Picked this up a few weekends ago.

Plans include ripping out all the chevy stuff someone swapped in there and replacing with a explorer 8.8 with disc brakes and a crown vic independent front suspension with power steering and disc brakes. I am going to narrow the IFS by 2.5" and the rack so it fits the frame and track width fits the body.

Explorer 5.0 with a cam swap and EFI also planned mated to most likely an AOD.

 

Glad to see another one being saved. Looks like a good start on a plan for it. Welcome by the way.

 

That looks like a fun project, even if your plans sound a bit ambitious. Good luck with narrowing that aluminum crossmember and the rack to match. I'll be interested to see how you pull that one off and be safe to drive in the end.

 

Check out a jag IFS install before you go to all of that effort.

Other than that, your truck's level of patina is awesome!!!

 

Thanks and there are some writups on the interwebs on narrowing both the rack and crossmember, really doesn't look too involved. I love a challenge and I already have the IFS... so full steam ahead.

The Explorer 8.8 is nearly complete. New bearings, races, seals, and a diff rebuild.

 

Cool project, good luck

 

Updated version of "I saw this done in a cartoon once and i think I can do it..."
Changing the tread width changes the akerman geometry of the steering, and moving the pivot points of the rack can make for some funky bump steer. I hope you have a lot of experience welding cast aluminum, strong understanding of steering geometry, and machining, at least enough to trust you and your loved one's life to.

 

Cool thanks... I <3 internet experts.

 

I hear what you're sayin', and worse than internet experts are internet addicts.....and what we see is a post about every other month of "yeah, I can weld ok, so I'll have a crack" followed 3 months later by a "project truck for sale" thread.

The other thing we hear a lot is "I installed a Jag IFS, and it took 8 hours and all my problems went away and I'm driving this thing as my only, everyday car".

We are actually trying to encourage you to successfully get your truck on the road.....bacause what we really want is, as many F1s on the road as is possible.

Even here in Australia, I've seen over 20 Jag IFSs that all drive around today, but not a single successful front crossmember shortening project.

All here wish you the best, and if any of our advice helps, simply repay us by posting pix of what works

 

I agree that safe and tested are the best. Experimenting is a challenge for sure. P.S. pictures of truck is very cool. I like. It has a '51 front clip. Dude

 

The "doom and gloom" is justified, history has repeated its self repeatedly on these trucks. However, peoples willingness to experiment and modify gives us today many different types of front end swaps. I say go for it! Just dont cut your frame. If you dont cut the frame you are out very little and one of the more traditional swaps can still be done.

 

Thanks for the comments. I feel adequately prepared to carry out the project.

Also I would like to point out that narrowing the crossmember and rack by the same small amount both from the center has nearly zero effect on the steering geometry. narrowing racks is something that has been done literally for decades in hot rodding and drag racing. Also the crossmember itself does not bear substantial load, which is why it is made of 1/8th inch thick cast aluminum in the first place.

But moreover, this is a more.... this looks like something easy to do that few people have done this way. Which is the kind of thing I like.

Some examples:
You can't rebuild a procharger yourself... wrong



smoothing your own engine bay is too much work


Canted vavle heads on a small block ford... that doesn't seem right


Doing your own body work... that will turn out like ****


putting together a 1000 hp small block... you can't do that


you can't build a T-5 to handle that kind of power


you can't legthen your own clutch fork


you'll never run 10s with those old lazy iron heads


assembling your own heads is hard


you can't build a 500 hp street car for $8000




Meth injection doesn't work on a positive displacement blower


That front clip wont fit right

 

tuning your own EFI with a blower is hard


you have to be an expert porter to port your own heads






Finished this in under a year

 

Solid roller cam using factory style hyd rollers

 

So.... can we move on to the project build now???