I got my oil pan and misc pieces today so the engine swap moves forward.

 

Awesome! Pics! Pics! LOL

Jim

 

Here is a pic of the dash cleaned up a bit but not as far as I am going. I will also be using the original cluster.

 

Wow. That looks sweet!

Jim

 

lookin good man

 

A few more pics. Not a whole lot to show. Got the nose back on & a few things done.

 

Looks awesome, what is it in, looks like a car? I thought this dash was going in your truck? Or is that another dash that you plan on yours looking like when you get done?

 

The dash in the pic is in the car it originally came from. It is just an example of a partially smoothed out dash. When I am done mine will be cleaner than this one.

 

Oh ok, cool! It's gonna be sweet that's for sure! and with the 460 too

 

Ordered my plates yesterday. FARM TRK I thought it fitting. Heard her breath fire last Saturday. Hoping to have it drivable by this weekend.

 

Perfect plates for the truck.

Jim

 

Any updates on your truck? How does the IFS IRS combo handle at high speeds? How is your dash coming along? Is the setup you have good for road course racing? (I have done the CV IFS swap and am considering the IRS swap)

I want my truck to perform at road course "racing" levels. By that I mean I want to be able to go to a road course competition and be able to impress anyone watching with how well the rough '58 drives. I don't expect it to beat the extremely high budget mustangs and cars of the like, but I do want it to perform considerably better than your average cruiser when it comes to hanging curves.

Does this swap accommodate these goals? Also, does the IRS carry a descent aftermarket for upgrades?

Thanks for this great thread!!

 

Kyle,
Truck should be back on the road this weekend. Only have a few minor odds & ends to tie up on the 460/C6 install. The dash is almost ready to swap into the truck. I lack the HVAC vent I have planned.

The truck rides & handles great. I have pushed it hard enough I backed out. The truck was still stuck to the ground like glue. The first thing I would do in your truck for what you are describing is put in a set of drop springs from Eaton Detroit. The lower it sits the better it will handle. That would finish up your IFS.

With the IRS you have a few options. They came with both disc & drum brakes. Mine has drums that I will be converting to disc. The bolt circle is smaller than the CV but that is changed relatively easily. Hubs from a Cobra are bolt in which will give you the matching bolt circle. When you swap to this bolt circle you will want to swap to discs. Using the Cobra discs will require an adapter to mount the calipers as the rotors are larger & the calipers need moved out.

The Lincoln units came with all aluminum housing third members. Some are also bagged. I prefer coils over bags but again that is your choice. If you find a unit out of a Super Coupe it will be posi with gears that are something like 3.27. That is the lowest gears you can get in stock form. The third member is an 8.8 so you can get aftermarket gears in any ratio you desire. Aftermarket anti-sway bars are available beefing up that area. Aftermarket axle shafts are also available beefing up your axle shafts. A simple brace can be fabbed to add additional support for the third member mounting. Aftermarket springs are also available.

The hub to hub is considerably narrower than the CV IFS so ultimately you will need either wheel spacers or a complete custom set of wheels built. I will be going the wheel route. Additional strengthening of the IRS subframe can also be done. Here is a link to an article of how to accomplish that. There is a guy who makes the caliper adapters. Information for them can be found here.

 

I managed to get the engine tore down today. I am replacing the timing set with an early set to bring the cam back to 0 from 4* retarded, C9VE-A heads, C8 dual plane intake & recurving the distributor. Should have parts to put it back together tomorrow.

Hood storage




Our new plate for the truck


The core support is set up for a 6cyl. I have a big block core support coming but until then I need to open up the core support for more air flow.

An old man pulling the lower hose


Pulling the radiator


The original opening


The same old man cutting out the opening


Carb off. If you look closely you will see a passage below the carb on the right rear for the egr system. The C8 intake does not have this passage. Both intakes are dual plane.




PS pump out of the way




Valve cover off to reveal a Pennzoil/Quaker State or some other paraffin based oil engine. Have some cleanup to do here.




There's that old man again


Intake, water pump & harmonic balancer pulled. We can now see how bad the valley is caked with paraffin


That guy is just plain fat!


Timing cover off. Not that easy to see but the timing set is shot. Just doing a replacement would greatly help but I am advancing the stock cam 4* with the replacement timing set




Another shot of the valley


These pistons are dished out in the center (lower compression). The pistons in the engine that donated the heads were flat top with valve relief cuts in them.




More pics tomorrow as the engine goes back together.

 

lookin' good