This is my other project: 1964 dodge a100 truck. Just like the Little Red Wagon, but slower. I've had this truck for many years and have enjoyed driving it around in it's beat up state. At some point a few years back I took it to my friend Evil Ed to do the body work on it. I think he undersold himself and asked too little for a huge job. So he got to a point and a couple years later and threw in the towel. The turn signals were crunched in and one side of the passengers wheel well was full of 5 inches of bondo. After fixing all that, ed worked his magic and he took it far, but alas it was too much and he gave it back to me. No big deal, he did a lot but it needed more to get it to a presentable state. So I had promised my other friend Radio Bob that he could paint it. Being that the body was not done, he said he would do that too. So far so good, this thing was a salvage title and it had been hit on every corner and side, a massive ding on four wheels. I guess I might add while this truck is being professionally done at much expense, my van (the other project on this page) is being done by me to learn from and to see if the dollars to doughnuts is worth it in the end. 

Antenna Hole filled.

Front of the truck with the headlight bezels, emblems, and grille removed. There was a bit of surface rust and that had to be dealt with first.

As you can see, this truck has led a hard life.

The post on the tail gate was crunched in and after trying to straighten it out, it made a weak pint that made the seam on the outside crack when we put body filler in it. We'll have to put some metal in here to strengthen the rear of the truck.

The body seam welded shut, we will fill this one for smother lines.

Progress!!! That was just in one day. Radio Bob (pictured) is a maniac!

Day 3.

I had left Radio Bob alone for a couple of days, coming by on a Friday night to see what he had done next.

Here's the offending rear member all buttoned up. Most cars get rear ended on the left side but this one was munched on the rightt. The blow had done some serious damage, making the tail gate ill-fitting as well as creating flex in the body that made the seams that we had previously filled in crack. Now, Radio Bob is a perfectionist and I am ok with cutting corners to get things done. I knew once I handed him the keys there would be no half-ass work being done. In the end it will be more expensive but the result will be longer lasting and better quality. So for me I'm learning that there is a big difference between a shade-tree body guy like myself and an old school professional like Radio Bob. I have a long way to go.

This rear quarter was so beat up and you couldn't get  a hammer in there due to the cars construction, Radio Bob just cut out the piece of metal so he could work on it on the bench. 

A little more tweaking and it should be a perfect fit. These trucks are unibody and they are made from some serious metal, in addition most areas are layers thick so getting to some trouble spots can be hard to do. While he was under there, Radio Bob got the end of the bed straightened out a bit as it was sagging in the right corner about 1/2 inches below the left.

The old pan was welded in by the previous owner. The original pan was toast. Radio Bob had another rear pan that had been sitting in his shop for the last decade or so. It had a recessed area for the license plate unlike mine that was just bolted right to the body of the truck. The new pan had to be cut and some of the curvature taken out so it would match the contours of the truck.

A quick mock up of the new pan. Bumper holes will be cut, I live in the SFV after all and I plan to drive this thing.

Day 6

Rear corner re-welded in place. It's the right way, If we filled it with bondo a few months later with would crack.

The tailgate was hammered. Some of the edges were ground down and it was split in several places. After sand blasting, we were able to get down to welding up all the cracks and other problems.

The ass end of the truck is just about buttoned up at this point as you can see by the pics below:

Very little filler was used as an amount that is too thick will eventually crack or break off. When Radio Bob got this truck the tailgate was 3/4 of an inch higher than the bed and the seams were all over the place. As you can see now, he seams are a pretty snug fit. 

Look to earlier photos to see the rear valiance and how it was laid on the back of the truck and how it looks now in comparison. Also not the bumper holes have be cut out exactly like the OEM holes.

Keep in mind this truck was rear ended and was a salvage title...it was munched pretty bad.

These next batch of pictures show the rear end in it's final stages. You should scroll back up to some of the earlier pics to see how bad the rear end was before Radio Bob got his hands on it. Please note the tail gate latches, they are no longer. Radio Bob looked at the tail gate latches and said "I kept looking at it and looking at it and I just couldn't get my head around this piece of skrag!, they had to go!" So the stock gate latches were replaced by some Chevy Silverado cables and hidden on the inside of the bed. You'll also notice that the holes for the latches are gone as well. The seams on the rear quarter have been filled with weld and are now smoothed over. Bob said I'm going to have a custom truck and I'll never live it down...So it seems to be true.

We're trying out different kinds of tail light assemblies that are being pieced together with different things that look like they may work. This one is a velocity stack ring and a big rid LED light set from Harbor Freight. The original tail lights are just a piece of hard plastic that looks more like a coaster than a tail light. We also have some 50's Pontiac tail lights and some 59 caddy tail lights for some way out space look. At this point we're undecided.

Some detail of the replacement tailgate hardware. The factory brackets had long chains smacking around the back of the truck, best to avoid scratches with this new and improved hardware.

Some detail of the sides and rear end so you can see how straight this thing has become from the dinged up wavy piece of crap it once was. To quote Radio Bob:

"Although the 64 A100 is without a doubt  classic "Heavy Metal" this puppy was a rear ended rust bucket with one black eye and two chipped teeth. Only with the expert application of hundreds of hours of professional metal work @50/60 dollars an hour did the Atomic A100 stand a chance of having it's day in the sun!"

That's right, real body work costs, but in the end it's worth it.

Moving on to other areas that need attention, more on that later...

The back end of this thing was the worst part of the truck, the front end needed some love as well. Both the headlight buckets had been hit or pushed in and they were uneven and the bezels did not line up with the body. Using a hydraulic pushing tool and other various methods, Radio Bob got the front end straightened out. The turn signal housings had been patched from a donor van from yours truly and they needed a little more attention to get them into shape as well. As a consequence, the grille did not mesh too well with the hole for it and it took some time to get all the sheet metal clamped back together and the grille re-fitted into it's home. A couple more minor details are left before I'm giving back to truck to block sand the whole thing. In the interim I need to make some bumpers and get a few minor mechanical things sorted out as well as deal with the interior. 

The peak on the front of the truck was ever so slightly pushed in, they were reformed. Now in a thick layer of several coasts of primer, the truck is starting to exhibit some smooth lines.

Detail of the the new tailgate hardware.

Indexing of the tail gate for when it comes time to paint it. 

The door hinges are straightened out and layered in epoxy so they will never rust.

The truck has been in Radio Bob's care for two months now...from the scrap yard to dream car.

At some point in the trucks life a beam or pole landed on the roof and put a crease in it (see above pics). Here is some detail of the roof being put back to rights.

The factory taillights look like plastic coasters from the 60's. they are sub-par. We used big rig LED lights from Harbor Freight (10 bucks each) and some plastic chrome tuner car bolt on air intake bezels that Bob cut down to mate with the truck perfectly. Custom taillights for under 40 bucks anyone?

A few pics of Radio Bob. L: posing with the A100 Truck and R: with Bo Huff, Radio Bob, Larry Watson, Billy Carter & Gene Winfield. 

Some more detail of the body work. All the seams under the body were re-welded and fitted back together. I had previously welded in new turn-signal buckets that I cut out of a donor van. I'm not the best metal guy by any measure so it took a little work to get them to line up right. Also you see some dents being pulled and the headlight bucket being re-formed with fiberglass. Also note the bias ply tires, they will be out shortly. They look cool but make the truck handle like shit and I want to live so they will have to go. 

47 or 48 Ford mirrors touch it off for safe driving. The nerf bars in the front are made from a Menorah. I'll be block sanding the truck in the next couple of months, final body work, paint and interior are next. Stay tuned!

I went on the Dodge A100 Yahoo group and there was a post about a guy trying to sell a NOS grille that was chromed for 300 bucks. An NOS grille would be worth it alone and the chroming would be a couple hundred bucks so I figured it was worth it. I talked to the guy and he said a lot of people talked but no one came through as of yet. I only have Mondays off so I said if he still had it by Monday I'd make the drive to the OC to pick it up. As soon as I got home I put it on, I'd say it was worth the money and time...you?

The truck has now been block sanded and is in it's final stages before paint. I bumped into one of the mirrors and it broke so they are out and I'm going to source some new mirrors for the truck. I had the trans rebuilt and did a tune up to get it running better. I have take it back again...The trans leaks like a siv. Not happy. Leon's Transmission came highly recommended but they really dropped the ball on my truck, I had to bring it back three times because of this horrible grinding sound. They told me it was the drive shaft, then the angle of the drive shaft, then some other thing that I had to "fix" to no avail. All along it was the shift cable not completely disengaging causing the parking gear to drag. Would you be happy to pay 1500.00 dollars for a leaky transmission? I think not.

New door hinge assembly welded into place. 

The body had to go though some extensive cutting to make the grille fit correctly. We dared not cut the grille, but make small incisions in the truck body to make the grill fit. Bob is an automotive surgeon! The Nerf bars came from a VW shop, they need some finishing work before they are done.

Here's the truck in many coats of primer, it's been blocked several times at this point and will need to be blocked again before the final paint job is done.

Radio Bob demonstrating his technique.

This truck had been rear ended, now the gaps on the tailgate are better than factory.

Here's the tailgate, the rest of the truck should follow this color scheme. 

The inside door panels and the dash. Sparkly goodness!

More flakiness.

You have to paint the doors standing upright or the flake will stand different than if you painted them on a flat surface. That's why they're hung up like they are.

Bob made metal posts and skirted the whole truck to the floor so the hose from the spray gun won't get hung up on the masking. Clever.

Here's some pics of the truck after it's been painted and mostly assembled. We wanted to stick with the og rims but it seems to be more cost effective to buy new ones than to polish the old ones. Next steps are: fix the trans leak (the fire is from my leaky 727) seats, headliner, carpet, new wheels/tires, and a bedliner of some sort.