54 F100 build progress report OR don't look if you hate Chevy stuff on a F100
#107
Drove to Medford a month ago to help my in-laws move into a care home and haul a bunch of their stuff home. That's 500 miles round trip. It was hot so might need to add AC to the list of future projects, Also, the rear tires rub the bed walls when going around curves so I need to add 1/2" spacer plates and somehow take some of the slop out of the rear shackles.
#108
Today I bought a new battery and I'm so pleased with how this turned out. Background - for years I've always had at least one vehicle parked. Usually it's the suburban except in the summer when I go camping and need it to pull the trailer. This summer I've had to replace all my car batteries, the Suburban being the most recent but the standard group 75 or 78 battery looks kind of whimpy. The counter guy at the parts store said a group 31 fits in his burb and it's more powerful and cost less. Now I just happened to put a plastic battery tray in my 54 that is big enough for this battery and when I got it home it just barely fit in under both the lower and upper stay rods. Cool.
#109
Drove to Medford a month ago to help my in-laws move into a care home and haul a bunch of their stuff home. That's 500 miles round trip. It was hot so might need to add AC to the list of future projects, Also, the rear tires rub the bed walls when going around curves so I need to add 1/2" spacer plates and somehow take some of the slop out of the rear shackles.
#110
#111
Started Rebuild Part B. The old engine and tranny are just that - old. They were place holders first time around. Part B will include a rebuilt engine and tranny, new radiator, rebuilt steering box, maybe all new ball joints, and AC. The toughest part will be fitting exhaust headers. Really hoping this one won't take 10 years.
#112
engine rebuild will be a vortec roller lifter block, stock vortec heads, Speed pro H631CP30 6cc flat top pistons, Howards 110235-12 cam, Edelbrock 2116 intake manifold, and exhaust headers if I can modify these to fit between the massive Chrysler steering box and the passenger side frame rail.
#115
#116
#118
duh, now I get the comment. I guess that is what I said in my 11-28 post but now I can;t change it. Anyway, it's tight on both sides. The cheapo headers interfere with the steering box by about 1 inch and the passenger frame rail by about 1.5 inches. I've bent the passenger side enough to clear and that was the tough side so I feel ok about doing the drivers side. Maybe I should of tried the more expensive block huggers but I didn't want to experiment with bending them and didn't want to mess with sending them back if they didn't fit. I'm pretty sure these cheapo headers will have more than enough flow for the build I'm working on even with the kinks from bending them and the stainless pipe will look tons better than the oem cast iron manifolds.
#119
more progress - dismantling the front suspension and got the block and heads back from the machine shop. Hmm, to buy cheap knockoff ball joints or name brand. The name brand are over twice as much. For those considering going with a new MII system vs. a used IFS, you've heard this here before but consider this, replacing the steering box and all the ball joints and bushings on a Cordoba front suspension is a little north of $400.
#120
I scored today. I got an email this week advertising 40% off this week at PickNPull. Except my yard is 70% off because it flooded 2 weeks ago - but no returns - no warranty. And today it was sunny 45 degrees and it hasn't rained for a week so the flood has receded. Anyway, I've decided to go with a later model serpentine belt set up with AC compressor on the passenger side for the vortec head roller cam Chevy 350 that I building. I got all the brackets and pulleys for $15. Also got a 2nd ebrake cable for the ford 8.8 rear end.