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I've been a big fan of what some of my buddies say is the ugliest Ford truck ever built......not in my eyes. I bought this truck about 6 years ago from an ad placed in our local Tradin' Post for $500.
It is a running truck (clutch master cylinder was bad) and came with a very nice extra bed and tail gate and some extra front sheet metal. The bed was about half full of 50's and 60's era stainless hub caps which I sold on ebay back when I first got it. The sale of caps covered the cost of the truck, taxes and title. I got really lucky there.
Not being in any real hurry at the time I began the search over the last few years for parts and info to build the truck as I wanted it to be. Thanks to the guys here at FTE for much in the way of ideas. The goal is to build this as a dependable daily driver. Keeping it low budget has always been the goal.....I've manged to use the time to find some great deals along the way.
Heres my beauty as it sat several weeks ago, buried in the backyard/ outdoor storage of my sons backyard. The only part of this truck that will be used is the cab/glass, interior and bare frame. Along with the extra bed that originally came with it I've managed to collect better parts for the entire truck. The drivetrain and suspension will all be later model stuff. It's still going to take me a little time but the project is ready to roll.
As far as the drivetrain goes the original 6 was considered as was a Y-block with a T5 5 speed behind them. I ended up deciding I wanted a late model fuel injected V8 along with a manual 5 speed. I had an all aluminum Lincoln 4.6 4V V8 and a Mustang 3650 5 speed along with harness sitting here but my son talked me out of it for a project he is working on.
In the end I decided to find a late model Explorer with a 5.0 and rob it of it's engine, computer and 8.8 posi rear axle. An '87 C4 Corvette front IFS was chosen for it's width, brakes, cool aluminum a-arms and the ease of adaptability of the stock Corvette crossmember to the Ford frame. Yes cost was a consideration here also. $450 shipped on the C4 stuff from Michigan and $850 for a totaled, running '97 Mountaineer with 87,000 miles on it. With scrap prices being what they are right now I should be able to recoup a big chunk of the Mountaineer cost from the aluminum rims, catalytic converters and body....along with the sale of a few odds and ends on Craigslist.
I know it's early but I don't want budget to be mistaken with boring. This is going to be a joint project between my 26 year old son and myself. Due to lack of space at my house the project is going to be built in his shop.
A few pics of his shop and projects...
My grandson..."your going to put that in what?"
I mentioned that 4.6 4V earlier...heres the mockup stuff for it.
....and the hood closes.
I'll post more pics of this as the work progresses. I need to go get started on the dismantling of my project.
Not much of a progress report. Got it moved into the shop. Last time it will see daylight as a stocker. Should be tearing it down over the 4th of July weekend.
Heres the front suspension mocked in, squared up, leveled and tack welded in....
....in case your wondering, I was told by my son that the cement blocks was my new small block
Sat the old front clip on it just to see if all was good.......and it is sweet. The dubs on it are just for mock up....they just happened to be the same 27" outside diameter as the 16" front steel wheel/tire combo I'll be running on it. The rears will also be 16'' steelies with a 31" tall tire. The goal is that when it's done it will look like a stock truck with a ride height adjustment. The front is now 9" lower than stock.
This is the new ride height.....
I hate these wheels but they give an idea of how far it's lowered. I'll post more of the progress in the following weeks.
Up next is the front coil over mounts....and finish welding of the crossmember.
Life has a way of slowing down projects. Back to work on the F100 finally....working on ride height. Front suspension is in, still working on the coil over mounts. Triangulated 4 link in the back is next.
Good progress on the truck, I'll post some of my progress. I found one rats nest, three black widows(so far), and lots of mud wasp nests(old ones).
What are you going to do about the rear lower bed corners? Mine are pretty rotted out too and I can't find any replacements anywhere. Please don't say fab up some... Send me a pair.
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