Canyon Lake Car Club

January 2010

Car of the Month

 

1935 DODGE PICK UP-OWNER JIM & GLORIA THOMPSON

 

 

 

The Truck came from Grand Coulee Washington where a friend gave it to me in 199.  He had a small body shop and I was living in Grand Coulee working on the new Third Powerhouse for the Dam at the time. When the project at the Dam was completed I towed the truck back to Orange, Ca. where I lived at the time, the truck was in original condition, complete with bullet holes, 4 Cyl Motor and no glass at all. Some Indian ranchers who needed work done on a farm truck traded it to my friend in lieu of money for their repairs. My friend moved to Los Alamos N.M. and he called me and told me he needed work to bring the truck to N.M. We started out with a budget but quickly threw that out the window!   Jim says “As any builder knows budgets are a joke.”

 

 

We started with a Chrysler 440 CU.IN but it did not fit so we opted for a small block chevy, a, 350 trans and Ford 3:08 gears, Mustang front end with coil over suspension in the back, all from local wrecking yards in the area. It took just a little over 2 years to complete the 1^st phase. It now has a ZZ4 Crate Motor, 700R4 trans with 3:55 Ford posi 8in. rear end. The truck was chopped 3” and the bed was shortened 13” The back fenders were sectioned to accommodate the rear end. It has Colorado Custom wheels, 17” in rear and 15” in front. It also has pwr steering, pwr disc brakes, AC, power toneau cover which is 1 piece aluminum and electric windows.

 

 

Truck was last painted by Cypress Auto body, Cypress CA and upholstered by Gabe’s in Bloomington, CA The original paint was 1^st applied in N.M., 2^nd paint by Gordy`s in Bullhead City, 1st upholstery was from N.M. as well. Its all steel with the exception of the front fenders which are fiberglass. It’s a good driver and has been driven to Fresno, Bakersfield, Lake Havasu and Yuma, AZ. Many times.

 

The license plate says “MOFLAME” ,which is not meant to be an ethnic slur, MO is for MOPAR and Flame speaks for itself, Gloria and I are both proud to be members of CLCC and have met many nice people since joining.