Dakota Frame Swap basics

I've been gone from Moparts for a long time. Now that I'm back, I see a lot of Dakota frame stubs being swapped into older chassis. It seems like this may be a legit idea for my 57 Savoy. What years are used for the Dakota swap? Would a Durango frame work as well? I have found a Durango locally for cheap that I'm buying a running 5.7 and transmission with wiring and computer to swap into my 57 Savoy. I think the deal is good at $400 and the engine is running. But should I just buy the whole car and cut the frame to put under my 57? I have a 59 Savoy parts car that I bought for the roof panel, but I may just use that frame as the donor for the rear half to put under my 57 body.

Thoughts?

A '57 done on this site, I might have more info when I can find it. (I did a '56).

Looks like photo bucket pictures if that is a problem I might have somer down loaded before I did mine.

frame swap

You'll have extra headaches with the Durango due to the 6 lug pattern. Early Dakota's had the same lug pattern as the 57. 5 on 4.5". I had hotwire auto build me a harness for my 5.7, NAG1 in my 58. I think I used a 90 Dakota for the clip

I'll leave the Durango where it is and just pull the wiring harness. I figure for $400 for the engine, trans, wiring and computer I can't go to wrong.

Bunch of info in here;

more info here

Including the six bolt Dakota can be changed tp five bolt by replacing the brake rotors



There also was some info on: https://www.troxellsgarage.com/1956-plymouth-plaza.html but it's 404 now ?

If the Durango is new enough to have a 5.7, there is not much swap friendly in it as far as the chassis goes. The big boxed frame has the rails at an angle to each other, and on a different plane, front to back. The wheel base is really difficult to shorten because it gets narrower as it moves forward from the rear axle, and it also changes in height between the wheelbase.

My son is slowly putting an 04 Durango chassis under an 80 something Ramcharger. He bought the Durango because it was a running driving 4x4 version with a 5.7 and good trans & limited slip rear. Shortening that wheel base was a major undertaking, and then finding a fuel tank that would work with the Hemi after the wheel base was shortened was another adventure.

The Dakotas and Durangos from 97 up to 03 might be OK if you can live with the 6 bolt wheels, 04 and newer, I'd pass.
The Dakotas between 91 and 96 can be changed to 5 bolt wheels pretty easily. Gene

Gene knows, really knows, about these thing.

I don't so: Are the '57 and '59 frame interchangeable, is the '57 frame damaged or just want to use the rear part of '59 rather than cutting the '57 frame?

If the frames are the same I would transplant a Dakota stub frame on to the '59 frame and then install it under the '57.

I hope that some of the info in the links have been beneficial. My '56 with Dakota and FI 318.

Thanks Old Ray for mentioning the Plazakota build, I hope it helps someone out. That was a fun project I was really excited about and spent allot of time doing for a customer who lost interest for another Mopar build, but Plazakta ended up in good hands and will live again.

There are probably a lot more here that know the 57-59 cars better then me. I may have a heads up on the 88-96 Dakotas though.

I believe the 57 and the 59 model years use the same frame (same wheelbase) on both the Dodge and the Plymouth cars with the exception of all the wagons, they are listed with a slightly longer wheel base. The 1957s were all new bodies, and the 1960s were all new bodies, so one might think some parts could interchange between the Dodge and the Plymouth.

As far as the swapping the frame between the two cars listed above, I see little advantage unless one frame is in questionable condition, or the intent is to add a Dakota clip to the frame then swap the completed frame under the car. Before I would do that, I would see if I could get some frame dimensions for both frames and be sure they will swap with each other.

I might make a note that if either 57-59 car has power steering, the steering box is a 3 year only fit and someone may need a steering box. Gene

The 57 and 59 frames interchange, but the 59 has different front suspension. The 59 is easier to adjust. However, my parts car has no front clip to speak of, so the front suspension is a rusty mess. I bought it just for the roof panel.

My 57 is not unique or magical, but it was purchased new by my great grandmother, and it was my first car in 1990. I'm emotionally attached to this garbage.

Anyway, long story short, I think it's easier and cheaper to just swap AAJ or Scarebird front disks in place, and do the 5.7 swap in place of the old Flattie six. This is a project that is way on the back burner since I have 2 other projects in line in front and the 57 runs and drives now. I have the chance to get a good deal on this engine and trans so I'm going to grab it and toss it in the corner for the time being.

You could also use a 545RFE transmission from a 2WD Dodge pickup, instead of the NAG1. The 545 has a slip yoke tailshaft, and it's much easier to get a driveshaft made. Hotwire can make a harness to run the 5.7 and the 545 transmission from the same computer.

I really want to keep the pushbuttons, so I don't really know what to do about a transmission. I have an A500 that I know will work but isn't ideal. I don't know. I'm going to get everything now and store it until I get started.