I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel

The front end is now set to the correct height for the car. I will need to invest in some new springs that will give the L300 front a 2" drop. If notched out the front end and it's sitting nice and straight. The next thing to do is to trim out the allowance for the angle brackets that need to be made up to bolt it in.
I had to put the guards and lights back on just to see how it all sat. The guards will need to be modified on the inside as the shocker towers on either side are stopping the guards sitting correctly.

I picked up a new Cowl and fire wall on E-bay. This one has the sills under the front doors still attached. Structurally it's also very good. The rust down the bottom of the cowl is only the outside skin and not the structural part behind. The original one was completely rusted through down the bottom.
And the Mortein can? I started cleaning the back of the fire wall and found an ants nest in it!

Front End

Starting to try and set up the front end. The L200 stub axles are in. I had to put some old ford rims on as the Dodge 20" wheels wouldn't fit as the central hub is too big. This is another one for the research file.
The original mounting brackets on the front end will need to be cut out as the chassis only sits half way over them. Also the front end needs to bought up about another 40mm. I can't go any higher as the original front cross member won't let it.

The original bonnet strips were extremely rusted and in need of replacing. I made a paper template of the original, drew it up in autocad, had it laser cut then folded and I finished it off with rolling the top edge. Total price to fabricate. . . . $16

Front Seat

Front seat in place with the original timber floor in front of it. The floor will be replaced with ply down the track. The hole in the middle of the seat is for the "tool box". On the original dodges, this is where all the tools were kept, e.g jack, etc.

Some woodwork

The engineer told me I had two choices for seats for the Dodge.
1. Any seat from a production car after 1971
2. The original seat

I bought a pair of bucket seats from a Toyota MR2. They were pretty small and I figured they should fit. I was wrong. With the seats pushed up against each other, the corner of the seat was actually pushing on the back of the outside door skin. I've decided to go wit hthe original seat. Rebuilt of course.
I was fortunate to have enough bits of an original seat to use as a template to start making a new one. The photo above is the old rotted seat and my attempt at a new rebuild. This is just the base support piece

I guess stepping away from the Dodge for a while allowed me to think about it a bit clearer. Things have started up again! I've pulled out the L300 Stub axles and replaced them with the L200 stub axles. The discs and calipers from the L300 fitted straight on to the L200 stubs. The commodore rack and pinion appears to be about the right length, so hopefully no modifications needed there. The only thing I need to do now is ream out the holes on the steering arms to suit the commodore tie rod ends.

Last bits for the dashboard found

Picked up a couple of bits and pieces for the dashboard on e-bay:
Amp meter
Dashboard light housing
Light and starter switch

The photo above shows the items as they were advertised on e-bay, my refurb of the light switch (now works perfectly) and as they now sit in the dashboard!

Axle stubs

When I last left the Dodge, I was trying to get my head around the process of putting all the pieces together. Do I set the engine up in the chassis? Do I fit the front end? What height do I need to set the front end? How will it change with the weight of the motor?
It was starting to do my head. This was part of the reason for buying the valiant. I never wanted to stop working on the Dodge, I just needed to walk away for a bit and stew over the process.
Well I haven't fully figured out the process, but I figured the first thing I need to tackle is the front end so I can work toward getting the chassis to a rolling state.
Above is the L200 stubs axles I'm cleaning up. These are going to be fitted to the L300 front end. This will allow the steering rack to bit fitted to the rear of the cross member as opposed to the front in a standard L300

Does this roadster body make my bum look big?

Going through some photos and stumbled across these. The air cleaner, carbie and intake manifold. When the day comes and I start the motor. . . . . . these should help a lot. . . . mmmmmmmm.

April 2009 update

Hi all.
I have some good news and bad news.

The good news is that the Dodge build is still on the go. Slowly but surely. The bad news is that at the moment it's come to a halt!

The other good news is that there is a new car I'm working on taht will get me on the road a lot quicker than the Dodge.

For anyone interested the link is as follows:

http://1971valiantvip.blogspot.com/

Hope you enjoy watching this one get on the road as much as you've enjoyed watching me play with the dodge.

BTW. The Dodge isn't written off!!!!. The cogs in the grey matter are still turning and I'll be working on it a bit here and a bit there. So keep watching for updates! They're sure to come.