'46 Dodge 1/2 ton...another project I won't finish?

Posted By: Cheeto

'46 Dodge 1/2 ton...another project I won't finish? - 03/08/10 03:46 AM

Last spring I went on a road trip to meet a guy with some old Mopar iron. Old Mopars thread with pics.
I finally scraped up enough money to buy the '46 from him and picked it up today.
The plan is to put the body on a Dakota chassis and have a stylin' daily driver on the cheap.
Reality is I'll probably get it into 100 pieces in my shop and it will be boating season... then I'll lose interest.
This will not be a rat rod! Ugh! I cannot stress that enough.
We need a new name for the "complete older body (primered or patina'd) on newer chassis". Maybe Rusto-mod?

Attached picture 5851599-misc002.jpg

Posted By: lunacy

Re: '46 Dodge 1/2 ton...another project I won't finish? - 03/08/10 03:52 AM

Rusto-mod....i like it.

Posted By: poorboy

Re: '46 Dodge 1/2 ton...another project I won't finish? - 03/09/10 04:35 AM

I have a 70 short box frame just sitting here waiting for something like that to show up near me. Problem is, when they show up, I don't have any money, and when I do have a few cents to deal with, I can't find anything. Someday it might come together. Rusto-mod? what ever happened to "project"? Gene

Posted By: B1Fish540

Re: '46 Dodge 1/2 ton...another project I won't finish? - 03/09/10 06:31 AM

those trucks are the coolest..good luck with it!

Posted By: Flipper1938

Re: '46 Dodge 1/2 ton...another project I won't finish? - 03/10/10 01:01 AM

I have a 41 dodge/dakota project also...just need to get on with the build. Mile will get painted...the previous owner started sanding and priming)

Not all "rats" have spider webs, skull, maltese crosses on them.

Here is my rusty /ratty chevrolet on a s-10 frame. It is a fairly well built truck at rides nice and hauls the mail. It gets plenty of positive responses at car shows and cruise nights.

Posted By: Cheeto

Re: '46 Dodge 1/2 ton...another project I won't finish? - 03/10/10 08:01 AM

Quote:

Here is my rusty /ratty chevrolet on a s-10 frame.

I would put your Chevy in my "Rusto-mod" classification. Nice looking truck.
When I think of "Rat Rods" I think of a heavily/poorly chopped pickup cab, a couple fenders, no hood, a hacked up grille shell from who-knows-what, straight pipes off the manifold, beam axle etc...not my taste.

Posted By: Cheeto

Re: '46 Dodge 1/2 ton...another project I won't finish? - 03/10/10 08:15 AM

Along with the '46 I got another front clip. This one has the chrome trim strips on the slots of the lower grille section. Not sure if I'll use them but...I also bought a '42 1/2 ton shortbox basket case last night. It has the holes for the trim strips but no strips. Including the 2-ton dumptruck on a co-worker's "back 40" that I can take parts from I should have enough to build one nice truck and one nice-enough. Unfortunately I've decided to sell my '36 to help move these two projects along. A buddy has been wanting it for a while and I can tack on some shop wiring as part trade from him.

Can somebody show me the frame-to-body mounts on anything similar to this swap? Are you guys re-using the stock ones or making all new ones.
Thanks,
Cheeto

Posted By: Flipper1938

Re: '46 Dodge 1/2 ton...another project I won't finish? - 03/10/10 12:44 PM

Quote:

Can somebody show me the frame-to-body mounts on anything similar to this swap? Are you guys re-using the stock ones or making all new ones.

More than likely, you will end up cutting the stock mounts off of the dakota frame and make new ones that match up with the factory body mount holes on the body. When I did my S-10 swap, I sat the body (with front cap installed) on the frame and shimmed it up with wooden strips. I centered the front wheels in the fenders first and then adjusted everything else until I was happy. From there, I took measurements and designed body mounts that fit between points A and B. It really wasn't all that bad of a project.

Posted By: rattler

Re: '46 Dodge 1/2 ton...another project I won't finish? - 03/10/10 01:49 PM

I did about the same thing as flipper when i put the 57 body on the 88 dak frame. The only real difference is that i cut the body mounts off the 57 frame and just rewelded them onto the dak frame where they needed to be.

Posted By: Cheeto

Re: '46 Dodge 1/2 ton...another project I won't finish? - 03/10/10 05:11 PM

I should have been more specific. Rattler's version is what I meant. I wasn't sure if the frame widths were the same allowing you to re-use the mounts from the "old" frame on the Dak/S10 frame. I'd still like to see some pics.
Thanks.

Posted By: DusterKrazy

Re: '46 Dodge 1/2 ton...another project I won't finish? - 03/10/10 06:03 PM

Looks like a good project

Whats wrong with rat rods?

Most show car guys hate them because we actually drive them,enjoy them and dont have stupid amounts of $$ in them.

Posted By: Cheeto

Re: '46 Dodge 1/2 ton...another project I won't finish? - 03/10/10 06:31 PM

Quote:

Looks like a good project

Whats wrong with rat rods?
Most show car guys hate them because we actually drive them,enjoy them and dont have stupid amounts of $$ in them.

I intend to keep this cheap and "non-billet". Rat Rods just aren't my cup-o-tea. We all have to like something different or else we'd all be driving (crashing?) Priuses.

Posted By: Flipper1938

Re: '46 Dodge 1/2 ton...another project I won't finish? - 03/10/10 10:23 PM

Quote:

I should have been more specific. Rattler's version is what I meant. I wasn't sure if the frame widths were the same allowing you to re-use the mounts from the "old" frame on the Dak/S10 frame. I'd still like to see some pics.
Thanks.

Even if the width was close, I would be real surprised if they worked. Old frames are pretty straight, modern stuff isn't usually that simple...step ups, dips and curves all over the place.

I knew mine wasn't exactly apples to apples what you wanted to see. I figured the process of the swap was close enough to give you an idea of what was in store.

Posted By: poorboy

Re: '46 Dodge 1/2 ton...another project I won't finish? - 03/11/10 05:13 AM

Once you get past the front wheels, a Dakota frame is very straight until the rear axle kickup. The older frame mounts can probably be adapted to a Dakota frame, like stated earlier. Position your cab and front clip on the Dakota frame where you want it, build or modify some brackets to hold the body in the desired position. Its usually easier to adapt the frame part of the mount to fit whatever cab your using. On different projects though the years, I've used rectangle or square tubing, old mounting brackets, heavy angle iron, and custom made parts from 1/8" flat stock. Gene

Posted By: Cheeto

Re: '46 Dodge 1/2 ton...another project I won't finish? - 03/22/10 04:23 AM

On top of all the other parts and pieces I mentioned above, I also got a cab/fenders/grille/hood/bumper/running boards from yet another 1.5 ton. I need to stop collecting parts and start building something! A buddy that's into old Jeeps once told me though,"You have to buy stuff when it's available and figure out what to do with it later".