Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

Looking great! I was just talking with JaysonB about this build earlier today via text. Keep up the great work. Mike

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

With the front of the core support completely primed I started on the small parts. The center brace came from a 74 core support that had a lot of rust. It was as clean as the other parts and required some effort to get clean. Due diligence prevailed and I got the top side prepped and primed

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

Thanks for the motivation. Hopefully your conversation was positive.

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

Certainly!!

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

These short weeks make my schedule pretty crazy and dont leave many extra hours in the day. I still managed to find some time to slowly move forward.
I scuffed the primer on the front of the core support and blew it clean. It was time to get some color on it. I prefer to use satin black behind the to make the grill stand out.

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

Between coats on the core support I worked on the back side of the center brace. It took a bit of effort to get it cleaned up and ready for primer.

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

It's time to get you caught up on my progress. Last week I continued working on small parts. The center brace was finished up and painted satin black.

With that piece finished I started on the core support filler panel. This is an early style panel that's used with a external hood release . The bottom will be satin black and the top will be body color.

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

On Saturday, Joseph Dowling came to do a photo shoot. I teamed with Streettrucks magazine to do an install article for the mb we Dakota Digital RTX cluster.

It's a premium quality gauge cluster with a clean vintage look.

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

Chris and I did the installation ( mostly Chris) while Joseph documented and took pics.
We had a blast and managed to get "most" of the features hooked up in a day.

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

I have been thinking about swapping an early front end on to the 85 I am currently working on, but there seems to be a ton of work that needs to be done to the top of the cowl area to make it a clean looking swap! What are your plans for this area? Are you going to fab up some patches to cover the unused hinge openings, and weld up all of the unused holes from the removal cowl panel, or just cut the whole upper section of the cowl off of a parts truck?

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

We plan to weld up the small holes and make filler pieces to cover the larger holes.

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

Once the Dakota Digital cluster was mocked up it was time to strip the dash down for paint. I ended up with a baggie filled with screws and clips, but it's down to bare metal.

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

After a thorough sanding and cleaning process I masked all the openings up. One more wipe down and its ready for paint.

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

Chris is doing nice work on Jake!

Seriously, I need to get a poster size print of your new avatar picture!

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

Ken, what timing. I was traveling through Sioux Falls, SD today, the home of Dakota Digital, so I decided to stop in to see the new RTX cluster. Josh in the sales department brought out a fully operational RTX cluster on a demo stand. This thing is outstanding!!!!! I can see why these things are so expensive. It's on my list for the 78 behind ENDO CVT and everything else on my dream sheet! Sorry to hijack and the bad pic. Mike

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

I’ve had my eye on the Dakota gauges for years. The new ones look even more awesome!

I was looking at the instruction manual online. Do you cut off the big horizontal looking plug for the stock cluster and use those wires to hook it up? I was thinking it would be cool if you could get an adapter plug so you don’t have to hack up the stock wiring too much. That’s my only reservation. That and my stock gauges work fine, so it’s hard for me to justify the expense. Ha ha

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

Karl I'm blessed to have a great assistant. Chris has a great attention span so he reads directions and I look at the pictures.

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

I love the technology but haven't really cared for the look of previous generations. The RTX has all the contemporary features but retains a vintage vibe.

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

Normally I am not one to cut up a harness unless I'm improving it.
I decided to cut the wire near the connector leaving a short pigtail. If I ever wanted to change back, I could solder the wires back together.

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

It's been another hectic week so I didn't get much done. I was determined to get the dash painted tonight but a ran in to a snag. I found a small bit of rust that required attention.
Along the seam where the passenger side kick panel meets the floor pan I found rust. I was able to use a heavy wire wheel followed by a flapper disc to remove the majority of the scale. I treated the remainder with Rust-Mort.

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

With the rust neutralized it was safe to seal it up. I top coated the area with Tamco epoxy primer.

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

I had previously pulled the glove box door and ashtray assembly out and disassembled them. After wet sanding the scratches I cleaned the components thoroughly and prepped for paint.

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

With the small parts painted it was time to focus on the dash. I double checked the masking and wiped it once again. I laid down several coats of Tamco epoxy primer on the entire dash and up the pillars.

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

I'm no painter, but this Tamco epoxy primer is making me look like one. With the most basic set up I'm able to get a decent finish straight off the gun. Imagine if I actually knew what I was doing.

Re: "Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

I doubt you would ever want to change back. These are way better than the stock gauges. The stock setup is not all that confidence inspiring with that flimsy printed circuit. Mine was delaminating in spots. I was kind of surprised everything worked when I put it back together. If you have any more pictures of the instal, post them up! I noticed in the instructions there was a control box and rocker panel switch and I’m cuorious how y’all mounted that stuff.