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Body swap with a 50 Dodge truck body

Started by nvrbdn, July 23, 2020, 07:38:52 AM

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ACUDANUT

Looks great. Does the A/C still work ?

nvrbdn

Quote from: ACUDANUT on August 19, 2020, 12:05:08 AM
Looks great. Does the A/C still work ?



Yes it does!!! We will have all the luxury of the newer truck with the old look.  :2thumbs: Just sucks that all the car shows around here are being canceled. There is a Rat Rod Run out on the river in Grafton in September that is still on right now that I would like to attend so I can get some feedback!!!!
70 Dodge Charger 500
70 Duster (Moulin Rouge)
73 Challenger
50 Dodge Pilot House

nvrbdn

Been slowing down a bit lately going fishing and playing with the golf cart. Plus working on our Koi pond. But I did attack the front lights. I disassembled everything and cut the backs out of the marker lights. Then I mounted the marker/turn signal lights from the Mazda in the casing and put it back together. Plus wired up the headlights. Now we have all the lights working!!!!
70 Dodge Charger 500
70 Duster (Moulin Rouge)
73 Challenger
50 Dodge Pilot House

nvrbdn

We got more work done!! But first, my son and future daughter in law had a wedding shower. It was at an axe throwing place. This is the cake they wanted for the ceremony. It says "Til Death Do Us Part" between the heads.
70 Dodge Charger 500
70 Duster (Moulin Rouge)
73 Challenger
50 Dodge Pilot House

nvrbdn

Got the wiring all tucked in on the back of the truck. Found me a seat for sale locally out of a Dodge Ram Van. And it was the right color too!!! Got the seat mounted in the truck, and took it for a nice ride!!! Still have more to do, but it sure was fun to get the seat in and cruise this thing around!!! :cheers:
70 Dodge Charger 500
70 Duster (Moulin Rouge)
73 Challenger
50 Dodge Pilot House

ACUDANUT

Quote from: nvrbdn on September 02, 2020, 09:41:35 PM
We got more work done!! But first, my son and future daughter in law had a wedding shower. It was at an axe throwing place. This is the cake they wanted for the ceremony. It says "Til Death Do Us Part" between the heads.

Man, that's dark. Love the the truck idea though.

nvrbdn

It is definitely not the cake I would have chosen!!! But, it isn't my wedding. (and I wasn't paying for the cake)

   Here is a link to the new test drive in the truck. Then after this I took it out for a 10 mile jaunt. fifth gear running 55 MPH.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhtCdyVZZUk
70 Dodge Charger 500
70 Duster (Moulin Rouge)
73 Challenger
50 Dodge Pilot House

nvrbdn

Got back on the truck. Cleaning up the body work and blending the paint. :2thumbs:
70 Dodge Charger 500
70 Duster (Moulin Rouge)
73 Challenger
50 Dodge Pilot House

timmycharger

wow! nice job blending in the paint, love the look of this truck. Such a great project and looks like a ton of fun. Great job on this!  :cheers: :cheers:

nvrbdn

thank you!! It has been fun building this truck. To see it coming so close to completion is pretty exciting!! Can't wait to take it to a show!! :2thumbs:
70 Dodge Charger 500
70 Duster (Moulin Rouge)
73 Challenger
50 Dodge Pilot House

67440chrg

Great work on the truck. My son and future ex daughter in law would have liked the cake.

nvrbdn

Quote from: 67440chrg on September 10, 2020, 03:22:18 PM
Great work on the truck. My son and future ex daughter in law would have liked the cake.


  Thanks. That cake was crazy. Everyone enjoyed it.
70 Dodge Charger 500
70 Duster (Moulin Rouge)
73 Challenger
50 Dodge Pilot House

nvrbdn

Well, it has been a bit for the truck, but there has been some progress. I got the wing windows in finally. Then drove it around and had the wife take a few pics.
70 Dodge Charger 500
70 Duster (Moulin Rouge)
73 Challenger
50 Dodge Pilot House

nvrbdn

Next was a car show!! Drove the freeway at 73 MPH. Had a good day. There was so much attention around the truck, I barely had time to sit down. A lot of people enjoying how it was put together.
70 Dodge Charger 500
70 Duster (Moulin Rouge)
73 Challenger
50 Dodge Pilot House

nvrbdn

Finally decided to add the bed frames on the front of the bed and cut down the head board. Looks much better. Won't add the other wheels and tires till spring since the shows are over and these tires would be better in the snow. And this is a 4 wheel truck, so it will be used. Plus it has a great heater!!!.
70 Dodge Charger 500
70 Duster (Moulin Rouge)
73 Challenger
50 Dodge Pilot House

nvrbdn

And the finished product. I will probably move more on the truck later, but since I have started the restoration of the 73 Challenger, it has taken a lot of my time away from Ole Blue. Plus I am already driving Ole Blue so it isn't demanding anything from me!!!
70 Dodge Charger 500
70 Duster (Moulin Rouge)
73 Challenger
50 Dodge Pilot House

RallyeMike

Out of curiosity, how did you address gaps and fitment between the new dash and truck cab? Did you just leave it or try and close it up?

Fun project!
1969 Charger 500 #232008
1972 Charger, Grand Sport #41
1973 Charger "T/A"

Drive as fast as you want to on a public road! Click here for info: http://www.sscc.us/

Aero426

Quote from: alfaitalia on July 26, 2020, 07:24:19 AM
Quote from: nvrbdn on July 25, 2020, 05:23:05 PM
Quote from: ACUDANUT on July 23, 2020, 10:37:40 PM
Cool project. I don't know where you live, but it's HOT out there.
A Dodge truck on a Jap frame.  :scratchchin: :brickwall: :scratchchin:

I am in illinois. It is really hot and very humid. So I am only getting about 3 hours a day before I have to quit. As far as the Mazda frame goes, The wheel base lined up the best. My engine has a Ford sticker on it. My Dodge buddy wasn't too pleased with me either though.  :shruggy:
Ford owned Mazda back then....

Nice project and clever skills to get it so far along.   

The Mazda B-series pickup is a Ford Ranger with Mazda badges.   Not the other way around.     Some Ford small cars were Mazda based, but not the pickup.  Ford never owned all of Mazda, but they owned enough to have a controlling interest for a while.   They no longer do.   


nvrbdn

Quote from: RallyeMike on November 16, 2020, 11:59:52 AM
Out of curiosity, how did you address gaps and fitment between the new dash and truck cab? Did you just leave it or try and close it up?

Fun project!


   This is the best pic showing the gap across the top of the dash. The sides fit very tight. Once the cab was settled down the best it was going to get, I welded the cab in place to the floor and the pillars, then I shot spray foam crack sealer in the gap. After that dried, I put a piece of trim on.
70 Dodge Charger 500
70 Duster (Moulin Rouge)
73 Challenger
50 Dodge Pilot House

nvrbdn

The main drive behind this project was to see if I could take what I had and pull this off. The main dream for this was to create an old truck without the massive custom manufacturing, wiring, plumbing etc... I wanted an old truck with a good suspension, air etc... and be able to cruise the freeway. But I didn't want to spend a ton of money to accomplish this task. The best way to do this was with an existing vehicle that would come close in measurements (which the Mazda did, and I already had). Then would it be possible to leave the dash so there would be no wiring or plumbing to do. No engine swap. No trying to fit a transmission and figuring out the shift linkage. No building a custom frame. The whole thing was just removing what I didn't want, and adding what I wanted. I have never tried to do a project like this. So this was really going to be a test for myself. And when you think about it, it really was pretty much like putting a 3D puzzle together. You have a good idea where the pieces should go. Then you try to put them there to see how they fit. I wasn't worried about staying true to a make or model. I just wanted a fun toy to drive and enjoy. I can drive this thing every day. The V6 engine has more than enough power. The 5 speed stick shift transmission makes it feel just right. And it has been a blast at the car show explaining 200 times just how I pulled it off. The truck has already been well worth the effort!!!
70 Dodge Charger 500
70 Duster (Moulin Rouge)
73 Challenger
50 Dodge Pilot House

RallyeMike

It takes a lot of measuring and planning to pull something like this off. You made it look as easy.  :2thumbs:
1969 Charger 500 #232008
1972 Charger, Grand Sport #41
1973 Charger "T/A"

Drive as fast as you want to on a public road! Click here for info: http://www.sscc.us/

nvrbdn

Quote from: RallyeMike on November 17, 2020, 10:50:07 AM
It takes a lot of measuring and planning to pull something like this off. You made it look as easy.  :2thumbs:

   Very true!!! I continued to measure and measure over and over. Watched a thousand videos about body swaps. It started in January when I brought the body home. finally several months later I built up the courage to just dive in. I have to admit, it was pretty scary to cut up a nice truck. But I just felt i could pull it off.  :2thumbs:
70 Dodge Charger 500
70 Duster (Moulin Rouge)
73 Challenger
50 Dodge Pilot House

ACUDANUT


70 sublime

So when you called up the insurance company to put it on the road which ownership did you use ?
Did you confess what you had created ?
next project 70 Charger FJ5 green

nvrbdn

It is still listed as a Mazda truck with a body mod. I am friends with my insurance agent and he follows all of my projects. I guess the sad part of this is, I have full coverage with no deductible on it. 26.00 a month. Because liability would be 24.00 a month. But if I total the truck it is only worth 1500.00. so if it were totaled, I would barely recover all the costs of putting this truck together. I could check to see if the value would go up by titling it as the Dodge, but I can't really see it being an advantage unless I completely redo the body. So I will probably just leave it as is. :shruggy:
70 Dodge Charger 500
70 Duster (Moulin Rouge)
73 Challenger
50 Dodge Pilot House