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Widowmaker hotrods

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Hey guys and gals. I’m Matt and I’m new here. Before I get too deep into this group a want to make sure I’m in the right place. I recently picked up a. 47 deluxe and I’m looking to make a street rod out of it. By that I mean sub framing it modern drive train etc. any one on here done this sort of thing with these? '

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O/k....I'll bite.........lol......and I'm a hotrodder........I have had my 1940 Dodge since 1971, its been hotrodded since 1973........my personal feeling are that a subframe swap is a waste of time, more trouble than its worth and unless you ARE an experience welder and fabricator with a good knowledge of how cars work than you will spend more time & money than needed and you won't have a car on the road and another thing is unless its done perfectly a frame swap will more than likely reduce the value of the car substanially.........my 1940 Dodge uses essentially the stock upper & lower A arms,spindles and stub axles, a disc brake conversion, thicker stock shape sway bar and upgraded shocks and relocated upper mount.......the engine is a 318 Poly and cast iron auto, both of which have lived happily in the car since 1973 and work well, although if I was doing it again I'd use a LA series 318/360 or better still maybe a late model Hemi........I have a rack & pinion from an Austin 1800 narrowed 9" however using a Cavalier style centre steer rack is a much better alternative........I have bucket seats, mid 60's mopar console, late Oz Ford rear axle & discs, etc........my car has been essentailly like these pics since around 1975 so it does work........but your car, your choice........ just really look into a frame swap as theres a LOT MORE to do than just swapping a frame ...........anyway Welcome Aboard from sunny South Grafton, Australia......Andy Douglas    

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the stock suspension is adequate and can be improved to some extent.  That extent depends on what you are looking for.  Stock bumpsteer is horrible, that can be improved upon with an R&P swap as mentioned by Andy.  The upper shock mount needs relocated.  With a tiny bit of fab it appears a coil over setup can be put where the stock coil resides giving you better shock action and a lot more suspension sustainability.  The standard MII type swap isn't really much of an improvement over the upgraded stock suspension.

 

Rear wheel hop is horrible, but there are a ton of anti wheel hop devices for leaf sprung setups.  Brakes are sufficient but there are plenty of upgrades to discs, power and all around too. 

 

Now if you have a stocker and all you do is cruise it about then none of the issues I mentioned are problematic.  But if your other hobby is going around turns fast then they are issues.  If you are going to put a V8 under the hood and double the HP or more then at least the brakes need addressed. 

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Thank you for the information fellas. Definitely looking to run a V8 and probably an automatic trans of some sort. Definitely would like to upgrade the brakes and the steering as well.  You both stated that you did a disk brake upgrade, what did you use to do the upgrade with (meaning what did you use for a donor car)

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Early 5 lug bolt Dakota front clip.  But you need to fabricate rad support and other sheet metal mounts. Will accept 3.9 v6 through most all Mopar v8s.  You also get disc brakes and power rack and pinion.  Keep in mind if you swap trans, you loose parking brake so get the Dak rear axle also.

 

Brake conversions rustyhope.com

Scarebird

 

 

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Just noodle around this forum for disc brakes. Several companies making 

kits easily adaptable to your car. Lots of knowledgeable people on here 

to help you with disc brake questions. Sorry, I'm not one of 'em but there is an abundance of

help here for you. Welcome aboard & best of luck with your project. 

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  • 1 month later...
On 1/9/2021 at 4:16 PM, greg g said:

Early 5 lug bolt Dakota front clip. 

 

 

 

I am just starting to look into swapping out the engine in my P15. When you say Early 5 Lug, are you referring to the late 80's early 90's models?

 

I am new to the project car / hotrod world and have just started getting my feet wet. From what I was reading, the wheel base is a critical part in making the body look right when it is done. I couldn't find a donor frame that had the same wheelbase which is why the front clip swap intrigued me. When you replace a front clip like this, do you trim the frame you are adding to make it meet the wheelbase of the original car you are building? 

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Looks like 1990 was the last year of the 5 lug front end for Dakotas, those are probably getting long in the tooth if they are still around.  I occasionally see some Daks of that vintage around here and they are usually hammered.  So look for the best donor you can though choices might be limited.

Edited by Sniper
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Ed usually the early 4 and by models were there standard 5x4 1/2 Mopar bolt pattern.  No doubt pretty scarce in the rust belt.  South East, south west and Western arid relations is where they might be. And yes you would be removing the front section of your car frame and grafting on the similar portion of Dakota frame after much and manyextremely measurements.  Also assume the ability to do real goodwelding.

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