CrAzYMoPaRGuy, I suppose there may be advantages in cutting everything off the front and building mostly new. It can't be much worse dealing with the obsolete FMJ crossmember then its getting to be dealing with the 25+ year old 1st gen Dakota.

I was surprised how few choices of some parts (like brake pads) were available for the 5 bolt Dakotas a few weeks ago, when I bought the stuff for my new project. Gene