1964 Dodge A-100 Hot rod sort of rat rod build thread.

Got to looking at the Corvette today and that cabin is pretty small. 43 in from the floor to the roof. And if I remove the sliders and bolt directly 41 in would give me the same amount of room. 24 inches from the edge of the seat forward to the floorboard where the pedals go. I have a feeling I don't have that in the truck. There is room to go back but then the b-pillar would block your view looking out to the side. This will be interesting. For sure the steering shaft would be a complete different configuration then stock. And it would need two of the 90° steering gear boxes. Still trying to just make two seats working here. Don't necessarily love the stock ZO6 seats but there is a lot of aftermarket stuff that bolts in the same way.

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The guy that built the corvair truck had 3-in tall fender Wells and I'm thinking I can get away with the same. Don't really care about setting the thing clear on the ground. More about ride height and having clearance. Using that 3 inch number and placing the seat I have about three and a half inches head clearance at the roof. I am good with that for Street driving. If I was to put a helmet on and road race this thing I could put a gurney bubble on the roof. Wouldn't hesitate. Front glass my line of sight is about 5 in below the top edge. Side Glass about 3 in down. Partially blocked from the b pillar but not bad. I think I'm going to move the seat and steering column inboard two to four inches. Just to have a little more room away from the door and to build the roll cage. 

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Tire height in front is 25 in. I will have to figure out how much articulation the C5 suspension has. Right now the truck is sitting at 8 and 1/2 in from the ground and I was shooting for seven. Although this wouldn't look too bad the way it sits. Also in my Apex Wheels I found a 19x12 1/2 for the rear. Kumho makes a 355/30R19. 14 in wide tire.

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Shield where the air comes in through the grill and the original radiator. I might still use this space and build a low dog house. Then lay the radiator down in this area so air can get to it from the front.

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Front tires are 25 inches tall. At this ride height the black mark would be the top of the tire. Just eyeballing it looks like with a 3-in taller well I would have 6 in of clearance for the wheel to travel. I'm guessing that will be enough but will have to measure it.

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Those big 355 rear tires are 27.5 in tall. Fatties. Here is the mark for those at this ride height. I'm thinking it will look pretty awesome. Stock fender only sits an inch and a half higher than that Mark. I am a little worried about being able to pull that wheel and tire off and on. Even jacking the truck up it's only going to droop so much.

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Oh and my gut tells me 373 gears in the level 4 rear diff from RPM.

 
Factory master cylinder is under the floor with a small access lid. I would love to engineer the brakes to have a brake booster.

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I noticed an old van that looks like this sitting on the north side of the highway in Quartzite  on my trip to the dunes. 

 
After doing some research I am going to say no Bueno to that ^^^ 362 stroker. Small bore and long stroke. Instead today I was entertaining taking a 5.3 and boring it to a 5.7. Fairly common but every now and then the casting will not allow it. Like this guy. Pulled this block out today and might get it sonic tested. Cast iron not alumimum. Thinking worth the extra hundred pounds to make it more robust. Then some 799 heads. Maybe use this rotating assembly with a Texas speed crank, and either Lunati or Eagle H beam rods. Thinking now I would like to be in the 750-800 HP Range. Have an email into Jeremy at RPM to see what kind of HP and Torque their level 7 auto trans can take. We had backed it down to a level 6 but now will have to go back up. 

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Not sure why it rotated my pictures 90 degrees. They are correct on my computer. Oh and we were playing the wheelbase game again today. Trying to find something this short. Truck has a 90" wheelbase. Only other car ever made the same was a Cobra.  Pinto:  94",      Chevy Vega; 97",        67 Ford Bronco; 92"

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For American cars I may have found the winner. Nash Metropolitan. 85" 

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