1954 Dodge Truck C1B6108

My project is a 1954 Dodge shortbed, highside truck. It has the original 6 cyl motor 3 spd. I found & bought the truck in 2008. This is my first attempt at a restoration. I started early last summer & finished it on my 50th birthday on 07/14/10. I removed everything off of the frame except for the cab. I wanted to remove remove the rust & old paint. I sandblasted everything & used POR15 on the frame & bottom of the cab. I had a couple of rustholes to replace in the floor. I replaced the shocks & wiring. All the bolts were replaced with stainless steel. The bed was extremely rough. I had to replace some crossmembers as well as the bed angles on the sides. The 1/8th" steel that someone put in for the floor of the bed was taken out & replaced with ash wood & stainless strips from Horkeys Wood Parts. I used provincial stain & 7 coats of marine varnish. The interior was sandblasted & repainted. I put in bucket seats & a center consol. I put a new interior kit in & used black vinyl material to match the seats. The switches wre replaced back to new Dodge lights in the rear. I used Duplicolor lacquer paint in Chrome Yellow & 6 coats of Clear Lacquer. This was my first attempt at painting, the lacquer was easy to work with. I painted parts individually before putting them back on the truck. Everything got paint & clear on it. The bumpers were chromeplated along with the grill bars & name plates. The engine was painted with Duplicolor Chrysler Red, outside components with black. Wiring & cables were replaces along with a new horn. Trying to find replacement parts was pretty difficult. Most came from Roberts Motor Parts. My main goal was to get rid of the rust & get some paint on the truck. Dents & holes were a challange due to the number of them. I am pleased it came out as good as it did. I know of 5 other 1954 Dodge Trucks. There aren't many of them left. Doing this for the first time, I learned a whole lot of valuable information on the truck. Some came from a couple of older guys & a lot came from trial & error. I am pleased that I brought the truck back to being in good shape. Most everything would be considered original or stock, except for the paint, the bucket seats & the chrome wheels. I didn't want to change anything more than I had to. I now feel a little closer to my grandfather, driving an old rare truck such as this 1954 Dodge. I hope to attempt another one someday.