A custom made transfer tank that matches the body lines would look so slick between the cab and bed! Or even extending the bed would bee sweet too! Awesome build! Can't wait to see more.
Hey Sam, this truck is going to be amazing. I know it's early in the build but I suggest that you get some Dodge Power Wagon emblems for the completion. The truck will over qualify as a Power Wagon.
Looking great Sam!! That's going to be a really cool build!! Great to see Callahan too!! I remember some rainy afternoons in the shop with friends, some of the best times of my life. And you made me laugh, really needed that today. 8) --gary
Hey Sam great work as always I love seeing this side of your handy work and reading what everyone says how about a custom headache rack with a half fuel tank and add a space to maybe store your batteries allowing you a bit more space in the engine bay and have same form of light bar and a small tool box deal for anything you like in your trucks then if it's like bolt in and you change your mind down the road you can unbolt it to whatever you like a possible time save for a headache rack the panel of your new flat bed on the 5500 see if the guys who make flatbeds could do the cab end and fit sheet metal around the outside edge with your fab work to make it look great the the panel would/could have light holes already in place to make it easier for you just a thought from a uk guy who don't know too much but listen to you and possible needs like room for batteries etc. Great work look forward to seeing what you may do
Top notch build right there bro. Gonna b awesome. Was kind hoping for the original dash and gauges though. Wish u could extend that bed. Would look great.
Shoot all the time. It’s like that sound track on instagram one more day then one more day and keep it rolling. More details than I planned for sure. More intense stuff to come
I love how these old neglected 61-71 dodge trucks are making a come back in popularity. They used to be the trucks nobody wanted. I miss my 71 w200. And a 4 door with a cummins sign me up.
Build a fuel tank to fill the space between the cab and bed. And see if you can get replacement bed sides to make it blend or just make the tank yourself blend.
Callahan approved. Glad to see the truck coming along. ‘97 vin most valuable part. I think you should find a second box and just cut a 6 inch sliver off the front and drop it in. Thank you for sharing and have a great day.
Excellent progress there Ol son!😎 I’m liking all this content. I think you should stretch that bed and it’ll look so much better at the end on top of a clean finish.
I’d either look into finding a bed with just enough good metal to cut out a filler, or bend up some sheet metal to match the bedside. Fill it from the top and sides, don’t worry about the bottom. You only need to close the gap, not necessarily stretch the bed. I wouldn’t go to that trouble unless you really want to make it a 6 1/2’. Adds the headache of stretching the floor and everything else.
How about slide out drawers for tools, oil or something but use a replacement bed side skin to match the contour. I know that would be a lot of work but kind of cool!
I owned the 68 D300 behind me for 34 years. I know the Sweptline Era Dodge trucks. The 8 foot bed had 2 wheelbases. The 61 to early 65 had the wheel centered in the bed. The late 65 to 71 had a 6 inch longer wheelbase. The problem is the gently upsweeping body line won't line up. If you use a Utiline bed, like mine, problem easily solved. Using your Makita NaddaSawzall, slice the step-side bed sides in the right place and drill a few holes to connect your front panel to the sides. Done
Commenter's Log: Supplemental. Here's a little known secret of the Sweptline Era Dodge trucks. Every fender from every class of truck, all the way up to the 700, will directly bolt on to the pickup. There are 3 different fenders for the 300 and up trucks and they all have larger flares that drop down a bit on the fender. Get your ride height set with the wheels and tires you want to use, then Google for photos of the 300, 400, I believe the 500 and 600 share the same fender, and the 700 is large enough for tractor-trailer wheels. And if you use a Sweptline bed, weld, fab, mud a second set of fenders over the rear wheels.
THIS BRUTE is going to be your best build; that's a hellva gap to the bed. I'm thinking a heavy duty handmade 3" pipe headache rack with a spare tire angle mount on top like your other ones, up against a heavy duty black rubber boot; that big pipe will fill in some of that gap. You got some mad welding skills. I really like that you stay to yourself and family; I was 30 something before I figured out that if I stay to myself everything goes good. Whenever I had a bunch of people hanging around everything goes to hell. Flat black paint no high gloss. Chrome diamond plate floors and inside firewall... I'd like to see you get 50k for that beast when your done: 180 day max build...
you can take a Heat Gun and form that gas tank down where you need it! I did it when I put an extended cab first gen cab on a reg cab 93 chassis! I also used second gen springs and dana 70 which are Longer than first gen spring and it brought the wheelbase back about 6 inches! Looking real good! I'm looking for about that same year dodge REGULAR cab to put on my reg cab 96 4x4 dodge frame
since you don't want to mess with the frame and drivetrain your only option is to do something with the bed or add to the bed. I would try to find a long bed and cut it up to size, same way other people cut up a c10 long bed to short bed. or make some type of headache rack maybe even custom build a slim fuel tank with the body contour of the cab and bed
I got a project coming up and im going to run into the same issue with the bed. I was planning to take another bedside and extend the bed between the wheel well and the cab.
@@samsonandrew7652 just finished it. Looking sick man has me wanting to tear into my project even more. Got a 71 gmc single cab long bed going on a 03 lb7 regular cab long bed. The 03 is like 6in longer wheel base as far as I can find online. I need to get it on the frame and fit it where it looks good like you did. Keep it up man!
This is coming together like it was built by the factory as a backup plan...on the bed shortness, I was thinking one thing. Is there an area on each side that you have single wall metal only to cut through? The reason why I ask is if you do have that area, you can carefully cut both sides down to the bed and then the bed. Add metal back and channel the bed to fit. Not saying it's easy, but it's possible and would keep the new/old look to fit.
If it helps with the batteries Ford vans had aux battery holders that bolted to the frame. Easy to copy and fab up, you could mount them under the cab or bed. I'd imagine the weight off the front would help handling/ride.
or if the truck bed on the yellow trucks the same cut you at 6 or 5 in out of it what you need in the front and just add it in just wherever it doesn't move your wheel well or cut the front off and move it forward and then put the piece in and weld it back together so it stays right in the middle of the axle see in a lot of people do that
If it was me personally I would probably just try and find another bed in good condition and just stretch the bed a couple of inches that you need Using the sheet metal in the body lines of the scrap bad that you bought
Also love the videos to death I can’t wait to start my truck build which is going to be a first GEN body on a second GEN frame for the reason of having more spare parts parts that are more easily available and having to come for a ride of coil overs
I would build some custom smokestacks out of some square box tubing to fill in that spot worse comes the worst section the bed to lengthen it 🤷🏽♂️. But no matter what it still looks pretty badass 💪🏽🇺🇸
Interesting project! As I understand it, this will be the introduction of modern systems into an old truck? Is there too much clearance between the cab and the side? How are you going to shorten it?
What if you got a long bed and then cut it to the correct length? Then patched it all back together? I know its probably easier said than done, but I would imagine most your cuts would be straight lines. After seeing some of the fabrications you've done with metal, I feel like that would be something you could do. Plus, I think the long bed look would look really clean and nice. I seen some of the comments about putting a fuel tank in there, but I feel like it would look kinda weird in my opinion. Unless you plan on using it as a work truck idk why you would need to carry around an additional fuel tank lol
Definitely needs something that fills the gap and looks like the bed. Would lose a lot of the look with a tank. I think you’re right I doubt I’d need a slip tank in there
see if you can get another truck bed and use it as a donor bed. remove the bed back from your bed and cut the donor bed back out but include say 10 inches on the sides and bottom. you probably need a donor bed any how LOL!
Rust stuff is Oxalic acid. Getcha a LIDAR unit and you can make 3D scans of all the parts and fit them together on a Puter. LOL. Build an Aux tank in the gap.
@@samsonandrew7652 I would probably look for a long bed and shorten it up to close the gap, or stretch that bed, but that takes a good body guy to make it look "factory" without seams. Maybe a custom headache rack that fills the gap?
@@samsonandrew7652 yeah I hear you you could section the frame for those 6 inchs but your gonna have to cut the driveline or find another bed you can section other than that awesome build
I see the wire harness you have there is the approx. 4 X 4 inch plug end .. I have a couple of 12v 2nd gens .. Is the wire harness you have there off a 1997 ..?.. looks like a 1998 harness ... I have a 1995 12v junked , 2 12v 1997 long boxes , 1 12v 1998 sport ... On the 1995 and both 1997's the wire harness (where it comes into the cab) the size of the plug is approx. 1 1/2 X 4 inches .. On the 1998 it is approx. 4 X 4 inches .. I also had a 2001 dually that had a 4X4 plug
Custom headache rack would fill that gap perfectly
With built in stacks
This is shaping up to be my favorite build on UA-cam. Your doing an awesome job on this one man.
Hell yeah thank you!
Love the build, the older bodies are so iconic. Great build Sam.
The tiny human gets bigger all the time. Great to see him so happy with Dad. Get him a flashlight to hold for you. 😂
A custom made transfer tank that matches the body lines would look so slick between the cab and bed! Or even extending the bed would bee sweet too! Awesome build! Can't wait to see more.
Hey Sam, this truck is going to be amazing. I know it's early in the build but I suggest that you get some Dodge Power Wagon emblems for the completion. The truck will over qualify as a Power Wagon.
Looking great Sam!! That's going to be a really cool build!! Great to see Callahan too!! I remember some rainy afternoons in the shop with friends, some of the best times of my life. And you made me laugh, really needed that today. 8) --gary
Hey Sam great work as always I love seeing this side of your handy work and reading what everyone says how about a custom headache rack with a half fuel tank and add a space to maybe store your batteries allowing you a bit more space in the engine bay and have same form of light bar and a small tool box deal for anything you like in your trucks then if it's like bolt in and you change your mind down the road you can unbolt it to whatever you like a possible time save for a headache rack the panel of your new flat bed on the 5500 see if the guys who make flatbeds could do the cab end and fit sheet metal around the outside edge with your fab work to make it look great the the panel would/could have light holes already in place to make it easier for you just a thought from a uk guy who don't know too much but listen to you and possible needs like room for batteries etc. Great work look forward to seeing what you may do
Top notch build right there bro. Gonna b awesome. Was kind hoping for the original dash and gauges though. Wish u could extend that bed. Would look great.
Sam. Ever ask yourself after you start a project like this, what the hell was I thinking moment? Even just for nano second. Love the channels
Shoot all the time. It’s like that sound track on instagram one more day then one more day and keep it rolling. More details than I planned for sure. More intense stuff to come
It’s looking good so far Sam. Little man is getting so big.
awesome seeing your work and projects this 1st gen going to be amazing too
I love how these old neglected 61-71 dodge trucks are making a come back in popularity. They used to be the trucks nobody wanted. I miss my 71 w200. And a 4 door with a cummins sign me up.
Always had a thing for these rigs. Glad to finally have one
Really excited to see this build when it’s finished. I’ll be keeping an eye out for every video!
Coming out awesome brother! You’re gonna have yourself a one of a kind unit there. Hard work pays off
Build a fuel tank to fill the space between the cab and bed. And see if you can get replacement bed sides to make it blend or just make the tank yourself blend.
Not bad idea! Hey I was gonna message you the other day but couldn’t find your ig?
@@samsonandrew7652 I deleted all my socials. Got tired of the bs I was getting.
Thats my thoughts 2 having duel fuel tanks
Headache rack or smoke stacks or both to fill the gap. Really dig the build keep up the good work.
Truck is looking good 👍, nice job
Thank you!
Callahan approved. Glad to see the truck coming along. ‘97 vin most valuable part. I think you should find a second box and just cut a 6 inch sliver off the front and drop it in. Thank you for sharing and have a great day.
Well done buddy ! She is coming along 👍🏻
Excellent progress there Ol son!😎 I’m liking all this content. I think you should stretch that bed and it’ll look so much better at the end on top of a clean finish.
I’d either look into finding a bed with just enough good metal to cut out a filler, or bend up some sheet metal to match the bedside. Fill it from the top and sides, don’t worry about the bottom. You only need to close the gap, not necessarily stretch the bed. I wouldn’t go to that trouble unless you really want to make it a 6 1/2’. Adds the headache of stretching the floor and everything else.
That's going to be a great rg👍👍 thank you for sharing!
Stretch bed to fill gap. It's lots of work, but will be so much better looking.
I really like that idea
How about slide out drawers for tools, oil or something but use a replacement bed side skin to match the contour. I know that would be a lot of work but kind of cool!
Cut up another another bed to make a small aux fuel tank like the ram long-hauler concept
I owned the 68 D300 behind me for 34 years. I know the Sweptline Era Dodge trucks. The 8 foot bed had 2 wheelbases. The 61 to early 65 had the wheel centered in the bed. The late 65 to 71 had a 6 inch longer wheelbase. The problem is the gently upsweeping body line won't line up. If you use a Utiline bed, like mine, problem easily solved. Using your Makita NaddaSawzall, slice the step-side bed sides in the right place and drill a few holes to connect your front panel to the sides. Done
Commenter's Log: Supplemental. Here's a little known secret of the Sweptline Era Dodge trucks. Every fender from every class of truck, all the way up to the 700, will directly bolt on to the pickup. There are 3 different fenders for the 300 and up trucks and they all have larger flares that drop down a bit on the fender. Get your ride height set with the wheels and tires you want to use, then Google for photos of the 300, 400, I believe the 500 and 600 share the same fender, and the 700 is large enough for tractor-trailer wheels. And if you use a Sweptline bed, weld, fab, mud a second set of fenders over the rear wheels.
GREAT JOB. SAM,LOVE IT.
GOD BLESS YOU...
Thank you!
It's looking good love the content
Great videos as always.
Appreciate it!
Coming along nicely 👌
i figured it was you do take pride in your work
Loving the content, what about a flatbed, but the wooden planks as the decking.
THIS BRUTE is going to be your best build; that's a hellva gap to the bed. I'm thinking a heavy duty handmade 3" pipe headache rack with a spare tire angle mount on top like your other ones, up against a heavy duty black rubber boot; that big pipe will fill in some of that gap. You got some mad welding skills. I really like that you stay to yourself and family; I was 30 something before I figured out that if I stay to myself everything goes good. Whenever I had a bunch of people hanging around everything goes to hell. Flat black paint no high gloss. Chrome diamond plate floors and inside firewall... I'd like to see you get 50k for that beast when your done: 180 day max build...
Thank you and I agree with the small circle comment. Keep the good folks in your life makes it much much easier
HOW ABOUT a big fat Rollbar on top of that headache rack?
Put stacks in between the cab and the bed to fill that space in. Plus It ll be cool.
you can take a Heat Gun and form that gas tank down where you need it! I did it when I put an extended cab first gen cab on a reg cab 93 chassis! I also used second gen springs and dana 70 which are Longer than first gen spring and it brought the wheelbase back about 6 inches!
Looking real good! I'm looking for about that same year dodge REGULAR cab to put on my reg cab 96 4x4 dodge frame
Definitely going to try the heat gun trick thank you!
This is a fun project
I would just add some bed pieces between the cab and bed. You should be able to find a bed or panels maybe. It will be a sweet ride when it’s done.
Great job. If it were me I’d cut that bed and extend it the few inches it needs to reach the cab
since you don't want to mess with the frame and drivetrain your only option is to do something with the bed or add to the bed. I would try to find a long bed and cut it up to size, same way other people cut up a c10 long bed to short bed. or make some type of headache rack maybe even custom build a slim fuel tank with the body contour of the cab and bed
I wish I could roll my cab out in the driveway lol my neighbors would call the town on me. Building my crew cab f100 behind my fence 😂
I got a project coming up and im going to run into the same issue with the bed. I was planning to take another bedside and extend the bed between the wheel well and the cab.
Watch the next video I made my own bed side extension
@@samsonandrew7652 just finished it. Looking sick man has me wanting to tear into my project even more. Got a 71 gmc single cab long bed going on a 03 lb7 regular cab long bed. The 03 is like 6in longer wheel base as far as I can find online. I need to get it on the frame and fit it where it looks good like you did. Keep it up man!
This is coming together like it was built by the factory as a backup plan...on the bed shortness, I was thinking one thing. Is there an area on each side that you have single wall metal only to cut through? The reason why I ask is if you do have that area, you can carefully cut both sides down to the bed and then the bed. Add metal back and channel the bed to fit. Not saying it's easy, but it's possible and would keep the new/old look to fit.
From cutting wood to self taught mechanic.
Stay humble bud
Never a one way street
i could really use the driver seat out of that cab you are parting out. Im in California, plus I would like to show you my 97 Ram.
Head ache rack would be cool to fill the space or stacks haha
I’d say make a custom auxiliary fuel tank or a custom headache rack / smoke stack combo.
If you were into stacks you could run those through the gap like a little red express but I'm not too big on stacks
Some trucks do stacks well but not many :/
If it helps with the batteries Ford vans had aux battery holders that bolted to the frame. Easy to copy and fab up, you could mount them under the cab or bed. I'd imagine the weight off the front would help handling/ride.
Hmm that’s not a bad idea. I’ll look into that route see if I can make it happen
Thanks
Make it a 6 door with a short bed 😉
or if the truck bed on the yellow trucks the same cut you at 6 or 5 in out of it what you need in the front and just add it in just wherever it doesn't move your wheel well or cut the front off and move it forward and then put the piece in and weld it back together so it stays right in the middle of the axle see in a lot of people do that
If it was me personally I would probably just try and find another bed in good condition and just stretch the bed a couple of inches that you need Using the sheet metal in the body lines of the scrap bad that you bought
Also love the videos to death I can’t wait to start my truck build which is going to be a first GEN body on a second GEN frame for the reason of having more spare parts parts that are more easily available and having to come for a ride of coil overs
You gave me a lot inspiration man thank you
Lmao, " with a angle to your mom's house", can't wait to see the truck completely finished!
Haha thank you 🤟🏻
Do like a full semi truck style headache rack to fill the gap
I would build some custom smokestacks out of some square box tubing to fill in that spot worse comes the worst section the bed to lengthen it 🤷🏽♂️. But no matter what it still looks pretty badass 💪🏽🇺🇸
Put a semi truck headache rack in the gap
Interesting project!
As I understand it, this will be the introduction of modern systems into an old truck?
Is there too much clearance between the cab and the side? How are you going to shorten it?
Do a customer headache rack to fill the gap between the bed and cab
For the gap. Try making a extra fuel tank.
I like that idea
I’m doing the same swap do u have any more pictures of the front cab mounts
What if you got a long bed and then cut it to the correct length? Then patched it all back together? I know its probably easier said than done, but I would imagine most your cuts would be straight lines. After seeing some of the fabrications you've done with metal, I feel like that would be something you could do. Plus, I think the long bed look would look really clean and nice. I seen some of the comments about putting a fuel tank in there, but I feel like it would look kinda weird in my opinion. Unless you plan on using it as a work truck idk why you would need to carry around an additional fuel tank lol
Definitely needs something that fills the gap and looks like the bed. Would lose a lot of the look with a tank. I think you’re right I doubt I’d need a slip tank in there
see if you can get another truck bed and use it as a donor bed. remove the bed back from your bed and cut the donor bed back out but include say 10 inches on the sides and bottom. you probably need a donor bed any how LOL!
Rust stuff is Oxalic acid. Getcha a LIDAR unit and you can make 3D scans of all the parts and fit them together on a Puter. LOL. Build an Aux tank in the gap.
It smells good for you ha
Sam why not extend the cab out a little and make it 60’s mega cab?
Looks good doooood
Thank you
@@samsonandrew7652 I would probably look for a long bed and shorten it up to close the gap, or stretch that bed, but that takes a good body guy to make it look "factory" without seams. Maybe a custom headache rack that fills the gap?
Why not cut and extend the bed slightly to make the bed longer so it looks right on that chassis
Try to locate a bigger bed and shorten the front end
I would find another bed and splice in the section and make it a 6.5ft bed
Stacks
That's a long ass operation name 😂
Megacab
I would extend the bed to fill that gap. It would not be a terribly easy one to duplicate but I’ve done worse ones.
Build something to fill the gap between the cab and the bed and send it
Put a spare fuel tank between the cabinet and the bed
Recovery is just a phone call away
Cut and section the bed and move it forward to take up the gap between the cab and bed.
Sup Sam 👍👍
Sup man how you doing
Build a custom fuel tank that matches the shape of the box.
I like that idea
I would go find another truck bed cut the front half put the other half in tack welded in sand and pain and just make the bed a little bit longer
Bye a long bed and cutt it down not as simple but would make it unique
Not a bad idea. I wonder how close the body lines would be
@@samsonandrew7652 just a question would you be interested in an 83 w150 2 door short bed
Lengthen the box.
Why don’t you just get a long bed and shorten the front end of it down? Then it will just be a custom bed length. And the extra room will be nice.
Splice the bead
You’re a decent welder stretch the bed.
😉
hello,, on gap behind cab do big rig exhaust stacks. cool look and sound.
Build a custom flatbed problem solved
Would like to keep it looking all classic. Help the value
@@samsonandrew7652 yeah I hear you you could section the frame for those 6 inchs but your gonna have to cut the driveline or find another bed you can section other than that awesome build
Put some stacks on it between the cab and bed
Too bad u can't use the original steering wheel and column
flat bed
Naw that’s to easier 😂
I see the wire harness you have there is the approx. 4 X 4 inch plug end ..
I have a couple of 12v 2nd gens .. Is the wire harness you have there off a 1997 ..?.. looks like a 1998 harness ... I have a 1995 12v junked , 2 12v 1997 long boxes , 1 12v 1998 sport ... On the 1995 and both 1997's the wire harness (where it comes into the cab) the size of the plug is approx. 1 1/2 X 4 inches .. On the 1998 it is approx. 4 X 4 inches .. I also had a 2001 dually that had a 4X4 plug
Head ache rack would be cool to fill the space or stacks haha