512 cid C series on Dakota chassis- build thread

[Los_Control]

wonders what a 60's radio back there would look like

 

[Radarsonwheels]

11 minutes ago, Los_Control said:

wonders what a 60's radio back there would look like

 

 

Imagine this one but first sandblast it then kick it down a flight of steps and watch it take a huge spinning last bounce into a trashcan full of spraypaint 

 

‘Sapphire II’- mine might have been a I. I remember seeing AM only? 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Radarsonwheels

[Radarsonwheels]

I chased all the 3/8” fine thread holes to put the hood back on- 3 of them and one coarse thread insert somebody else put in the cowl. The hood went back on fine but the central nose panel wants to stick out a little and I leaned on it hard when I bolted it down. The hinges both work and hold the hood up but the passenger side has a loose frozen bolt through the firewall that needs attention.

 

The passenger side gull wing wants to move fore and aft at full open and creaks pretty good. Hopefully when the hinge pivot is repaired it will help it track straight. 

 

The panel gaps are pretty all over the place but fixable with a welder and some patience. It wasn’t really any better on the original chassis, maybe worse.

 

I also finished mounting the front radiator support. It had been just sitting on a single hockey puck for months and I finally froze and drilled two pucks to be my mounting bushings.

 

I have a buddy with a lift- once I get this thing driving I will spend a day at his house  wire brushing and por15 painting all under the bottom of this thing!

[Radarsonwheels]

Got the parking brake cables and brackets welded in and the wheel ends installed. The first pic is the new splitter welded to the frame. The second pic is the front cable termination bracket with the cable installed in the lever. So now by stretching the cable forward I know the range of where it can go and I can make a decision, tack it in, then make it strong with a little structure.

[Radarsonwheels]

Here’s a shot with the straightened driver’s handle, the airbags set at a cushy 20 psi for what looks like a good neutral or barely raked stance, and the bed & body mounts and bolts are all torqued down for the first time.

 

It came a long way since it was truely the ancient farm truck in the first picture with all mostly original chassis. 

[Jomani]

The before and after pictures say it all. What a difference. Stance looks great. Test drive should be coming very soon. ?

[ggdad1951]

hockey pucks...not just for making goalies look silly anymore!

 

[Radarsonwheels]

I pulled the remaining couple dakota front brake lines and one little remnant in the rear. The front crossover had bends trapped between the steering rack motor mounts and oil pan. It took an hour and some rolling around under the truck to finally get them free. I have new front hoses to install and I still have to make the front hard lines. 

 

I also opened the dakota hvac box to see if I could steal some parts for the 54 from the squirrels. Hopefully I can at least use the 12v motor in the old 6v heater core. The hamster wheel and snail are maybe a little big for my dash.

[Radarsonwheels]

Today I tried to put in a full day but got taken as a wingman on a u pull it mission. Didn’t find anything I could use- I was looking around at a cool 50s gas pedal but the pin was frozen good on it and it was gm anyway.

 

I still managed to take some time to burn in the boxing plates for my frame. It got 3/16” plate from the factory splice where it goes from box to C all the way to the leaf hangers. Hopefully it added some torsional rigidity and stiffness under load in addition to strengthening the area where I sectioned the frame to reduce the wheelbase. It ain’t the prettiest welding a lot was out of position but it’s penetrated and the fit up was good.

 

I also used the freezing weather to my advantage. This summer I removed the dynamat from the driver’s side footwell and it was a nightmare. The asphalt/rubber/adhesive was stuck tight like bubblegum and power tools made it worse. In the cold I removed most of it in a single sheet with channel locks and the rest scraped off in a half hour or so. Now I will have clean metal and be able to weld in the passenger firewall and toe board to finish the floor I started.

[Radarsonwheels]

New front brake hoses are installed along with new front hard lines. Just waiting on a bunch of rubber iso hanger/clamps and I can lock down the lines. It’s ready to bleed though!

 

I also sanded up the cab frame a little and tacked in the e-brake handle. Gotta mock up the seat to see how it fits. 

[CO54]

Any concern with how close the RF brake line appears to be with the headers?

 

[Radarsonwheels]

Optical illusion they have a nice amount of clearance

[Radarsonwheels]

Here’s a better angle- there is around 6” of clearance between the headers and the passenger brake line.

 

Went to work for a bit and the brown truck had dropped off my pico clamps! Now I’m really getting somewhere! With everything wired and plumbed from the firewall back (not inside the cab yet!) I’m ready to install the bed wood and start spot and seam welding the floor all up into the firewall. 

[Radarsonwheels]

Passenger side gauges volts & gas

[Radarsonwheels]

Now that the frame boxing plates are painted and the line clamps are all installed for the wires and hoses there is nothing to stop me from installing the deck in the bed. It is supposed to snow all night in PA. I got the bed completely installed except for ten bolts that will require a helper under the truck. 

 

It started snowing when I was cleaning up!

Edited January 18, 2019 by Radarsonwheels

[Radarsonwheels]

Plastic body plugs in the floor pan to access the cab mounting bolts. 

[ggdad1951]

Dude STAINLESS is the way to go

 

[CO54]

20 hours ago, Radarsonwheels said:

Optical illusion they have a nice amount of clearance

Thanks for the clarification......

[Radarsonwheels]

15 minutes ago, CO54 said:

Thanks for the clarification......

Thanks for looking out!

[Radarsonwheels]

1 hour ago, ggdad1951 said:

Dude STAINLESS is the way to go

 

The bed rails are stainless- is that what you meant? Doing oak and painted steel would have only been a little cheaper since I got 3/5 the ipe for free.  I’m hoping the ipe and stainless will be a project that doesn’t have to get re-done any time soon! The hardware is all stainless too of course.

[ggdad1951]

24 minutes ago, Radarsonwheels said:

The bed rails are stainless- is that what you meant? Doing oak and painted steel would have only been a little cheaper since I got 3/5 the ipe for free.  I’m hoping the ipe and stainless will be a project that doesn’t have to get re-done any time soon! The hardware is all stainless too of course.

 

the plugs!

 

As for the Ipe, depending on weathering conditions you might need to put oil on it every other or every 3rd year.

[Radarsonwheels]

Aah! Glad I asked!

[Radarsonwheels]

The long arm of the parking brake lever makes it kinda awkward both to reach it and by taking up room. The little lokar unit that everybody sells for street rods is over $100- not doing that! This one already fits mechanically. 

 

I am not sure how the plastic grip and thumb button are attached but I think if I cut down the lever carefully I can leave the op rod intact and make a new button and knife handle scales type things and sew up a nice vinyl or leather boot and trim ring for it. 

[Radarsonwheels]

Step one is the easy part. Now to make it all work again! 

 

The plastic handle was bonded or mechanically fit on there tight. I got lucky when I cut it off because I didn’t hit the spring for the button. The ratcheting operation depends on the spring pushing the button out to pull in the op rod just as much as it depends on pushing the rod in to disengage the ratchet. 

[Radarsonwheels]

I think this is gonna work a treat. Next is a boot and bezel then I can frame it out into the console.

 

A little ipe luxury in the cab.