Hemi swap!?
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Also I got the seats mounted up and started working on running the harness. Oh and BTW the harness is going to be a little intimidating. But luckily it just consists of matching up wire colors and connector shapes. And once I get to a dead end with that I'll start using a diagram. I already have most of the things like the cluster, various switches and other things figured out and hooked up.
Here is a picture of how the harness looked when I set just the fuse box in the area that it will go. As you can see I'm gonna have alot of work ahead of me.
Here is a picture of how the harness looked when I set just the fuse box in the area that it will go. As you can see I'm gonna have alot of work ahead of me.
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Also originally my battery was mounted in the front of the engine compartment on the passenger side. The way the Ram harness is situated it has the battery located on the driver side next to the fire wall. Now I know that some of you probably think that I went about doing this the hard way but I wanted to keep the wiring harness thing as simple as possible. So I went ahead and cut out a section of the driver side fender well. Used some 18-gauge sheet metal and my trusty metal brake and made a shelf that the battery will sit on and clear the hood and hinge.
Lead Driver
Joined: Apr 2008
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Holy hell man... first, kick *** project, second, nice work. That fuel tank is as slick as it gets. Since youre keeping the hemi stuff, ive read a bunch of places its stupid easy to make those 600hp+ The guages look pretty good in there too.
One burning question however... why make it 4wd when its a street/hot - rod ??
I let the "purist" stuff go for this one as it is a hemi. Maybe not a 426, but still a hemi.. "theyve" been puttin hemis in everything go fast since the 60s so go for it. I will say tho, not diggin the dodge wheels lol
One burning question however... why make it 4wd when its a street/hot - rod ??
I let the "purist" stuff go for this one as it is a hemi. Maybe not a 426, but still a hemi.. "theyve" been puttin hemis in everything go fast since the 60s so go for it. I will say tho, not diggin the dodge wheels lol
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Hairy- I'm making it 4-wheel drive because even though I want it to be a street rod I want to be able to perform the way truck should. I still plan on being able to use it like a daily driver, and plan on pulling the yellow mustang back to Texas with this truck.
Wycked- for now I will keep it bone stock for reliability purposes. Once it's running I will fab up some long tube headers, cold air intake and see if I can find some under drive pulleys. But I don't want to do anything serious... Yet. This power train only has about 13k on it so hopefully she'll be reliable for a while.
Oh and just FYI. I did the math and my fuel tank should hold about 41ish gallons.
Wycked- for now I will keep it bone stock for reliability purposes. Once it's running I will fab up some long tube headers, cold air intake and see if I can find some under drive pulleys. But I don't want to do anything serious... Yet. This power train only has about 13k on it so hopefully she'll be reliable for a while.
Oh and just FYI. I did the math and my fuel tank should hold about 41ish gallons.
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Oh and I have a quick question that some of yall may be able to help me out with. I have started working on fabricating some frame stubs that I can mount my bumper and core support on. Now since alot of the fender alignment goes off of the core support I started mocking up the fenders as well. Well I couldn't get my gap between the door and the fender right, but then again I was never able to get it just right. So I tried and tried but just couldn't get it to line up just right and close. It started to seem like the weather strip was getting pinched and prevent the door from closing easily. So I pulled out the weather strip and sure enough I was able to get the door to close with a light push rather than with a slam. I'm wondering what some of yall's weather strips look like, because I think I may have been using the wrong style. I purchased them out of LMC trucks long ago but they don't seem right. If someone has a truck that has sealed doors and they close easily can you post a quick pic of what your weather strip looks like?
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Thanks, I guess I could have picked a different name but I figured just seeing the word "Hemi" in a Ford forum would have sparked enough interest.
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My weather-stripping came out of a 95 F-150. The shape fits fine, just have to shorten it by about 4" where it butts together. It was stupid cheap at the JY, OBS trucks are reallt common with good weather stripping. And, its the push on type, that goes over the pinch weld, and not the PIA glue on type. Everyone tells my my doors shut really nice and they dont leak. The windows do... but not the doors.
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My weather-stripping came out of a 95 F-150. The shape fits fine, just have to shorten it by about 4" where it butts together. It was stupid cheap at the JY, OBS trucks are reallt common with good weather stripping. And, its the push on type, that goes over the pinch weld, and not the PIA glue on type. Everyone tells my my doors shut really nice and they dont leak. The windows do... but not the doors.
Thanks hairyboxnoogle, I'll try those.
Lead Driver
Joined: May 2007
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From: Costa Mesa, CA
The extension out the side & under the rails was an afterthought & came out of me realizing I was going to have to do top & bottom straps with the old layout. This way uses the bottom straps to press it up against the bottom part of the frame & that holds it.
Those little sections below the frame that moved out 3" or so on each side added about 5 gal. of capacity too! I was pleasantly surprised.
Mountain Pass
Joined: Dec 2012
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I just read the entire thread and like what you did to your truck. I see that your fab skills look great and want to see the completed project. I like the choice of thinking outside of the box and doing what appeals to you for the project. I like your approach to using the entire dodge harness to simplify wiring issues to get it running. I'm interested to see how the dodge instrument panel will fit into the current dash.
Lead Driver
Joined: May 2007
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From: Costa Mesa, CA
Thanks. I'm a "best part for the job at the most reasonable price" type guy. I'm far from the "purist" type for sure.
The Dodge harness thing is now out the window. Only 2 wires are really needed to make the thing run so no sense in messing with the whole harness. I'm now debating on whether I install this universal, Painless kit I've had sitting around, or whether I add a new/current fuse box to the truck & just re-wire what is needed.
Dodge gauges will not be used as all my gauges for the project are autometer now.
The Dodge harness thing is now out the window. Only 2 wires are really needed to make the thing run so no sense in messing with the whole harness. I'm now debating on whether I install this universal, Painless kit I've had sitting around, or whether I add a new/current fuse box to the truck & just re-wire what is needed.
Dodge gauges will not be used as all my gauges for the project are autometer now.