falconvan

Got more stuff put on and the rust in the fender cut out and patched. Now I’m going to go ahead and start wiring; just needed an inner fender to run the wiring on first.

Started getting the front clip back together. I got this grill off the other truck; it’s a 1959 but it’s in better shape and I like the look. I’ve got a little rust repair on the driver’s fender and the passenger door but the rest is going on as is.

Very cool; gives me ideas of adapting a GM TBI injection.

I’m not going to paint this but I am going to address a few spots where it’s rusted through. I found a core support and another passenger door that will help fix the serious cancer.

I used one of those Ebay YF carbs on my 65 Dodge van slant six. Ran beautiful and I think the carb was less than $100 brand new.

Got my steering column and pedals mocked up. The old column was missing several parts and had an add on blinker switch. This one came from an early 60s Dodge truck. Just had to swap the shaft so the steering wheel splines would match. For pedals I modified a set of Fiero pedals and used a Wilwood clutch master and a big bore Mopar brake master. I’ll probably start on wiring next before I start putting the front clip back together. I saved the whole wiring harnesses from the Dakota; I’m just going to modify it and use it.

I got the front end finished up this evening; looks like a clear path to the rack connection for the steering shaft hookup. Should be doing steering column and start figuring out the pedals this weekend.

Very cool design; never quite seen anything like it.

Far out

Just put an electric fan on it.

Right on; looking good.

Sounds like a great plan. 318s are great engines; their biggest problem was that the pistons height was so low to the deck. Hot Rod did a build on one several years back and by machining the deck to get a zero deck height, adding a better cam, factory 5.2 Magnum heads, and an aluminum intake, they made over 400hp. https://www.hotrod.com/articles/mopp-0409-318-engine-build/

Almost back on all four feet

I used to have that build thread on here but it got deleted when they did a format change a few years ago.

Here’s the contact info for the moderator: If you have problems logging in, posting, uploading images, etc. E-mail me @ ratrodmod@gmail.com

Yeah, it’s just a hot rod site like this one. Free to join. Sign up; lots of great info and builds going on there.

It worked great. With the big diameter steering wheel is was easy to turn.

I did a 318 and an AX-15 5 speed from a Dakota into a 51 Cambridge several years ago. Easy swap; pretty much all boneyard/OEM parts. Exhaust manifold is a little tight on the drivers side around the stock steering column; I had to use a drivers side manifold from an early 70s Dart to get it to fit. Also used a set of Jeep CJ pedals and went with a firewall mounted master cylinder and clutch master. For brakes I used the Ford Explorer disc brake rear and did the Ford Explorer disc brake conversion on the front. Master cylinder was a manual 4 wheel disc master used on the early Corvette. Here a build thread I did on it on another site; lots of pictures and info.: http://ratrodsrule.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20693&page=11

Far out, I dig it!

Got a fair amount done this week. Just about everything is bolted on the engine, trans is in, and one side of the suspension has new a-arm bushings and ball joints. Got a lot of late hours at work this coming week so probably won’t get back on it until next weekend.

I've got these old Mopar hubcaps if you're interested.

Looks great!

I decided to do a trial fit on the engine to make sure I had the motor mounts in the right location and check that the oil pan would clear the Dakota frame. It dropped right into place but I am going to have to do a little notch on the frame; the oil pan is just touching the back of the front crossmember. But I’m happy; all the measurements looked like they were right. Should have the motor bolted in for good this week and be able to start putting all the stuff back on it.

Spent lots of time cleaning and painting parts the last few days; as soon as the gasket set gets here I can put the motor back together. Looked great inside, nothing to replace.

The old flathead ran great but it had some oil leaks from old dry gaskets. So it’s just going to get a new gasket set along with a new water pump and some paint.