Keito Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Message put on Normandy 44's forum and the ww2 reenactors forum... Our Dodge(y) adventure PART 1 What started out as a post in the for sale section ended up as a bit of a do for me and chippy Steve! When I spotted Tim's ad for a WC51 Dodge I gave Steve a ring as he had been looking for one for a while however when he had the money to buy one last time the bloody tax man cometh and taketh away said funds (Bstard)! After a quick chat Steve hotfooted it round here to take a look at the pics Tim had sent me via email, a quick phone call to Tim's mate Jimmy who was selling the Dodge made up Steve's mind to take a look and to take cash (before said tax man returns)! Quick phone call to the bank went something like this.... Steve: I'd like to withdraw £5000 from my account immediately please! Bank: Sorry sir but you will have to wait 48 hours before we can give you your own money. Steve: You F**k** it's my money and I want it now! Bank: see above! Steve: it's £5000 not £5 million I want... Bank: see above! Steve: **** ************************** Quick call to Jimmy to hold the Dodge till Wednesday and we will come up then, all confirmed plans now set in motion. Steve arrives Tuesday night for a beer and to try and book train tickets for Durham cost £56 each if we book now.... mmmmm Steve when you getting the cash? Steve: bank says about 1 o'clock Wednesday! mmm ok best buy tickets in the morning then once you get the cash. Another beer or three follows Wednesday morning Steve is beating the banks doors at 9am, meanwhile back at HQ I am researching ticket prices, HOW MUCH!!!! Overnight the tickets have DOUBLED in price £112 pounds each (it's the same destination from the same departure, what the F***)! Steve arrives holding the folding then promptly chokes as I show him the price of the tickets, quick call later and we are booked for the 12:30 from Kings Cross to Durham. Another quick call to the insurance company to get us insured on the Dodge (I think Steve had made his mind up he was buying it before we left) and a result... Steve as main driver me as a named driver on a 1942 WC51 (a what? said the insurance company) only cost an additional £25 for the year on his existing insurance. Right lets get that train HOLY F** is that the time? are those tickets transferable...NO........Quick in to the Keito mobile ! Arrived at Kings Cross with about 2 minutes to spare before the train left, settled in to our seats then started bogging the beautiful girl that sat in the next aisle... talk eventually turned to the Dodge and events and war and peace and victory and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz END OF PART 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keito Posted October 30, 2009 Author Share Posted October 30, 2009 Part 2 Arrived at Durham after a stress free 3 hours (I turned my satnav on whilst on the train...122mph don't you know, well for the price of the tickets I would fricken hope it was on the hurry up)! Jimmy met us in his van outside Durham station, spotted us easily as we both had Rangers jackets on (Rangers all the way) After about 5 minutes we had tuned in to what jimmy was saying as he was driving (blooming regional accents tsk), and turns out he was as sound as a pound, really nice fella who had a run of bad health and had to sell his beloved Dodge. What cheered him up we think was the thought of his Dodge going to a couple of reenactors and staying on the show circuit! Arrived at Jimmy's house and met his wife Barbara a lovely lady who made us a nice cup of coffee and gave us some choccy biccies, went in to jimmy's garage and there it was, a really really nice example of a Dodge WC51, it even smelt right! We had a quick look round it then Jimmy reversed it out the garage so we could have a better gander, Steve at this point was taking no incoming calls if you see what I mean! (talk about smile). We then went out for a spin with Jimmy driving and Steve in the passenger seat, by this time I had been relegated to the rear... Jimmy then proceeded to give Steve a master-class in double de-clutching and the finer points of Dodge driving, of course this went completely out the window when Steve had a go! (Jimmy was visibly wincing and at one point and even asked when Steve's driving test was booked)!!! A few more grounches of the gears and some tuition from me and Jimmy and Steve was nearly there (he had to be we had a 280 mile road trip to do)! We swapped seats and I had a go, I must confess to crunching a few gears and stalling a couple of times however I got the hang a lot quicker (having owned a couple of vintage cars had helped), Jimmy seemed satisfied that we wouldn't destroy his Dodge much more and we set off for his house. A few sheckles exchanged hands and Steve was the new owner of a beautiful 1942 Dodge WC51, time now about 5:30pm and dark!!! Jimmy escorted us to the Garage and pointed us on to the main road for us to get home, a warm handshake and a good luck and he was gone...thanks Jimmy. Steve and I looked at each other Steve was still grinning from ear to ear, so much so he looked like a PEZ dispenser (remember them)? Enough of this crap we thought, right fuelled up (jeeezus H Christ HOW MUCH), mixture added, seated comfortably and we were off..... to the sound of crunching gears and a quick stall at the lights, right try again, thats better now for one of Keiths top tips when driving a vintage vehicle that needs double de clutching.... Don't go up too many gears too quick as you will only need to change back down again when the traffic lights change colour, simples!!! Right, back on track and now on the A1M heading south to London, giggling like stupid dick heads at 44 mph on the A1M, HGV's passing us at 55mph about 3mm from my side as Steve is not used to a left hand drive vehicle and keeps wandering in to the middle lane! "Oi Steve stop smiling and steer the bloody thing to the left will you I think we just lost a coat of paint on that Eddie Stobart lorry"!!! And so it continues on and on and on and on and oh you get the picture.... Had to keep an eye on the gauges as Jimmy had not used the Dodge much in the past 12 months so we were a little apprehensive to say the least, kind of difficult with no dash lights so head torches were put on (luckily we brought them) and we had fun blinding each other when we wanted to say something so we put them away again. Tim texted to ask how we were getting on so I texted back to say we were going to pull in to a services (forget the name now but no doubt Tim will remember) at this point we went sailing past the entrance to the services so we continued on to the next one. Now what I didn't realize was that Tim had decided to jump in his car and drive to the services that I had said we were pulling in to as it was about 30 minutes from where he lived, he arrived and took a drive around the car park looking for a Dodge, after several circuits of the car park he thought sod this, I'm off before I get done for dogging (whatever that is Tim....Tim......TIM?)! End of part 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keito Posted October 30, 2009 Author Share Posted October 30, 2009 Part 3 After missing Tim at the services we had a coffee and checked the oil levels and had a look underneath to see if we were missing any bits or any leaks appearing. A change of driver and I was sat in the driving seat, what a difference, the spare wheel protects you to some extent from the wind coming in to the cab, so an increase in temperature was a result especially as time was ticking on and it was getting colder. A crunch of gears and we were away again, Steve experiencing for the first time how cold it was when a lorry overtook (like a freezer door being opened and frozen air being blasted in to the cab)! Being a resourceful kinda guy I had brought with be my poncho, Steve promptly wrapped this round his lags and was sat there chuffed to bits looking round his new purchase. We carried on with no further incidents of note just miles and miles of road and the temperature dropping every minute, (your right Tim, everything gets inverted....trying to tease him out so I could pee)!!! So more miles and later and later and temp dropping all the time we carried on, we tried to stop about every hour so we could rest the Dodge while we had coffee and a quick defrost, this carried on for the next few hours until about just after Peterborough when we pulled in to refuel and grab some eats. End Of Part 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Great story! It sound's a lot like when I bought my Dodge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Quick phone call to the bank went something like this.... Steve: I'd like to withdraw £5000 from my account immediately please! Bank: Sorry sir but you will have to wait 48 hours before we can give you your own money. Steve: You F**k** it's my money and I want it now! Bank: see above! Steve: it's £5000 not £5 million I want... Bank: see above! Steve: **** ************************** Q Way way to funny for this time of the morning!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Your lucky mate! I picked mine up........ on the day the fuel supplies went dry! Welcome to the best club in the world The Dodge WC owners club. The first time you take her out in the rain, and forget the Dodge Douche, you'll be christned. See you around, Europe, The Channel Islands, all over UK. :-D Remember to check the handbake is fully off! The smoke obscures the windscren. :n00b: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keito Posted October 30, 2009 Author Share Posted October 30, 2009 Part 4 Temperature really dropping now, it's about early o'clock and we are just approaching Sandy in Bedfordshire, I'm driving and Steve is frozen stiff, in the distance we can see a fog bank right across the road.... Me: Steve looks like it's getting foggy mate, guess it's about to get colder Steve: Yep! Me: do you want to drive for a bit? Steve: Nope! Me: ok I'll press on then. Steve: Yep! Then we drove in to the fog bank and bloody hell was it cold, frosted up the windscreen inside almost immediately, I put the wipers on and instantly nothing much happened (vacuum wipers are ****e huh)! We carried on like this for ages, driving through the fog with practically zero visibility, shivering and constantly aware of the not very bright rear lights we had on and the size of the lorries still overtaking us at what seemed like ballistic mph! What is it with these lorries that have covered their cabs in lights of varying colours? In the vibrating rear view mirror of the Dodge it looked like we were being pursued by alien spaceships! Roundabouts!!!!! what..... we hadn't seen one in ages, right standby to change down to 3rd, Steve watching me like a hawk I slowed down a little then press clutch move gear lever to neutral up with clutch hand full of revs down with clutch move gear leaver gracefully in to 3rd gear, clutch up slowly and negotiate roundabout, easy.... in theory, however when you are doing an impersonation of an overdressed icicle it kind of went "oh ****, brakes too slow, a little gas, too much, bolox, clutch gears revs crunch were in and away we go! This carried on for the next few roundabouts with each gear change getting better and better, finally on the M25 Steve announced he was ready to take over (goal hanging as we only had a few more miles to go)! Pull over on the hard shoulder and try to tease me pecker out in to the cold and fog so I can have a pee, get me trousers wet in the process as once he was back in the warm he decided to let by (way too much info I know but hey it's my story)! Steve telling me as we sat on the hard shoulder that the flyover above us was where a friends sister had committed suicide a few years back, cheers mate shall we press on now... Steve now driving with me wrapped in my poncho we carried on, finally arriving at our road at about 3am, I was just telling Steve to be careful as most accidents happen when you are tired and on familiar roads when bang, Steve clouted my neighbours wing mirror with his mirrors, quick look see and no damage (phew), and a very slow drive up the rest of the road. Finally parked up in Steve's drive for the night we climbed out the Dodge which had been our home for the last 10 hours and in a scene reminiscent from the film ice cold in Alex we had a beer to celebrate. All said and done it was a massive adventure that after a couple of days rest we both agreed was great fun and are ready to do it again. A quick thanks to the guys from Normandy44 who volunteered their services should anything happen on our road trip, fortunately we didn't need them but it was nice to know that throughout the UK we could call on someone for help if we needed it! I hope you enjoyed reading about our adventure as much as we enjoyed doing it. Keith and a very happy Steve! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Important accesories for Dodge owners wardrobe. Thick Tank suit and Gortex, that's summer wear by the way.. :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Great story! I allways have some ponchos, gloves and spare jacket in the Dodge just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whistlinwolf Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 (edited) And I had extra warm gear in my car for them both and a red cross parcel of goodies to chomp their way through on the long journey south from Julie. If only you hadn't missed the turning Steve !!!! You two will have to pay my fine for the kerb crawling/dogging prosecution ! LOL Tim Edited November 5, 2009 by whistlinwolf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 And I had extra warm gear in my car for them both and a red cross parcel of goodies to chomp their way through on the long journey south from Julie.If only you hadn't missed the turning Steve !!!! You two will have to pay my fine for the kerb crawling/dogging prosecution ! LOL Tim Tim - you are going to have to ask for compensation..... :coffee: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whistlinwolf Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 (edited) Damn fine idea Jack, get yer cheque book out boys ! This is going to cost you two in tea and biscuits. Edited November 9, 2009 by whistlinwolf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 A bvit of advice. The brakes on the Dodge can be a nightmare. Get a presure bleeder and some gas fitting redcures to fit the master cylinder. A pice of 8 mm pipe will join the tubes nicley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keito Posted November 9, 2009 Author Share Posted November 9, 2009 A bvit of advice. The brakes on the Dodge can be a nightmare. Get a presure bleeder and some gas fitting redcures to fit the master cylinder. A pice of 8 mm pipe will join the tubes nicley. Tony will need some advice re brakes as the poor devil started pulling violently to one side after his adventure to warmer climes! Tim tea and biccies on us when we see you next Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 The shoes need setting with a feeler gauge. There is a slot in the hub to allow you to do it. If you haven't got a manual, Military Media CD No 1 007742-1 has the full service manuals and a lot of other intresting stuff. The fitting you need is 15 mm internal down to 8x 5.5 pipe. I got mine from the local plumbing supply place. Take the master cylinder cap in. The clearnce at the bottom of the shoes should be 0.006 thouh, the top of the shoe 0.012. Turn the adjusters inwards to decrease clearance outwards to incresase distance. Hope this si of some help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keito Posted November 9, 2009 Author Share Posted November 9, 2009 Tony your a star, thanks matey. You going to Brooklands? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Unfortubnatley not. Number of things have come up, running around like a fly in a colander. Did at least get Sunday to play with the Dodge though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.