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John's LS 49 Dodge
This is A Build I did awhile back..(the truck is done and driving)
It rolled into the shop(barely) 100% stock. My customer John told us that is barely hits 45 MPH and takes 15 min. to warm it up on a 90 degree day! The original plan was to make it drive better with a new front end and maybe rear end swap...Then the nightmare began..I will give more detail as I move forward with the build.. Mark.. |
Re: John's LS 49 Dodge
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Pic #1 is as she was pulling in the shop stock ride height etc.
Pic #2 front end coming off to reveal the beginning of the problems! Problem #1. after taking measurements of the front axle placement is is very close to the firewall. So when we wanted to just drop a mustang II style front end under it the cross member was in the middle of the oil pan! At this point there was no real solution using the 49 technology...So...out comes the motor and trans..And it did NOT want to come out!! come to find out the Dodge has a 2 piece floor at the toe board so this made things a bit easier. Mark... |
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Here are a few pics of motor/trans coming out.
And the monster sitting on the floor!! Till next time... Mark... |
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Pic #1 The new power plant...2002 LS 5.3l drive by wire...
Pic #2 the frame all de greased and ready for boxing plates.. |
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Pic #1 of the template from frame rail to be transferred to the 1/8" steel..
Pic #2 the boxing plate tacked in and ready to be fully welded... Mark... |
Re: John's LS 49 Dodge
Ill follow along
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Re: John's LS 49 Dodge
Me too.
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Re: John's LS 49 Dodge
Im In!
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Re: John's LS 49 Dodge
Me too.
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Re: John's LS 49 Dodge
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Re: John's LS 49 Dodge
thanks guys for checking out the build...
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Re: John's LS 49 Dodge
The motor and trans were from a Silverado..
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Here is a couple of shots of the front crossmember going in...This was during mockup stages...
Front end is a mustang II style with tubular upper and lower arms, QA1 coilovers ,manual rack..Picked it up from (Gaylco in Arkansas) super nice guy to deal with his price hub to hub was around $2000 This is the 2nd unit I have used of his. Nice quality and the ride is really nice.. Pic #2 if you notice the tube where the coilover goes, these are used for setting the ride height. I used 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" tube and weld a washer to the top and a bolt pointing up so it can go through the upper mount. At the bottom I then drill a hole for the lower shock mount bolt to go through..(these are cut to length so the lower arm is flat) At this point you can move the vehicle around with or with out an engine and still maintain your ride height. And not worry about trying to shove a coilover in and out.. Mark... |
Re: John's LS 49 Dodge
Looks nice.
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I'm in ... want more pix & build updates though ... :)
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Progress coming at cha!!!
Here is a shot of the crossmember and hats welded in... |
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Close up of the crossmember and hats..
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Pic #1 here it is with all components bolted back up.
Pic #2 the front Dog house.. (had to do some trimming to get it to fit around the new A-Arms) This is where we ran into problem #2...The LS truck engine's oil pan is very tall or deep if you will...and the configuration of the pan in conjunction with the front crossmember being so close to the firewall has revealed a Major issue!!! The solution is the firewall will need to be cut out and recessed to allow to engine to sit back a bit more, on top of this the oil pan would need to be replaced with a shorter one from a Camaro GM part #12628771 (this is a low profile pan 5" depth at sump) You can find this in a full kit form (pan,gasket,pick up tube and dipstick and windage tray) look around diff. places for best price.. Till next time Mark... |
Re: John's LS 49 Dodge
Was looking at the cross member and thinking about contact with the oil pan. How much engine setback did you use? Guess I can wait for the updates....just kinda thinking / reading ahead.
We had a contact issue between the pan and center link on our 56 Belair, used the Camaro pan and modified the front of the sump to work...need to look at the new modified pans for a better solution. Nice welds on the top hats too! |
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As you requested Sir!!
I ended up moving the firewall back 1 1/2" to give me room to sneak the oil pan just past the backside of crossmember. I ended up with 1/4" between pan and member. (for referance speaking there is another pan called "muscle car" pan it is 7" at sump) I made the mistake on this and ate the cost of the new pan. Hence the reason I used the 12628771 pan. Pics below showing the section removed... |
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A.D. Thank's on the "weld's" comment!
Here the engine being mocked up for fitting the mounts. At this time is when we decided how much to recess the firewall.. Mark... |
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I like seeing stuff like this. I have no idea what you are doing in one sense but man I sorta get it too. Thanks for sharing. I'm learning a great deal.
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Nicely done so far ...
I've been looking at the "Dodge" as the AD & F1 are getting a bit scarce & pricey. I can't wait to c this on the ground running. R46 |
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Wow ,that is a nice truck .
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Nice, yeah the muscle car pan is pretty deep.
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Nice build, Mark.
I will follow you with this one also!! |
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Rusty..I had no idea what I was getting into either!!
If you ever have questions feel free to PM me Mark.. Quote:
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Ratty 46 and Flashed thank's guys for checking in!!
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A.D. Yes it is about 7" at the sump (found this out the hard way when it still didn't fit!! :whine:)
And had to buy the pan I have now, although I was able to sell the MC pan to a friend :metal: Quote:
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Kees!! Thank's buddy hope you enjoy!!
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Pic #1 showing the motor mounts in place..
Pic #2 The firewall after the welding and metal finish were done. |
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2 more shots of firewall..
The 2nd pic really gives a good idea how much it was recessed... To do this we cut strips 1 1/2" wide and were welded to the stock panel that was removed..test fit and modified as needed and finally all welded in.. If you look close..the stock lines of the (O.E) panel line up perfect. This gives it almost A factory look.. :cool: |
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Pic #1 showing the inside of cab/floor (from factory they have a 2 piece floor pan) so I had to cut and modify these to fit the newly modified firewall..
Pic #2 the panel before cutting.. I did however weld these panels together to make them easier to put in and take out. |
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Pic #1 the floor board/panels all done..
Pic #2 The firewall painted and motor sitting in her soon to be home!!! Till next time.. Mark... |
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Nice! Like the way the stock lines of the firewall still line up....clean and simple. That Dodge is really solid.
Clean engine mounts too. |
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It's actually a pretty decent truck...Has it's issues, the person who did the paint&body work was not to good, needs some TLC!
Mounts are universal LS mounts from Speedway with Poly bushings.. Quote:
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Moving on to the the Back!!!
Here are some shots of removing the old floor...it was diamond tread steel, F'N heavy! anyways, I found out the person who put this together didn't bother to square the bed nor did they mount the floor properly. They had the panel sitting on top of the stock angle (that is spot welded to bed sides) and held down with 1/4 " bolts! This will be fixed later!! At this point there was nothing holding the bed down! I simply removed the steel floor pan and the bed could be lifted right off... |
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Here is the bed coming off..
(we have 2 chain hoist's overhead this makes this super easy) Till next time... Up next rear suspension... Mark... |
Re: John's LS 49 Dodge
I've never been a doge fan but found myself buying a 1 owner Indy Pace dodge truck as a daily ... and have been looking closer at these as an alternative shell for a build like yours. I love the early AD & F1's but a unique option IS the dodge & yours is coming right along.
Keep up the good work. |
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Thank's R46!!
The Dodge's are a bit of an ugly duckling so to speak but,done right they look pretty good.. Quote:
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