I know the subject of converting the 65 F100 to disc brakes has been covered in many discussions and articles. I think that is part of my problem, I've read them all so now I'm confused. Some articles call for using the 65 kingpins with the 73-79 spindles, while other articles say kingpin sizes are different, so use basically the whole donor suspension. Since I'll be doing the boneyard crawl, I want to get everything I need, but not alot of what I don't. Help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

You cannot use 1965 F100 king pins with 1973/79 spindles. 1965 king pins have the notch for the spindle locating pin in a different location than 1966/79.

Because of this, 1965 F100 (F250 same) 2WD king pins are one year only.

Get all the disc brake parts from a 1973/79 F100 2WD, 1975/79 F150 2WD. Don't forget the proportioning valve.

NOTE = 1973/79 F100 2WD: MANUAL disc brakes were standard equipment, POWER disc brakes were OPTIONAL.

 

Would that include the I Beams as well?

Thanks

 

To be honest, I haven't a clue. I never did a disc swap on my former '65 F100, have no plans to (don't own/want any more old rolling piles of misery), so I haven't read any of the myriad articles.

But many other members of this forum have: jowilker, garbz2, 37 Ford guy, Boss9F100 and etc.

Read jowilkers article, he's the whiz-bang expert for swapping disc brakes (and P/S) into these piles.

 

That's funny...."rolling piles of misery!" I appreciate the info, personally I just can't get enough pain to make me happy. I have 3 different '65s, 1 Ford, 1 Mercury and 1 Buick, and they are all step children in the parts department. Nothing from other years fit, everything is either un-obtanium, or custom made.

Thanks again for the help.

 

Actually most every part interchanges between 1965/66, the Merc's have different emblems/tailgate than the Fords and that's about it. Mechanical parts interchange well past 1966.

Did'ja know that the same 3 spoke steering wheel: 1960/63 Falcon/Comet / 1961/66 F100/250 2WD / 1966 F100 4WD / 1966/73 Bronco / 1967/70 F100/250 / 1969/70 F350.

The horn ring or button is also the same except for Bronco's, and this is just two examples of many.

Dunno what 1965 model PUick you own, so I have no clue. I'd prolly know if it was an Oldsmopile which shares many inner body panels with PUicks.

David Dunbar Buick made his fortune by inventing the process that adheres porcelain to cast iron. He lost his fortunate and his car company before Billy Durant bought it.

Old ad slogan: "When better cars are built, Buick will build them" was changed by wags to: "When better bathtubs are built, Buick will build them."

Bathtubs were originally cast iron and coated with porcelain.

 

The Merc is a 4 door Marauder, basically a re-skinned Galaxie. The biggest issues are with pieces they won't re-pop because of the short 65/66 run. Bumpers, tail light lenses, dash pads, heat-A/C controls. Headers are 1 year only, not because the FE was different, but the way that sucker sits in the frame, (still had to grind to fit Sanderson shorties). The Buick is a Riviera, 3 year run for the basic style, 1 year only on a bunch of interior and body parts.

 

I once owned a 1964 Riviera (traded a 1960 Crown Imperial, Winchester model 1895 and an upright piano straight across for it), so I know a bit about these beautiful cars, who styled them (William Mitchell).

Parts for all 1960's full sized Mercs (Marauders, S-22's and etc) can be hard to find, as the aftermarket sector ignores them.

Galaxies are a different story, I've owned 30 1963/64 Galaxie 500's, 500XL's. Prefer the 1963's styling over the 1964's.

I have an original 1965/72 L/M Parts Catalog (on microfiche), what parts are you looking for?

 

jIoKaLGst, the king pin on a 65' is located in a different place, so you will need everything form your doner. Every thing will bolt up. If the donor has it, you might as well grab the power steering box, pump, lines, steering column and parts - just in case you want power steering. In some ways, Ford made it very easy for us............

 

jloktalGst, As noted there are more than one one way to add power brakes & steering to the ol truck. I have done several & helped with several more. Each time we used the complete I-beam set from the donor parked close by. I have parked the donor beside the receiver dropped & drug the beams across the ground & bolted them back up.

Each time that there seems to be an issue the poster writing the thread appears to have gone yarding or bought parts here & there.

If you have a good skill level like Garbz, please don't follow my advice, go buy parts. If not so much buy your donor harvest your parts then get rid of your donor.

If you are a rich jet copter pilot, get a better than you attitude, buy everything online, & have it your way. Then you can poke fun at folk just trying to get by.



John

 

Thanks for the info and advice. Now I wonder how long I can have the donor sitting in the yard before the wife notices? Probably get one with a topper to keep the weather out since she'll makes me sleep in it!

 

mine lasted 2 weeks

 

Your my hero....mine hears it coming down the street on the flat bed!

 

They all complain until your project is an eye catcher and something to be proud of. Then they fight you to drive it.

 

I'm in the middle of this upgrade myself, read all the articles and learned that like the old saying goes "there's more than one way to skin a cat". I think the approach all depends on the individual and resources, the problem I had with finding a donor truck is steel prices have gotten much higher and anyone can get $450.00 just to crush so most people want around $600.00 and up for a donor and you'll need to either tow it yourself or pay someone, add that to the desire to find a donor truck that has your drive train and after four months of looking I decided to go the bone yard route. I got my junkyard to pull the complete front end and steering column for $150.00 since this isn't an easy job to do by yourself without a lift and while laying in the dirt.

As others have noted I was missing some parts so I've had to make two trips back to the yard to find some of the items I either forgot or didn't realize I needed but working on my truck is a stress reliever so I don't mind some extra trouble. I also decided it wasn't the wisest decision to put 35 year old brake parts in my nearly 50 year old truck so I went to the parts store and bought new rotors, pads, calibers, brake lines, master cylinder and booster which cost me about $400.00 so in the end I could have bought one of the online bolt up kits and come out about the same money wise.

I think if I was a really good mechanic, bright with parts and knew how everything goes together I would have just gone once to the junk yard, pulled everything I needed and bought all new "wear parts" and king pins using what I pulled for core exchanges and left the old I beam suspension under the truck, I've never replaced king pins and I've read they can be tough but I didn't see any advantage to swapping the I beams and other steering components other than giving me the opportunity to replace all the rubber parts.

I'm still not to the end but I'm getting closer, there's definitely some fabrication work to do and this project is not for the faint of heart or those without a fair amount of time and patience but the truck was a bear to drive with manual steering and drum brakes and I hope to end up with a decent driver so I can't wait to see how it does when I'm done. I also took the time to wire brush, rust treat and / or paint all the suspension, frame and wheel wells while I did the conversion so even if it doesn't work well it'll look pretty!