41 dodge pu progress and question

Hi all,
Just thought I'd post and tell about my progress lately. Since the last time I posted I have got a 93 Dakota, stripped it down to the frame, and got rid of all the scrap. I think the seats will work out nice, and I'm also going to use the a-500 tranny out of it. My 340 is just about stock, so I think the trans will hold up for a while anyway.
My next step is to clean up, cut off all the old brackets and mounts, measure (20 times!) and cut approx. 16 out of the frame, then weld and strengthen it back together.
One question I have for those of you that have used whole frames before is where do I start mounting? The cab, and then fit everything to that, or start at the grill and move back? I know with the kick up of the dak frame at the back that the box will end up being shallower, but that's ok it's not like I'll be hauling wood with it.
Anyway, that's it for now, I'd post picks, but I'm sure you guys have seen bare frames before.
Thanks,
Matt

I have NOT done this, but after pondering all the stuff that goes into a car and where it all is, I'd make darn sure everything fits at the firewall. You have the engine/trans, steering column, brakes and exhaust all trying to fit there. The grille/radiator can move up/down some, and the back has only the suspension, exhaust and fuel tank fighting for room. Of course, you want the wheels centered in the body, but the firewall sets up just about everything else....

I mount the cab first and then make the frontend fit to it.
I just went out and checked on my squattie truck and roughly from the door front edge to the centerline of the tire is about 29 1/2"
I would start there with setting the cab on blocks on top of the frame, (If I remeber right you will need to keep the back of the cab around 3" above the frame)
I would block the body in to place and then when its secure I would fit the frontend to check to make sure that the tire is centered in the wheelwell and when I was happy with how everything fit I would make the cab mounts and then make the frontend mounts. Ron.....

make sure you take pictures and post them as you go

Thanks guys,
I will post pics as I go, it won't be a very quick pace though. So far what I've done has been pretty inexpensive. I'll have to slow down when it starts to cost. I'm sure I will also have a lot more questions as I go.
Matt

Ron, that 3" dimension for the back of the cab, with that height, do you remember if the tranny will clear without building a tunnel?
I got the mounts and old brackets, clips etc. cut off the frame on the weekend. Now I have to work on stripping off the factory undercoating. Any ideas for this? Oven cleaner, brake clean?
Matt

no ideas on the undercoating other than just scrape it off. Ron...

I used a little portable propane torch to heat the coating then used a paint scraper. It is not a five minute deal, and you may want some lung protection because if it is the same stuff my 48 had under it, it is a tar like material. Once heated the outer layer will come off with some elbow grease, you may be able to follow up later with an oven cleaner or something to get the hard to scrape stuff off. Oven Cleaner from the start wouldn't penetrate the 1/8 inch or so of undercoating material on my frame and undercarriage.

Brian

I tried it last night, and what I found worked the best is to scrape it off first, then oven cleaner, brass scouring pad, and clean the residue off with some brake clean. Comes out good but like you said Brian it will be no 5 minute job.
Matt