Customs 51' Fargo Dodge on Dakota frame(boxing crossmember frame help)

hey hambers, my name is Garret, or terrag on the hamb. I started building a truck this fall. Its a 51 Fargo that came from Alberta. I live on the East Coast, Cape Breton Island to be exact. A friend hauled it home for himself a few years ago but never developed the time to work on it, So i managed to pry it out of him for 1000 bucks plus a few carpentry favors around his shop. Too much... maybe to some but its a near rust free (few actual holes) body. A great start to a project on this side of the country.

enough about that, the plan is to put the body on a 93 dodge dakota chassis with a 5.2 magnum i picked up for 750. the dakota was a really nice truck and i started having second thoughts about cutting it up immediatly after i drove it home, so we tore it apart right away...haha.

 

a few more of the fargo..

 

Once the dakota and Fargo where all stripped, I got the cab set up on the dakota frame and cut the original cab mounts off the fargo frame.

Supporting the front clip on jacks and leveling the floor with the the bottom of the frame I centered the wheels in the fender openings and marked the cab postion on the frame.

The rear cab mounts welded directly onto the frame with no cutting. the fronts however needed to be trimmed and plated to fit.

 

once the cab was taken care of i decided to build a floor from scratch. I used 3/4 square stock for framing and covered that with 18 gauge sheet put through my bead eastwood beadroller. the 18 gauge was tough going through, i found it walking alot and hard to keep a perfect line but I was happy with the end result.

 

a few more of the floor. cleaned up the firewall and bottom side. seam sealed and painted with POR15, man that stuff is awesome.

 

Nice job! My grandpa and I did almost the exact same thing as you! our firewall is very similar, but we used the original floor and welded the battery cover in place. We put a 440 in the frame using a Schumacker kit with motor mounts and the special headers. We were very impressed how well it all fit, the front hub to hub is the same as the original, I will be watching this one!

 

Also... this is my first attempt at a project this scale. I built a couple bikes and a VW buggy but nothing with this much fabrication involved. I think its coming along pretty good.

 

Hey thanks, Do you have a thread...

Originally I had looked into a MII kit but it would have killed my budjet. I`m trying to get this thing mobile for 4000 minus paint and body. I`ll probably end up driving it looking as is for awhile....hahah

 

Before I tackled the floor I actually worked on the frame. using a descaller I removed alot of the rust and painted it with a rust paint. I had to do a 5 bolt conversion the run the wheels I wanted. It just so happened a friend of mine is building a mud truck from an earlier dakota. He gave me the axle with all new brakes and I bought new rotors for the front.

The dakota had a wheelbase of 112 inches while the fargo was 108. So i cut 4 from a staight section of the frame, welded on both sides and added a diamond shaped plate on the inside.

the front tires i got from the same guy with the axle. they were new aswell. the rears are like new and were on the dakota. the wheels I bought from my cousin at a tire shop for 120 a peice.

fronts are 215 65 15 on 15x7`s
rear are 235 75 15 on 15x8`s

 

SO this is where I`m at now, the cab is back on, doors hung, front clip hung and I made crossmember for the rad support. I might add a brace going backward to the bottom side of the frame. the mount ended up alittle further out than i wanted but its good and strong.

 

That's looking real good. Good for you building an old truck on the cheap- great brakes, engine, trans, fuel mileage, parts availabilty, etc.

 

thanks..i`m trying. maybe not so hamb friendly, but i`m like you say, using whats available. I want a reliable old truck i can jump in, take to car shows and on trips with dog and girlfriend in tow.

 

Subscribed! I have a '55 1/2 ton and wanted to do the same. I just do not have the fabrication skills to do so(or the $$$ right now). Great job so far. I'll be watching this one.
Steve-

 

does anyone have any ideas for bed. i have to raise the floor because of the kickup on the dakota frame. i bought some 1 1/4 angle iron and 1`inch square stock for the floor frame. the angle for a perimeter and the square stock for the ribs.

will welding the new floor frame directly to the bed sheetmetal be strong enough... as in stitch weld every few inches around the bed.

 

For the dog lovers here, Before I bought the truck my girlfriend said if I started one more project she wanted a puppy! Meet Penny. this is an earlier photo, shes a now almost 5 months old and got about a dozen tricks down pat. Shes a hungarian Viszla.

 

I have heard great things about Viszlas. They sure are pretty dogs.

As for your bed, could you just cut the floor out of the Dakota bed and use that? I'm sure you could build a simple framework out of the 3/4" square stock to provide some additional support...

Or build a wood bed for it using a similar square stock framework. Did it have a wood bed originally?

 

yes, the bed uses wooden planks for the floor, i'm going to stick with that. I like that look. i'm concerned about the weight of the bed and the floor frame being welded to sheet metal. I suppose I can make some gussets or additional bracing underneath. or maybe i'm over/underthinking this..

 

Nice work & nice truck.

I will be following this thread as well.
I am doing a bit more complicated Dakota swap, & if you spend some tyme searching this site, you will find there are quite a few Pilothouse owners here, with build threads.

 

thanks! there are quite a few pilothouse builds. i spent many hours reading adn staring at pictures to help me decide my plan of attack.

 

It will be fine welded to the box sides, in fact that's how they are originally. Nice build always good to see more dodges getting put back on the road!

 

just pulled the box inside the garage and got a good look at it. i see what you mean thats how they were originally, not much going on there holding stuff together. Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy.

 

Nice fabrication and using your head instead of your wallet. Not sure why this thread is rated with only one star. It's worth much better than that.

 

So, got the box sitting on the frame this evening. Debating how to fab the box floor. Using wood planks of course but want the finish product to look right and not sloppy. there is a body line thats just about where i need the new floor to be, so the ends and sides of the boards will be straight and even. ( no notching around recesses or fender wells) Snapped a few pictures. maybe someone can help.

Second picture, ideal mounting place for my angle iron perimeter framework. Just have to notch it arounf the fender wells. but will still need a way to clean up the seam between the first board and the side of the bed

Third, better and easier to attach to the bed. Dropping the ribs I can rabbit my planks to start under the angle. cleaner in my opionion.

suggestions and..... go

 

second issue... the only major body panel I was missing was a tailgate. UNTIL.... i ran into a friend and just happened to mention i had no tailgate..when he says I GOT ONE! what are the chances. its not like i was asking everyone i ran into....:/ although it said DODGE i took it anyway..it was FREE

Anyway, the tailgate it pretty banged up and i just realized its 5 inche too long.. still not a big deal. I was going to have to cut it up and rebuild it anyway. But i don;t like the idea of dropping the tailgate and have a bed floor thats 12inches above.

Maybe I'll just run some planks across the back too and only remove one or 2 to use the bed.

 

A picture of the tailgate and rear box support... looks like someone did a number on it...haha both!

 

Originally, the boards for the floor screwed to the bed floor crossmembers and the angle that was attached to the bed sides rested on top of the outside edge of the side boards and were held together by course thread carriage bolts through the angle. Then there was strips of steel bolted between the edges of the boards that held the boards in place through the center of the box. The wood was all that held the box sides on the truck. When the wood rotted away, the bed sides dropped that inch or so and just sort of rested on the bed floor crossmembers. The front of the bed had a channel welded to it that the boards fit into. That bent up rear bed panel was welded to both box sides and had a ledge for the boards and the ends of the steel straps to mount to. The bed floor crossmembers were bolted directly to the frame. The step side boxes were made up through the mid 1980s, the newer boxes had steel floors in place of the wood and the box sides were welded to the steel floor.

When I built the bed for my 50, I used a sheet of 1/8" flat steel sheet for the floor. I made 4 bed floor crossmembers out of 1 1/2" square tubing, with a piece of angle iron welded to the tubing so the top of the tubing was uniform in height, front to back. The angle bolted to the frame. The box sides were attached to the the top of the tube floor crossmembers with angle iron, I welded mine after I was sure everything was square. My floor was welded to the floor crossmembers since mine was steel, if you want to use wood, the wood can be mounted to the tubing with house deck screws, or you can use some steel strips like what was originally used. I would attach the bed sides directly to your floor crossmembers with the piece of angle that is attached to your bed sides, for the extra support when the wood deteriorates. If you want an angle on top of the wood to the bed sides, add another angle on top of the wood. The rear panel can be attached to both bed sides and I would also attach it to the rear floor crossmember, a little extra strength at the rear of the bed is just a great idea. Also, the width of the bed is an odd size (its also wider then standard steel sheet comes in, I had to add to both sides of my floor piece), so give thought to how you're going to cut and space the wood. There are replacement wood kits available but they are very pricy. The steel strips that hold the wood to the crossmembers and also the bed side angles are also available, but I would make my own. I think I saw the steel pieces at www,robertsmotorparts.com

My truck was a work truck and the box got used hard, I was really surprised how little material holds these things together! Also, all the places the angle was attached to the bed sides, and to my steel floor were plug welded. I drilled 1/4" holes in the angle about every 1 1/2" and welded through the hole onto the bed sides and also onto the floor. Good plug welds will distort the angle and tear the bed side before they break loose. Gene

 

nice progress, I bought my kid a Studebaker Truck that we plan on doing the Dakota frame swap to. I ran into the same $$ issues in doing the MII swap. Hopefully our swap goes a smooth.

 

thanks 50DODGE4x4!!! for another perspective and great info.

i'm a carpenter by trade so milling the wood or knowing someone who can is not a problem. I seen another pilothouse build on here where they used flat bar painted black between the boards which looked great. I'm really on a tight budget.

I feel more confident plug welding the framework to the sides now. thanks again

 

Thanks trannyman! Stude's are cool. there is an orange one locally thats done very well... I dig it.. I ll see if i can find a pic

 

For TrannyMan!