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.