Divers Street Rods Builds a 1947 Dodge Pickup Street Rod with Viper Power
Project vehicles nearly always have a deeper connection to the owner than what shows on the surface. This is especially true when the build is something out of the ordinary such as this 1947 Dodge WFA-32 pickup built by Divers Street Rods as a tribute to a lost brother.
The plan was to transform the vintage Job Rated 1947 Dodge pickup into a unique street rod with modern handling, power, comfort, and style. That was a tall order for Tim Divers and his crew considering these trucks were designed and built with none of those attributes! Then again, Divers is always up for a challenge.
To obtain the handling and comfort goals, a 116-inch wheelbase frame from Art Morrison Performance was brought in with DSR adding crossmembers and drivetrain mounts. The front suspension consists of AME components, Strange coil-overs, and a Detroit Speed steering rack. A triangulated four-bar secures a Currie-filled 9-inch rearend with Wilwood discs on each corner capped with artillery-style 18- and 19-inch Wheelsmith wheels.
These days you’d typically expect some form of modern Hemi in any vintage Dodge build of this level. That just didn’t seem right for this unique build, so they added a couple more cylinders in the form of a 505c.i. Viper V10! Credit goes to Arrow Racing Engines for assembling the aluminum engine and Prefix Corporation for tuning the EFI system. A TCI-built six-speed automatic transfers the power.
The Divers team retained the original steel dash, though it was completely reworked with Classic Instruments and other updates before being bolted back in place. Behind the scenes is an American Autowire harness aided by a Hotwire Auto drivetrain harness, and there’s a Vintage Air Mini unit packed under the dash. Custom fiberglass bucket seats were covered in Douglass Leather by Scott Divers, complemented with an Alcantara headliner and square weave tan carpet.
As expected, it took serious work to transform the 1947 Dodge truck body into a stylish, swoopy street rod. The Divers team is always up for a challenge and ended up chopping the top 3-inches, stretching the rear window about a foot, and channeling the cab way over the AME chassis. Custom work continued by reforming the front fenders, narrowing the grille, and forming a hood from aluminum. Rear fenders from a ’50 Chevy were reworked substantially, along with a custom rear pan and running boards.
When the custom work was finally was deemed complete, the truck was handed over to DSR’s Rich Thayer to handle the final prep and paint work. Color selection included House of Kolor Black Pearl in a satin finish, with the custom vibrant green hue matched to a can of Kodiak chew specified by the owner. What a tribute!
Photos: Terry Lysak
