Not an A body. A fun Dakota build

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moparmandan

moparmandan

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Junior and I have both talked about a new project other than an A body. They are getting pricey. Wanted something with a manual transmission so he could get more proficient at driving that. I love banging gears. The junkyard Magnum engines have always had my attention. So here's what we decided on. Meet Bad Dak:



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1988 Dakota V6 5speed 2WD. Good lord it's ugly and stinks. But solid as a rock, almost zero rust. Not running and PO needed it gone. Okay,
we can help with that. It's time to gut this thing and start it over.

Next:
1998 5.9 Magnum 90k miles. Small underhood fire situation REALLY dropped the price on this one. Could not pass it up.
The guts should be fine, right? Melted the wire harness and plastic FI stuff, but didn't even blister the valve cover paint.
Doesn't matter. All that's going away any how. Junkyard guarantee's it as a good motor. We shall see.

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This won't be an all out race effort, but it's gonna be effin' mean. Or at least sound mean. And look the part.
Now to decide on a transmission (NV3500 or ???) and diff (8.25 in it, 8.8 or 9" Ford) 8.75? I'm not set on anything.

This is gonna be fun.
 
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don't start a trend of affordable RWD Mopars, everybody will be looking and drive the price up. Only kidding! Will be watching and good luck with the build. Above all else, it's father/son time and fun.
 
If you change yur mind, lemmee know.
I got a 69 340 A56 car converted to Cuda status (4-speed) back in the day. I am Third owner. Car is a mess but nearly complete and still has the original engine available. Too pricey for me to restore but might be a good piece for the right guy.
 
abdywgn said:
don't start a trend of affordable RWD Mopars, everybody will be looking and drive the price up. Only kidding! Will be watching and good luck with the build. Above all else, it's father/son time and fun.
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Yep, fun time in the shop! We're both looking forward to this one!
 
Well we had to know so he dove right in. Had some melted plastic and stuff to scrape off didn't take too long.
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A 90k mile engine could still be a mess if the PO never did any maintenance. Not the case here. Man this thing looks good so far. Can't wait to see the rest when we get the heads and pan off.

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AJ/FormS said:
If you change yur mind, lemmee know.
I got a 69 340 A56 car converted to Cuda status (4-speed) back in the day. I am Third owner. Car is a mess but nearly complete and still has the original engine available. Too pricey for me to restore but might be a good piece for the right guy.
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Thanks for the offer but he's already in love with this Dakota.
 
4spdragtop said:
Looks like a great project and great scores! Congrats to you and the boy!
Have fun!
Mild tub?
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Thank you! It's so early into this one we're not sure, lol. This could go in a lot of different directions. At this point I would say probably?
 
moparmandan said:
Thanks for the offer but he's already in love with this Dakota.
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Nice offer by AJ but that 30 hour one way drive is a killer never mind re entering the USA crap.

While a Cúda may be a cooler ride, the juice is not worth the squeeze. Run that square Dak! Like your driving to the hospital while having a heart attack.

The 8.25 will be fine for a good bit. Run it till it breaks, screw it.
 
a 6 lug 9 1/4 with 3.55 or 3.92 gears should be fairly easy to source from another Dakota, a Ram, or a Durango.

Sure Grip was pretty common on those, too.
 
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YY1 said:
a 6 lug 9 1/4 with 3.55 or 3.92 gears should be fairly easy to source from another Dakota, a Ram, or a Durango.

Sure Grip was pretty common on those, too.
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Thanks! The 9 1/4 would probably be in a v8 Dakota, correct?
 
Yep.

Not sure abut the width of a more recent Ram axle, but on the 1987 D 100 I have, the 8 1/4 axle was actually an inch narrower than the 9 1/4 on my 2000 Dakota!
 
rumblefish360 said:
Nice offer by AJ but that 30 hour one way drive is a killer never mind re entering the USA crap.

While a Cúda may be a cooler ride, the juice is not worth the squeeze. Run that square Dak! Like your driving to the hospital while having a heart attack.

The 8.25 will be fine for a good bit. Run it till it breaks, screw it.
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The momentum is with the truck. I'm not sure I could talk my boy out of it now anyway. Calls it the parts chaser.
I ain't scared of an 8.25, either. Plus I have a spare that came out of my Scamp.
 
Like me some square Dakotas. After owning the Shelby since new in 89, last year I pulled the 318 and threw together an LA 360 from parts lying around. And splashed some paint on the truck. Turned out pretty ok. I still need a good carb, but I've had it out a few times. Fun little trucks.
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Dakotas are fun little trucks, I have had 3 of them.
And they are pretty cheap now.

The last one I bought was $200, v8 auto. My nephew went with me to pick it up, and claimed it for himself.
He cleaned it up, dumped a can of fresh gas, new battery and it fired up and idled. Good first vehicle for a 16 year old kid.

The one before that, a co-worker had one, drove it over to my house signed the title, and gave it to me.
V6 auto
The engine had a miss, burnt exhaust valve, I fixed the head, put a new steering rack on it and 4 new tires.
Gave it to my youngest daughter for her first vehicle. I had $325 in the whole truck.
 
ragtopfury said:
Like me some square Dakotas. After owning the Shelby since new in 89, last year I pulled the 318 and threw together an LA 360 from parts lying around. And splashed some paint on the truck. Turned out pretty ok. I still need a good carb, but I've had it out a few times. Fun little trucks.
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Very nice!
 
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