Well I have started into tearing apart my 1991 Dakota. It has 380,000km on it, and is due for a little TLC I think. It is in surprising good shape for that many KM (I just picked it up in the fall), with only light surface rust throughout, except for the box which is rotted pretty good. I'm tearing it down to the frame first and I'll blast and paint the frame. Its in good shape, with most of the original paint still on the chassis, except for some light surface rust. Here are a few pictures of my tear down so far:







And my tools of destruction (so far):



The reason the front rad support is still on is I forgot to get the A/C system evacuated before I started tearing it apart, so I need to get someone to come by and do that for me. I have a '92 parts truck, that I'll be rebuilding the engine from, and converting mine over to MPI. I'll keep this thread updated with my progress, not much to see right now, but hopefully it will be soon. Questions, comments, suggestions all welcome!

 

Can't you just tuck your a/c compressor over on the right and then pull the engine? Unless you're planning on changing over to R134a (or some other refrigerant) evacuating and removing the compressor is more trouble than it's worth.

Your frame looks very good, btw. Do they not use salt on the roads in your part of Canada? Looks like you could get away with just pressure washing it and then spray it with some rust resisting paint. I've shot Rustoleum with my HVLP Devilbis gun in the past. But rattle cans really would do.

Wish I could have a parts truck. I'm kinda envious. (Problems with space tho.)

 

There are two issues, the first is that I want to pain the entire chassis, so I'll have to take off the Cab and Rad Support to do that, so unless I remove the cab, rad support, and compressor all at once it would need to come apart.

And the second issue is while the A/C compressor between my 91 and 92 are the same compressor, they mount differently and the lines going to the compressor are different on the 92, I guess the mountings changed when they switched to the Magnum engine and ditched the AIR pump.

They do use salt, but for most of winter it is to cold for salt to be to effective, so they end up using alot of sand. Thought after 20+ years and 380,000km most vehicles have picked up enough salt to get rotted out, this one is either very lucky, or the previous owner looked after it very well. Its to bad the bed didn't last as good as the rest of the truck. Once I get everything else off (engine, rad support, cab, fuel tank, etc.) I'm going to pressure wash the frame and see what it looks like under the caked on dirt. I beat on it with a hammer and there are no soft spots, so I'm thinking a quick blast and paint and it will be good. I plan on using Eastwood Rust Encapsulator for the primer, and Eastwood Chassis Black as the topcoat, just with rattle cans.

 

good progress. the hardest part is putting it all back together...lol i'm still waiting on some parts to get mine back up and running.

 

So I'm still plugging away at it slowly. Got the engine and cab off. I talked to the previous owner and they said the speedometer was replaced sometime after 50,000km, so the truck probably has over 430,000km on it. I asked them if they had ever replaced/rebuilt the transmission, and they said only the once but couldn't remember when. I'm surprised for a truck in Manitoba with over 430,000km on it how little rust there is (besides the bed).

Gonna get the transfer case, transmission, fuel tank, etc. out this weekend hopefully so then I can get the chassis painted. The first thing I'll be looking at doing after that is the suspension lift. This is going to be a hunting/ice fishing/back roads/winter truck mostly so it is going to be going through plenty of snow. I'd like to get 33" tires on it to get more clearance through the snow for my diff. What I have planned so far to get 33" tires is:

• 2" Body Lift
• Shackle flip - http://www.gatsbycars.com/dodge.html
• eZero Rate Block (adjust axle back) - http://www.jkwoffroad.com/offroadproducts.php
• Front torsion bar index keys

I'm also thinking of putting new leaf springs on as mine look like they are sagging pretty good (although I'm not sure how to measure them to see how much they are sagging). Found some here, has anyone ordered from General Spring before?

http://www.generalspringkc.com/Leaf_...ota_s/1922.htm

Now for my questions:

I'm hoping for this to give me about 2" suspension lift in the front, about 3-3.5" suspension lift in the back, and then another 2" of body lift. Should I be able to fit 33" tires no problem with this combination? My parts truck has 33 x 9.50 tires on it, and 3" body lift, and they had to cut out some of the front wheel well to get them to fit, but the FAQ says 2-4" lift should be good, and most indexed torsion bar keys says they'll allow 33" tires themself.

The eZero rate block can be milled to a specific angle so I can get my driveshaft angle set properly when I do the shackle flip, and I'd like to do that so I don't have to add another shim. Any way I can predict what angle I will need with the shackle flip so I can get it done in advance, or do I need to do the shackle flip, measure it, then order the block?

ALso, with lifting the suspenion 2" in front, and 3-3.5" in the back, do you think I'll need longer shocks, or should I be fine with the stock shocks?

Thanks for any help/advice! Sorry for the bad cell phone pic below:

 

Wow!

I'm impressed by the amount of space you have in your shop, too. & envious. I think if I got my truck that far down, I might never get it back together again, tho. My 96 is the same color (kind of a medium silver) btw.

I don't know anything about all the lifting and big tires you're gonna do, but do have some thoughts about the frame work and rust remediation.

I've used phosphoric acid in the past to remove rust and rust proof the treated areas. Nice stuff--removes rust completely and binds up the steel/iron molecules at the same time into iron phosphate. If you live in farm country, you can get the stuff at a farm supply store--it isn't real expensive either. It works much better than muriatic acid, which starts to surface rust as soon as you rinse it off. Then prime with zinc-chromate and instead of paint, consider coating the frame (and anything else) with bedliner. Tough stuff and it looks nice. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...liner/2588539/ I don't know if the professional applications involve a catalyst, but the stuff that comes in rattle cans is pretty nice stuff and relatively cheap to buy.

I don't know what's available in Canada, but here in the US Rustoleum black bedliner is available at Walmart for about $43 a gallon.

 

Thanks for the advice on the frame painting. Once I degrease and pressure wash the frame, I was thinking of sand blasting it then coating with Eastwood Rust Encapsulator and then Chassis Black as a topcoat. Once I got everything off the frame though, I realized the frame really isn't that rusty, there is some surface rust in spots, but for the most part it still has its paint on it, so I was thinking sand blast was a bit excessive.

I'm smack dab in the middle farm country, so shouldn't be to tough to find. Do you just wipe it on, then clean it off (I have some eastwood surface prep sitting here I could use)?

I was going to use rubberized undercoating on the underside of the cab, but it may be good to use on the frame as well.

Any advice on how to clean out the boxed in section of the frame near the front? Also, how do you typically support the frame to clean/paint it all in one shot? I'm thinking I might need to do it in several sections, so I can move the jackstands around. So I'll prep 1/3 of the frame basically, paint it completely and let it dry, then prep another 1/3 and paint, then do the last 1/3.

 

Brush it on (it's a clear liquid the consistency of water) and then hose it off. Probably best to push the frame out of the shop to do it. You may want to keep brushing it on--you want to keep the cleaning going and it will tend to dry out. Don't worry if you spill some on the ground--the phosphorus in it will be bound up and inert in seconds. You also could apply it with a garden sprayer (one of those things you pump up.)

If you have a sand blaster, do that. Then treat the bare areas with phosphoric acid before priming. It really does bind up the iron ions. Shiny metal turns black when treated.

Farm stores will have phosphoric acid as dairy milkstone remover--used to clean dairy equipment. Should be between $18 and $25 per gallon. I think that Naval Jelly is a gelled version of phosphoric acid, btw. That might be easier to use.

For degreasing? I've been using Dollar Tree's Awesome Orange Degreaser--$1 for a half gallon. When the build up is thick, I scrape it off with a razor blade. Altho you could probably pressure wash the thick stuff off. Spray it on, pressure wash it off, & repeat. Also, Easy Off oven cleaner works well for cutting grease--be sure to wear rubber gloves and a respirator mask.

I think I'd do all the surface prep first and then shoot it in sections (brush or roller it in sections.) And I think I'd leave the wheels on so you can move it around more easily--protect them from overspray with old bed sheets. Alternatively, your shop might allow you to hang it up with ropes or cables--I've used come a longs in the past for pulling engines, you could use a couple to get it to the proper height (say 3 feet off the ground) and then tie it off with rope. Or use your shop crane to lift up one end at a time & then tie it off.

 

Wow I wish I had the time, space, a parts truck, and my dak didn't have to be my dd so I could do all of this. I have managed to restore the frame from about mid cab and back but I need to do the whole thing. No rusted out spots as it's been in florida it's whole life but just to make it look nice

 

I found one spot on the frame on the drivers side where it bends up to go over the rear axle was starting to get rusty, it isn't completely rotten, but it just gets thin in one spot. I haven't touched it with a sandblaster yet, but I've scraped it back to solid metal. I may cutout the thin spot (about 1" x 3" long) and weld in a little piece, should be pretty easy fix though.

None of the wreckers around will let me pick my own axle or truck bed, so unfortunately they cost a bit more than I wanted, but I found a rear 9 1/4" axle from a Durango with 130,000km on it locally, and a truck bed that isn't in horrible shape. No places rusted through, but some rust starting on the lip of the drivers side fender, so I may pick those up to throw in my truck, as my bed is shot. Just wish there was an easy way to upgrade the 7 1/4" axle without doing a SAS, but I guess I'll just have to live with it, and hope I don't have many issues with 33" tires. I'd like to regear to 4.11 as well, be nice to go to 4.56 but can't go that big on the 7.25".