My 1954 F100/F250 4x4 Build

[f100junkie]

Oh thank god I finally found this forum. Ive been searching for others that have done this swap. Starting one myself with a 53 f100 to a 2002 honda passport. Yea i said passport. anyways not to hijack but i may need some parts of that doner yo bought. Hit me with a pm and well go from there. thanks.

[fordman75]

I've had a bunch of crap going on ( other vehicle repairs, being sick, being broke or just not feeling like working on it ) most of the summer. so I haven't done much of anything on the 54.

I made a minor change to my plans. I decided for what I need I could live with the stock Dana 50 twin traction beam front diff assembly on the 84 F250 chassis ( instead of swapping in the stronger Dana 60 out of the 87 F350 ) . So I sold the D60 to get some cash for some other parts.


I got 3 more gauges I needed for my 54 for birthday gifts. I got the Tach, oil pressure and the vacuum gauges. So I've only got one more to get. I still need to pick up the matching speedometer.





Hopefully later this week I'm going to start pulling the body off the 84 F250.

[jay54f100]

Glad to see you are back. Lets get that body off.

[fordman75]

Thanks,

Had another delay pop up! I'm going to have to do an engine swap on one of my dad's caravans.

So it looks like I'll only be able to pull the box off the truck so I can keep it driveable for now. So I'm going to have to get done as much as I can the rest of this week.

Then I'll have to start on his van next week. If I can get the engine swap done in a week maybe I can get going on the 54 again.

[fordman75]

Got a new toy in the mail today. It's a brand new Mallory Max-Fire distributor for my 351W.





I didn't plan on buying this until later on but I came across it at a good price while searching for some other stuff. Summit racing listed this for around $407.00. Well surprisingly I found it at Amazon.com for $325.00. At that price I decided I better get it now.

If you don't know the Mallory Max-fire distributor it a billet distributor with ball bearing. It has a completely computer tuneable elctronic vacuum and "mechanical" advance set up. No tearing down the distributor, changing springs, or messing with counter weights. Just plug in a lap top and change the advance curve. It also has a built in multi-strike digital ignition system with a rev limiter. So no need for a big external ignition box. You still need to run a separate coil though. Should be fun.






Anyways it showed up today I open up the amazon box and saw a plastic tool box. I was a little worried I was expecting to see a Mallory box.






I pulled the tool box out of the Amazon box and opened it up and the distributor was inside.

[55 f350]

hmmm i'm gonna have to go see if mallory makes one of 'em for a flatty....... don't feel alone in not accomplishing anything . with the severe number of hours that was tossed at me at work and a hectic personal life , what should have been a few days of repairing odd things rewiring , and updating some others on my driver 53 has turned into 7 months .................. glad to see your still at it though should be cool . pro comp offers some relatively inexpensive ignition systems to guy's . they got a electric dizzy , the box and coil for my flatty if my cut down chubby dizzy don't pan out , for under 300 bucks . i believe it's an australian co. with hq's in california now .

[fordman75]

Originally Posted by 55 f350

hmmm i'm gonna have to go see if mallory makes one of 'em for a flatty....... don't feel alone in not accomplishing anything . with the severe number of hours that was tossed at me at work and a hectic personal life , what should have been a few days of repairing odd things rewiring , and updating some others on my driver 53 has turned into 7 months .................. glad to see your still at it though should be cool . pro comp offers some relatively inexpensive ignition systems to guy's . they got a electric dizzy , the box and coil for my flatty if my cut down chubby dizzy don't pan out , for under 300 bucks . i believe it's an australian co. with hq's in california now .

I doubt Mallory has one for the Flathead yet. The one for the 351W is a fairly recent addition.

I've heard some bad things about the Pro comp parts. Mainly quality issues.

[telefunkken]

fordman,i stumbled on to your build. that truck is gonna look fantastic. i'm into a kinda similar swap(57 panel -79 bronco 460) added 6'' to bronco to get 110'' wheelbase behind transfer case, gittin ready to build gantry to lift panel off old frame. it looks like the track width worked good on your truck, are those f-100 fenders? keep up the good work,BTW the blue truck in hombre 0321's post is in the old pictorial part of the galleries section of this site, got it hangin up in the garage for some motovation now your build is doin the same thing.

[fordman75]

The fenders on the truck in my signature picture are F600 fenders. The F100 fenders have a smaller wheel well opening.

The biggest issues I ran into with using the 54 body on the old 78 chassis was firewall needing to be recessed and the front clip didn't clear the front frame rails. The frame rails were a bigger issue for me because of the F250's front leaf springs. On a Bronco or F150 you can just trim the front of the frame to gain clearance. I'm not sure how much of an issue it will be on 57. But for me the only real solution is a 4" body lift to gain clearance. And I still might need to do some trimming to the top of the front frame horns. I'll find out once I can mock up the body on the 84 chassis.

[fordman75]

Well once again my plans have changed a little. I bought a different tow vehicle so I don't need the 54 to be a tow vehicle. So now I'm just going to build it as a daily driver. I'm either going to mount the 54 body on a fullsize Bronco chassis or a F150 4x4 chassis. Or I might take my 84 F250 4x4 chassis and shorten it to a stock F100 short box wheelbase. I haven't decided yet.

I think I'm just going to completely finish the 54 cab and then worry about what chassis I'm going to use.

Here's the truck I picked up for a tow vehicle. It's a 1991 Ford F-Super duty with a 7.3L diesel and a 5 spd with a 14' flatbed.

[Frdbuy8589]

wow with the 14 foot bed, why not just build some ramps and use that to tow vehicles and skip the trailer?! But other then that nice looking tow/work rig. What did it set you back, if I may inquire?

[fordman75]

Nah, it's too short for hauling any of the vehicles I haul. Besides I've got a 20 foot H&H Speedloader MX HD tilt bed trailer to haul the vehicles.

I haul a lot of scrap metal and with my light duty 87 F250 hauling a load of scrap required using my a trailer. But with this truck I'll be able to haul the scrap without the trailer. I just need to build some taller/stronger sides.

I paid too much for it. I paid $1800. And the truck needs a few minor repairs.

[fordman75]

Well I'm finally doing some work on something for the 54. I'm starting the tear down on the 84 F250 4x4.

Today I started tearing by cutting off the box sides.



Then I cut off the rest of the box.


Here's a picture of the rear frame section. It needs a good clean up and some fresh paint. The frame isn't as bad as this picture makes it look.


I also starting doing a little cutting on the cab.

[jay54f100]

Awsome progess not a bad find.

[fordman75]

Didn't get a whole lot done today. I spent the biggest part of the day crawling around inside the 84 cab pulling the interior parts. I still have a ways to go on gutting the interior. Then I need to pull all the glass then start cutting.

Here's how the interior looked before I started today.




And Here it is now.






Here's the only exterior change today. I pulled the trim off the driverside rear side window.