This, that and the other....

Before I saw anything else I must say that my wife is THE BEST!  I have been working on the heat and A/C but the Dakota heater plenum is HUGE.   It will not fit.  This is where my wife/banker comes in.  She OKd the purchase of a Vintage Air system so I will be ordering that soon.  That should make the heat/air option fairly clean and easy.


These are pics of the steering column.  The new firewall will be shorter so I had to cut out about 4" of the perforated metal you see and then I rewelded the mounting plate closer up the column.  Later I will likely have to modify the shifter mechanism but that should be pretty easy.

Steering column shortening

I recently cut out the Dakota tailgate skin and used paint remover to get it ready for its installation as a new firewall for the IHC.

Tailgate skin with paint remover in action

 I tried to use the Dakota floorpan and tranny bump but that was going to be obnoxious so I bought some tubing and am fabricating a new floorpan and tranny bump as we speak.





New floor pan/ tranny bump skeleton



New name for the project----Unintended Consequences

It's a little too long for a license plate but it might become its name.  I spend hours in the shop thinking about the next this, that or another before cutting, welding or moving and yet, no matter how much I plan and think there is always an unintended consequence.  For the last few nights I have been struggling with the steering and brake setup.  The new firewall geometry is different than the Dakota so I have been measuring, fitting, and mocking up new setups.  I could go out and buy some of it but that goes against the grain of the project so I usually just plan and modify.  Last night I cut and reshaped the brake pedal mounting bracket.  I welded it back up and set it in place.  Everything was looking good until I reset the brake pedal in the swing mount only to find  that I change the mounting angle enough that the master cylinder pushrod won't line up with the pedal!!!!    ARRGGHHH!!!   Another Unintended Consequence!    Oh well, par for the course.  Just another challenge to overcome.  : ) 

I am working on the locations of the brake booster, brake pedal, and steering column.  I have to fabricate a steering column mount and I had to cut and lengthen the brake pedal.  Plugging along.

Tight fit

I thought I did a great job with the radiator support only to find out it conflicted with the tilt mechanism.  I cut it out and reworked it.  The kids helped me put the front back on and I think it should work.  The front tilts up and down and the radiator fits.  I need to fab the upper supports and somehow tie it to the engine block but I have a couple of ideas that should work.  The pic below shows how little room I have to play with up front.



View from above...... not much room.



This pic shows the beginning work on the new firewall.  I cut out most of the old.  I plug welded some of the holes.  Now I am debating the best way to complete the next steps.  I may leave it open a while longer while I do some of the cancer repair work on the cab sides.  It would sure be a lot easier to do the work with the firewall out.  I would love to get the firewall in so I can set the steering and brakes but I think I will wait a bit.

Opening it up wide!!

Radiator work

I had the kids help me roll the 47 from one side of the shop to the side with the lift.  We took the front clip off.....man I love the tilt front, remove 2 pins and the whole front comes off. 

I played around with a few options then fabricated this lower radiator support.  I had to cut about 3 inches off of the upper and lower radiator hoses to bring the radiator as close as I can to the pulleys.  Up top I still need to fabricate a support.  I am working on some options.  The lower support was pretty simple.  When I put the front clip back on and chech for clearance I should be able to finish welding the support. 

My next big project is going to be a redo of the firewall.  I have been trying to figure out the best way to do this.  I would really like to redo the entire firewall and make it smooth and flat.  I didn't make it to the sheet metal shop this week for some flat stock but got thinking, pulled out the cutting disc and cut the back panel out of the Dakota's tailgate.  I have to do some more figuring but I think I am going to weld it in as the new firewall.  I am going to try and keep the embossed DODGE lettering for fun just so the Dodge doesn't get completely lost in the project.Sorry IHC guys but this is a mixed project.

The picture below is why I have not done as much on the truck as I should.  I took the kids up night skiing.  The photo is from my cell phone and does not do the sunset justice, but it gives you an idea of how great it looked.