58 Dodge fire truck

[Torchie]

[cl
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[joedoh]

lookin good!

 

[falconvan]

Got it all stripped down; hopefully we’ll be doing some frame surgery next weekend.

 

[soltz]

[cl [P

 

[Burgerman]

That old mopar front axle be ready now to go into a gasser build.

 

[falconvan]

Hmm; might have to throw it in the storage pile for a future project

 

[falconvan]

No turning back now....

 

[skull]

l am no expert, but somthin's missing in the front[S

carry on[

Later

 

[Torchie]

[P [P [P [P
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[joedoh]

woop woop! way to get after it!

 

[falconvan]

Looks like by notching the Dakota framerails, I can slide about 6" of them into the original frame rails and then weld in supports. Also looks like the original underfloor pedals are not going to work so I'll using a firewall mounted master cylinder, hanging pedals, and converting the clutch to hydraulic.

 

[bob w]

There you go again, building another cool machine.[cl

 

[falconvan]

There you go again, building another cool machine.[cl

Same as you, brother. Determined to keep as many old heaps out of the scrapyard as possible.

 

[falconvan]

After lots of trimming it fits pretty good. Time to start welding and adding suppers. Looks like it might end up with a C notch in the rear; it really lowered the front.

 

[skull]

nice

looks great[cl

Later

 

[falconvan]

So I got the clip welded in solid; need to go back and put in some supports later but it’s good to finish the rest of the setup. I cut the front of the old frame off; this is where the core support and motor mounts mounted. Rather than trying to recreate this, I’m going to cut off the front of the Dakota frame rails and splice this in. I marked the location of all the mounting holes on the concrete using a plumb bob and a tape measure before I cut the frame so I should be able to get it back in the same spot.

 

[Burgerman]

Nice work Falcon. Keep those photos coming. I'm imagining all the time saved not mounting the cab and box to a new frame. That Dakota clip is a good match. [cl. [P

 

[joedoh]

Rather than trying to recreate this, I’m going to cut off the front of the Dakota frame rails and splice this in.

[cl[cl[cl[cl

way to work smarter!

 

[falconvan]

After a lot of thought I realized this is going to sit way too low and 10 times as much work to finish if I leave it this way. Doing a C notch on the rear would be a nightmare; it'd mean cutting the frame, bed floor, and possibly raising the engine and trans to get the angles right. I do still want it to be functional as a truck, just with better brakes and steering. I had a late night last night cutting the front clip loose and remeasuring. I don't want to do anything crazy to the rear end other than have the springs de-arched to take it down a few inches. Taking the overload springs out already took it down quite a bit. So I'm trying to calculate where the front end needs to be to have it sitting level after the weight of the drive train and front sheet metal are back on. So I think (hope) this is going to be the right place. Ended up with about a 4" offset between the original frame and the Dakota rails so I'll have to build some 1/4" fish plates to bring it together. We shall see once the weight of the engine is on it and I have the frame off the jack stands.

 

[Torchie]

[P [P [P [P
[P [P [P
Torchie