Thread: 1958 Dodge utility truck

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Thanks, man. As far as taking them apart fast; PB blaster the night before, air impact on anything it will reach, cut off wheel on anything that’s getting pitched

No turning back now....

And here we go!!! 8-)

Holy sheep dip, Batman.
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..... and your wife walks in with, "Oh! What happened?"

You definitely get things done!

Thanks; my wife is pretty cool with it all as long as the money isn't flying out of the bank account so I gotta pinch my pennies on my projects. Looks like by notching the Dakota framerails, I can slide about 6" of them into the original frame rails and then weld in supports. Also looks like the original underfloor pedals are not going to work so I'll using a firewall mounted master cylinder, hanging pedals, and converting the clutch to hydraulic.

Lucky guy to have such an understanding wife, cause that doesn't appear to be the easiest or most expedient way to install floormats and hubcaps.

Originally Posted by falconvan

Looks like by notching the Dakota framerails, I can slide about 6" of them into the original frame rails and then weld in supports. Also looks like the original underfloor pedals are not going to work so I'll using a firewall mounted master cylinder, hanging pedals, and converting the clutch to hydraulic.

Good to hear it will merge together easily and cleanly. As you're aware that isn't always (usually) the case. Also nice to hear the pedals will be upgraded too. Hanging pedals work so much nicer imho. Thanks for the update too.

After lots of trimming it fits pretty good. Time to start welding and adding suppers. Looks like it might end up with a C notch in the rear; it really lowered the front.

So I got the clip welded in solid; need to go back and put in some supports later but it’s good to finish the rest of the setup. I cut the front of the old frame off; this is where the core support and motor mounts mounted. Rather than trying to recreate this, I’m going to cut off the front of the Dakota frame rails and splice this in. I marked the location of all the mounting holes on the concrete using a plumb bob and a tape measure before I cut the frame so I should be able to get it back in the same spot.

Look at you go! That sure looks like it is fitting together very nicely!

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Nice work. I love clip swaps and frame swaps, they just make so much sense.
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How concerned are you about final ride height? Maybe it's the camera angle but to me it looks like it's very low once the motor is in.

It’s looking good! You seem to get more done in a day than I do in a month.

Originally Posted by 34_40

How concerned are you about final ride height? Maybe it's the camera angle but to me it looks like it's very low once the motor is in.

Thanks all. Truthfully I’m worried that it’s sitting too low. I really don’t want to do a radical c notch on the rear to level it. I may be cutting it apart and adding about 3” of height.