The Blue Moon

[Tvot84]

I'm titling this "The Blue Moon" (which I may have just came up with a name for my rig!) because you only see an Overland Dakota once in a blue moon, there just aren't many out there.
This has been in progress for a while, but figured I would start a build thread here since there is still a LONG way to go on this project and this is a good central location to document the progress. Hope you enjoy. :)

 

[Tvot84]

A little back story on this truck. I used to own a 2000 Dodge Dakota, 4x4 ext. cab back in my late teens very early 20's. I always loved that truck, it seemed to do anything I wanted it to other than driving through a deep ditch full of water. Sucked up water from said ditch and that was the end of it.
After going through a few cheap vehicles I decided I wanted another Dakota. This time I wanted a 4-door, but other than that, I wanted everything the same. 4x4, color, v8, etc.
After a couple years of driving my 98 Ford ranger, I finally found the truck I was searching for. It had some hail damage, but the majority of it was in good condition, it only had 1 owner and the price was right. So there I was, finally with the truck I wanted. Now, it's time to personalize it.
I haven't really done a WHOLE lot to it, but I started with the headlights and taillights. (Never even got a picture of how it looked when I bought it. Lol)

 

[Tvot84]

Taillight photos

 

[Tvot84]

Next came the sound system. Well, since this is a Dakota, it's hard (if not impossible) to find aftermarket kits for things. They make a box for behind the seats, but they're expensive and take up all the space leaving your back seats stuck down. (No room for them to fold up) So I made my own box for a 10" sup and cut some of the panel out so it'd fit nicely. The seat section behind the driver doesn't fold up like it's suppose to now, but I leave the seat back bolts finger tight so I can remove that and access things as needed.

 

[Tvot84]

After a while, I found a few parts I needed to clean up the interior. New headliner, defrost vent, a lower dash piece that had the ash tray (mine didn't have the ashtray. For some reason Dodge decided to take those out at some point), door panels that had the tweeters in them and a new overhead console that had some storage. At that point, I figured I might as well take the seats out and clean the carpets as well.

 

[Motoboss]

Good start. Open that can of worms and no telling where it'll take you!

 

[Tvot84]

Good start. Open that can of worms and no telling where it'll take you!

Oh, I know! I've done a lot more to it than I've posted so far. Trying to post one project at a time. It'll probably Monday before I update it again though.