I got a line on a fairly neglected-but-solid '54 Dodge panel. Missing engine, locked rear, tires and brake drums have been removed and it's been sitting in mud for a couple decades. Surprisingly, the frame and body are pretty damned solid. I have a Volare clip (actually, a Diplomat, same thing) with a good 318 at my disposal. See where I'm getting at? I see plenty of threads about Volare clip installs on Fords, but has anyone done one on a Dodge? If so, how'd that work out, and what would I need to watch out for? Pics aplenty, please!
When it comes to clips I try to use what I know I can get parts for. Tie rods bushings exc. If that is a do able task width is the next thing you need to look into. Track and frame. Everything elese is cut and weld.
Not only do I have tons of parts sitting in bins for these things, but I have access to any of the stuff new. So, that's not a problem at all. Width looks right about where it should be, so that's task #2 crossed off.
I clipped my '53 Dodge 1/2 ton with a '66 Plymouth VIP (Fury). Lines up fairly well, I still need to do some boxing of the frame rails to tie things together. Not exactly sure how the Fury and Volare clips compare, I cut the Fury front subframe at a location where it basically fit over the outside of the truck frame rails, the track width for the front wheels was pretty close too. Then you just take the transmission/torsion bar mount crossmember and trim it down to fit between the rails of the truck. The only drawback I see to this is that the engine sits a little further back than I think it would if you just welded in a set of mounts for an engine swap, I had to do a little firewall trimming to clear the big block (383) that came with it. Here's a picture of the Dodge with the front clip already installed, ride height is pretty adjustable with the torsion bars (It'll go lower than in the picture, although, those are 14" rims for perspective). I can get you close ups of the frame if you want. You can shoot me a Pm for more info. The biggest thing to deal with when you do a clip is making sure 1. everything ends up being square when you're done and 2. your wheels end up in the right place. Having gotten everything square and lined up and welded in place, with all the finish work left to make it look right still to go, I'd have to say doing a complete frame swap might be easier. If I could find a Dakota with the same general dimensions as that panel I might go that way. You'll still have to fab body mounts, but even with the clip you'll have to mount the fenders and such. Although if you have to mess with the wheelbase the clip would be just about as easy. There's actually a book with a how-to that shows a '53 Dodge truck being clipped with a '80 Mirada front subframe. The book is "How to Build Hot Rod Trucks" by Jim Clark. Not sure if you can still get it, I have a copy though if you can't find it.
I did a 54 pickup with a Volare clip. I followed the Tex Smith article, but there are a few numbers missing in the article. It left me scratching my head for a while. I used a Marada clip along with the tilt column, and much of the rest of the car. In the end, I ended up cutting the original frame 9" in front of the front body mounts and building a 2" x 4" tube front frame to bolt the clip to. Tex tells you to install the tubing on top of the original frame, but that puts the front end too low to be drivable. I cut off the top frame lip and dropped the tubing inside the original frame a couple inches. Regardless what some will tell you, those cross bars will not lift the front end beyond just ride height adjustment for very long. You need to be sure you get the ride height right before you weld up the frame. I sank the tubing 2" into the original frame, and still had nasty gouges in the bottom of the front bumper. Were I to do another, I'd sink it 3" into the frame. Another thing I did was moved the clip 2" forward from the front wheels being centered in the wheel openings. That much improved the steering column angles. If you can't find the Tex Smith book I can probably walk you through it, but the pictures I took of the process are long gone, and I type very slowly. We did put almost 40,000 miles on that truck after the clip install. It drove very nicely, suspension is a bit soft if you plan on doing some hard driving, but for normal driving it rode great. I had a set of early Mustang II rear leaf springs (new ones were given to me so I used them). My truck ran a 360 2v, 727 with a 2:76 gear early and a 3:23 towards the end. The 2:76 got better mileage (about 2 mpg better, nothing but the rear end change), but the 3:23 was more fun. The 360 was very tired. I sold it to pay for my 39 Plymouth business coupe, that I had to sell a couple years later. That truck was the only hot rod i ever missed and would take back. The only pictures I have left of the 54 and the 39 Plymouth I sold the truck to buy. Gene
I did a Diplomat clip on my 1938 Plymouth pick-up in my avatar. I love being able to adjust ride height so easy.
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