Projects Here's one for the mopar fans---1950 Pilothouse build

has anyone ever orderd fiberglass front fenders made by Be Bops glass works or Pros Pick,iam building a 48 pilothouse and would like to know quality of thier product before i concider odering and wasnt sure if anyone has heard of them as seems no one else sells replacement body parts that i know of,does anyone else know of any other companys making fenders etc

 

I bought fenders from them for my 48 f-1 years ago they were excellent , really nice product.

 

i absolutly love this truck. i'm building a 51 fargo. putting it on a 93 dakota chassis with a 5.2 magnum EFI. Im in the process of mounting the sheet metal on the dakota frame. can you tell me how far up the rear of the cab sits off your frame? Also i'm leveling the door sill rocker with the bottom of the frame to level the cab. is this correct?

 

my 48 had the cab looking way off till l raised the rear of the cab, now everything lines up. was really fighting the way front fenders lined with the doors. there was a big gap just sitting level. it sat funny till l figured out l had to adjust it this way.

Later

 

Skull... your story was deffinatly and inspiration. i love your truck aswell. probably 2 of my favorite pilothouse trucks.

I have the cab as close as i can to weld on the mounts. i figure its easy enough to adjust or shim later. as for where my cab sits its about an inch off the frame in the rear and as i said level with the bottom of the dak frame. i have the front clip on and the rad support sits centered between the frame rails. without the doors on its tough to judge up or down but i think i got it damn close. wheels are centered dead on.

 

nice brotha! i'm building a 52 pilothouse!

 

all cool trucks. i don't have a pilot house at the moment. right now i'm doing a 58 on a 92 dakota frame

 

Has anyone used a later model Dakota chassis? I have a 56 that I would like to mount to a Dakota but I was thinking of using a later(98-up) chassis. Is cost the reason that everyone uses the older chassis or are the newer ones just not as compatible?

 

I believe I have read that the 97 & up have a 2" wider track then the old trucks (probably mostly in wheel offset). Also, a lot of guy like the 5 bolt wheels, up to 90 had 5 bolt wheels, 91-96 could have 5 bolt wheels by swapping in the older parts. Changing the 97 & up to 5 bolt is a major undertaking and probably not worthwhile. I have also read there are some suspension differences after 2004, but have never looked under anything that new. Gene

 

How do you guys get away with the 111" wheelbase Dakota swap?

My 53' is 117"/118" wheelbase, deep bed on the original frame or am I missing something in my measurements? I measured center hub on front to rear hub.

I have been trying to figure out which way to go, S10 single cab long bed, 2wd which is kinda a tough bastard to find in Denver because 4wd is the thing or short beds here. The Dakota is a bit of an odd situation because they were 111" 123" and 132" wheelbase. Otherwise I considered snagging the K member swap option and box the frame?

I hate plastic gauge clusters, that is what I do not like on the swaps. I like original dash, nothing like looking old school and some fugly modern radio cut into the dash.

 

I'd use the 123" Dakota and shorten the frame. Originally, behind the trans crossmember, the front boxed frame slides into (or the C channel slides into the box, I'd have to look again) a C channel rear frame. Cutting the factory weld at that point you can shorten the frame by cutting the excess C channel off and welding it back together. For the record, your 53 is probably a 116" wheel base. Dodge made 108", 116" and a 127" wheel base trucks in 1953.

A 2nd option would be to splice the Dakota front clip onto your existing truck frame. I'd splice it at least at the firewall. Depending on the ride height you want, you can mount the Dakota frame on top, of your frame, part way inside your frame, or so the tops of the frames match up. Moving the Dakota frame up on your original frame will lower the front of the truck. 2" is a lot of height change.

Use whatever gauges you want. The Dakota gauges are all 12 volt electrical, your original 53 will have a mechanical oil and temp gauges, an amp meter that won't be concerned about the voltage, and a 6 volt + ground gas gauge that probably won't match whatever gas sending unit your using. Aftermarket gas gauges are cheap. I might suggest you use a gas gauge that matches you gas sending unit. Gene