2001 Dodge Dakota Buildup - Sir Michaels Steel Roll Pan

Before The Dakota in its semi-stock form. Looks pretty good here with a mild drop and some accessories, but we're going to take it up a notch with some custom paint and quality bolt-ons.

There's an old adage that goes, "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade." Here in the custom truck world we can modify that old motto by saying "when you get rear-ended, don't go back to stock-go custom!" This is exactly what we did on a work-in-progress '01 Dodge Dakota when it got involved in a little fender bender.

After Custom paint from Eightball Rods & Choppers and Steve Vandemom had the Dakota looking show-ready. New body parts from Cervinis, Option Racing, Street Scene, and Sir Michaels really set iftapart from the stock crowd.

Sure, we could have just had the bumper replaced and the bodywork repaired, but that would have been too easy and frankly, not as cool. We teamed up with the guys over at Eightball Rods & Choppers in Placentia, California, to make a little lemonade with our newly acquired bushel of lemons. If you're looking for a good shop to build something amazing this is the place. Stephan and his crew turn out awesome hot rods and custom choppers. They no doubt have the skills to do a simple fix like our Dakota. The sugar for our lemonade came by way of custom paint supplied by House of Kolor. All of the catalyst, paint, and reducers were mixed according to the manufacturers suggestions as well as to the temperature and humidity levels on the day we painted. We chose to do a simple two-tone job overlaying black on top of the stock Dodge silver. A nice break of some HOK Kosmic Krome Copper Effect down the waistline made for a unique transition between the silver and the black. Toss in Steve Vandemon, along with his custom paint skills, and we had the perfect glass of lemonade.

PART ONE
Adding quality bolt-ons

Here's the reason for all the work on the Dakota. A tweaked bumper and some damage to the body after a rear end collision. We could have just fixed the bumper and the body damage, but where's the fun in that? A trip to Eightball Rods and Choppers, in Placentia, California, will have our Dodge looking great.
Here's the reason for all the work on the Dakota. A tweaked bumper and some damage to the
Since all the damage was in the rear, the offending bumper and tailgate were removed. The first item to be added to the truck was a steel roll pan from Sir Michael's. Out of the box we were impressed with the heavy gauge steel quality and fit and finish.
Since all the damage was in the rear, the offending bumper and tailgate were removed. The
As with any aftermarket parts, you must make sure they fit before permanently attaching them to your truck. We used masking tape to temporarily hold the roll pan in place and using the inculded set of self-tapping screws, Martin, from Eightball tackled the duty of securing the roll pan to the truck.
As with any aftermarket parts, you must make sure they fit before permanently attaching th

The roll pan was not quite ready for paint out of the box. The edges where it was tack welded needed a little body filler to make it totally smooth. Once the roll pan was sanded smooth a good coat of primer was applied making this part ready for paint. This photo shows the front bumper assembly as well. Since we were ditching the chrome rear bumper it made sense to scuff up the front bumper and paint it as well.
The roll pan was not quite ready for paint out of the box. The edges where it was tack wel
Next in line to be prepped for our facelift was an awesome new SS hood from Cervini's. Again, first impressions of this product were quite good. The fiberglass was solid and didn't feel cheap at all. We also installed an Option Racing black diamond grille to update the front end of the Dakota.
Next in line to be prepped for our facelift was an awesome new SS hood from Cervini's. Aga
The Cervini's hood bolted right onto the stock hinges with the supplied hardware. The grille mounted to the stock frame (that bolts to the hood) with no problem. This couldn't have been a simpler install. In about five minutes we had a completely different look for the Dakota's nose.
The Cervini's hood bolted right onto the stock hinges with the supplied hardware. The gril

Once fully cured, a guide coat was painted on the hood and block-sanded. This was done to ensure the surface was smooth and ready for paint. We found a couple of minor spots needing some body filler. Once the minor bodywork was done, Eightball's master painter Hitoshi shot it with some primer.
Once fully cured, a guide coat was painted on the hood and block-sanded. This was done to
We contacted Street Scene for a pair of their trick Cal-Vu Sport mirrors with dual signals. The glass needed to be removed for paint and we even went so far as using some 220-grit sandpaper to smooth out all the mold lines on the mirror body.
We contacted Street Scene for a pair of their trick Cal-Vu Sport mirrors with dual signals