Dodge COE

[Huskinhano]

Happened to notice the bead on the front cab support on the frame. WOW, nice welding!

[AFFORDILLAC]

Thanks Huskinhano.
Picked up the joint I ordered today. Rookie mistake netted me a hole 1" to far to the right of where it needed to be because I failed to take into account the Astro van being taller exit on firewall with the longer shaft before I shortened it caused an angle change the joint could not handle. Patch work and a redo of the hole got me what I need but now the coloum is 1" to the left of center of stock gauges. Not a big deal in seating position, but I really wanted the stock gauge configuration...might move gauge hole over on one or jus do different gauges all together.




Shortened the end 1 1/2"...not enough to make correct angle for shaft. Cut the sleeve loose and slid it down.




Money shot



What remains of the stock column I need to shorten as well. Im really not sold on the late model column yet, but if I can get an early wheel on it I'll live.

[AFFORDILLAC]

So it measured out to be 1 1/2" offset and I decided to move the gauge cluster. Did I mention I found this truck layin on the side of the road? The farmer rolled the cab on frame to the road in hopes someone would pic it up. It was there for 5 days before I decided to knock on the door. He said "Yep its free...". By the time I got to the end of the road, I got in an arguement with a scrapper who said he was takin it but had to go get his trailer. To bad for him I only lived a mile away!









It"ll take a trained eye to notice the move.
Its takin more time to reengineer the steering and brakes than I expected, but I'm winning I think!

[STINEY]

Very subtle .... I like it.

Road Kill Roller - - bet that farmer is still chuckling over those two arguing over that old truck.

[milner351]

Man it's even sweeter that you got the thing for free - do you have a title?

[Bob Holmes]

Rodding at its finest. What a neat build. I've always wanted a COE.

The dash mod is great, should be subtle enough that no one can pick it out.

[TheSilverBuick]

Very subtle .... I like it.

Road Kill Roller - - bet that farmer is still chuckling over those two arguing over that old truck.

Agreed!

[milner351]

Rear engine rear drive with torsion bars..... God I wish I could think that far outside the box! This thing like I posted earlier - just drips cool. Thanks for the inspiration.

[Mater]

well i will say never had any ideas like this before this is cool

beats my 51 F1 i put on a 1990 F150 frame. sadly was never able to drive the 51 do to not having a title for eather the cab or the frame so it got sold

[AFFORDILLAC]

Finished the steering and won the brake fight today.

Had to make support for column mounting.




Solid as a rock mounting.

On to the brakes.

So heres where it gets tricky. The column is centered well for the driver. I need power brakes and want to use stuff I already have so no under the floor mounts/under dash 90 degree. The problem is the booster/master combo is 14" long. The hood is a mear 12" from firewall to front face of hood...and thats towards the center of the truck. The hood curves in so hard and fast that I can no way put the master on the outside of the column...it has to go on the inside of the column.




You can see the column mount here.


So I need to sink the booster inside 2 1/2" to gain hood clearance and infringe on the upward angled steering column.






Now of course the brake pedal needs to be modified to get to the other side of the column!




The column rises fast and the booster is farther back now...have to make clearance for the ign switch on the swing, raise the pedal for a higher floor than the Astro had, and move it closer to the firewall for comfort because the booster is inboard.




The original brake lines on master are crimped so I can apply pressure on the pedal and there is some movement in the booster. So the factory bolt stud on the factory bracket musta been there for a reason. I made a support bracket to tie it up better and it made it solid as a rock now.



Thats it for now.

[AFFORDILLAC]

Forgot...I couldnt figure out what to run for tail lights because the 1/2 tons had such small markers. Scored these off a 1950 school bus...a pair on the rear is perfect.



Cant wait to chop it...

[TheSilverBuick]

You are blowing my mind.








**With two different vehicles at the same time!

[AFFORDILLAC]

I may have ADD...I got more than these goin on. Its not hoarding cause I havent found any dead cats or 4 yr old sandwichs under the parts piles.

[SuperBuickGuy]

nice work, I love the work-around on the brakes.

[STINEY]

Its not hoarding cause I havent found any dead cats or 4 yr old sandwichs under the parts piles.

Sean, my man, its obvious. No dead cats because they've been eating the sandwiches, hence no sandwiches either.

Nice try though.