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My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered #3114626
01/19/23 08:12 PM
01/19/23 08:12 PM
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Holland MI Ottawa
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2boltmain Offline OP
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Some members wanted to see this 2wd truck when I got it. Big Thanks to Rhinodart whom I hired to transport the truck from Florida to my home in Holland MI. My father gave me this 95 2wd Sport with the 318. Life long Florida truck. No dents, faded paint and only surface rust underneath. Runs good but will need my TLC. My plans now are maintenance items- fluid changes engine degrease and compartment cleaning. I will do the 5 lug conversion and relocate the leaf springs inboard and widen the wheel housings. Then I'm going with the widest Hoosier pro Street radial tires on the widest Weld Draglites I can fit. Skinnies on the front. Engine for now will remain all stock except for large outlet 92 93 exh manifolds and a cat back system.

driver resize.jpgpassenger resize.jpgengine resize.jpg

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Re: My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered [Re: 2boltmain] #3114628
01/19/23 08:14 PM
01/19/23 08:14 PM
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Holland MI Ottawa
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2boltmain Offline OP
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Big thanks to Jim (Rhinodart) Truck delivered on time undamaged and the communication was great. I'm the bald guy.

me and Rhino 4th.jpg
Last edited by 2boltmain; 01/19/23 08:23 PM.

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Re: My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered [Re: 2boltmain] #3114636
01/19/23 08:31 PM
01/19/23 08:31 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 16,802
Between Houston & Galveston TX
SattyNoCar Offline
Smarter than no class Flappergass by a mile
SattyNoCar  Offline
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Posts: 16,802
Between Houston & Galveston TX

NICE!! up

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....... whistling

Keep us posted! beer

Dakota2.jpg

John

The dream is dead, long live the dream.......😥
Re: My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered [Re: SattyNoCar] #3114648
01/19/23 09:29 PM
01/19/23 09:29 PM
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Holland MI Ottawa
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2boltmain Offline OP
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Originally Posted by Satilite73

NICE!! up

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....... whistling

Keep us posted! beer



Ill keep you in mind but with shipping nowadays the size of the deflector might be expensive. Wen the weather heads into spring I'm gonna rig up an apparatus in my back yard to remove the box and Ill get a good view of the frame and drivetrain. The Florida salt air is corrosive but NOTHING like a year round lifetime vehicle here in MI.


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Re: My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered [Re: 2boltmain] #3114674
01/19/23 10:47 PM
01/19/23 10:47 PM
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N.W. Florida
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Fat_Mike Offline
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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. up

Re: My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered [Re: Fat_Mike] #3114757
01/20/23 09:28 AM
01/20/23 09:28 AM
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Posts: 15,713
Central Florida
larrymopar360 Offline
Stud Muffin
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Very cool truck! And standard cab short bed with V8. Good score!


Facts are stubborn things.
Re: My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered [Re: larrymopar360] #3114869
01/20/23 02:12 PM
01/20/23 02:12 PM
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 19,237
north of coder
moparx Offline
"Butt Crack Bob"
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get a new pair of headlights instead of trying to polish up the old ones.
nice truck by the way. up
beer

Re: My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered [Re: moparx] #3114949
01/20/23 06:28 PM
01/20/23 06:28 PM
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Holland MI Ottawa
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2boltmain Offline OP
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Definitely!


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Re: My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered [Re: Fat_Mike] #3114952
01/20/23 06:33 PM
01/20/23 06:33 PM
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Holland MI Ottawa
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2boltmain Offline OP
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Originally Posted by Fat_Mike
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. up
Once the leaf springs are moved in and the wheel houses are widened there will approx 16.5" from frame to inside fender lip. That will accommodate quite a tire. I'm hoping for a section width of 15" tire like a Hoosier 29x 15.5 x15 or the next narrower size down will look great too.


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Re: My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered [Re: 2boltmain] #3115422
01/22/23 02:17 PM
01/22/23 02:17 PM
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ILLINOIS
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volaredon Offline
top fuel
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I'd like to find another 4wd 318 Dakota in that body style. Rhinodart had one that wasn't too bad body wise but needed a transfer case 318 club cab version. 93 I think?
That truck sat at a gas station by me for years and I had stopped in a few times, to see if could be bought. I couldn't get an answer on who the owner at the time was, just that they claimed that particular transfer case was made of "unobtanium".
I have a 96 4wd right now that I've had for around 7-8 years that the body and frame have seen better days on...

Re: My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered [Re: volaredon] #3115812
01/23/23 09:25 PM
01/23/23 09:25 PM
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Holland MI Ottawa
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2boltmain Offline OP
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I took the Dakota to the car wash and blasted away tons of gunk from sitting under a tree. Cleaned the engine too. So it has 180,000 miles. It runs on 7 cylinders. I verified the plenum gasket is blown. Plus the cooling system is simply water. I put it in my garage and set the heat to 40 degrees. Ill replace with proper coolant after I replace the plenum plate with a Hughes thick aluminum plate. I will replace both valve cover gaskets at the same time. Ordered some wiper linkage bushings. Truck needs some TLC. But I can see the water pump and master cyl are recent replaced. My father inherited this truck recently when his elderly retiree friend passed away. My dad didn't need it so he gave it to me. Need a warm MI day to drain the cooling system and flush it with a garden hose.


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Re: My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered [Re: 2boltmain] #3116064
01/24/23 03:48 PM
01/24/23 03:48 PM
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Middle of A Field
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OrangeProwler Offline
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Have you tried a different cap and plug wires? Compression test?

Re: My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered [Re: OrangeProwler] #3116176
01/24/23 09:39 PM
01/24/23 09:39 PM
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Holland MI Ottawa
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2boltmain Offline OP
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Originally Posted by RustyMopar01
Have you tried a different cap and plug wires? Compression test?

Not yet. Being a third shifter I'm only motivated to doing things around the home on the weekends. But I plan on flushing the cooling system fixing the intake plenum gasket and troubleshooting the misfire very soon.


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Re: My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered [Re: 2boltmain] #3116479
01/25/23 04:44 PM
01/25/23 04:44 PM
Joined: Sep 2003
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north of coder
moparx Offline
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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". biggrin
beer

Re: My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered [Re: moparx] #3116566
01/25/23 09:48 PM
01/25/23 09:48 PM
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Holland MI Ottawa
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2boltmain Offline OP
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Originally Posted by moparx
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". biggrin
beer

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.


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Re: My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered [Re: 2boltmain] #3116582
01/25/23 10:48 PM
01/25/23 10:48 PM
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Eagle, Idaho
Neil Offline
The Doctor is in.
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Those trucks are pretty hard to find in that configuration. Almost all of those left around here are extra cabs, V6, and/or 4wd.

Re: My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered [Re: Neil] #3116832
01/26/23 06:57 PM
01/26/23 06:57 PM
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ILLINOIS
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volaredon Offline
top fuel
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And not many 4wd at that

Re: My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered [Re: volaredon] #3116863
01/26/23 09:35 PM
01/26/23 09:35 PM
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Holland MI Ottawa
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2boltmain Offline OP
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I'm looking fwd to playing with this truck. I have had 2 440 Challengers and a 340 cuda decades ago. I recently sold a 71 Demon because I just didn't have the wherewithal to make it nice . This Dakota runs and drives as is so that's a big plus. The body is rust and nearly dent free. It already has a V8- another plus. I'm not under pressure to make it pristine which is how I would have wanted that 71 Demon. Granted Ill eventually prep the body and pay someone to paint it but its more acceptable to me that this Dakota wont be perfect. Slight bummer being OBD1 there is not tuning capability. I really plan to keep the fuel injection simply because it works. Eventually a wet NOS system and a 100 shot but that will be very very last. When I relocate the springs inboard and expand the wheel houses I plan to fit an approx 13" wide section width Hoosier radial under there on a 15x12 Weld Draglite. Skinnies up front. 6BBL or cowl scoop will be fitted to the stock hood. High 15 second Truck will look like it runs 11s- and that's fine.


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Re: My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered [Re: 2boltmain] #3117414
01/29/23 01:17 AM
01/29/23 01:17 AM
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Middle of A Field
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OrangeProwler Offline
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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

Last edited by RustyMopar01; 01/29/23 01:18 AM.
Re: My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318 has been delivered [Re: OrangeProwler] #3117444
01/29/23 07:25 AM
01/29/23 07:25 AM
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Holland MI Ottawa
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2boltmain Offline OP
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Originally Posted by RustyMopar01
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

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

S10 hot rod.jpg

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