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I bought a 1966 F100 flareside in back in August off the internet without seeing it as I was overseas working. When I finally met my new truck I was really impressed by its condition, the undercarriage is rust free and the body almost perfect as well. The truck looked a lot more blue then purple in the pictures I saw before buying it. The colour is growing on me now.
I've got the ownership paperwork done (tax paid), it's insured and plated for the street. I've taken it for a few short drives and a few things stand out. It drives like a 50 year old truck, the suspension works well soaking up bumps but it handles and turns as well as a U-haul truck. The brakes are in good working order but the manual 4 wheel drum system isn't very safe for highway driving 60-75mph it's not much fun in the city ether. Compared to modern brakes this old truck is awful. On the bright side it feels right at home on a country road doing 55mph. In the 150km of driving I've done in the truck I've put in about $65 in gas. For now that's fine because I have no intention of keeping the 352. With this fuel burn it's just too costly to enjoy driving the truck. A rough calculation has it burning $20/hr on fuel. I'm not driving it hard at all but out on the highway holding the speed at 65mph. You simply can't drive any slower then that on a 4 lane highway here.
The plan is to build a 3 season daily driver, I want a truck that will be comfortable and safe on the highway up to 80mph in traffic. It needs to steer and stop like a modern truck and get decent gas mileage, my goal is 12L/100km or about 20mpg. I drive 180km round trip to work a couple time a week, I want to use the truck.
The 352FE 3 speed auto are going to be for sale and the twin I beam will likely land up in the scrap pile. I picked up a Crown Victoria front end from a local auto wrecker $500 for a complete 2010 CVPI front-end including a couple feet of frame. He also let me take 4 17" steel wheels. I'm going to clean up the parts and get everything ready to go under the 66'. I had the disks turned to remove a couple years of rust. Everything looks like it's in good shape, it's a really sturdy looking suspension.
Because it came with 2 feet of frame on each side I decided to weld a couple pieces of scrap to them. I'm not sure if I'll need it or not but it gave me a chance to try my tig welder out as a stick welder. I'm going to need some practice!
The underside of the crown vic frame, the top of the picture is the front of the car. 4 bolts mount the sway bar.
Here are my toys. The airplane is a 1947 Luscombe 8E 85hp, It cruises at 108mph.
I'm about to do a crown victoria swap on my 66' F-100. The front body work is still on the truck, I removed the 352 and auto transmission and sold them this week. Is there any good reason to remove the body panels (fenders, inner fenders, rad support)? My truck has a good paint job that I don't want to damage. From what I can see I can cut out the twin I beam stuff and install the 2010 Police Interceptor suspension without removing the bodywork. Has anyone on here done the swap without bringing it down to the bare frame?
It looks like I'll only need to trim a small part out of the inner fender to clear the top brace on the CV suspension.
What size of tires are guys running after the CV swap? 17" cop car wheels for now.
I did the CV swap on a 66. Had it down to the bare frame though. I did have to trim a little off the lower edge of the inner fenders to fit them. It is an easy swap once you get the twin I beam stuff out. I am running cop car wheels for now also.
I did the CV swap on a 66. Had it down to the bare frame though. I did have to trim a little off the lower edge of the inner fenders to fit them. It is an easy swap once you get the twin I beam stuff out. I am running cop car wheels for now also.
Do you know what tire size you have? I have a set of 225/50/17 on the wheels for now, they look really small but will be fine for now.
tape the edges with blue painters tape double if you want. unbolt the front end (like 8 bolts i think. (3 on each upper cowl, two core support two bottom fender two upper fender and rubber/canvas strap at fire wall if they are there.
care fully slide it forward and then lift off as unit. no need to pull hood if you dont want to. remember to unhook the wires!
Matt, removing the bodywork doesn't really look that difficult at all you are right. What to do with the bodywork once I get it off is more of a problem for me. With only a two car garage I don't have space for it to just sit on the floor. Sometime before Christmas we are going to get snow, Mother Nature has been known to dump a couple feet overnight here. The Mrs or I don't want it sitting on the driveway. Carrying it into the back yard was an idea but it may be stuck there till spring.
With a little extra care I think I can do the swap with it all inplace. I was just looking for anyone who has done it, why it can't be done.
With some careful positioning you might be able to place your front sheet metal grill down in the box of your truck in that way would be out-of-the-way
A friend of mine stopped in this morning to have a look at the trucks progress. He asked why I haven't removed the body work yet. Then he asked me how hard it would be to fabricate engine mounts hinging over the fenders...
Well you guys made some good points so I pulled the front end off and put it on the box.
Looks great so far!....great score on the truck
I am still progressing on my 66 CV conversion but it is easy....but lots of dirty work lol
I will be following along on your Build!
A big part of my project is done, the crown vic suspension is installed. A bit of cutting, fabrication and welding. A coat of POR15 and put it all back together.
Next task is installing the brake booster, new master cylinder and connecting the brakes lines.
10-22-2016, 07:48 AM
