81 F150 Lightning-ish clone
 

Hey guys, I'll be keeping up with my project here. There are many plans but the first thing to do is get it running well. It's an 81 302 aod Ranger Lariat with original paint and only 63k miles. It's not in the best shape but it is a good 20 footer. It has been sitting in a garage since 91. The only rust is where the tool box used to lap over the bed rails I'll be fixing that with some sand blasting/primer and a spray in bed-liner.
My plan for it is to be kind of like an early 80s version of the 1st gen lightning. Being able to whip through a corner while carrying my mountain bikes is the goal. I have already ordered Edelbrock ias shocks and NOS lightning front springs. I will be putting Cragar soft 8 17x8s on it with 275/60/17 nitto 420s tires. This is the same size wheel and tire combo as the lightnings. I'll be lowering the rear with two inch shackles. It will also get front and rear sway bars.
The interior is going to get a slight makeover. At first, I'm going to rip all the interior pieces out and put dynamat (or a cheaper rival) throughout. I have a set of 78 Trans Am seats that I am going to do in red and put them in there as well; this will come later though. It will get an upgraded stereo, as it has the stock one now. I am not sure what it will have yet but it won't be anything crazy.
The engine is going to stay stock for a while. Since it is such low mileage it ought to hold up for a while. What I would like for it is the lower Edelbrock power package which is supposed to have around 300-320hp. It's cool because it is a decent price for an entire aluminum top end. The tranny will have to be beefed up and I will probably put 4.11s in the 9" to offset the 30" tires.
After all that, i will probably weld up some patch panels, and box, parts of the "swiss cheese" frame. The truck will eventually get a cowl induction hood and get repainted along with removing some of the trim.
I am going to do all of this in stages. Getting it running well and doing the suspension/wheels/tires will be the first priority. I might see if I can sneek the gears in as well. The engine stuff and the paint job will come much later as funds allow....oh yeah I will be removing the upper trim and putting smooth chrome bumpers on, without the black strip.

edit, the brakes will be upgraded as well, however I'm not sure how much. My previous 84 could stop quick enough, with stock brakes, that the seat belt would leave a mark. This was when it had tires sticky enough to not lock up under full braking. I guess I would like to add disks to the rear. There is a caddilac caliper that has an external parking brake mechanism; I can't remember what car it came from now. I'll have to find rotors that will work and make brackets for it.

Here is a pic of it as it sits. It took a lot of buffing to bring the paint back and i'll probably have to wax it every other week to keep the shine.


https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...id=247450&.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...400/photo3.jpg

Here are the shocks and Lightning springs. The front shocks are Edelbrock's 1st gen Lightning specific shocks. They were on clearance for 20 each, a deal I couldn't pass up. I'm hoping the rear won't need a heavier spring set to balance out the handling as the truck is already very light and I don't want it to ride horrible. The Edelbrock shocks are supposed to offer a decent ride, we'll see how that works out for me.

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...ingsprings.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...400/shocks.jpg

Sounds like you got your thinking cap on and your plan is in the works; going be a cool project to tackle. The only recommendation that I would do is remove those factory outside mirror and install a more sporty looking low profile set now; even if paint and body work stuff isn't in the budget.

Looks and sounds like a cool project!:-X22

I've got a suggestion for the rear disc brakes. Those Cadillac rear calipers are pretty much crap. They had problems.

On my 54 project ( 78 F150 4x4 chassis ) I'm going to convert my 9" rear to Explorer rear disc brakes. They have a separate E-brake assembly that is very reliable and easy to work on. The E-brake is a drum type. The drum is on the inside of the rotor hat. Currie sells the whole conversion kit or the individual parts. Summit Racing actually sells the whole Currie kit for less then Currie does.:D Here's a link to the kit: Currie Enterprises 6012C - Currie Enterprises Rear Disc Brake Kits - Overview - SummitRacing.com

You could also pick up an explorer rear end pull all the brakes off it. And just order the needed spacers and the rotors with the correct bolt pattern from Currie. Currie Enterprises Racing Rear End Categories

This is a lot better set up then most of the aftermarket conversion kits that use a flat plate caliper mount with gm calipers.:-X22

Thanks for the info on the rear brakes. That's not a bad price for such a complete kit.


Here are some pics that I took with my camera instead of the crappy cell phone. I have 5 hours into buffing just this side of the truck, the roof, and half the hood...I'm going to show it off.

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...0/IMG_0488.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...0/IMG_0497.jpg

Here is the worst part of the rust. Since it's going to get covered with a spray in bedliner, it won't take much to fix it after removing the rust.

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...0/IMG_0512.jpg

Here is an actual update. I got the Lightning springs/shocks on tonight. It took the fender height from 30.5" to 29.5". The 30" tires should fill out the fender wells nicely.

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...frontdone2.jpg

The truck is looking good!

And I'm envious on that amount of rust on it!!!:D You've got one solid straight truck there!:-X22 It is an awesome starting point for your project.:-jammin

Looks good all that muscle building activity is paying off. Once you get all that rust scale off of the top of those two spots on the bed rails. I would use Por15 on it or use ospho before putting bed liner over it. Ospho can be purchased at Ace hardware in the paint section it is a rust converter. If you use it be carefull not to get it on the good paint tape off or protect the area you dont want it on. Nice looking truck for a project.

I saw a video somewhere that the guy used some CLR and a scrubby pad and used it on an old '60's car. It took the surface rust right off. Cleaned the paint up real good. The paint was dull from years of neglect, it didn't make it shine, just cleaned the surface rust and stuff off. Then he buffed it out real good to shine somewhat. But what can you expect for an old '60's car that's been out in the weather for years.

I actually have media blasting equipment. It's a siphon feed for small parts cleaning. It should make quick work of the bed rails, then a little self etching/sealing primer and I'll be good to go. Actually I have enough primer left over, the only thing I'll have to buy is a light-medium abrasive blast material. I am also going to use Gator Guard II for the spray in bedliner. That is unless anyone on here has had bad experiences with it. I couldn't find anything bad when looking at reviews.

The fuel pump and oil pressure sending unit have been changed. I'm ordering the wheels/tires and a bunch of other stuff on Friday so it should be up and running in no time. Maybe I just wasn't really in a mood to work on it today but the fuel pump seemed a lot harder than it should have been. I kept dropping the bolts and had a rough time with the hard fuel line. Oh well, it's done now.

Wheels/tires and many many other parts are on the way!

I tried to start it today. I then realized that the fuel line wasn't hooked to the carb. I had taken it off so it would have some wiggle room when I changed the fuel pump. I hooked it up, stuck a battery in it and went to start it. I then looked at my watch and realized that I had about 45 minutes before work and it takes me 30 minutes to get there. Hopefully I'll be able to get it started tomorrow. My plan for tomorrow is to get the oil changed along with the spark plugs. If i can get it running, I'm going to pull it out of the garage and clean the engine bay. My wheels/tires and a bunch of other parts will be in this week so good updates with pictures will follow shortly.

I changed the oil and there was a LOT of gasoline in it from the crapped out fuel pump. About 8 quarts came out. After dumping the new oil in and putting a splash of gas in the carb, it fired right up and ran. It didn't run well but it was a little victory.

Some parts came in! Yes there is a fourth wheel/tire. I had already loaded it up to take up to where the truck is.

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...s/IMG_8732.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...s/IMG_6066.jpg

Here is the first time it has ran in a few years.

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...h_IMG_0543.jpg

Gotta love new parts!!!:D:-X22

Here is a pic of the wheels installed. They sent the wrong lug nuts so I had to loosely install the old ones for now. The front end will settle a bit due to having just come down off the jack and the new springs. I have the 2" drop shackles coming for the rear. It should sit down on the tires nicely.

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...150wheels6.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...150wheels3.jpg

Truck looks really good with that tire/wheel package, and just the right amount of chrome to set off the black paint.
Makes me want to get a 2wd project....

Little update on the truck. I don't really have a lot of time to work on it so today was a major accomplishment. Here's what I got done today; plugs, wires, cap and bug, brake hoses, wheel cylinders/brake shoes replaced, replaced master cylinder and bled the brakes. It runs pretty decent now but there is a a lot of vibration in the cab. I'm thinking the motor mounts might need to be replaced. Still a long way left to go but at least it can be started and moved out of the garage.

It runs under its own power but not well. Cylinder 3 was missing so after ruling spark out I did a compression test. All of them were at 130-135psi except for cylinder 3 which is at 30 psi. I'm guessing it is a sticking valve. I'm running a little tranny fluid in the oil right now in hopes that some gunk will get cleaned out. If that doesn't work, the next step is to pop the valve cover and see if I can manually break it loose....or if it is bent. I'm really not wanting to have to take the head off.

Is it back firing thru the carb or tailpipe? Any major smoke out the tail pipe??

It could be a valve just isn't seating all the way or even could be a burnt valve.

If you are getting a lot of oil smoke it could be a hole in the piston.

It could also be a head gasket.

If it was me I would get #3 cylinder to TDC and get an air chuck adapter for the spark plug hole. Then hook up an air compressor to the adapter. You have to make sure it's #3 cylinder is right on TDC or the engine will spin over when you hook up the air.

With the air hooked up listen for where the air is coming out. If you hear it out the exhaust it's an exhaust valve problem. If you here it coming out the carb/intake it's an intake valve problem. If you pull the oil filler cap/breather and hear the air rushing sound then it's rings or a piston problem. And if you pull the radiator cap and have bubbling it's a head gasket.:-X22

Doing that will help you diagnose the problem before you tear it down.

It's not backfiring and is blowing some smoke, but it's not that bad. The smoke is white-ish and smells like fuel which makes sense because that cylinder isn't firing. The spark plug in 3 only has gas on it. I was planning on doing the air leak test tomorrow and pulling the valve cover to see what is going on. I also need to check for a bent push rod.

edit, hard to say much about the smoke, there is a huge hole in the muffler. It might be worse if it wasn't leaking so bad.

Another small update. The valves are not stuck. There was actually very little gunk in the head; I was very happy about that. I put air in the cylinder and it is leaking out but it is hard to tell where. We've ran the truck some and there is no oil on the spark plug so I am ruling out a pitted cylinder wall. I'm thinking it is a burnt valve. Either way, the head has to come off. I was really hoping to not have to tear into the engine as it is only 63,000 miles and all original. I'll be done with my bachelors degree in about 4 weeks and am going to wait until after to pull the head off.

I made a list to finish off the performance aspect of the lightning-ish clone. This stuff would have to go along with 4.11 gears. I would also have to go really easy on the ole transmission for a while. Along with this list, I'll also need hardened push rods, assembly lube and some hoses/fuel lines. I have about half of them funds for this now. I don't have to drive the truck so waiting to save for it all wouldn't be a big deal.

Edelbrock 2027 power package (idle -5500 kit) mild cam/performer heads and intake
the black cobra valve covers and oval air cleaner (just for the looks)
ceramic coated headers
500 cfm carb
exhaust would cross to passenger side and come out through one pipe in the factory location.

It would probably be around 290-300 flywheel hp with the low compression pistons. As light as this truck is (relatively) 300 hp, 4.11 gears with the 30" tires ought to make it move decently. It's probably never going to pull a trailer and at the most have a few hundred pounds in the bed so setting the engine up like a mild street car is actually where I want to be.

Finally done with college. The last month has been absolutley crazy! I can start working on the truck again now. Hopefully it will be done in a month or two. I've sold some extra parts I had sitting around from other projects so I can finish part of it. The engine will probably stay stock for now and I'll get all the visuals done. I'm going to try to get some bucket seats done up in red for it. I have some 78 Trans Am seats hanging out in my garage, if they fit well, they are going in it. I think they might not work because the back is not adjustable.

I am in the middle of my work week and I have a lot to do on Monday and Tuesday around the house. Hopefully I can get some work done on Wednesday. Here are a few eye candy pics. The rear is coming down 2 inches...

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...f150571215.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...1f15057123.jpg

another update, since the heads have to come off, I might as well upgrade a few things. On the way are gt40p heads, edelbrock intake, holley 600cfm carb, Ford Racing shorty headers for gt40p heads, gaskets and ARP bolts for all of it. I haven't decided on a cam yet and am still kind of wanting to do aluminum heads in the future so I might just stick with the stock cam for now. I'm guessing 210-225 hp with the above parts. It won't be anything special but better than it was stock.

The truck is looking good. I am new to the site and do not know if you would be able to see a message I posted minutes ago on your other site. I was basically asking if you are keeping the moldings on your truck, specially the upper ones, for your restoration. Please let me know if you would. Thank you.

Subscribed. I wanna see where this goes. I'm thinking down the road when money permits getting a 2wd regular cab to replace my '74 ranchero GT that got totaled last year.

Any progress lately?

To answer your months old post, I have not made much progress. I started an MBA program in August and scheduled some of the harder classes right at the start. I plan to make some progress during the winter break and into spring when I have some easier classes. I'm hoping I can drive it by late spring so I can use it to haul my mtn bikes. In short, I still have it, with a bed full of new parts, and fully intend to finish it up once time allows. I'll be posting pics again once some progress is happening.

I can't wait to get back on this project. My wife is pushing for it to be done by late spring / summer so we can haul our mtn bikes around. I'm planning to finish the head swap in the coming weeks as time allows. If it was stored at my house, there would be a lot of little stuff already done. It isn't far from me but sucks to have to drive somewhere to work on it.

I'm not going to let this one die...haha. I've been really busy with school. I underestimated the difficutly of grad work along with a full time job. I had much more free time as an undergrad. I was thinking of doing 67 mustang buckets in place of the bench seat but I've changed my mind. I am going to try to make 99-04 mustang seats work and end up with 03 black/red cobra seats. The cobra seats have a low front with nice big bolsters. The idea is to take base v6 seats, make the brackets and then wrap them with foam and upholstery from TMI. This is of course if I can get them to be comfy. The seating position might be to upright. I'm going to shed the interior of the wood grain in favor of the black checkered plastic peices. The woodgrain peices will stay around in case I change my mind in the future and want to go back. I think I've stated before that the interior is going to be completely sound deadened and I'll have a basic mp3/usb/cd deck in it with a few speakers. I was going to put a 10" subwoofer behind the passenger seat but I'm not sure on that now. I have a bunch of plans and a bunch of parts already purchased; I just have to find some time. I really want to get this driving before summer. Here's hoping for some free weekends....

Good luck keep it going

DANG IT THERE WILL BE PROGRESS! I have one week off at the end of June before Summer II classes start. The heads are off and I'm going to try to break the rings free with msytery oil, pb blaster and whatever else I can find. If I can get the #3 rings free I'm going to bolt it back together and try to get it running again. If not, I'll have to pull the engine for a re-ring which will take more time than I have right now. I still have a huge list of work to do to it and I'm going to attempt to put a dent in that stuff. It's only a 63,000 mile motor so I am really hoping I can get the rings free.

So... Whats shakin? Oo.

I got some little stuff done. I fixed a brake line leak, did some under body cleaning and got some stuff ready to install. I spent a lot of time planning and outlining what I have left to do to drive it. I'll be working on getting those rings broke free in the coming weeks as time allows.

I finally fully diagnosed my compression issue. The #3 intake valve wass lightly bent. I should have some time through the fall/winter to work on it and hope to make some progress....actually I am really hoping to have it road worthy by the end of the year. If all goes as planned I'll spend the rest of the winter getting all the little stuff done. My overall plan keeps changing in the little details. Here it is right now

Reassemble engine and get running/driving.


The rest of the plan….
Paint all trim/bumpers flat black
Finish lowering rear suspension- shackles/shocks
03/04 cobra seats 10th anniversary black/red without headrests
New radio/door speakers/small amp and 10” sub behind orbetween the seats
Change all wood grain interior parts to black/grey pieces.
3.73 gears/posi
Tint windows
Spray in bed liner

That should do it until I decide I want more power.

I was actually able to work on the truck today. I finished up the passenger side head swap. Now to start on the driver side..... the intake is only in place for the pic which didn't turn out very well. Oh yea, the old plugs were left in to keep paint from the threads, they'll be changed.

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...psdbc9f0c8.jpg

and then the thread dies . . OP ??