NICE!!

The amount of surface rust concerns me a bit, I hope you don't find any hidden surprises!

If you decide to ditch that bug deflector, I'd be interested.......

Keep us posted!

That's a nice truck! With a good wash and a little TLC it'll look 100 times better.
I dig the direction you're going with it.

Have you tried a different cap and plug wires? Compression test?

i worked that shift for almost 45 years. in the early days when i got home, i would go to work at my junkyard until about noon or so, back home for a nap till about 6pm, back to the junkyard till about 10, then off to work.
did that 5 days a week, then saturday and sunday at the junkyard, back to work sunday night, 1972 until 1981 or 82.
i sold my 1/2 ownership to my partner then because the auto parts store he worked at as a machinist and engine assembler, closed it's doors.
as the shift foreman and machinist on the "night shift" progressed, and all those years passed doing so, i turned into a vampire, so doing things in "daylight" is "difficult".

Challenge for you. Covert that thing to a Mark III Conversion Dakota lol. http://www.dakota-truck.net/PICS/clark05.jpg and http://www.dakota-truck.net/PICS/clark03.jpg

Have you tried a different cap and plug wires? Compression test?

I think Dodge screwed up big time when they discarded the 88-96 Dakota for the next model.

Then each "upgrade" after that got worse.

They had a good thing going but killed it. Pretty standard procedure for Chrysler over the years. One would think they could figure out history repeats itself, especially as far as their company is concerned, and would learn something, Guess I expect too much?

I would have LOVED to have seen an '88-'96 body style 'Durango' made. Just can't bring myself to own an S-10........

Dang i wish I had a fraction of that motivation and hustle. I do better when I tend to things the moment I get home at 635am. But I need to be outdoors when I drain, flush and refill the cooling system with proper antifreeze and this January cold and snow has sapped my desire to do anything with a garden hose outside. But the good news is I'm not on a timeline. This does not need to be ready for summer although I still would like it to be. I shake my head that the former owner of this truck ran water instead of coolant. I realize Florida is always warm but its just cheaping out to run water- plus it promotes rust. I'm glad I checked the radiator because I was gonna leave the truck parked outside in the cold.

I was a bit worried about it when I picked it up, but I was running on fumes and forgot about it until I got to Indiana and the cold rain came on strong. It will definitely be a cool fun piece when you are done!

That is sharp but I want the 1/4 mile look like this S10 has.

My thoughts exactly

My 1st Dakota was a 90. V6 5 speed OD, limited slip 3:55 rear gear, 2 wheel drive. I liked it so well I put an old car body on top of the chassis.

In 91 when Dodge added the V8 to the lineup, they had to curve the front bumper to gain the extra couple of inches the V8 needed over the V6. The curves nose was acceptable, but I sure liked the straight front bumper better. The redesign in 97 killed the Dakota's unique look as far as I was concerned, and that was before we knew the fact the quality also went down the crapper.

if i remember right, those wiper bushings fit a bunch of different years and models.
i think from somewhere around 73-up into the 90's.

Chrysler was famous for implementing upgrades during a model year, especially in the 50s-70. The difference with Chrysler compared to the other companies was those improvements were usually implemented as a unit and were changed out on the production line. A part number change often designated that a unit was upgraded, or they changed a supplier, but usually the old part number worked in place of the new part number, but not always. Chrysler also did a lot of part number reassignments, part numbers were superseded to a different number, sometimes simply because of a model year change, sometimes several times, but the part itself may never had changed.

This was especially a problem with larger trucks, some may have set on dealership lots for a long time and may have missed a few running changes that may have happened on the production line between the time the truck was built and the time it was sold. The bigger the truck, the more the issue became apparent. Then add the ability of the customer to pretty much order a vehicle to be built any way they wanted it, some truly unique parts got installed on some vehicles.

As a general note, GM usually held back upgrades until the new model year, very few changes were made during the model year, until recently. Ford would make changes on the production line as well, but usually at Ford, the changes were usually something was completely different, and nothing from the old transferred to the new. Running changes at Ford were based on a date, or a serial number of the vehicle. Sometimes Ford would change a part 2 or 3 times in a model year, and then at the model year as well, but nearly always, a part number change meant the entire deal wouldn't work with the corresponding part numbers that changed with the one. If you needed Ford parts, you needed the build date, the serial number, and a part number, to get the correct replacement, then hoped they still made the part you needed.

Any updates?

Sounds like a fun and fast truck. That's good to hear about the New EQ Heads or you just got lucky to get a decent set. Anyways,thank you for the update and enjoy.

Nice truck. I have a 94 very similar.