Thread: Brought home some Dodges

Tweet

Well, I think I may have the drive train nailed down for this thing. I've decided I will want the 4x4 so of course that left me with the Dakota or S-10 Chassis. It's kinda of a 6 on one side half a dozen on the other kind of thing. The Dakota frame fits better and I'll have an all Dodge pickup but getting 12 mpg. The S-10 frame is a little harder to fit and a bit more narrow but with a 5.3 in it I'd be getting 18 mpg or more. I know the mpg shouldn't be a deal breaker but If I'm putting 10-15k miles on in a year, mpg is an issue. My car guy has a 02 S-10 4x4 that he just pulled the 4.3 motor out and I can have the rest for $350 and he can get me and all aluminum 5.3 for $500-700 depending on mileage. So if I get a running 5.3 with 4x4 frame for $1500 or so after harness and stuff, that sounds like a win to me. I hope the Dodge gods will me more merciful to me than they were to Falcon

Originally Posted by techinspector1

I read somewhere years ago that Chrysler Corporation paid out less money on 318 motors warranty claims than any other motor they ever produced.

.

Back in the day when I was a "hired gun" the boss built a 340 CI, 4 speed Duster, we ran it all summer in the stock eliminator wars, the thing would run on index all day long and have very few breakage issues! (Even with a smart a$$ kid driving it who was known to occasionally miss 3rd gear!)

My Dodge build may have taken a left turn. Will you guys crucify me if I put the body on a 4.3 4x4 with a 5 speed. I know it's not quite the Hemi we talked about

Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

My Dodge build may have taken a left turn. Will you guys crucify me if I put the body on a 4.3 4x4 with a 5 speed. I know it's not quite the Hemi we talked about

Just do it Seth.
Do whatever you want.
That's the ethos of hot-rodding.
You build the car that will push your buttons.
Don't give a damn about what pushes someone else's buttons.

I most certainly don't!
If 'they' don't like it that's their problem, not mine; or yours

I'm going to look at it one pickup tonight, and if I don't like that one there is a another one another I'll look at Saturday morning. They are a 1991 and a 1992 S10 standard cab short box, both have 4.3 with a 5-speed. one nice thing is they have a 108 in wheelbase which is exactly the length I need.The one I'm going to look at tonight has a 104k and the one tomorrow has 142k and a bad clutch. The 104k good clutch one is $1000 and the other is $500. If either one of these work, it will be a stupid cheap build and later down the road I can put a 5.3 in. I forgot to mention, the $350 frame that my car guy had was a Blazer frame and not at pickup frame. I did some calling and it was recommended that I find a square body pickup frame.then I can use the steering column brake pedals and everything.

How's the track on those frames? If the track is too wide it makes the old trucks look bad. Also makes for weird wheels. I went with the ranger, explorer size because the wheelbase and track were super close to original.

Nothing wrong with a 4.3. I know a fellow with a custom late 30's extended cab Chevy that drives several thousand miles a year with a 4.3.

Since you already have 5.3 available to measure in your other truck, you can refer back to it during the build to make sure you leave room.

Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

My Dodge build may have taken a left turn. Will you guys crucify me if I put the body on a 4.3 4x4 with a 5 speed. I know it's not quite the Hemi we talked about

Remember the golden rule? He who has the gold... makes the rules!

And the rodders mantra? There are no rules.

Clear as mud right!? LOL

Well, here's how my day went. Yesterday I looked at the 104K S-10 right in town and I could hardly keep it running and the rest of the pickup was a POS but he wouldn't come off of $800 so I looked at the 142K one today. We got there and the fuel pump was out but it would run on ether ( which is a bad idea on a gas ) and the frame looked iffy but I smacked it around and decided I would roll the dice on it after he reluctantly took my offer of $350. He was a nice kid and gave me the grand tour of all his stuff and then we loaded it up and headed for home. 1/4 mile down the road I hit the brakes and apparently a tie strap let loose on the S-10 and it rolled off the trailer into the back of my pickup I called the pickup guy right away and asked him if he could help me out, he said sure and got a tractor and chain to help get it back on the trailer. The problem was it couldn't pull the front wheels over the trailer hump. I then got the jack out of my pickup and started jacking up the S-10 on its frame to get the front wheels higher and the frame crumpled like tin foil with the jack pushing on it. That's when I thought this is a bad day. We got the pickup back on the trailer and I asked if it it would be alright if I gave him $50 bucks for his trouble and gave him his S-10 back . After some talk we agreed to $100 and I kept the S-10 which I thought was gracious of him, he could have said screw you. So all in all I spent the whole day to get a rusty ass S-10 and I now I need a new bumper and tailgate on my Dodge.

Damn, that is a shitty day. I hate rust! I usually cost my self a bunch of money trying to save money.

I think the Mopar gods are trying to tell you something.

I usually cost my self a bunch of money trying to save money

That lesson never seems to sink in

Originally Posted by NTFDAY

I think the Mopar gods are trying to tell you something.

We'll it's working a little bit. I have a 4x4 Dakota without motor/trans/transfer case spotted that I'm going to look at. He says the frame is solid ( so did the S-10 guy ) From what I read the Dakota frame fits better and the 5.3 goes in almost like their made for them, you don't even need to switch the truck oil pan. I'm going to use the S-10 5-speed and transfer case for sure, I'll see what the checkbook says at the time if it's going to get a 5.3 or 4.3 in front of it.

Man Seth, sorry to see your bad misfortune. I always try to chain stuff down. Straps like to come undone or fray and brake etc. I guess that's one way to BRAKE the dodge in. Do you have any idea what the dodge body and S10 chassis together will weigh? It is super hard to find a decent S10 like you're trying to find around here. They're usually always about to break in half. haha

I think I'm a chain only guy now. I don't know about the combined parts weight but the S-10 weighs in at a surprising 4600 lbs and the Dodge is 3200. I'm sure the Dodge will gain some weight with all the swapping of parts but I doubt it will reach the 4600 lbs of the S-10. I think the 4.3 should pull it around good. As fate would have it I talked to my salvage yard friend and asked him if I could go in yard after hours and check out the S-10's there. The only good one that would work had a bent frame so that one was out. As I was driving home past the back side of the shop, I seen a square body S-10 shortbox 4x4 sitting outside. I checked it out and the body was crap as usual but the frame was rock solid, even the cab mount bushings and spare tire frame were perfect. Turns out an employee there owns it and it was headed to junk because the fuel pump went out. I offered him $300 for it and he told me it was mine, this one was only 2 miles away.