1989 Dakota ‘Vert

Following a strong tradition of starting the build thread before the truck is physically in my hands, here we go!

Thanks go to Michael (dusterbd) who found it and passed it on to the forum then went and bought it for me and stored it til I've had time to go get it. What follows is just a photo dump of what I have so far; plans are a clean low cruiser so that's where we are going.

Yes. Yes. YES!

Heh.

Can i have the cragars for shipping and handling costs? 

Looking forward to seeing you see the truck! It should be a neat restoration project for you. Glad i could enable a dream. 

Nice.


Black is the best color for the Dak 'verts.

^Yes. 

I have ordered a suspension from bell tech for it which was more than the purchase price. I also bought a set of wheels but want to see it in person before I throw it out there...

I'm for it. 

Two more Cragars please.

NOHOME said:

Two more Cragars please.

They are there, OLD tires though so Michael swapped the stockers on. Don't think they will fit once lowered.

Cragars are one thing but Cragars with dummy knock-off center caps is another whole level. 

Curious how well the truck handles after you get the Bell Tech hardware on.  These seem like they should be a good canvas to work with.  Is the frame boxed from the factory? 

My 94 and 96 were partially, this is earlier so I'm not sure. These were always built as 1/2 ton trucks so they were built better. I'll see if I can find some pics of my 94 ext cab autocrossing back in 2000 or so. It had a Mopar Performance 360 (340hp) and a built trans and was a beast. Traded it in on a special order 2003 SLT 1500 in 2002 which was stupid in hindsight lol.

I love these things. I'm on the lookout for a RC/SB/2WD Dodge truck at the moment. I'll be watching this. 

Please tell me you're getting rid of the side steps. 

Start with the gen 1.5 trucks, they lose five lug wheels but the V8 fits in them. The V8 doesn't fit in these as easily, Shelby stretched them to fit in their trucks and dodge revised the firewall and core area with the 91 model year.

This one needs to stay stock/bolt on, in my opinion. Can't see the value doing anything but increasing dramatically for good, clean examples in the future. 

I almost want you to find a way to preserve the patina. Almost. 

Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) said:

 

....I almost want you to find a way to preserve the patina. Almost. 

I daily this when I'm not in a company vehicle so the possibility of patina is still there

pres589 (djronnebaum) said:

Cragars are one thing but Cragars with dummy knock-off center caps is another whole level.

My favorite wheel ( with the dummy knock off's since the later 70's. Never converted my 64 Comet over to 5 lug, and the few cars/trucks I've spent money on rims, it wasnt the right look. One day!

headed to its new home.

Fantastic way to spend a morning! 

Make it home?

also a large part of me wants the cragars even though they fit precisely 1/2 of one of my cars

Excited for this. 

Got home about ten last night, after sleeping for 3 hours Saturday morning in a parking lot somewhere I left the rig hooked up and went to bed.

obligatory at the pump shot, at 11mpg and 600 miles there were a lot of these! 

Did the top survive?

Oh yeah, it's the same as when we left

Awesome. You still happy 24 hours later? And are you going to take it to a car wash before unloading?

Yes, still happy.
Nah, I have a wash bay in my new house so it'll go in in a few days once I've finished organizing the garage.

I just moved in in August but the garage wasn't painted as part of the deal so all my garage stuff was left in the old house until we got that done. I took a couple days of to move it all but while I got it moved it's all sitting in the middle of one of the bays. Need to grab some racking and put it it up before I can get it in there

You have your own wash bay? Hell, i have a hard enough time washing acar quarterly, let alone often enough to justify a dedicated bay....

Looking forward to watching the bill