"The New Guy" 1998 Dakota R/T

[98kotart]

Wow, This site is unbelievable. I was just introduced to this site from maxharvard. I met him on a photography site. Anyways, This forum is everything I have been looking for. Its amazing. The reason I was introduced to this site is because I was looking for a way into SEMA and was told this is the place to find out more about it and meet people who are involved.

A little about me:
My name is Dan McGinty. I live in Boston, Ma right now. I'm a senior Industrial Design student at Wentworth Institute of Technology graduating in the summer. I hope to get out of here and move somewhere warm, where the automotive customization is really happening. My dream job would be to work with a product design company of aftermarket parts for any type if vehicle. This has been my dream since I was a freshman in high school and I have stuck with it.
My Project:
My project is a Flame Red 1998 Dodge Dakota R/T. They only made 93 of these and its a pretty fun truck. I've had this for about 5 years now but put this project on hold many times due to school and other projects. Modifications consist of 20" Bazo B2 wheels wrapped in 295/40/20 tires, Stillen front bumper, Street Scene Roll Pan and grille inserts, Cervinis rear wing, Checkmate Tonneau cover, Diamond Headlights/Corners, Hella driving lights, Carbon fiber tail lights, Candy coated 3rd brake, Hotchkis Suspension, Flowmaster custom bent exhaust dumped after cab on passenger side, Mopar Performance Headers and valve covers, K&N Intake, Mopar M1 Intake manifold. FastMan 52mm Throttle Body, 1.7 roller rockers, Mopar performance PCM, Transgo shift kit, 4.56 gears, Locker rear end, Drilled and slotted rotors, painted accessories, black leather bucket seats, Custom door panels, GS Motorsports sideskirts. and alpine type R audio. The list goes on. I will be repainting the whole truck, pulling the motor and doing a 408 stroker supercharged hopefully by winter. I am also going to redesign my whole interior stripping everything. I want to design it with a similar style to Infiniti(Luxury sport style).

Any questions just shoot them my way.

here are 2 photos:

[tones2SS]

Nice looking truck!!!
Looks very clean. We do have a "trucks" section as well.

[Hdesign]

Welcome Dan! Cool truck!

Is that the back of the Annex building?

Enjoying ID at WIT? I graduated back in Aug 02. Is Matthew Burger still there with Sam Montague and Kuhn? I was thinking of swinging by to check out some of the crits a while back but my schedule wouldn't allow.

What's your senior thesis? You've gotta be deep into the research phase by now and scrambling to present your mid-term progress.....I certainly don't miss that.

Food still suck there?

You've got the right idea, move elsewhere asap! More pay, lower cost of living and much nicer weather!

I'd love to see your portfolio sometime.

[98kotart]

Originally Posted by Hdesign

Welcome Dan! Cool truck!

Is that the back of the Annex building?

Enjoying ID at WIT? I graduated back in Aug 02. Is Matthew Burger still there with Sam Montague and Kuhn? I was thinking of swinging by to check out some of the crits a while back but my schedule wouldn't allow.

What's your senior thesis? You've gotta be deep into the research phase by now and scrambling to present your mid-term progress.....I certainly don't miss that.

Food still suck there?

You've got the right idea, move elsewhere asap! More pay, lower cost of living and much nicer weather!

I'd love to see your portfolio sometime.

Thank you fellow Mass guys!

...This is actually in my hometown Chelmsford, Ma next to Bleck Design/ Bainbridges.

I am enjoying ID to the fullest at WIT. I don't think I know Matt Burger. I think I have heard the name but haven't met them. I have Sam and Kuhn for teachers though. You should definitely swing by and check some crits out in the future if you have time.
haha, As for the midterm work, I'm on spring break right now, bit I have work due 3 times this week! Not much of a spring break! It only makes me stronger though.

Anyways, My senior thesis was hard to choose. I wanted to do something in the lines of automotive but didn't want to just build a part so I went with another project totally different. My father sells medical prosthetics and he asked me what I thought on how to better a tool. So, i took this very literal and have chosen to design an orthopedic tool to install a prosthetic joint in the thumb. I just handed in my pre- directed studies work. I'm really enjoying it more than I thought.

You'll have to come by for the final senior projects in the summer. I'll let you know when they are... Where are you working now that you are out of Wentworth?

[Hdesign]

Small world, just read your PM too. Good ol Chelmsford, that's where I grew up too. I was lucky to find that ID job right at BDG, 2 minutes from my parent's house.

I remember you coming in for that interview. Scott and Jim thought it was funny how many parallels there were between you and I.

Sounds like an interesting project. Medical stuff has a ton of unique challenges, I did a lot of them at BDG.

Burger looks like John Malkovich's feminine alter-ego. He and I didn't get along...at all. Sam was a great guy but I questioned Kuhn on everything. Plus, he and some of the other professors blind-sided me on my final crit after praising my directed studies project all the way up to that point. Those guys couldn't wait to get rid of me!!!!

My directed studies project was a modular system for wheelchair bound people to not be restricted to driving a minivan. It could be applied to any body style of vehicle and the wheelchair that came with it matched the car, wheels and all.