Frame swaps

With your Dakota donor truck still complete and sitting level, put an inclinometer on the lower control arms and write down the angle. (assuming you're using a 2-wheel drive donor). This will insure that when the International is finished, the angle will be the same and all the suspension geometry will be stock. Use the inclinometer on some part of the frame or spring hat or upper control arm mounting points inside the engine compartment to find the fore-aft angle at that point. Write it down. With the Dakota front clip cut off at the firewall and sitting loose, disassemble and remove the springs and shocks. Re-assemble without springs and with Allthread, washers, nuts and whatever it takes to span the Allthread where the shocks mounted to hold the whole mess together without the springs and at the control arm angle you found when you put the inclinometer on the lower control arms of the Dakota when the truck was complete. Chock up the Dakota clip at the fore-aft attitude you found with the inclinometer. With the International cab and center frame clip positioned at the height and attitude you want as a finished product, roll the Dakota clip into place and connect the Dakota clip to the International middle frame section. Use your gas axe to cut pieces off the Dakota/International frame clips where they interfere with each other as you roll the Dakota frame clip into position. Position the center of the front wheel of the Dakota clip relative to the International body using the dimension you wrote down when you originally dropped a line from the body. Of course, you'll want to fish-plate the connections you make at the Dakota/International frame connection to assure integrity of the graft. The resulting connection might look somewhat like a "Z" as viewed from the side. This is called Z-ing the frame.  

Same thing in the rear. Measure the top of the differential tube to the frame or frame member with the Dakota complete and sitting on level ground. Write it down. You will have to remove the springs and fabricate some contrivance to hold the differential in place at that measurement. I might use some U-bolts and scrap plate to bolt to the housing, then weld a couple of pieces of thick-wall tubing to the scrap plate, coming off the plate in a "V" to bolt or tack the other ends of the tubing to the frame of frame member. Just something to hold the differential in place relative to the frame at ride height while you position it to mate up with the rear stubs of the International frame. If I were using a 4WD donor, I'd use the same V-bar fixtures front and rear. Of course, you'll want to measure on an "X" pattern between the front and rear Dakota clips to insure that the clips are square with each other and also square with the International center frame section before you begin welding the whole mess together. You can do this easily by dropping a plumb line down to the ground or working surface from two identical points on the front clip and two identical points on the rear clip and measuring on an "X" between the 4 points.  

If I were looking for a donor like this, I might try finding a truck with a fragged motor and/or transmission to make the purchase price more attractive. The one thing that would be MANDATORY in my opinion, would be a clear Carfax. You don't want to start with a frame that's been tweaked in an accident. I might even take a tape with me to go look at it before the purchase, crawl under and measure on an "X" between points underneath to insure that the frame if square.