512 cid C series on Dakota chassis- build thread

[Radarsonwheels]

Just got word my second block passed magnaflux testing! Now I have to wait to find out what bore it will clean up at and I can order a rotating assembly.

 

I also decided to rebuild my 727 myself. It kind of reminds me of shovelhead and evo harley clutch packs inside! 

[Radarsonwheels]

Today I got all 4 body mounts finished and bolted up the fenders to the cab. The rad support is on blocks for now, that’s next.

 

The second pic the body isn’t bolted down so the tire won’t tuck that far but you can get an idea of the ride height and my neighbors will see a truck again instead of a junkyard blown apart mess. I try to keep it decent looking inbetween thrashes.

[Radarsonwheels]

I chopped the front of the bed today. Looks like the frame will need 20” sectioned out of it!

[Radarsonwheels]

Got some more stuff done- I fabricated the front crossmember and got it all tacked up to properly locate the doghouse.

 

To locate the mounting plate I mocked up the tins, clamped the plate to the rad support, and supported it in position with some tacked in 1” square stock hanging from the top. Then with my cousin to help pull the tins off carefully I was able to make the xmember and get it close to where it should go. Then I re-mounted the nose and tacked in the plate in its final home. 

[Radarsonwheels]

I also finished going through my 727 torqueflite. It got new seals, clutches, and a transgo tf2 shift kit. I got a 2400 stall B&M converter for it and drove the final coffin nail to my rotating assembly budget by upgrading my 20 year old italian 110 mig welder to a millermatic 211. I’m going to be much more confident about the frame splice using the bigger welder and it runs so smoothly!

[Radarsonwheels]

Here’s the cut I have planned. I decided not to re use the factory splice under the cab because I’m going to box a bunch of the frame anyway. 

[Adam H P15 D30]

53 minutes ago, Radarsonwheels said:

I also finished going through my 727 torqueflite. It got new seals, clutches, and a transgo tf2 shift kit. I got a 2400 stall B&M converter for it and drove the final coffin nail to my rotating assembly budget by upgrading my 20 year old italian 110 mig welder to a millermatic 211. I’m going to be much more confident about the frame splice using the bigger welder and it runs so smoothly!

The Transgo is a good kit for the TF, especially with the restrictor for the direct clutches.  What ratio intermediate lever are you running?  Also, did you remove the accumulator spring?  Does Transgo tell you to remove it?  I've seen the forward bellville spring break because of removing and/or blocking up the accumulator.  

 

FWIW,

Adam

[Radarsonwheels]

The current tf2 kit says to reinstall the accumulator assembly with whatever springs it had. Mine had one on top (trans upsid down) so thats how it went back together- no blocker. The front servo got a spacer and new spring. My trans had the lever with the one line on it- 2.9? Ratio? I am not worried about winning races, just wanted less slipping for more friction life and street fun.

 

Hopefully the block comes back from the machine shop soon and I’ll be able to fabricate motor and transmission mounts for mockup then see about firewall and floor mods & fabrication.

 

I got 1/2 of my custom front crossmember all plated and tied in to the frame stubs, which were trimmed down first. Tomorrow I will have time to do the driver’s side and start on shortening the wheelbase. 

 

 

Edited June 26, 2018 by Radarsonwheels
Typo

[Radarsonwheels]

I should probably locate and tie in the bumper while I’m doing front x-member stuff. That’s a good thing to do when I have a helper- the doghouse is so much easier with 2 people

[Radarsonwheels]

Today I got the other side of the front crossmember finished, pulled the cab, and did the frame cut/splice. It got 20” shorter. What a difference! The bed is still sitting up a mile in the air but it was another big job checked off the list.

 

[ggdad1951]

15 hours ago, Radarsonwheels said:

Today I got the other side of the front crossmember finished, pulled the cab, and did the frame cut/splice. It got 20” shorter. What a difference! The bed is still sitting up a mile in the air but it was another big job checked off the list.

 

 

good job...I ALMOST, almost like the  box where it's sitting...almost, but not completely.

[FlashBuddy]

Put a pair of racing slicks back there?

[Radarsonwheels]

Ha! My 8.25 with open 3.21 gears wouldn’t last long if I had any traction. Not with the 600ft/lbs of torque I’m building. Thanks for the responses fellas.

 

The bed is just sitting on the Dakota frame right now, with some wood cribbing under the front to sort of level it out. Quick measurements look like the front needs to drop 4”-5” and 6”ish in the back. The bed height is going to be dictated by the running boards which will be in the stock location making a line under the door to the bottom of the rear fender. I think the bedside tubes end up about door handle height.

 

I am not sure if I put too much rake in the cab mounts- I have seen some done where the bed angle clashes with the cab and ruins the body lines. 

 

Once I get the drivetrain mounted I’ll see how much lower the truck sits with weight on it and how radical the rake is. A little rake is cool to me and suggests a hotrod or a truck that’s ready to haul a decent load but too much looks stupid. I can always shim it up to change the angle but it’s not much over the scrub line as is.

 

ok I’m rambling haha more updates when I can get some work done, Philly is a rainy sauna today so I’m getting tattooed instead of wrenching!

 

 

[Radarsonwheels]

I cut rear stubs off the frame to let the bed drop down. It’s sitting on the frame in the front and a jackstand in the back. It needs to come up some in the front to line up for running boards then the back will get lifted to match the body lines. They’re not quite right now but the lower bed looks better already.

 

I’m glad there is going to be room for some insulated mounts! I figure I’ll get the bed shimmed off the ground and properly located, then start fabricating mounts for it.

[Radarsonwheels]

Im also thinking it’ll need a shorter rear tire  and possibly shim a little rake out of the cab and front clip. The weight of the motor & trans will change things a little too. I need to figure that all out before I mount the front bumper so the angles all jive. 

 

Here’s the behind the scenes shot of the back half to show what I’m working with.

[Radarsonwheels]

I decided I wanted to do a stronger rear end so I found a 9.25 from a 77 d-150. It was 3.55 sure grip, 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern, perfect width for our wheel tubs at 64”.

 

Unfortunately after I cleaned and painted it I started inspecting it. The first sign of trouble was what was left of a third C-clip that was floating around in the oil. A long time ago somebody lost an axle and never bothered to clean the shrapnel out of the housing- both axles had a lot of spline wear and the pockmarks on the ring gear had been smoothed over by lots of running. Two of the spider gears in the auburn were pretty chewed up too. 

[Radarsonwheels]

I didn’t want to give up on the 9.25- it seems like a super strong axle for a street machine. The weakness is that it’s a C-clip rear so a clip failure could result in losing the wheel off the vehicle. I am planning to swap the drums for zj grand cherokee discs so they should help retain an axle in case of a failure. I am not going to run slicks or do a prostreet tubbed deal so I’m not too worried about it anyway. 

 

I found another 9.25 axle out of an older ramcharger. This one is 3.21 which will hopefully still feel sporty behind a 512 big block. The pinion had no lash but also no preload. The ring gear backlash measured .010 which is .001 out of spec.

 

I installed a yukon crush sleeve eliminator until I got around 7 inch/lbs of rotational torque on the pinion, cleaned out the housing a little, and set the ring gear backlash at .0065. I have to paint it and check the pattern before I button it up but it should be good since I didn’t change the shim under the rear pinion bearing. 

 

One axle had a bunch of play in the splines but the other side was not too bad and when I swapped the good one into the bad side it verified that the carrier splines are still good. I had a hard time finding axles in 4.5 bolt pattern- seems like the bigger truck stuff is way more prevalent for the 9.25. Rockauto had two in the stronger than stock alloy- one in Kentucky and another in Cali. The axle bearings look and feel good so I’m just doing seals not bearings. 

 

I splurged on a B&M diff cover with bearing cap supports. I know it’s mostly cosmetic but I was surprised how beefy the casting is and it looks great next to the fresh POR15 black paint.

 

Next I have to shave the spring over axle perches and install the grand cherokee disc brakes. They have the e-brake mini drum style setup which is convenient too.

 

I toyed with the idea of doing a parallel 4 link setup. The bars, ends, and welding are no problem but I got intimidated by all the coilover, coil & shock, or airbag choices and cost. I’m just going to run a set of xhd A-body (dart) 6 leaf springs with slapper bars and box the frame up just past the front leaf hanger location. It will ride a little hard but I know it won’t wrap up or hop real bad. 

 

Once the rear is complete with axles and brakes I will get it all mocked up on the chassis with the new springs and perches. I’m not sure if I’ll weld it up or wait to see if the weight of the driveline changes any angles. 

[Radarsonwheels]

New shoes today!  I was conflicted about what to do about the mismatched rims I had and the 1989 dakota rims are pretty dated looking.

 

I had a line on some 5.5” and 8” steelies with 50s dodge hubcaps but I found these complete with very fresh used rubber for less than I was going to spend just on tires. 

 

16”x8” fronts and 17”x9.5” rears. I am not a fan of big rims or low profile tires on an old  truck but to me these are fairly understated as far as trendy blingy streetrod type ugly stuff goes. 

 

What do y’all think of them? I did just turn 40 my wrenching buddy said now I’m old enough to paint it yellow and have timeout crybaby dolls at carshows hahah

[59bisquik]

Old enough to paint it yellow and run those wheels?!

 

[Don Coatney]

I am old enough to run chrome wheels with my nuts exposed.

 

 

[Radarsonwheels]

19 hours ago, 59bisquik said:

Old enough to paint it yellow and run those wheels?!

 

 

 

Ha! No way dude!  It turns out your truck is one of my favorites on the internet. I wish mine was half as nice I would have left it on it’s original chassis.

 

I think my buddy is trying more to poke fun at a dated ‘90s big money prewar billet barge type show car but if you set up time out crybaby dolls I will still make fun of you. All in good fun my junk is a thousand footer!

[Radarsonwheels]

18 hours ago, Don Coatney said:

I am old enough to run chrome wheels with my nuts exposed.

 

 

Love it

[59bisquik]

Thanks! I just had to hassle you a bit. Mine is definitely a 10 footer with quite a bit of character. However, you will see no dolls or car hop window trays with plastic food.

[Radarsonwheels]

More progress. I removed the bed which was just sitting on there but still not an easy job to lift it free. It’s still flimsy being just the sides with no floor or frame installed. Then I got to work removing the stock leaf springs, shocks, brake lines, and rear axle. 

 

With no springs to hold up the rear I was free to wheel the new 9.25 axle under there and drop the chassis down rotating it on the front wheels. I had been trying to figure out how to de-rake the body without disturbing the chassis so now’s the time while I re-engineer the rear suspension and differential.  The cab looks much less silly and stink-buggy.

 

I had 9” of space between the axle tubes and frame which is way more than I need. I’m going to shoot for 5-6” with the diff hanging which should hopefully give me 4-4 1/2” of travel with the weight of the truck settling the leafs.

[Radarsonwheels]

I’m going to use some xhd six leaf springs left over from a 1972 demon I had. To drop the suspension and locate the wheel properly I have to flip the front spring hangers upside down and move them back an inch. I will also need to re-drill the spring perches and u-bolt plates 1 1/2” off center because the dart springs have a very short front section from the eye to the axle centering pin. 

 

Even after moving the hanger and offsetting the pin I will be moving the wheelbase 1.5” shorter (from 104” to 102.5”!!) which is mostly because I thought the new wheels looked too far back in the tubs. If I go too far visually  moving the tires forward in the tubs I can always shrink the front of the bed- it is only tacked up after sectioning 12” out of it.

Edited July 24, 2018 by Radarsonwheels
Clarity