You are looking at 30 years of dust! This 1949 Dodge pickup was parked in a Quonset hut on a farm in 1989 and was recently pulled from its resting spot and cleaned up. It can be found for sale here on eBay with a current bid of over $5,000. Located in Sidney, Nebraska, there isn’t a ton of information in the ad regarding the condition, but based on the photos I think we can at least make an educated guess as to the history of this old workhorse. Check it out.
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The ad is a little bit mysterious regarding the engine. Apparently the straight-six was rebuilt and painted around 1985. It was then loaned to someone for a parade before the engine was broken in. The ad states “…messed up number 1 cylinder not firing don’t know what the problem is but only runs on 5 cylinders.” Hopefully, this won’t be too bad of a fix, but you never know until you get into the project.
The interior appears fairly stock except for the fuzzy seat cover. I’m guessing this truck was subjected to an amateur restoration in the mid-80s when the engine work was done. The dash looks like it has been repainted the same as the body and the gauges look stock. Other than the brief mention of the issues with the engine, the only other mechanical information is that the breaks don’t work and one wheel is locked up.
Here is the truck after it was cleaned up. It’s always nice to see a “barn find” with some dusty photos and then a post-cleaning photo. The seller does say there is “no bad rust” on the body. Hopefully, their idea of “not bad” is the same as the buyers. Overall, this truck looks like a winner and a good candidate for further restoration. As long as the engine and brakes get sorted out, it could also be a decent driver. What do you think?
Nope. Box to long and engine problems.
Bring along your compression tester, do a quick check of the suspicious cylinder and make your offer accordingly.
I’d love to have this truck, my dad had one of these when he and my mom first got married. His was a 50 or 51 with a shorter box. These dodge trucks were tough trucks but not as popular as ford or gm, that’s why they are considerably more rare than there counterparts nice truck lots of potential.
Great find, but I wouldn’t waste my time and money on the current drivetrain. Adequate for 1949, but not for todays roads. I don’t think people realize how dangerous something like this would be at 70 mph. Straight axle front, brakes designed for 35 mph, flattie wound out tight. Probably what happened to the motor, on the way to the parade, someone had it to the floor. Again, great find, just not as is.
This looks like a great project truck! Throw a seat cover, ANY kind of seat cover (western saddle blanket would work great), over the blue velour, redo the door “cards” then pick a good power train/brake/suspension setup..but keep the original bits.
The seller indicates the #1 cylinder went sour when the borrower drove it at 45MPH-good call, Howard.
The right rear rim doesn’t match the rest, and it looks like it may have been set up as a dually-am I looking at this wrong?
$5900 and climbing as we read this!
It must be a 1980s thing “break” dancing 🕺🏼 in instead of just having brake problems listed 😎😏 Its a good chance the issue with engine cylinder can be remedied , but like the idea to check compression. I would bring an plug wire and spark plug . (Run the firing order too) Then if still an issue still check the distributer cap once compression works.
It must be a 1980s thing “break” dancing 🕺🏼 in instead of just having brake problems listed 😎😏 Its a good chance the issue with engine cylinder can be remedied , but like the idea to check compression. I would bring an plug wire and spark plug . (Run the firing order too) Then if still an issue still check the distributer cap once compression works.
Restoring a 53 half ton short box Dodge at the present time. I was going to back to original but parts to do so are much pricier than Chevys and Fords and my wife decided she loved the truck so that means new suspension with power steering, brakes etc. My first non Chevy restoration but I will go with a small cubic inch V/8 Mopar engine and trans.
I built a 48 1/2 ton 5 window in my 20s. These accept a Volare clip with 318 very well. I wish I still had that truck!
Nice old truck. Don’t think I have ever seen one.
These were almost as common out west as the Ford F-3 or the Chevy 3800. Lots of small farms used these for hauling grain. We had a Dodge 1-ton very close to this only it was a dually with a wooden box and a manual hoist. I eventually took the sides off and used the truck for a field service truck. That 217 engine was a surprisingly good performer. No trouble maintaining 50 mph, even with a good load.
We had a ‘51 Dodge 1-ton flatbed with a hydraulic gun-pole at work. It went without saying that it had been through the mill but it always came back for more. I remember one winter when it dropped to 30 below over a weekend. We needed the truck so we just drug it into the shop and parked it in the wash bay to thaw out. Everyone in the service department was doing their various tasks when there was a loud bang, accompanied by a metallic clanging from the wash bay. I went over to see what happened and saw the lid from the battery box lying on the floor. The top of the battery had been blown off and took the cover/piece of floor with it. Interesting enough the battery still started the engine just fine…
These old dodges were pretty darned reliable tough old vehicle generally way over built drive line wise. That little 230 ci L head engine was used in so many different applications it’s hard to believe. Great little 98 up “fluid power” ! I am currently restoring a 50 Power Wagon so needless to say I think I have seen the guts of every part of the truck, very solid good truck!
enough street rodding already.
leave this one mostly stock.
flattie 6s can be tweaked to keep up with flathead V-8s.
maybe a front disc brake upgrade + ring & pinion swap if you plan high speed driving.
Currently making one of these HEMI AWD. I say chop it up and make it fast.
If the owner was smart, he’d throw in a copy of John Jerome’s “Truck”.
If you haven’t heard about it, John writes about fixing up his 20 year old truck. A 1950 Dodge B Series just like the 49 above. It’s even blue!
If you look it up online, don’t be confused by the odd picture. The damn reprint company threw a red Chevy/GMC on the cover.
As for driving on the freeway, if you’re concerned, don’t. Take the scenic route and hit the highways instead.
Just looked at the pictures of this on Ebay, actually looks to be in good shape, body, bed, underside and curved rear glass, even battery box shows little to no corrosion. Dash looks good, checking in Kanter catalog shows engine rebuild, repair parts readily available and reasonable, probably at NAPA also. As far as driveabilty with this suspension and power train, it wouldn’t be great for interstate, but why would a person buy a classic old truck like this for a freeway driver anyway. If I was in better physical (and financial) shape this would be a reasonably priced fun truck to have in my garage.
You should have your “Barn Finds Card” revoked for typing “breaks” instead of “brakes”.
…ruined the entire article for me. :-(
I could not agree more. Grammar Police are alive and well.
Don’t you mean spelling police…? Even professional writers make a mistake once in a while. I really dislike the critics coming out to complain. You still knew what he meant nobodies perfect.
“Break” is a word that is spelled correctly, but in this case it is a malapropism.
“Philosopher Donald Davidson has said that malapropisms show the complex process through which the brain translates thoughts into language.”
Professional writers know that using words out of context, and incorrect punctuation can change the entire meaning and intent of a literary work or opus. This is where proof reading comes in. I wonder if we would even be here discussing this if the Ivy Mike instruction manuals didn’t have Grammar Police.
This ( break ) is still a miss spelling for the context of the sentence. So BR now your just splitting hairs or is it hares, nope it’s hairs. Because if we’re splitting hares it would be rather bloody. I guess you missed my point, and that’s not the type of point that can poke you and draw blood. So I’ll rephrase, I guess You missed what was meant by my comment. Please forgive any misspellings or grammatical errors that my have occurred in this comment, and BR/ BEAR lighten up.
Gimme a brake lol. Let’s git back to enjoying the cars & each others company & stop nit-picking grammer & spellin’!
Yup, I know I made mistakes here & I just don’t care, they were on purpose!