Passenger side is out about 1/4". I'm likely going to make a cut on the window post and bend it back in and re-weld, on both sides

I'm going to back up a bit now. As the body and the chassis merged, one area of concern was the very rusty cowl and the cowl vent that always leaks. Also, all of the coupes windshield wiper system was gone.

The Dakota has a pretty neat setup. The top of the firewall has what I'm calling a vent box. Inside the vent box, the heater fresh air and the cab vents come off the back of this box. The complete wiper system is housed in the vent box, and there are water drains on both sides of the cowl. The vent box is completely closed off from the cab except for the fixed mentioned duct work, and the vent box is above the heat/ac unit. If I can transfer this vent box concept to the coupe, I might actually be able to have dry feet while driving the coupe in the rain, not something very common with this era Plymouth.
Since I'm using the Dakota firewall, I know the width is close. Since the cowl already has rust holes in it and the vent area is really in sad shape, I figured I didn't have much to loose. So, I started off cutting the cowl off the coupe. I cut just above the firewall seam at the front, along the rusted out sides, and a couple inches under where the coupe's wipers would have been. Sorry, I thought I had pictures of the process, but nope. Sorry.

Anyway, after I cut the cowl off, I made a template from cardboard. There would be a one piece back and bottom, but since it needed a crown so water could drain out both sides, the back would have to be split in the center. The bottom front would weld to the firewall. The top back would weld to the cowl, near the wiper location. I could build both ends and close in the center as required. I wanted about an inch and a half drop on each side from center. The back panel would need to be as vertical and flat as possible other then the edges and center.

I discovered that with the cowl removed, it was a lot easier to fit the Dakota heater in the coupe. With the exception of the fresh air inlet, the heater/ac under dash unit fit snugly in the coupe. I had to "clearance" the area around the fan housing and trimmed some of the firewall upper structure from the passenger side that used to support the hood hinge. While I had such good access, I made the heater/ac unit fit. I would still have to make a fresh air to recirculated air door area to completer the heat/ac unit at a later date.

Once the heat/ac unit was bolted to the firewall (in the original mounting holes) I returned to the vent box fabrication. Once I was confident with the cardboard template, I transferred it to a new piece of 18 gauge steel.
The vent box floor/back wall was bent at about 80 degrees, before the back wall was cut at the mid point. The piece was bent in the center at about 20 degrees to form the water shed. Once satisfied with the fit, the front and top was welded to the body. The center was enclosed, and the ends were enclosed. The passenger side was enclosed with a couple pieces so the heater fan housing would not be in contact with the firewall/ vent box. Care was also taken to assure water would be able to drain away from the box without sitting anywhere. i have pictures of the finished box.

After the vent box was done, I cut the hoe for the wiring harness firewall connection to be under the cowl.

The cowl will be mounted back in the original location. It will be held in lace with screws so it can be removed anytime needed. Eventually, the ends of the cowl piece will be enclosed in a way for water to drain out. The entire vent box is sealed with seam sealer for a water tight area. I will cut holes in the back wall for heat/ac fresh air, and cab vents. There will be mounting brackets added to support the wiper pivots and the wiper motor. The original coupe's wiper post holes were welded closed.

With the cowl piece screwed back on. It is nice and dry even with the cowl vent open, which will likely be a permanent thing.

With the hood on, most people won't know all this work was done. Gene

Thought I posted a couple pictures of the sort of finished rockers, but must not have.

More rockers

Tell me you are planning on driving that thing to Back to the 50's next summer in St. Paul?


What do the door handles look like?

Paul

Two questions. How long has it taken you to get this far and are you keeping the 3.9?

Awesome buildup!!!

gene, great job on the cowl repair and using the dak doors to fix the original door bottoms ! you must be like me : never throw anything away, ya never know when it mite come in handy......... is the cowl vent going to be fixed in the "open" position ?

Thanks for the responses guys.

PocketThunder, Probably not going to make it to the Back To The Fifties, been many years since I've been there. Don't see the funding being present to do the BTTF.
The door handles will be the next installment, I actually have pictures of that. Might be a few days off, this is a busy time of year for me, after work is done.

Mopar_AMC_Fan. I bought this car end of March or the first part of April, 2010. It moved under its own power in April this year. I am driving it in and out of the garage to work on it. It has to sit outside unless I'm actually working on it. We are just about caught up to where I am at at this point.
I intend on keeping the 3.9. It will pretty much be a daily driver and the 3.9, 5 speed in the Dakota form got great gas mileage. That translates into more driving time per $$. The 3.9 with the 5 speed is enough to get me in trouble, I've out grown the need for speed. I broke enough stuff when I was younger, I kind of like cruising around these days.

Morparx, Originally the cowl vent was going to remain open, but Friday I installed part of the wiper system and one of the wiper posts and the cowl vent need to occupy the same space. The piece the cowl vent attaches to is in horrible condition to begin with, so something would have had to be done with it. I will make a decision concerning the cowl vent at some time after the wiper system is functioning. To pass the inspection, the wipers have to function. I still have the slotted panel that was in that location on the Dakota. I'm not afraid to modify anything.

bboogieart, The slightly rough part was one of the reasons I went with this project in the first place. Figured I could get it going, hit the road, and patch & improve it as I went, fits my style well.

As I progress, the main concern at this point is to get it ready to pass the NSRA Safety inspection it has to pass for the title process. I feel I need to be at that point by the end of JAN to be able to drive the car this spring. Already completed are the door handles and the windshield is bonded in (2 piece, with a center post). Those improvements have installments coming, hang in there. Nearing completion is the door glass with updated tracks, defroster duct work, and custom wiper system, those too will be posted processes. All the new replacement brake parts are here, but I figure you guys know how to do brakes, so that won't be covered. I probably will cover the E-brake activation device, I have not given that any thought, but the Dakota stuff is here, and even most of the coupe stuff is still here. Some kind of merge will likely happen and I need the e-brake for the inspection. After that, building a dash, and doing the lights should get me close to the goal.
Once the safety inspection goal has been reached, I will probably address other issues (there are plenty to choose from. LOL!)
Gene

When the coupe arrived here, there was 1 outside door handle that wouldn't turn, and 2 inside handles that wouldn't move. There was nothing in the line of door post parts. The latch mechanisms were both locked up tight. The Dakota had perfect handles inside and out, with locks that matched each other and the steering column, and everything worked. Seemed like a no-brainer to me, install the Dakota stuff in the coupe doors.

Measurements were made to assure the coupe doors were wide enough to house the Dakota latch assemblies. Measurements showed the outside door handles would have to sit just under the belt line on the coupe doors, about an inch and a half higher then the original outside handles were located.

Having done this type of project before, I assumed the easiest process would be to cut the metal surrounding the handles & latches from the Dakota and transfer them into the coupe. Unfortunately, that would require cutting perfect, rust free Dakota doors. Every attempt was made to find someone that need the good doors, I was willing to make a deal and cut up rusty or bent doors. After 6 months of searching, the time was up, and my doors were cut.

So, an area with extra material was cut from around the outside door handle and the area along the door edge behind the outside handle. One of the most important things with this type of project is to assure the relationship between the outside handle and the latch assembly remains unchanged. Modifying the length or configuration of the little connecting rods hidden inside a door is a major pain in the butt. It is much easier to maintain the relationship and modify the door skin then it is to modify the rods.
This picture shows the outside door handle (driver door) surrounding sheet metal. The door edge is on the right, and there is a section of the door edge still attached to the outer piece.

The latch assembly bolts to the door below the outside handle and has a notch cut from the door edge and from the inside of the door. You can see the outer piece in the bottom corner.

This is the two pieces in proper relationship to each other. Notice the marker alignment marks, they were made while the parts were still on the Dakota door.

Marked on the coupe door is the location of the hole the outer handle will fit into. Notice the location of the original lock cylinder? The Dakota locks are located in the handle, so this old lock will be removed and the hole will have to be filled. The piece I cut from the Dakota door is not large enough to cover this hole. Also, the Dakota door edge seem has a different configuration, making the handle a distance from the door edge. It will be easier to make a new outside door handle surround then it would have been to modify the Dakota skin.

This would be the location of the door latch assembly laid out with a marker.

The handle hole was cut out of the outer skin but the original latch assembly was in the way of the handle fitting in the door cut out correctly. Pictured is the process of cutting the door latch out of the car. I had to cut the latch because all of the screws that hold the latch assembly in place stripped out. The skin was going to have to be cut anyway.

By this picture, you can see it took a couple attempts to remove the latch assembly. I wanted to keep as much of the original door as possible. Even with the cuts already made, the latch still wouldn't come out.