1955 F100 restore on a budget. Any suggestions/advise?
#16
04-09-2014, 11:15 PM
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Lamar Colorado
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Hey Brian,
An easy on your budget upgrade is the rear end. We also have a 351W engine & we paired it up with a Ford Explorer 8.8 rear axle with 3.73 gears for easy cruising. The rear swap is pretty straight forward - a weekend or two. We bought the salvage Explorer axle for $125. If you pick the right year you get rear disc brakes & a non-slip differential (nice).
The front end upgrades are much more involved & expensive so if you can live with a refurbed stock front end your pocketbook will be happy.
Good luck over there in Colorado.
Ben in Austin
1950 F1
An easy on your budget upgrade is the rear end. We also have a 351W engine & we paired it up with a Ford Explorer 8.8 rear axle with 3.73 gears for easy cruising. The rear swap is pretty straight forward - a weekend or two. We bought the salvage Explorer axle for $125. If you pick the right year you get rear disc brakes & a non-slip differential (nice).
The front end upgrades are much more involved & expensive so if you can live with a refurbed stock front end your pocketbook will be happy.
Good luck over there in Colorado.
Ben in Austin
1950 F1
#17
04-09-2014, 11:34 PM
Hey Brian,
You just have to reposition the shock mounts & move them to wherever you want them positioned. We also moved a Bed Brace up above as we wanted to attach the shocks there. You may also need longer Ubolts to work with the 8.8 (can't recall). We also bought some spacers to get the wheels sitting right in the fender.
If you get the disc brake 8.8 you will want to change out your Master cylinder to accommodate disc brakes.
Good luck over there.
Ben in Austin
1950 F1
You just have to reposition the shock mounts & move them to wherever you want them positioned. We also moved a Bed Brace up above as we wanted to attach the shocks there. You may also need longer Ubolts to work with the 8.8 (can't recall). We also bought some spacers to get the wheels sitting right in the fender.
If you get the disc brake 8.8 you will want to change out your Master cylinder to accommodate disc brakes.
Good luck over there.
Ben in Austin
1950 F1
#18
04-10-2014, 10:09 AM
The 8.8 is a good choice if you look for one with a suitable ratio already inside (best ratio depends on tranny, type driving you plan on doing). You'll need 1" wheel spacers, but that gives you the chance to change bolt patterns to match front. If you go with rear disks then you'll need to convert front to disks as well and you'll definitely want to add power booster. For a real budget build I'd either find a 9" rear or an 8.8 with drums and stick with drum fronts on the beam axle. DON'T use drum fronts with disk rears!!!! Disks are NOT significantly better than drums, except in special cases, especially when talking budget. There is a snowball effect with every change you make!
Sounds like you didn't read or take to heart my post on making a plan, you are still talking making changes without solid use based reasons.
Sounds like you didn't read or take to heart my post on making a plan, you are still talking making changes without solid use based reasons.
#19
04-10-2014, 10:46 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Medicine Hat, Alberta
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Sea sprite; Listen to AX-he knows what he is talking about. Any change to a vehicle will mean a whole bunch of other changes. Most of us learn that one the hard way. Anytime I think I am getting too clever I look at my '66 F100; a budget build that went 300% over budget!! I wish I had had someone like AX around when I put my head into that particular bag of bobcats!
#20
04-11-2014, 06:31 PM
Cargo Master
KISS (keep it simple stupid) go with the 4 wheel drums. A careful consideration of rear end gears will make the 351 inches a little easier on fuel. Make it safe and driveable then do mods later on if you want. Try to avoid the long term project if you can, it can make you lose interest quickly. Good luck
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