hey guys im back from my long hiatus. i forgot how long its been but ive been through a few trucks most recently my 1993 dakota ext cab short box 5.2l 4x4 that i bought with intentions to sas swap.



well that may still be in the future but i ended up buying a 2000 dakota ext cab short box 4.7l 4x4 for $50 with a bad transfer case that i found out later needed a ton of work.

transfer case split at the mounting bolts, centering pins and load spring missing from leaf packs, autozone lift block kit with the wrong ubolts, etc.



and more recently, while shopping for another fullsize chevy to add to my ever growing fleet of vehicles i came across an 89 dakota 3.9l 5spd 4x4 regular cab long box.



and the rest of my fleet includes a 2015 sierra, 06 malibu maxx, and 00 civic

all that aside this past winter wasnt to kind to the body of the 00 and since i couldnt drive the 93 due to driveshaft issues from and awd swap i decided to do what i think might not have been done before (atleast from what i could find)

yes im in the process of putting the body of my 93 on the 00 frame.

i started with bolting the box in. it bolted right in and everything lined up. even the fuel hose.





except the 00 filler hose wont screw into the piece on the 93 with out some drilling.

since it was spring break i had time to work on removal but it was dark out so i didnt get any pics.

but i bolted in the rad support (yes i have a body lift on this truck)



the 93. the 318 is going in the 89 after this is done.




sorry i dont have pics of the cab removal and swap but the only thing i found to not work is the cab mounts dont line up.
(the rear mounts have to move back and upward)
(the front mounts have to move forward)

the middle mount (tack welded in)


the rear mount


the front mount

the 2000 cab has 4 mounts and the 93 has 6 so i had to add the middle ones (im not new to this kind of work so im not worried about custom fab)



so far after working as much as i can this weekend (stupid holidays) i am this far



in that pic the cab wasnt mounted i put the fenders on to line up the cab but after setting the middle mounts i put the fenders back on.

heres a pic of how the 4.7l looks in the 93 engine bay




the wiring between the OBDI cab and OBDII 4.7l is a bit tricky but i might have it figured out. ill have the obd connecter run into the cab and make an adapter for the 00 to 93 harness so i dont have to bypass the factory connectors(incase i want to revert back to the original driveline. i may update to the 96 cab wiring in the process.

the 00 brake master cylinder will not bolt up to the 93 booster and vice versa. its completely different. im not sure if i can use the 00 booster on the 93 or not. im just trying to avoid having to mess with rusty siezed bleeders while trying to bleed brakes if i can avoid it.


i plan to use the 2000 steering column due to the cable shifter for the trans.

im not sure what transfer case shifter to use as the 93 tc shifter bolted to the trans and the 00 tc shifter bolted to the cab but it isnt flat. ill see when i get to that bridge.



as for using the 4.7l the one that currently in the truck has 220k on it and while it runs like a top im only using it for a mock up and it will be replaced with h.o. 4.7l that i just aquired in trade or i may just upgrade to the hemi.



so far my only cost, aside from buying both trucks, is cutting discs, grinding discs, sawzall blades, and lunch for all the peoples who helped me move the bed and cab.

 

Welcome back shadow. That's a fascinating swap, maybe the only one of its kind; gen 2 4X4 chassis and a 4.7 V8 under a gen 1 body. Show some detail pics of where the body mounts are if you get a chance, engine bay too. You may need a smaller brake booster to clear the driver's side of the 4.7?

 

My booster fits without hitting the engine. It's just the master cylinder doesn't fit on the brake booster. It'll probably be Friday before I get pics work and school are over an hour away from home.

 

well after scouring alldata for wiring diagrams i found the bulkhead connecter pinout for the 93 dakota in cab side (unsure of other years but i figure they might be the same).



the problem i found now is the one for the 2000 dakota 4.7 has all the wire colors and pin out but doesnt list what the wire is for.





so now i have to scour each wiring diagram to find what each wire is for. *facepalm*

 

Regarding the circuits and wire functions, have you looked at the FSM for the 2000 Dakota? There's one in the 2nd Gen Dakotas Stickies that you can download.

I don't know if it provides what you're looking for, just thought I'd throw it out there.

 

Forgot about that. Ill go check it out. I'm debating on having the metal working students make me new cab to frame mounts the factory ones seem a bit flimsy after aging

 

okay i updated the first post of with the cab mount pics and the bottom of the 00 cab. you can see why i did this swap.

the fsm for the second gens has the same info as alldata. ive just been going through all the circuits for the truck while working.

looking at the connectors on the dashes between the two trucks, its amazing how similar they are. the only real change is the wire colors and the fact that everything in the 00 is run through the bcm.

as for the pics of the 4.7l in the 93 engine bay











keep in mind i have a body lift on the truck too.

as for the 00 brake master cylinder mounting to the 93 booster... its a no go


and as far as updates, im slowly making progress on the cab mounts. i have 4 of 6 done but im spending a lot of time grinding the old welds off. estimated 2 hours of grinding each then a half hour to an hour of fab time but im going to have the machining department make me some cab mounts to weld and bolt to the frame.

i spent most of the weekend cutting up the cab and getting the yard cleaned up. i put the 89 to work getting the trailer over to my house to load the scrap up.





i had the pedal to the floor in 4th gear and 5th gear and unless i had the tail wind i couldnt maintain 55mph. lol cant wait to get the 318 magnum in it.

more or less told my grandpa he could cut up the 00 cab and he had the sawzall halfway through the cab by the time i finished my sentence.

 

Awesome man that's really cool! Good work.

 

Look forward to following this swap!!

 

Sorry for the delay in the updates I really only have weekends available but the end of april is always super busy for me (carshows, swap meets, and this weekend i have a wedding to go to). Also, I've been making slow progress this week due to insomnia.

I got the fenders bolted in with new bolts (bolts size is 5/16-18 for this who might need to replace them). I still have to drag the good in from the rain and bolt it in once the cab mounts are finished.

Also got the 2000 dash stripped of the wiring harness and the a.c. evaporator, now I just need to get the dash and the heater box out of the 93. And to get the booster changed over and make the plate up to use the 00 steering column.