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Dodge 50 Project, S66, Ex BT, ex breakdown For Sale (1987) edit C105889 | | | Update, October 2009, These two Dodges (see below for a brief description of the second one) have each come close to finding a new home over the course of this year but they are both still in my custody for the time being. The major news relates to the S66 which I have now extracted from storage, washed down, tidied up and fitted up a bit with seats and other bits in preparation for a collection which has not yet taken place and presumably won't (so that means it's now living outside and I won't be putting it away again in a hurry). The additional complexity here was a brief saga (or is that perhaps a tautological and thus invalid expression?) of establishing whether or not the engine would turn over and preferably start up as well. The long and the short of it is that it must have become jammed via the starter mechanism a long time ago and now that has been freed off it turns quite happily when in gear and the vehicle is rocked a bit. No starter now fitted and no inclination to find/borrow another, plus no room for a tow, means there is no likelihood that I shall be able to demonstrate that it will start and run. Come to think of it, the clutch release mechanism is still inoperative anyway so a sucessful tow start would be a miracle.
A quick check on the Phaser engine in the S56 gave much the same result, although I think it might start quite easily if I could sort out the battery and connections properly. However. in both cases I'm suffering from the law of diminsihing returns when I spend more and more time attempting to demonstrate the operational condition of either of these vehicles. So, from now on it will have to be 'as found and as described but I reckon you will be getting quite a lot of engineering for the prices I have now settled upon'......which are £350 for the S66 and £250 for the S56. That's just as they are now but with a bit of wheel juggling around as necessary to keep them both rolling. Extra bits by negotiation but they won't be expensive (rear axle and springs, many leaves and seem like an early type, maybe even from an S75, front axle and springs including steering box, presumed from the same vehicle, gearbox, don't know which one).
Back to the original text............
I have had the main vehicle that I'm offering here for quite a long time and would probably find it very useful were I able to have it back in running order with a suitable body fitted. However, for the last few years my attention has been focused on an older vehicle from the same stable with quite similar attributes and I feel that it's now unlikely that I shall be able to justify expending the same sort of effort on this one as well so I'm offering it to a potential new owner, preferably to be saved and restored. Good used spares for this model seem to be in demand these days and perhaps I could tempt a buyer to rescue this example whilst at the same time taking a larger overall package and thereby making good use of my other Dodge 50 plus a few spare components that I have accumulated as well.
A brief summary of what's available in total:
1987 Dodge 50 Mk 1, S66, Perkins 4/236 and manual transmission. Ex BT but used locally to me for many years as a spectacle lift breakdown and the chassis has been shortened to suit. Still registered as a breakdown but now in chassis/cab form only. The bonnet is as much of a challenge as normal on this model but many other aspects of the cab and interior seem to me to be above average. Was running and driving when acquired but the gearchange seemed poor. I had suspicions that the source of this problem might have been clutch related but my attempts to overhaul the clutch release mechanism were abandoned when the starter and/or solenoid gave up as well and I have done little more to it since then, except to remove the seats and a few other small items for safe keeping indoors and move it to (open fronted) under cover storage.
1990 Dodge 50 Mk 2, S56, Perkins Phaser and manual transmission. Ex British Gas crewcab. Now with lengthened wheelbase and vehicle recovery body but probably not quite fit for plating in its present form. Used to run and drive quite happily and the gearbox and steering box both seem much better than those on the Mk I. Last time I tried to start it I didn't have a suitable battery but my hunch is that both this and the Mk 1 won't require a lot of effort to have them started up once again. This vehicle is scruffy and missing part of the driver's seat but would probably restore to working order relatively easily and the recovery body and underfloor winch might do a useful turn on this or something else once you came to accept the slightly unorthodox styling and method of construction.
Spare front axle and steering box, model unknown
Spare rear axle, model unknown
Spare gearbox, model unknown but this box seems to be different from both those fitted to the vehicles which, in turn, are not the same as each other
Various spare wheels, all later type tyre fitting though some seem to be the correct stud pattern and offset but with different styling and fewer slots and I'm told they may be an artic trailer type.
Possibly a few good tyres to fit these vehicles, not on wheels but I shall have to dig them out as I haven't seen them for ages.
Asking price I havn't a clue, or at least I don't want to commit myself just yet, but I know approximately what would tempt me and that's not far away from the scrap value as it would have been at its peak from a year or so back.
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