Yeah I checked out your channel, both videos are pretty sweet. Looks like you were getting some wicked wheel spin. Definitely would be a blast for sure. How much power is that 408 cranking out?

I do miss the window hissing noise haha. Haven't heard that in our truck for quite some time.

 

Both windows were down for both vids so I'm not really sure what caused the noise haha. I miss it too, not only is it too damn cold to roll them down here now, but most of the time they're froze shut anyway! It's my buddy's channel, I'll have to get some up on my own soon enough.

It'll spin clear through 1st and 2nd without touching the clutch, just flick the throttle. Pretty sure if I shift to 3rd hard enough it would light up through it pretty good too but I didn't want to hurt the T5. It's a handful when you nail it at 35-40mph in 2nd and it'll go squirrely. Really have to do something about traction when I get the TKO put in it. Not really sure on the numbers, I have an idea but never had it on the dyno so I don't really wanna say. Don't wanna sound like one of those "500+hp!!!!" blowhards that you see online all the time haha. All I know is there's a bit more in it with some tuning and a lot more with a nastier cam. But for now I'm pretty tickled with it.
Might get it on a chassis dyno this spring as well, will have timeslips this year too

 

I can't wait. That thing goes!!! I was showing a few friends and I was like that is why I will always take a gasser over a diesel for the hot rodder in me. They asked me what it was an I said "oh just a hopped up 351W, you know the one that's in my truck". Jaws dropped.

Definitely would like more info when you can get it though. I'm actually surprised that the T5 is holding up under all that torque. From the vid it looked like you went 25-70 in 2.5 seconds while spinning hard. I'm impressed man, well done.

 

Thanks a lot! I had bought a 460 to rebuild for this truck but, tons will argue this, dollar to dollar comparison a sbf stroker was cheaper and could still make a ton of nuts. Besides, if I want to get REAL crazy someday the 460 is always oiled up and under the bench.

The little T5 has done pretty well for itself, since it spins so much that's what has kept it alive. I don't powershift or anything either. It spins to beat hell and still seems to motivate pretty good. I will eventually get some traction somehow haha. Doesn't matter how often I drive it, that truck just makes me grin every time.

 

A 460 would be nuts but I've always been more of a small block guy anyway. My dad is the one that likes the big blocks. Eventually our F250 will be back on the road. Mechanically, its sound but it needs a body pretty badly. we have slowly been getting parts over the years. I am going to make him swear to stop driving it in the snow when it gets done. I know he wants a father-son project...he has been subtly hinting at it for a long time but has never come out and said it.

Yours goes good for being a small truck. The only thing I'd suggest is to bring the front end up, I'm not a big fan of the uneven, front lower than rear look unless its very minimal, but that's just me. Otherwise very nice work. It makes me itch to work on ours but its just not in the cards right now.

The T5 is a good transmission but you are right in saying it won't stand up to a ton of abuse. As long as you are easy on it, I'd assume it would hold up well. Spinning is only helping it right now but if you could get that power down better and quick shift it will, that thing would haul even better.

 

I think the most recent pic I have of it was right after I'd lowered it a bit. I put in 2" drop coils in the front and 3" shackles in the back. It settled out nicely a week or two after the pic was taken. Honestly I really don't much care for the level look, makes the truck look heavy imo. I like the old muscle car stance but this spring I'm going to take a leaf out of the back as I too think it's still got it's a$$ stuck up in the air a bit much. I like the lowered muscle truck look, but slammed just isn't for me. Just a nice subtle rake. Someday I might have dream beams under it with some steamrollers on the back.

Should definitely do a build thread on the F250. I love seeing these trucks brought back!

 

I'm all for the muscle car look but on a truck I like a nice aggressive stance with tires just sticking out from the sides looking at it from the front.

I will do a build thread when and if it happens. I made a general thread on it but got a bunch of crap because the body was toast. Like I didn't already know that. At least it drives fine, and its the one in my avatar. Some day it will look like it used to again (this is it mid 90s)

 

Never could understand why some give others flack about things like that. Happens with anything though, I get people that'll pick out flaws in the paint. They're not supposed to be perfect! Restore it 'n floor it!

 

The frame is perfectly fine save for some minor flakes where the ebrake cable mount attaches to the rail on the drivers side. Otherwise nothing comes off it rubbing your fingers over it. They labeled it a total loss. Lolwut...its whatever. Our truck, our money. Anyone else can shove it :lol:

The body has been almost entirely replaced several times before however due to living in the rust belt. The tailgate is going on number 4 (original was stolen actually), front fenders on number 3 etc. Cab needs an entire floor and corners...might as well replace the entire thing. Box is starting to become shot despite a lot of patching we did about 6-7 years ago. Like I said, it needs a new body but we have an entire front clip for it including doors and interior trim. Its my dads baby and he won't buy another end of story.

This is how it sits these days. Yes the hood closes. Tires are snow tires/rims. This is the clean side, passenger front fender is basically gone. But even still, it doesn't look all that bad. I do have a replacement bug shield and the respective parts I mentioned previously. I also have the chrome bumper (original) as well. That goes on in the summer with a pushbar. I think the box was replaced at one point, though im not 100% on that. I'm well aware that it needs work but its mechanically sound, runs strong and drives fine. Once the work begins it should be fairly straight forward. Dad can get the new body painted for free since he has friends in the business (did it before). He said maybe once the body is fixed he might think about putting a motor in it. Wants an injected 390 or 460 SVO.

 

I'd like to see these "complete loss" guys have a look at the box from my flareside before we fixed it, or the '85 Bronco when I took the carpet out. Dad and I have brought things back from the dead and we're by no means professionals!

 

It's the most rewarding I think. My brother bought a '52 Pickup from the back of a barn in Idaho for $800 when he was 13. (We get our license at 14 1/2 in Idaho) He daily drove it for 7 years. I bought a 1946 ****** from a guy who found it in 2 pieces in the desert, and I still love that jeep, it has the original engine and will still fire up if I were to go out and try. It's rough as hell, but anyone that sees it on the road can't help but smile.

There's something special in the time we take to work on these trucks. It personally reminds me of my grandfather, and it's how I keep him close now that he's passed on.

 

Couldn't have said it better. The things I've learned from Dad and my old truck in the last few years are more than any school could teach in a lifetime. It's stuff that ya never forget.
People often ask me "Think you'll ever sell that truck?" Yeah right. I wouldn't trade that truck for the world.

 

Amen, brothers. And, since mine is Dad's truck I think of him frequently when working on it. Was literally just thinking "Gotta use Dad's ridge reamer to take the ridges out of the block from his truck." I remember which tools I got from him and the advice I got with them. These things are special.

 

Dad's likely gonna see this at some point, but once I'm done school and get myself a job I intend to get at his '69 Firebird. We've done a lot to that car together but it sort of got put on the back burner since my new affliction with these old Fords. He doesn't mind but I think it's just about time to make something really hairy out of that old General.
There's a 455 Pontiac block sitting on the engine stand in the corner that I sure haven't forgot about, paint and body is last on the list. It'll be my way of paying him back. Of course, I can't make it faster than mine!

Might have seen it in the pictures in the background, but here's the '69. It's a 355 Chevy with a 4 speed right now, but it's going to have a Poncho engine in it someday soon.



Here's our '79 Trans Am too. Can't forget this one. 403 Oldsmobile with an automatic. He's owned it since 1985, it's all original and never been restored. I don't think it's ever seen a winter - a REAL survivor. Repainted once the original colour back in '89. I took this car to my high school prom. This one's Mom's favourite of the bunch. It's not noisy, it's not a stick shift and it's not hard to start and drive even when it's cold. She calls it her car and we don't argue

 

One of the beauties of the Ponchos is the interchange of parts. The 455 outta fit. And TORQUE!

As for the Trans Am, I was walking through a little bitty town in Italy, one of the Tuscan hill towns with a wall around it and there sat one just like that. Several guys around it trying to get it started. But it made me wonder how they even got it in as the corners where right-angle and TIGHT.