Frame swaps
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Oh, and one last point if doing the 3-part swap, when you still have the donor truck all together, measure from a point on the upper control arm back to the firewall. You don't want to get the front clip all welded in and then discover that you have engine/firewall interference with the International firewall. Also, pay attention to the configuration of the Dakota firewall and take into consideration how the International firewall compares. Even if you have to screw up the "eyeball" a little, it will be better to move the clip a little forward from where the ideal is in order to avoid having to do firewall surgery. Also, pay attention to the clearance between the top of the transmission and the transmission tunnel on the International cab. You may have to adjust the ride height of the cab a little to make sure you don't have to do any surgery on the cab floor for transmission/bellhousing clearance. | Oh, and one last point if doing the 3-part swap, when you still have the donor truck all together, measure from a point on the upper control arm back to the firewall. You don't want to get the front clip all welded in and then discover that you have engine/firewall interference with the International firewall. Also, pay attention to the configuration of the Dakota firewall and take into consideration how the International firewall compares. Even if you have to screw up the "eyeball" a little, it will be better to move the clip a little forward from where the ideal is in order to avoid having to do firewall surgery. Also, pay attention to the clearance between the top of the transmission and the transmission tunnel on the International cab. You may have to adjust the ride height of the cab a little to make sure you don't have to do any surgery on the cab floor for transmission/bellhousing clearance. | ||
| − | There are headers available for the '91-'96 Dakota V8. Hooker makes 'em, part #5803, 1 5/8" primaries, long-tube. These are REAL tuned headers, not shorties. Problem might be, this is a frame swap and there's no way of knowing how the headers will work with the International firewall and center frame portion, so here's how I might go about it to make sure they would work with the 360 in the International. I'd weld a piece of 2" X 2" square tubing on the bottom of the Dakota clip crossmember and extend it toward the rear of the clip. You can | + | There are headers available for the '91-'96 Dakota V8. Hooker makes 'em, part #5803, 1 5/8" primaries, long-tube. These are REAL tuned headers, not shorties. Problem might be, this is a frame swap and there's no way of knowing how the headers will work with the International firewall and center frame portion, so here's how I might go about it to make sure they would work with the 360 in the International. I'd weld a piece of 2" X 2" square tubing on the bottom of the Dakota clip crossmember and extend it toward the rear of the clip. You can cut it off with your gas axe and grind it smooth later when the swap is complete. I'd build a transmission tailshaft mount on it and install a caster wheel on the bottom of the tubing under the transmission mount, so that the whole clip rolls on the front wheels/tires of the Dakota clip and the caster wheel at the rear of the 2 x 2 (building, in effect a 3-point roller). You'd want to install the caster wheel so that the fore/aft tilt of the clip was the same as factory so that the front suspension geometry (caster) would be unaffected and install the transmission mount so that the motor/transmission has a 3 degree tilt to the rear. I'd mount the motor and trans I was going to eventually use in the swap into the clip and install the headers on the motor. This way, you could roll the entire clip/motor/transmission into place for connecting to the International frame mid-section and be assured that the engine/firewall, transmission/tunnel and header/frame/body clearance would be good to go and that the motor/trans would have the correct 3 degree back tilt to them. This assumes, of course, that your workspace floor is level. Hopefully, you'll be able to position the centerline of the front wheels/tires somewhere close to the point you determined when "eyeballing" the front wheel/tire position on the International that looked best. |
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