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You showed me some small pics on your phone.
You should post some Tonny |
The upper control arm mounts on the D100 are done. This should hold up a lot better now. After talking with the owner today, I will be making some engine mounts so we can do away with the motor plate. The PS pump, alternator and AC compressor were hung from the plate so I'll have to make some new brackets for them.
http://www.bigblockdakota.com/anti028.jpg http://www.bigblockdakota.com/anti029.jpg |
That's not nearly enough weld bead on there..... :rofl:
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This is just mock up. Nothing is welded together yet.
http://www.bigblockdakota.com/sliced-002.jpg http://www.bigblockdakota.com/sliced-003.jpg http://www.bigblockdakota.com/sliced-004.jpg http://www.bigblockdakota.com/sliced-005.jpg |
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Those are some really big boys now!
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over the last few months there has been some MAJOR changes in the Dakota project, some of which should make it a little more pro-touring oriented by potentially increasing the handling ability. Please keep in mind that this is being done with a tight budget and it's not being done to look like a show piece.
Behold : Back when I was about 14, I had 1946 Dodge truck that never was on the road. This is a 1941, which is nearly identical. I was thinking of starting from scratch with it, then figured out a better idea. In this picture the wheels are just standing in the wells, there is no suspension or engine in the truck. http://www.bigblockdakota.com/mockup002.jpg stripped Dakota frame http://www.bigblockdakota.com/bareframe-001.jpg 1941 Dodge truck cab on the frame http://www.bigblockdakota.com/onframe.jpg engine shot before setback http://www.bigblockdakota.com/firewall.jpg |
Had to cut out most of the floor and build a new one. It's not finished yet, because I have not finished with mounting the engine & trans.
http://www.bigblockdakota.com/41floor.jpg Originally I set the engine back about 14", but I am going to move it back forward about 4"-5" inches to gain back some room in the cab. The engine set back should help with handling. http://www.bigblockdakota.com/dash01.jpg Here's how it looks right now. The cab mounts have not been built yet, but the cab is tack welded in place so it can't get bumped out of place. The rear half of the frame will get cut off. I am planing on using 2"x3" or 2"x4" box tube for the back half. Due to the current budget, It will be leaf springs in the back for now. http://www.bigblockdakota.com/skates01.jpg |
The original long term plan called for twin turbos, mounted in the engine compartment. Partially because it would look good and partially because packaging of the cold piping from remote turbos would have been difficult on the Dakota. While working on the '41, I came to realize that the running boards and the space between the cab and frame would allow for the cold pipes to run up to the front without too much trouble. The engine compartment on the '41 would make it difficult to mount the turbos, unless they hung over the fenders or stacked above the intake, and I don't want to do that. I'm fairly certain I'm going to have lots of room for mounting the turbos just behind the cab, to the outside of the 24" wide rear frame section.
I'm thinking the truck doesn't really fit into any single category- rat rod, pro street, street rod, hot rod, pro touring, etc. So how is this pro-touring ? Here's my answer:
From the begining, I wanted to build something that would be very unique, would be fun to drive, could be driven a long distance if needed. Putting the '41 body onto the Dakota chassis takes it from being an interesting Dakota that many people might overlook to something that people can't help but notice. One thing I forgot to mention- aside from patching holes & potential leaks in the body, the body and paint work is done. :lol: |
I like it!
I think you're going to have started a whole new genre of build with this project... instead of "rat rod"... I now dub thee: THE RAT HANDLER :hail: :thumbsup: |
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That looks sweet.
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That is going to look NASTY! Very nice.:thumbsup:
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Just ordered my axles and housing ends. Lets hope I got all of the measurements right ! Once I have that stuff and tack the ends to the housing I can mock up the rear suspension.
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that looks badass! i hope you leave the "paint" as is
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Very cool.:thumbsup:
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The paint is going to stay as close to "as is" as possible. There are some spots on the cab at the windshield opening and rear window opening that have some holes I need to fix to make it water tight. The roof seam above the windshield also has some pin hole. The rear lower cab corners will get patched too. I did an experiment to attemp to make rust via a chemical reaction with common household ingredients and it worked well on some steel filings. I have to test it on sheet metal to see what it does. If that doesn't work ok, I'll just prime the patch areas and leave it.
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Very cool. That is going to look very awesome.:yes: :thumbsup:
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The shipment from Moser arrived today. Here's the axles, bearings, retainer plates, housing ends & T bolts. The Gleason Torsen diff was an ebay score. It's new but has some light surface rust.
http://bigblockdakota.com/moser001.jpg Test fit of the ford mustang cobra brake rotor. http://bigblockdakota.com/moser002.jpg Donor Dana 60 full floater with ends torched off. http://bigblockdakota.com/moser004.jpg burnt ends http://bigblockdakota.com/moser005.jpg old rusty 4.10 peg leg guts http://bigblockdakota.com/moser006.jpg I was able to put most of the firewall back in place. http://bigblockdakota.com/moser007.jpg http://bigblockdakota.com/moser008.jpg http://bigblockdakota.com/moser010.jpg |
Making some progress. Very good. Keep us posted.:thumbsup:
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looking good. just found your thread. i'm building a 58 dodge pick up to a dakota chassis. maybe i should post the build on this forum also. i'll be following your build
:cheers: |
I love the switch to the 41 body.. my vote would be to mount the turbos above the valvecovers though.. that way they will be slightly visible thru the louvers and it can look prety nice if packaged nicely
here is a pic of a friend of mines 34 ford, TT ls7 with the water to air IC mounted between the turbos.. i kind of like the package.. http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...Billede015.jpg You can see the elbow from the forward discharge if the IC to the TB if you look closely http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...Billede016.jpg The ballance pipe between the two sides was apparantly nessecary to keep the pulsing down but IMHO its more of an academic exercise http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...Billede014.jpg The oildrain is just into the valvecovers.. works great and he has almost 10.000 miles on it.. and it runs low 9,s on pump gas.. but if a twin turbo ls7 in a 2600 pound car didnt run 9.s what would? The only thing wrong with the setup is the Wastegate dump.. its LOUD when the boost comes on.. and he is changing that this winter http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...Billede017.jpg |
funny you should mention that... Just yesterday I was thinking that it may be possible to do that. I held the one turbo I have in place and it looks like it might fit and still clear the sides and top of the hood. If I do mount them up front, it will save me a few bucks since I won't need a scavange pump and any IC piping would be shorter I should have room in front of the radiator for an IC or 2. I'll also need make sure that I fab things so I can quickly remove the turbos for maintanace or repairs with out hassles. The draw back would be the extra weight toward the front end instead of further back.
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true about the weight... but much less complicated, and cheaper.. and if you mount the turbos with v bands and -an hoses it wont take long to remove them and the headers with the hood sides removed... and they will be visible in the enginecompartment :-)
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any updates? hows the build going?
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no updates. I'm working on 2 other vehicles and it's a one man show. :cheers:
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i feel your pain. i know all about the one man show
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more progress- I cut the bottom off of the U shape front fender support after I made some mounts and welded them on.
Here's a side shot. You can see the engine is placed so that it's mostly behind the axle center line. http://www.bigblockdakota.com/1941dodge-010.jpg Here's the mount made from some pipe and urethane bushings. It's out of focus because I took the pic by holding the camera up inside the fender and it's a bit too close. http://www.bigblockdakota.com/1941dodge-009.jpg Different angle http://www.bigblockdakota.com/1941dodge-004.jpg One of the front cab mounts. http://www.bigblockdakota.com/1941dodge-008.jpg from the front http://www.bigblockdakota.com/1941dodge-005.jpg looking out toward the rear cab mount http://www.bigblockdakota.com/1941dodge-007.jpg upward shot of the rear cab mount. I'm not finished welding the mounts. I'll do that once I make the back 1/2 of the frame and pull everything back off of the frame. http://www.bigblockdakota.com/1941dodge-006.jpg I've got a good amount of clearance in front of the engine. http://www.bigblockdakota.com/1941dodge-003.jpg |
nice progress can't wait to see more
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Installing the main caps and bushings.
http://www.bigblockdakota.com/dana60-002.jpg alignment bar in place http://www.bigblockdakota.com/dana60-003.jpg installing the pinion centerline tool http://www.bigblockdakota.com/dana60-004.jpg setting up the axle housing end. http://www.bigblockdakota.com/dana60-005.jpg passenger's side is tacked in place and now grinding the driver's side http://www.bigblockdakota.com/dana60-010.jpg welding between the tack welds http://www.bigblockdakota.com/dana60-013.jpg fully welded end http://www.bigblockdakota.com/dana60-014.jpg |
butchered first generation dakota rotors. yes, they were cut on a lathe.
http://www.bigblockdakota.com/1941dodge022.jpg poser shots http://www.bigblockdakota.com/1941dodge014.jpg http://www.bigblockdakota.com/1941dodge015.jpg http://www.bigblockdakota.com/1941dodge016.jpg |
Very nice. That is going to be a mean looking truck.
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The truck already has a set of 2" drop spindles on it. I'm using the stock ones to build the front brake kit. It's mustang cobra based with 13" rotors in the front. If you go back through the thread, you can see the 11" rear rotors.
http://www.bigblockdakota.com/1941dodge021.jpg http://www.bigblockdakota.com/1941dodge020.jpg http://www.bigblockdakota.com/1941dodge018.jpg http://www.bigblockdakota.com/1941dodge017.jpg |
over the last couple of days I ordered the parts for the triangulated four link rear suspension.
I've got 4 of these coming for the axle end of the links: http://www.trail-gear.com/images/2008-1576-225.jpg There's a set of these on their way: http://www.swracecars.com/store/images/cart/40-223.JPG And also some DOM tube to make the bars and bushing sleeves for the frame end of the bars. |
the pile of goodies. Laser cut tabs & brackets from Ballistic Fabrication, Creeper joints from Foothills Offroad and coil overs from S&W Racecars.
http://www.bigblockdakota.com/suspension001.jpg This bracket kit is pretty cool It is keyed to position the brackets on the bottom plate. I'll have to modify it because it maxes out at 40 degrees and I want at least 60 degrees between the bars. http://www.bigblockdakota.com/suspension002.jpg This is about where the upper will sit. http://www.bigblockdakota.com/suspension003.jpg After measuring the brackets, I altered my CAD drawing. It looks like I'll have an instant center at about 99.5" forward of the rear wheels. The wheel base is 116". http://www.bigblockdakota.com/suspension006.jpg |
Very cool. Keep us posted.:thumbsup:
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way to keep the blood flowing....
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finally I was happy with CAD drawings of the frame, so I started cutting and welding.
http://www.bigblockdakota.com/rearframe001.jpg I drew the full scale layout on the surface of the welding table and tacked the frame. Then flipped it over to tack some more. http://www.bigblockdakota.com/rearframe002.jpg Here's both arches side by side after tacking http://www.bigblockdakota.com/rearframe003.jpg I added the forward extensions. I'm leaving the rear portion for later, after the frame is welded together. http://www.bigblockdakota.com/rearframe004.jpg It's way off in the next to pictures, but I had to drop it in place to see what it would look like. http://www.bigblockdakota.com/rearframe005.jpg http://www.bigblockdakota.com/rearframe006.jpg I did not make any cross members yet. I'm not sure where I want them. |
It looks good.
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Great build Wedged. Keep us posted.
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