buds truck

My Son (a great bodyman) is taking over the bodywork on my 53 while I take care of my wife while she is having Chemo for Breast Cancer. He has the left fender finished and just got the rust repair done on the right. The Hood, rear fenders and bedsides are next, then front panel, rear gate, doors and then finish the cab.

you guys enjoy yourself. Wish I could be there.

welcome to the group. Love your truck.

I have my 53 on a 91 Dakota frame and it fits well. I actually initially put it on an S-10 frame and the front wheels were tucked in way to far in the front fenders and it needed an s-10 4x4 rear end to even get clearance on my box. I ditched the s-10 frame and put it on the Dakota. Eastwood knew that the track was narrow, but were willing to put real wide wheels on it. I did not like the look. Hope this helps.

Tim, it is between Moses Lake and Spokane.

Hey TIm. How far do you want to go for a better panel? Don't know if its for sale. but there is a good looking one minus engine in Ritzville Washington that I just saw about a week ago. its been sitting quite a while by the looks of it.

flathead????? ohhhhhhh, they are talking about an engine. So much for the haircut I just got..........

I stared at mine for a few minutes while painting cupboard doors for another vintage trailer I am restoring........ sigh..........

Mine is titled as a 53 and has a 91 Dakota chassis under it. I kept the Dakota title just in case though........

Since I couldn't get the time off this year, I DO have my sites set on 2015. Had such a good time last year. You guys eat a burger for me........

Paul. I just saw the post and cannot tell you how heartbroken I feel about this. I'm at a loss for words. Let me know if there is anything I can do or help you find. I have fond memories of meeting both you and your truck last year at the BBQ.

I dunno, I think they look darn good "lowered" from both the top and the bottom......

I initially put an s-10 frame under mine, the width is too narrow front and rear, looked like crap, so I put it on a first gen Dakota. This swap is not for the faint of heart or the inexperienced. I have done bodywork since I was 18 (now 62). Be prepared to have the Dakota frame screw up the floor space for the box too. Mine is a full custom so I can live with that, but I agree that a susp swap is a better idea for most peeps.

nice chop. Did you do it?

Welcome!! I love that you are also a glutton for punishment. LOL!! As you can see in my profile pic, I have a chopped 53 and its on a 91 Dakota frame. Been lots of work, but she is coming along. My son (a great bodyman) is finishing off the roof for me and hopefully we will be driving it next summer. I have a few threads on here on the build. Keep the pics coming!!!

sell it??????? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO................

CRIPES!!!!! Beautiful!!!! Way to go!!!!

Cripes!!!!!!!!! I am in Love!!!

big undertaking, trust me I know.... (53 on a 91 Dakota chassis with Dakota firewall and front floor). If you want to leave it looking as stock as possible, you will need to adapt the stock column. You will need to cut the column to length, find a bearing that will fit inside the outer shaft and over the steering shaft, weld on the Dakota "U" joint and build a floor mount. On mine, I took a Chev tilt column, shortened it, grafted the Dakota lower outer shaft, shifter shaft and steering shaft to the Chev tilt. I also took a 50 Plymouth steering wheel and adapted it to the Chevy spline, then shrunk the steering wheel about an inch and a half so it wasn't so large. Hope this helps. Feel free to contact me with any questions and maybe you can answer some of mine....LOL. good luck.

both doors are finished, all the crap scraped out of the inner panels and covered in Ospho. Today, I grabbed the left front fender and scraped all the old undercoat out of the underside, ground out around the rivets cause I knew it was poorly repaired, cut the dead stuff out and replaced both the outer skin and the inner strengthening plate. For my tastes, I did not replace the rivets, just spot welded the holes for the mounting plate to the strengthening plate. Then I found some rust at the back edge of the fender (one rust hole had been leaded in!) and cut that out and replaced the nasty piece with a good one. I have part of a back cab that I got the replacement pieces from and the curvature was almost perfect. Got all the welding done and then covered the inner parts in Ospho. RT fender is in my sites next. I would upload some of the fender pics, but it says they are too big to upload and I don't know how to change them. sigh........

there was a company that used to make an oil cannister for toilet paper to be used as a filter. The Franz oil filter as I remember.

I fear you cut too much out of that crossmember, it looks like you took about 3/4 of it away. It scares me to tell you the truth.

thanks Tim. I looked at every one and relived the exhaustion......LOL

I'm with Merle on this one. I got peel and seal from Lowes, gonna do the floors, inside the doors and I am brave (or dumb) enough to try the roof too. I put U-POL Raptor spray on liner on the underside of the cab.

hey Tim, go ahead and post them, I can't figure out how to find my old posts on the new site......