Early December 1940 Dodge Update
Matt and I dumped the 440 into the Dodge, I needed to check the fit. Still haven’t come up with a passenger car 727 tranny, that’s the RV job in the picture. It’s crooked right now, but it looks like it’s going to fit nice when I get the mounts fabbed up! I found and won a mint condition hood on eBay, which is great, because its a one year only part unique to the...
Front Sheetmetal Action
So, with the rear of the frame cut down, it’s time to start to think about getting the front sheetmetal on. The fenders could be bolted on, but the nose piece would require the frame horns cut down, as seen in the first two pictures. After cutting on the front frame horns down, the nose piece would fit on and the whole front clip bolted back together. I have to make a crossmember...
Bringing the Back of the Coupe Down!!
So I don’t have any pictures of me removing the outriggers that suspended the leaf springs outside the framerails, but they were a royal pain in the ass to remove. I fabbed up some front spring hangers, just need to make something a little more permanent for the rear shackles. Coming soon, to a Dodge Coupe near you! Anywho, we’re picking up at the point in the Saga of the Dakota...
Merciless Frame Hacking
This plan has been brewing for a while, pretty much since I bought this Coupe. It needed a frame and finding a good original one probably wasn’t going to happen, so I did a little research and found the Dodge Dakota frame would go right under one of these with a little work. After getting a rolling frame secured, I took my measurements. I needed to take out 4.4″ out of the center...
Mostly Old Parts Assembled Randomly!
Not much of an update, but I put the bench seat and a partial floorpan section from the cut-up Dakota into the ‘40 Dodge to see how it fit and looked. It might work! I also put in a spare ‘40 Ford wheel and column I had for mock up as well, this thing is looking like it might be something someday! Read More →
Off the Old, onto the New – Frame Swap 1940 Dodge
Doug (with the black primered ‘58 Plymouth) came on over to give me a hand pulling the body off the Dodge. With everything removed and torched out it was pretty light and easy to maneuver. This was a preliminary mock up of the body and the frame. I will need to pull the frame one more time to do some cutting and welding, I believe about four inches need to be sectioned from the middle. I’m...
Moving Forward on the 1940 Dodge
The frame on my 1940 Dodge was cut up pretty badly, so I had been looking at my options for a while. The Dakota chassis has received some good praise on a couple of the message boards I frequent, so I began casually watching for a decent but cheap one to come available. Eventually, this little gem popped up: a 1987 Dodge Dakota with 118k miles on the odometer with a 3.9 liter V6 with a 904...
1940 Dodge Newspaper Ad
I found this neat old newspaper ad while searching the internet for pictures of Dodge Coupe hot rods. Dodge Engineering costs you nothing extra! Read More →
Mocking Up the Coupe
Finally a chance to snap a decent shot of my 1940 Dodge Coupe. I’ve been bolting parts together randomly, just to see what it looks like and what I need. The front frame is constructed of 2×3 tubing C-clamped to the old frame section, resting upon a 1948 Ford I-beam axle. Not permanent by any means. I’m probably going to be using a Dodge Dakota front frame section, just...
1940 Dodge Business Coupe
Picked up another Business Coupe project! Found it advertised on a local Craigslist for $500, so I gave the guy a call. After talking to him, I knew it was missing the frame from the firewall forward, the firewall and the floor. I still had to go look at it, of course! After seeing it in person and assessing the damage, I decided it was something I could build, so I left a deposit and made...