1952 Dodge remote TV van came in today

[junkaudio]

very cool but a flathead is not so easy to restore ,allot of tubes in there too

[Steve D.]

Looks like KDAL used every inch of available space for the equipment. Not that they had any choice. You might want to take careful measurements of exactly where the graphics are on the van. Perhaps some tracings of the signage, for reference, before you strip it for body work and re-paint. Anxious to know if the cameras are still in the storage compartment.

-Steve D.

[zenithfan1]

Very awesome find! I have never seen one so complete. Like Steve said, I can't wait to see what is hiding in those compartments! Keep us posted!

[Tubedude6]

When you do restore this, can you get a transmitter and have your own antique TV station?

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by Tubedude6

When you do restore this, can you get a transmitter and have your own antique TV station?

It may have had some sort of over the air studio link. On a microwave frequency?

Anyway, all you'd need is a modulator from rat shack, and set it to channel 3

[newhallone]

Nobody's going to be there come February anyways!

[bgadow]

Looks like this amazing find found a worthy home. This is a big deal on many different levels: the fact it is a 52 Dodge van; its history; what came with it. The body/paint transformation will be amazing-this is my business and taking something that looks like this and bringing it back is a real night & day venture. The electronics-whoa, boy! Lotsa recapping! And lots of cleaning. All well worth it. It's a wonder this survived recent high scrap prices.

[dtuomi]

Wow

[ozmoid]

What a fantastically cool van!

[Fast_Eddie]

Originally Posted by julianburke

So far, I believe this is perhaps one of three known to exist that is mostly intact with all of the 1950's electronics still there. It is a 1952 Dodge Route Van that is also rare.

Rare? Shoot, we're still using those at work!

lol, just kidding. That is really, really neat! I'm glad it's fallen into good hands. Most of that gear found it's way into a trash bin in the 70s sometime.

What a cool project. Can't wait to see it when it's done!

Take care,

Ed

[Dan Starnes]

Very cool! If the engine is not froze up it will probably run. Those old flatheads were durable engines. Even if froze up, it may get loose again via a cocktail.
Dan

[zenith2134]

Would've been a big loss if it went for scrap value......

And yeah it just hit me; All that re-capping! Well worth it though to get it running well again. I'd camp out in there!!!!

[Sandy G]

If you guys wanna read a good, sappy love story, check out "Truck" by John Jerome. In it, Jerome buys a worn-out 1951 Dodge B2B pickup & restores it as a work truck for his farm. The book chronicles his experiences, & while it tends to be a bit heavy in the "granola/hippy" idiom, Jerome is a good enuff writer to get you to fall in love w/the old junky truck, too. His truck is a smaller, 1/2 ton pickup version of Julian's big van, which looks to be at least a ton chassis. IIRC, Dodge came out w/the "Pilot House/Job-Rated" series of trucks in 1948, & made few changes on them til 1955.

[freakaftr8]

Wow that van is amazing! Like a blast from the past! It's awesome to see it's in good shape too! Yes, alot of recapping!

[KentTeffeteller]

Likely the oldest intact TV Remote truck extant. A score for the ages. This truck was originally built for WGN-TV in Chicago and passed down to a sister station when WGN built color facilities. Julian and I had an interesting phone chat about this find.