Projects 52 Dodge B3B Hemi Project

In two of these pictures you can see my brake pedal being lengthened. It is a pedal from a 73 Barracuda and when I first installed it, it was 7" from the floor. I went and measured my other trucks and found that about 4" was right, so I added 3" to this one. My only concern is that due to the length (as well as weight) it might keep too much pressure on the MC which in turn will make the brakes drag (like driving with your foot on the brakes all the time). I am thinking about adding a spring to alleviate some of the pressure.


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Also, in the first picture you can see that my MC is pretty high, I can open the rear reservoir but it does hit that rail which I am ***uming is just some type of drip rail as the hood actually sits much higher up. My plan right now is just to cut some of that rail out to give me some clearance.


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Just a guess but if it's a driprail and you cut it out, will water from the whole hood edge leak down there above your M/C?

 

Perhaps but I don't think this is a real issue, that said I intend to close it off where I cut it and build a lip above the MC so that any water that might come down will cascade left and right (depending on how I feel once I cut out the part that needs to move. I need room for the cap to come off easily as well as the bleeder cap.

 

Haven't checked this build for a while but I like the progress, looking good!

 

it is slow going but going nonetheless.

 

Finally able to get back to work on the truck. The front suspension has been giving me fits but I think I finally have it sorted. I think I will work on routing wiring next.

 

Any new photos to share?

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you guys are killing me the picture deal... LOL. I will get some this weekend once I get the front end all together. I stapled up a piece of cardboard on which I wrote all of the things that still need to be done, I had to put up another piece as I filled the first one up.. I will just keep chipping away on it. I have to find a disgram or picture of the Dakota brake lines.

 

We want a picture of the cardboard too!

 

How about a picture of a picture of the cardboard...

 

LOL... alright alright, I get the picture... (pun definitiely intended). I will get some pictures and put them on here. The main reason I havent posted any new pictures recently is that that I havent done a lot of new work. The front end rebuild is basically the same from side to side, so I didnt think it was worth posting a picture of each side or each step. I still have the right side all apart and will get some pictures of the parts pieces.

 

How about a random thought; I was wanting the Velocity channel last night and watched a show called Fantom Works, for those of you who dont know, this is a custom car company and this show is about them building some very nice cars. Last night they had a 51 Studebaker which they built for a guy; it was a very nice truck but they charged $124,000 for it.... they didint even paint it, left it in bare metal (that is what the customer wanted).

 

...and what did the customer get for $124k??
They must have stuffed a bunch of 'Bens' under the seat or something. wow

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Still...that is one awesome pickup truck! $124K is a lotta vig...but what a nice truck!

 

the $124K was mainly custom fab work. by my rudimentary math, they must be charging something like $70-$75/hr shop rate as they have 1500 hrs in the build. The residual is for parts. It is very cool truck no doubt; they have a custom 7 gauge speedo in the center of the dash, all of the controls are hidden in a center counsel, etc. However, for $124K I would expect it to be absolutely stunning. Its running a SBC (yawn) and nothing exotic with the drive train or suspension. So, all of the money is in the body and interior. Then on top of it all, it is in bare metal; which is an issue of taste but still... it took 3rd place in a car show.... for $124K Id want a 1st place trophy if I drove past a car show... LOL.

 

There is a boat load of custom stuff done with that truck, just from that one picture. On top of that, being in bare steel means everything has to be metal finished smooth. None of that stuff is easy or done fast, and quality work does not come cheap.

You're building a truck, consider how much parts cost, and add up the hours you are staring at the truck trying to figure stuff out and then hours spent actually doing the work. Now, put a modest $$ per hour figure on that time, add up all the big $$ parts, the nuts and bolts, and little **** and see where you are at for $$$ value of your truck. A shop has to charge for all that stuff + the time spent ordering the parts and getting everything at the shop to work on it. The average shop rate for auto repair shops around here is $75/hour. $124,000 is a cheap truck. Gene

 

i completely understand how it arrived at that and I am glad someone has the money to do that sort of thing. It is truely a nice truck, just wish I had $124K laying around.

 

Sounds like a PT Barnum situation.

 

...and that's the truth...

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My list

 

Man...that's a beautiful pic...lol...

 

Ok, as requested

 

Very NICE build.Keep the progress reports coming.By the way,for those of you looking for a re size app,check out Cnet.com.They have all kinds of software
for free.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

You guys are out of control...

Got the front end basically done, now working on the brake lines. I think after that it will be wire routing, but we will see.

 

So here are some more pics

 

Got back from North Dakota on Friday night, got to work on the truck some. I modified the gas tank to add an AN-6 inlet and outlet. I also cleaned and painted the rear brake backing plates in anticipation of rebubilding the rear brakes. I will post some pictures soon.

 

its coming along =)

 

Slowly to say the least. I spend a lot of time thinking things through, cleaning, painting (waiting for the paint to dry), sourcing parts, dreaming up new "nice to have" things, etc. I can feel that it is beginning to pick up speed though.

 

here are some pictures of my gas tank modifications