As a few of you may know, my 56 Effie was already well shaded by the PO ( 4 inch top chop and louvered hood ) Well this past weekend, I made it just about as dark as possible...

since I aquired the cab/doghouse shell on a 70s 4x4 chassis, and that was totally unacceptable to me, I knew I would be finding a new chassis for it, and I did...

I have secured a complete chassis, with complete drivetrain, from a 1992 Crown Victoria. the frame rails are 58-3/4" outside to outside and the inside of the rockers on the cab measures out to 59-1/2".... I plan on channeling the cab down to sit flush with the bottom of the frame, and build custom running boards to complete the look.
I know thhat the CV has a 114" wheelbase and the 56 F100 had a 110"... this is not really an issue, because I will build my own bed box (which needed to be about 6 inches longer than stock to hold my motorcycle) to accomodate the additional wheelbase. I also planned on widening the bed and possibly the rear fenders, as well as widening the fronts to contain the additional track width that will be exagerated by the massive 20" wheels at all 4 corners...

The CV chassis will retain (if at all possible) the 4 wheel ABS and Traction Control (with a bypass switch for track times) the SOHC 4.6L V8 and AOD transmission. I will have to figure out a climate control system and a steering column to mate to the CV box...

The pieces are coming together, now to find a windshield and someone capable of cutting it down.....

I will be starting a complete builders log as soon as I get a new phone and/or camera that I can use to add pictures with.

Anyone got thoughts?

 

Your Evil Man!! definately post pictures as your build progresses, i feed off this kind of dark stuff!! a few tricks i learnt on my build, i removed the complete harness out of the car and going to use it in the truck, there`s a guy on e-bay that sells master ford wiring diagrams, there huge fold out sheets with every wire and component listed, none of this is in the service manuals.
-from experience,when i removed the car body off of my crown vic, the frame itself is flimsy, it has to be integrated with the body to give it more stiffness, i`m sure it would be too weak mounted under a truck since the cab and box flex separately,the other option would be to use the front end and build the frame out of boxed rectangular tubing and grafting the front end to that, it would not be that mutch work since the frame is straight and only humped where the rear end sits, and if you want it to sit low you have to c-notch it anyway.
-all are options depending on what your budget is and your fabrication skills
-Good Luck!!

 

Don't know if you are on the HAMB or not but there have been some great techs over there about cutting down your windshield. I can try to track them down and link you when I get home.

Cool project. Take lots of pics and keep us up on the build.

Jake

 

couldnt find the old good thread... but here's this:
beatcha toit, Jake.
GLASS, Tech; Cut glass at home - THE H.A.M.B.
JML

 

I do plan on adding some extra bracing to the frame, but I will probably keep the full CV chassis in tact, because then I have no worries about alignment issues and there are factory specs available in case there is ever an accident that bends/tweaks the frame, a good shop can pull it back much easier.

I also plan to bump the performance up a little later with a full PI upgrade on the 4.6... along with a CAI and free flowing exhaust... from about 185bhp up to about 280bhp and a 3.73Trac-Lok 8.8" rearend to turn the MASSIVE 275/60R20 rear tires.... yep, it's gonna look like a cartoon.... lol

I now have the complete chassis, drivetrain, wheels, tires, cab, doghouse, louvered hood, seats, air bags, rear f250 fenders and lots of steel to turn into new floors and firewall.... time to get busy building....

Gotta get that disaster of a garage cleaned up and organized so I can get goin... If I can get a windshield for it, I will be driving it in 2012!!!!!! it probably won't be pretty, but it will be ROLLIN!!!!

Thanks for the support and suggestions

 

Remember even Vader turned to the good side of the force eventually!

 

A massive undertaking to say the least but then again, that's part of what the darkside is about. There is a guy here in Tucson building a 51 Lincoln Woodie/wagon on a Mk8 chassis and I think he has retained all of that stuff so it can be done. Also there is an article in HOTROD this month about transplanting a traction control system, makes for good reading LOL