Frame swaps
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This operation is not for the faint of heart, but will be a rewarding result for anyone who wants a '49 International that rides, handles, accelerates and brakes as good or better than an OEM late model truck and looks good doing it. | This operation is not for the faint of heart, but will be a rewarding result for anyone who wants a '49 International that rides, handles, accelerates and brakes as good or better than an OEM late model truck and looks good doing it. | ||
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| + | We had another young man on the forum who was using a '96 Dakota frame under a '40 Dodge business coupe. He was thinking putting the body on the complete Dakota chassis and I suggested that it would end up looking clunky. I explained how to do front and rear Dakota clip swaps and have detailed my answer to him here..... | ||
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| + | With the Dakota chassis sitting on a level pad and complete with wheels and tires, remove the front and rear springs so that you can position the front control arms and the rear differential in the relationship that they will have when under load. This may mean finding a complete, running Dakota and taking some readings off the components with an angle finder and a tape. Make up whatever brackets you need to, using scrap steel and allthread to hold the components together at ride height. I CANNOT OVEREMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF GETTING THIS PART OF THE SWAP RIGHT. PAY ATTENTION. | ||
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| + | With the Dodge on a level, flat pad, put jackstands under the frame just behind the firewall and just ahead of the spring arch in the rear just so that the tires are barely off the ground. Take measurements from the firewall to the location of the hood latch on the core support. Remove the hood and fenders. Leaving about 8-10 inches of frame stub in front of the firewall, torch off the front frame clip. Go to the rear and torch off the rear frame clip, leaving enough stub so that you can weld the Dakota rear clip onto it. | ||
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| + | Now, drop the body down to exactly where you want it for ride height and level it side to side. If you want a little California rake to it, then position the body for a little rake. If you want the body to be level, then position it level, with whatever ground clearance you want. If you want the back lower than the front like a liquored-up Kentucky hillbilly, then position the body that way. What we're doing here is getting the exact ride height and body attitude we want without the use of Fosdick dropped spindles or cut spring coils or any other amateurish monkey business. It'll be all stock with the Dakota ride quality and Dakota steering geometry and Dakota brakes. Cool, huh? | ||
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| + | Now, with the Dakota chassis secured at stock Dakota ride height, just like in a real, running example of the truck, mount the motor and transmission into the chassis on the stock mounts. At the engine crossmember, fabricate a caster wheel (pirate one off a derelict shopping cart or whatever) and attach it under the crossmember, having the caster wheel touch the ground and located slightly to the rear of the Dakota wheels and tires, so that you have a short tricycle. Cut the Dakota front frame clip off the chassis right behind the transmission crossmember. You want to keep the forward/rearward tilt of the front clip in the same position as it was on the Dakota chassis at ride height. If you allow the clip to tilt forward or backward from the factory-designed attitude, trust me, nothing will work properly. Been there, done that. PAY ATTENTION. That's why I use the third wheel and make a tricycle out of it, to keep everything like it's supposed to be. | ||
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| + | As you move the Dakota front clip into position in the front of the Dodge, you may have to cut the transmission crossmember off and some more of the frame ahead of the crossmember, depending on what's in the way of letting you push the clip back far enough to get the motor up against the firewall. If you have to do this and the transmission wants to dangle, put the trans pan on a creeper and chock it back up to the proper height with wood blocks so you can still roll the Dakota front clip around. Make certain you put a level on the Dakota clip to insure it's not lower on one side than the other. If it's out a little, you can add or let a little air out of one tire to level it up. You will have to trim each of the two Dodge frame stubs and each of the two Dakota clip stubs as you move the Dakota clip into position. Just keep trimming and moving and measuring for equal wheelbase side to side until you get it there and you see how you are going to join the stubs together. You can be measuring from holes in the frame on the Dodge and the Dakota that you know are the same distance left to right in order to keep the wheelbase equal. Once you feel like you're close, have a couple of buddies hold one of the front fenders in position so you can eyeball the car from the side and check the position of the tire in the wheelwell. This is where you want to PAY ATTENTION, as this relationship will make or break the swap. Once you have the clip in place, make up your 2" x 4" "Z" components to join the stubs together. Tack them in place for now, you can finish welding them later and add flat "fish plate" reinforcements to the sides of the joints. You may have to make minor changes, so don't finish weld until you know that everything is absolute right. | ||
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| + | Do the same with the rear, making a tricycle with a caster wheel so that you can just wheel the clip up into place, same way you did in front. | ||
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| + | There it is. You have a roller. Mount the core support from the Dakota so you can use the Dakota cooling system, ALL OF IT. Use what has already been engineered at the factory to work, not some Fosdick cobbled up mess from a catalog. | ||
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| + | My explanation may sound simple to you, but believe me, this is the pinnacle of automotive fabrication and will take every ounce of your skill and determination to accomplish properly. But I'll tell you, when you get the old girl running and she handles, steers and stops properly, you'll be grinnin' from ear to ear. | ||
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[[Category:Frame]] | [[Category:Frame]] | ||
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