94 Dodge Dakota to 37 Chevy Project (Page 1/1) Blitz54 AUG 07, 09:13 PM So I have my Fiero, my mom has a 64 Ford Galaxie 500 Convertible, but my dad has no vehicle for car shows yet. So we have decided to take on a big but cheap project and turn this Dakota into a unique truck of it's own. The Dakota is 3.9 Magnum V6. Not a major performer but it's supposed to be a long living engine. The last owner (dads friend) had it running but then parked it. And he couldn't start it up again. So with all my newfound diagnosing skills, I finally determined the wires to the fuel pump were corroded and broke. We were checking for spark first, but we had none after the coil. It just came into my mind that we had't smelt any old gas when cranking it. So I tested the pressure, and yeup nothing. Apparently this truck has a feature that it won't give you spark if there is no fuel pressure. So after we connected the pump, we got spark! A few more minor fixes and it fired up. Apparently some idiot forgot to put the rotor back on the shaft. Only the fifth time I've done that. Next big step is to tear apart the old rusted body of the Dakota, and check out the frame underneath. If all is good we have a fun project ahead. Gonna be a big project, but I think we can manage. My dad did autobody for lots of his life, and I am capable of learning and figuring things out. It's going to be a slow project being that we are only working on it during the weekends, and the next few are pretty busy. But I'll keep you guys posted. Blitz54 APR 21, 08:10 PM So we got into the project a little now that the snow is all gone. Only did an hour or two of work on it, but we managed to get the box off, and label some wires and hoses under the hood and disconnected those. Frame is a little rusted at one section but it's an easy fix. Blitz54 AUG 01, 11:40 PM Quick update, my dad realized the 37 chevy is much too small to be worth the effort. So instead we are doing a 46ish dodge pickup. Much bigger, cab is perfect size but engine will still be a tight fit. We got some mockup fitting so we have an idea. We have an overhead I-beam from his old work that he scavenged when the business closed. So we have a trolley on there with a hoist thing (whatever the terms are). Frame is a little rusted on driver side, but its stripped down so easy to work on. And it's only the bottom section.