I have always wanted a cool shortbed, unfortunately every truck I have ever owned gets worked to death, then tossed. After a very short discussion I am allowed to build a truck instead of buying a newer one. I have a garage pass but with a self imposed limit on the money I will spend. This is what rodding is all about in my book. This is what I am doing, I bought the truck 10 years ago. It had sat in a driveway for about 15 years after the owner died. It had 71,000 original on it and was dent free. He had taken very good care of it, but his daughter let it sit. She thought of him whenever she saw the truck and just held on to it. I gave her $800 for the truck. It had a early 70's Gemtop canopy made of galvanized steel. It held moisture extremely well. The bed and cab were garbage and the engine was froze. There were ferns growing out of the cowl vents. I had 2 other 2wd F250s then, and an extra 390. I pulled out the 352, removed the power assist, and front drum brake closed axle and rear axles. They were sporting 456 gears. I don't need to climb telephone poles. I installed a 4 bolt power steering box,390, high pinion open knuckle disc brake dana 44 and a limited slip powerlok dana 60 in the rear. The only other mods I have done was plywood in the bed and rags stuffed into the rusty holes in the cab to allow the inefficient heater less competition with the outside air.


The only photo of this truck before I start butchering it.


I picked up this rusted out crap because I cannot find a rust free one.



The entire bed is garbage.




Nice long beds are easy to come by and cheap.

Removed the floor, wheel houses, and front box panel of donor box


Removed and replaced front box panel first before cutting out floor. this aids in keeping the box square





Now I can cut out the rotted floor and move it to the scrap pile.



All of the interior box sides were rusted through where I need to weld in new floor. I went about 3" all the way around and replaced the metal.

 

Remove stiffeners, beat out dents, and relocate stiffeners and wheel houses.


slide in new bed.

Install wheel houses

Had to have fwd pans made for $25, I shortened the rear pans and reused them.

 

It is actually much more complicated than this. Here is a link to a more detailed explanation if you care to read it. The FORDification.com Forums • View topic - How I replaced a short wide bed floor.

I cannot imagine getting a rust free short bed like this for $500. It is coated underneath with Rust Free. This took weeks to build.






I want to maintain a 67 look so those side markers gotta go! I just cut them from my old bed.


Marked out 16" to remove from my frame


a cutting wheel on my 4" Milwaukie made quick work of it.


Panic time.


V it out and tack weld it in. I spent a long time measuring square, level, and twist. I am pretty sure it is close to perfect.



I added large fishplates fabbed from the removed frame splice, cleaned up the frame for a few days and coated with Rust Free.


Had to shorten my emergency brake cables.



Late 70's sway bar with 86 downlinks


Stole the mounts from the 86 too.


The bed and bolt holes fit perfect. The wheels cost me $150 off Craigslist, then I sold my stockers for $100. These are 305/70r16. on 16x9 rims


Damn flash. Spent $35 total including shipping to have my ammeter converted to a voltmeter from RCCInnovations. Looks stock.

 

Wow dude, you got some mad skills, it look great! That's gonna look sharp when youre done.

 

damn, just figured out how to post pictures correctly. This is how the fwd bed looks now. Meaty and rust free.

 

Here is a shot of the 4 bolt steering mod. I picked up the pump and links for $100. Almost bolt in. Of course that was 10 years ago.


Removed engine, transmission, transfer case and front sheet metal. The truck now sits level front and rear without weight. Picked up some 2004 Super Duty springs, shocks, and u-bolts for $20. Since I am doing a 460 heart transplant I will have another 80-100 pounds on the front and I want it level.

I bought the Dana 44 for $125. It is out of a late model F250 with disc brakes and came with a sway bar. No down links though, I will find something suitable to replace them. I know I don't need it, but I think this truck may be a bit squirrely pulling a trailer, this will help.
It had 4.56 gears and now front and rear are 3.54. That rear end was $100 and is a limited slip power-lok. I need new clutches though. I will address this when I replace the rear brakes and seals. It has fairly new pads front and rear and I rebuilt the calipers for about $10.

 

If you are a believer in Murphy's Law, just watch the CL ads........Now that youve built that cherry short bed, expect to see short bump beds in pristine shape sell for cheap!
$20 bucks for the springs and hardware, how could you go wrong with that? looking forward to watching this build progress, kudos for photos of the work!

 

I answered a add on Craigslist. This guy had bought some Ford parts from ANOTHER estate sale, and that man was a Ford Parts Manager at some dealership in Portland. 427, 428, rust and dent free Mustangs, 4 or 5 full sets of Pony interiors, and some very rare speed parts. The family were actually filling dumpsters with interior parts because they thought it was worthless junk. All this stuff was stored inside and tagged. He bought a preserved 460 for next to nothing, and I gave him $150 for it. Had a carb blanking plate and exhausts were stuffed with rolled up rags.
D8TE rebuilt. I am not kidding. I bought it for the block with intensions of full rebuild. I tore it down and inspected everything. Crank perfect, cylinder bores perfect. Has Football rods. I had the block zero decked with the stock 22 cm dishes, I bought a ring, bearing and gasket kit from Northern, lightly honed the bores to remove very, very light surface rust, installed a Comp straight up timing set(it had a junk ford "silent" set with nylon, but still new), Comp 524 lift cam. It also came with a Duraspark distributor, I recurved the manual stops to a 10L position, more junk yard parts. Bought stupid looking Ford Racing valve covers for $100. I got taken to the cleaners on that one.

Bought a HD oil pump, L and L rear sump oil pan and pickup, and Weiland Stealth manifold from a rolled Bronco for $125. Picked up a 750 Edelbrock Performer carb on craigslist for $100. Also bought a set of L and L full length in chassis headers for $200.

It had D3 heads on it, ready to run. I could not give them away. They went to scrap.

Bought a set of unmolested D0VE heads with undrilled thermactors for $100 a couple days ago. I will port and polish them myself and save some dough. I think I will spend the money to install bigger exhaust valves, 1.720 or 1.725's. We will see what the head rebuilder thinks he can fit. Bought a 140 amp 3G alternator at the wrecking yard for $20.

 

Thank you.
I always look to the guys that can do bodywork and paint as the skilled ones, they hide the repairs! I am dreading the bodywork.

 

Well let me tell you Son, I think you're doing an awesome job so far. I was really impressed you Z'd the frame rather than opting out the easy way. Obviously you know the ol' "measure twice,cut once." REPin' ya. Good Job.

 

There is most likely more short beds in the northwest than the rest of the country, all the logging, power, utility, forest service, State, and County used the F350 Crummy to get around in the mountains. They also got beat to death and scrapped. No one back then thought that ugly truck would be a cool ride 50 years later. Those babies got worked hard and it makes me happy to see one restored on the road.

I want a Mercury tailgate. That would kill my budget.

 

Thank you. I am now concentrating on the front suspension, I will be reading everything I can to do it cheap, good looking, and most of all safe.

 

Here you go. You can thank Nudnik for this. You might want to REP him. He deserves it.
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Garage is empty, add now </TD><TD width="100%"> </TD><TD vAlign=top noWrap>Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Denton, TX
Posts: 155



</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- / user info --></TD></TR><TR><TD id=td_post_13616018 class=alt1><!-- message, attachments, sig --><!-- icon and title -->Crown Vic swap & lowering link dump
<HR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #d1d1e1; COLOR: #d1d1e1" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->So I've been researching & researching & researching the next major step on my F100 project and I thought that maybe some others might be able to benefit from my efforts. I have compiled a list of build threads, parts options, & magazine articles that add up to a plethora of information for anyone considering a Crown Vic IFS swap & a rear axle drop on their F100 (as well as a few other topics that might be of interest).

Specifically I focused on the 67-72 but I'm sure a lot of this information will help with other models as well. I apologize if this is a bit overwhelming but I'm sure you'll find at least 1 or 2 helpful bits of information in these links.

I will continue to update this thread as I gather more links & info. Also, feel free to add any additional links you think are helpful & I'll add them to this 1st post if I think they apply.

PLEASE! ONLY REPLY TO THIS THREAD WITH LINKS & HELPFUL INFO TO KEEP IT FROM GETTING TOO LONG.

Full Lowering Build
http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f30/64-f100-never-built-a-ford-492601/

http://www.fordification.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=37897

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1091766-70-f100-cv-ifs-tbird-irs-build.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1172345-lowering-my-78-f150-and-crown-vic-suspension-swap.html

(the big one from carcrafter – tons of info, no pics)
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/716058-buildup-06-crown-vic-front-suspension-into-67-f100.html

CV Swap
http://www.fordification.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=47610

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1119894

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1156498-crown-victoria-steering.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1236153-77-f100-project-crown-vic-swap.html#post13084733

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1172345-lowering-my-78-f150-and-crown-vic-suspension-swap-3.html

Step notch & 4-link
http://www.killbillet.com/showthread.php?36842-1953-ford-F100-on-bags

(parts)http://www.welderseries.com/blog/2010/05/new-product-step-notch-kits/

(parts)http://www.artmorrison.com/layout.php?y=store/&x=components

(parts)http://www.nfamusmetal.com/bag-on-lower-bar-triangulated-4-link-with-bag-mounts/

(article)http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/1209clt_c_notching_60_ford_f100_frame/

(technical info)http://jniolon.clubfte.com/drivelinephasing/drivelinephasing.html

Air Ride Parts
http://accuairsuspension.com/index.html

http://www.ridetech.com/store/trucks/

http://www.airbagit.com/

http://www.streetbeatcustoms.com/1969/Ford/F100/Suspension/Air-Suspension-Kits/

Rear Axle Technical Info
http://www.fordification.com/tech/rearends_ford05.htm

http://www.fordification.com/tech/VIN68.htm

http://www.fordification.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=57672

http://www.enjenjo.com/9inch.html

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-62078.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1252236-rear-axle-69-f100.html

Classic Trucks build articles
1.http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/0703cl_1968_ford_f100/
2.http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/0704clt_1968_ford_f100_steering_shaft_upgrade/
3.http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/0705ct_1968_ford_f100/
4.Missing article (you’ll have to order an old copy fromClassic Trucks).
5.http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/0707ct_1968_f100_bumb_side_build_off/
6.http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/0708ct_1968_ford_f100/
7.http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/0709ct_1968_ford_f100_bumbside_build_off/
8.http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/0710ct_1968_ford_f100/
9.http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/0711ct_1968_ford_f100/
10.http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/1001clt_1967_1972_ford_f100_custom_vintage_air_ac_ install/
11.http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/0801ct_1968_ford_f100/
12.http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/0802ct_1968_ford_f100/
13.http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/0803ct_1968_ford_f100/

Wheel well
http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/0901clt_1968_ford_f100_nation_parts_depo_fender_wh eelwell_install/viewall.html

A/C
http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/0912clt_1967_1972_ford_f100_vintage_air_ac_install/

http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/1001clt_1967_1972_ford_f100_custom_vintage_air_ac_ install/

Door hinges
http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/0804clt_door_hinges_the_bumpside_build_off/

<OHIO Silver's Technical Info Hyperlinks</O
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Jeff, good info but I am pretty sure his VIN starts with F26, especially with a Dana 44, so he won't need the top part.

 

Yeah, lots of old Ford stuff here in the Pac Northwest.....CL can be a gold mine, plenty of advertisers who either dont know what they have, or dont know how to properly write an ad....thats how i got both my highboys, the ads werent well written, the sellers didnt do a good job describing what they had.