

[The Other Ross]

Thank s for this great work.

[Andydodgegeek]

Incredible work Ron. Looking forward to seeing more of this thing.

[318cu.in.]

Amazing work - both body work and album

Thanks for the detailed album, Ron. Very interesting. Provides a good idea of all the effort and care you invest in a restoration.

[Ron in Indiana]

Thanks guys I tell people I paid attention in in English Comp class. LOL I figure with the variety of people who will see the albums the least I can do is add a commentary for those who may not know what they're seeing. It's been a challenging project with reforming the 1/4 panels but I'm past that now. Just filling and sanding on the second side now. The rest of the sheet metal is blasted and mostly in primer. A lot of block sanding lies ahead but it's all part of the process. The engine is rebuilt and ready for pick up this week. I'll add pictures this week too.

[horace]

What color will the 58 be? There's a red Dodge truck Red & white on the last cover of WPC NEWS My dad got to sell 2 of these trucks new a 57 & 58 .

[Ron in Indiana]

What color will the 58 be? There's a red Dodge truck Red & white on the last cover of WPC NEWS My dad got to sell 2 of these trucks new a 57 & 58 .

The truck will be returned to original colors of Sahara Beige and Valley Green. I've searched on the net and have seen most of the color combos but not like this truck. It will have a number of options like the 58 Town Wagon I rebuilt for the same owner.

[75Crew]

Ron this is a really nice restoration you are doing. My first truck was a '58 Dodge D100 with a utiline bed. It had a 318 with a "3-on-the-tree" O/D transmission and boy would it run. The only trouble was, I would have to add a quart of oil when the fuel tank was 1/2 empty and another when it needed a fuel fill-up. I used to change out the spark plugs on a regular basis due to fouling. My Dad owned a service shop and I would get plugs that he would take out of other vehicles when he did a tune-up and put them in my Dodge truck. I remember for my 17th birthday, he bought me a new set of plugs and I was thrilled. It was the first set of new plugs I ever owned. Good times. Can't wait to see how this truck looks when you finish it!