[Hayden]

Alright guys, I am well aware that i am not re inventing the wheel! However, here are my plans.

last year i purchased a Clean 99 V6 RC M/T truck with plans of swapping motors from the very start. Over the last 9 months i have been buying parts and reading through forms in my spare time for this build.

here is what i have so far

Mopar 4bbl M1 new + powder coat
JBA shorties + SS 2.5" Vbands + EGT bung
Exedy clutch
Factory 318 fly wheel
Mopar double roller chain
Mopar chain tensioner
Arp head studs
New oil pan + an-10 bung and cap
Matching computer.
318 doner harness
318 doner motor 200K miles
MSD SF 8mm wires
building a set of traction bars
2.5" headers to merge y
Rear 23g Tank swap & weight reduction
Felpro 1008 Head gaskets

still need to decide on
Cam
MSX3
Vcovers
turbo (hx35/hx40 )



started out by fixing the JBA header up with 2.5" SS Vbands

 

[jmaack727]

Watching this thread.

 

[httrdd]

Sell me shorties from on 318 swapper to another. Lol

 

[Blue93Dakota]

Good luck. Lot of work, but worth it.

 

[Hayden]

thanks! im pretty pumped to be honest!

 

[Hayden]

alright guys im still looking for a small cam the one i had lined up fell through.
Made some time for machine shop today and chucked up my throttle body in the mill and went to town!
2" shell end mill i plunged down all the way to just before the throttle plate seat. ill do the rest with a flapper wheel. after exam week




still needs a bunch of work but here is the rough cut product

 

[jucnbst]

Nice start to your build. Looking forward to more progress.

 

[Durang0]

Following this!!

 

[Hayden]

well my first project car is going Bye Bye. finally sold the old goat!!
started when i was 17 never finished it tho 91 awd talon tsi.

 

[Hayden]

Tank swap to rear!!

Monster tank fit like it was built for a dakota and the swap only cost 100$.
i decided that moving weight around 5 feet back to behind the rear axle would be my single best move at Getting this bastard to hook on the street and shedding a few pounds at the same time. I plan on weighing all the crap i chop out to get a ballpark of weight savings and overall more optimum weight placement.

The Tank is a 23 gallon 96 jeep grand cherokee gas tank and OEM straps
23g of gas 145lbs+tank+straps+pump= roughly 200lbs
Overall weight removed= idk yet


Dropped my spare tire gutted the center of the tire holder with the plasma torch.
made a rear bracket out of 2x2 angle iron. This will do for now till i build the hide away receiver behind the future roll pan. Im sticking with the stock filler neck and just running 3 ft of hose to the rear. Painted all the parts should be driving it tmr

here it is all mocked up. sitting on the ground you cant even tell it is there.






the tank is mounted in this photo

 

[RacerXX]

wow! Nice project, good luck to ya.

 

[jucnbst]

I like the tank swap idea.

 

[Hayden]

if anyone is interested in more aspects of the swap i took lots of pics and can make a list of parts including their prices.

 

[Trukn2004]

if anyone is interested in more aspects of the swap i took lots of pics and can make a list of parts including their prices.

I would be interested, including where you got the tank, if you can use a stock sending unit. I have a 92 dakota and am looking into a fuel cell, however a stock tank like that would be a sweet option.

 

[Hayden]

ok so here is the short of it.

The Tank is a 23 gallon 1996 jeep grand cherokee gas tank and OEM straps.

>Rough dimensions or the tank are 30"w X20"L X 12" h.

>Fill/Breather
Located on the drivers side
tank fill barbed fitting is 1.25"
tank fill breather fitting is 1"

>Pump info
the 96 jeep pump had a 3 wire setup,
i assume they are using ground for both the pump and level sensor on the same wire.
i wanted to use all factory components, but Unfortunately the guy at our pick and pull wanted the pump so i didnt have a chance to even see if it could be wired up.
i was also hoping my pump would drop in and it did... However, the factory 99 dak pump was 2.5" to long. so i shortened the factory dak unit and it fit like a glove.


here is the kicker :funny:

i actually made pvc lines that run from the tank fill location to the stock fill neck. The tank is tucked all the way against the bottom of the bed totally out of sight.. but,Basically both the breather and fuel hose fill with fuel and then vapor lock the tank so i cannot fill the damn thing:huh:

i am just going to yank the lines and relocate the fill neck to inside the box next the driver side tail light. With the tank being so much bigger i only have to fill it once a month anyhow. i am also thinking about lowing the tank a few inches to help shift the center of gravity.

you will also notice that there is no exhaust in the photo. i removed it for the tank install because the factory hanger is in the way. the new exhaust is going to be a bit tight. i plan on running a single mandrel 3" pipe. ill post pics of that later

 

[Hayden]

snagged a clean set of RT wheels from the classifieds this weekend!
unfortunately the rubber is pretty low profile and i do not have the truck lowered at all.

 

[Blue beast]

I'm digging the tank relocate, I really want to do mine. I'll be watching how that turns out. If I could make a suggestion, it might be a good idea to pull the bed and sand down the frame and repaint it. It'd also give you an opportunity to remove the spare xbrace, and weld in a reinforcement to replace it. Not to mention it'd make life 10x easier installing some drop hangers.

Also, shameless plug but I have my oem rt leafs if your looking for a pair. If you have any questions about lowering it feel free to pm me.

 

[Hayden]

i took a plasma cutter to the x brace/tire rack. also ive been looking for a new box and rear end stuff so ive been pretty much waiting on sandblasting the frame for that reason.

How much of a drop is the rt leaf?
Are the the spring rates similar?
i still wanna haul my quad every weekend and a trailer at some point.

 

[Blue beast]

i took a plasma cutter to the x brace/tire rack. also ive been looking for a new box and rear end stuff so ive been pretty much waiting on sandblasting the frame for that reason.

How much of a drop is the rt leaf?
Are the the spring rates similar?
i still wanna haul my quad every weekend and a trailer at some point.

Rt leafs drop one inch over regular Dakotas. Given that your dak is a v6 I can't imagine the leaf springs having much difference in spring rate. However on the front you're gonna want to find some v8 springs. unless you acquire some hotchkis springs use oem springs and cut coils. V8 springs are side dependent, the driverside is 30 in/lb stiffer.

 

[Hayden]

awesome thanks for the info.
i was just going to shove the 318 in and see how she sits. Whats the 318 an additional 50 lbs?