Thanks for the pictures, hopefully you can save the Y-block. Knowing the way most farmers were back in the day, there is a fair chance those keys have never been out of the ignition, at least not often. That bed sure didn't get much abuse! The tire rack in the bed is something I looked all over to find the pieces to complete, if you don't use it, someone will be looking for it. It appears to me that you have found a pretty complete truck in very nice condition. Could you post more pictures of the dash and cab please?

 

Best place for keys? My dad thought so, always left them there and got mighty pissed when one of us kids "did the right thing" and brought em in the house.

 

Looks like a great start. Brake parts are readily available, so should be no problem to renew the drums if that is your plan.

There are after market drop axles and other options for lowering I think. I am not an expert of this for sure. I don't know of any other straight axles that exist than would lower it. Good luck.

 

Finally had some time to pressure wash the underneath and exterior. Here are some pictures.



It came out pretty good and I am very happy with the patina. Took the farm bumpers off and I think I will get about 5 mpg more but now I need to add another inch to the drop calculations.

Ok, time to get serious and pick some brains.

1: I am going to rebuild the 292 and use the T98A with different gears in the rear end to give me more top end with less rpm. Better 1st gear for normal driving also. The goal will be to have the engine and engine compartment to look like it rolled out of the factory but in the meantime, I may want to drop another motor in so I can meet my august show deadline and drive it. I don’t want to cut anything and a chevy motor is out of the question. My question is, what Ford motors, if any, can I mate to the stock frame engine mounts? I heard a 352 would fit with front mounts. Is the bellhousing compatible with any other engines?

2: Before I pull the engine/tranny, I want to get an idea of how I am going to get the proper stance on the suspension while the weight of the motor is there. I know I am going to move the front and rear axles to the top of the springs. I can make my own hardware to do this and it looks like I might get around 5” or a little more of drop. I am going to have to notch the rear frame but that is not a problem. I can cut and bend all the metal myself. Question is, what are your opinion on how I can get me about 2 or 3 inches more up front and rear? I think that will get me the stance I am looking for. I want to use as many of the original pieces of hardware as possible as I plan to attend and maybe show it at the local rat rod gatherings and want to have the hood open. (1965 or older parts viewable from the engine compartment means keep the hood closed. Using old parts and mating them is ok though.). I have seen the posts about removing leafs, flipping leafs, and flipping the main leaf ends. I haven’t dug into the last one much yet and was wondering if that meant flipping the main leaf only or taking the spring in and having them re-arch it the opposite. What would happen if I only flipped the main leaf? For the rear, I figure I can just block it or try removing leafs.

3: The farmer I acquired the truck from said it is all original. My question is about the shock mounts. This truck has the mounts on the frame but not the axles. Did they roll out trucks without shocks? This was a farm truck so my thinking is maybe they didn’t have any to begin with. Are a set of original mounts (not repro) something you think I can find?

4: The 292 has a Holley 2 barrel sitting on it but there is an old (bottom is rusted out so I can’t use it) oil bath air cleaner sitting on the battery box. It obviously didn’t mount to this carb unless I am missing a piece between the carb and air cleaner. Does anyone have a photo of the stock air cleaner?

5: I want to move the gas tank to free up room behind the seat and get a bigger tank. Did Ford make a secondary tank for the 57-60 F100s? A tank I can rob from another Ford? I can use I want to keep it factory looking, especially if I have to cut in a fill pipe on the bed. I am going to try and find a way around that. I may even keep the original filler neck and cap for looks. Maybe a fill pipe straight up in the front left corner of the bed behind the spare time mount. Has anyone toyed with this?

6: What internal mods have you done to a 292 to get more grunt? It will be a daily driver but I want some go when I need it. Is it worth my while to find a stock 4 bbl intake and carb vs the 2 barrel I have? I’m not gonna race it and it has to be original looking. With some other cars I have built and worked on, I found swapping them out didn’t really give me what I was looking for unless I bought an aftermarket 4 bbl. If that’s the case, I’ll just open up the 2 bbl as much as I can and keep it.

7: The exhaust manifolds are gone. I would like to run some sort of header. I either need to make my own (pain in the butt) or find an older setup. Ideas?

8: I am going to pull the cab and do some sheetmetal work on the floor and corners. I see there are a lot of vendors out there with what I need. Any vendors to stay away from?

9: I would love to see what you guys have done via pictures.

 

Some answers below each question:

1: I am going to rebuild the 292 and use the T98A with different gears in the rear end to give me more top end with less rpm. Better 1st gear for normal driving also. The goal will be to have the engine and engine compartment to look like it rolled out of the factory but in the meantime, I may want to drop another motor in so I can meet my august show deadline and drive it. I don’t want to cut anything and a chevy motor is out of the question. My question is, what Ford motors, if any, can I mate to the stock frame engine mounts? I heard a 352 would fit with front mounts. Is the bellhousing compatible with any other engines?

Seems to me that rebuilding the 292 may still be the easiest way if you don't want to cut. Although some engine mounts are available that bolt on.

2: Before I pull the engine/tranny, I want to get an idea of how I am going to get the proper stance on the suspension while the weight of the motor is there. I know I am going to move the front and rear axles to the top of the springs. I can make my own hardware to do this and it looks like I might get around 5” or a little more of drop. I am going to have to notch the rear frame but that is not a problem. I can cut and bend all the metal myself. Question is, what are your opinion on how I can get me about 2 or 3 inches more up front and rear? I think that will get me the stance I am looking for. I want to use as many of the original pieces of hardware as possible as I plan to attend and maybe show it at the local rat rod gatherings and want to have the hood open. (1965 or older parts viewable from the engine compartment means keep the hood closed. Using old parts and mating them is ok though.). I have seen the posts about removing leafs, flipping leafs, and flipping the main leaf ends. I haven’t dug into the last one much yet and was wondering if that meant flipping the main leaf only or taking the spring in and having them re-arch it the opposite. What would happen if I only flipped the main leaf? For the rear, I figure I can just block it or try removing leafs.

I am not an expert on this, however I can't see a way to put the front axle on top the springs. The axle will be interfering with the engine big time. I think you will either need a drop axle or an IFS of some kind.

3: The farmer I acquired the truck from said it is all original. My question is about the shock mounts. This truck has the mounts on the frame but not the axles. Did they roll out trucks without shocks? This was a farm truck so my thinking is maybe they didn’t have any to begin with. Are a set of original mounts (not repro) something you think I can find?

Should be easy to find the mounts. They bolt to the front u-bolts that hold the springs to the axle. Anyone on here that put an IFS on there truck likely still has them laying around. See the picture below, not a great picture, but you can see the mount on the left.


4: The 292 has a Holley 2 barrel sitting on it but there is an old (bottom is rusted out so I can’t use it) oil bath air cleaner sitting on the battery box. It obviously didn’t mount to this carb unless I am missing a piece between the carb and air cleaner. Does anyone have a photo of the stock air cleaner?

See carb comments below.

5: I want to move the gas tank to free up room behind the seat and get a bigger tank. Did Ford make a secondary tank for the 57-60 F100s? A tank I can rob from another Ford? I can use I want to keep it factory looking, especially if I have to cut in a fill pipe on the bed. I am going to try and find a way around that. I may even keep the original filler neck and cap for looks. Maybe a fill pipe straight up in the front left corner of the bed behind the spare time mount. Has anyone toyed with this?

I put the gas tank below the bed where the spare tire goes. I used a 1969 Mustang tank. Lots of pictures of this and other information in my gallery. Ford Truck Enthusiasts User Gallery
I suspect that you will have to mount a tank ontop the bed if you want to lower the truck that much. I also think you will have to raise the bed floor or notch the bed as well as the frame for the rear axle.

6: What internal mods have you done to a 292 to get more grunt? It will be a daily driver but I want some go when I need it. Is it worth my while to find a stock 4 bbl intake and carb vs the 2 barrel I have? I’m not gonna race it and it has to be original looking. With some other cars I have built and worked on, I found swapping them out didn’t really give me what I was looking for unless I bought an aftermarket 4 bbl. If that’s the case, I’ll just open up the 2 bbl as much as I can and keep it.

These truck engines are limited by their ability to "breath". The truck heads have very small valves and the cam is designed to pull stumps. I suggest you conside finding the top half of the Thunderbird version of the 292/312. 4BBl intake, heads with bigger valves. etc. This is what I did and it raised the HP quite a bit: ECZ-C heads, 4 bbl intake, 4 bbl street carb from summit racing, street cam from John Mummert, dual exhaust (I have original ram horns), petronox ignition with a hot coil. I estimate that the HP went from ~ 185 to maybe 215.

7: The exhaust manifolds are gone. I would like to run some sort of header. I either need to make my own (pain in the butt) or find an older setup. Ideas?

Ram horns or aftermarket headers are available.

8: I am going to pull the cab and do some sheetmetal work on the floor and corners. I see there are a lot of vendors out there with what I need. Any vendors to stay away from?

I had good luck with Dennis-Carpenter

9: I would love to see what you guys have done via pictures.
See my gallery.

Hope this helps and good luck.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm looking to do 2 things motor wise. Pull the 292 and take my time to find all the original parts to rebuild it right the first time. Secondly, drop a temporary motor in it to get it on the road. There is a huge rat rod show here in August and my band is one of the acts. I want to haul my gear in on my truck.

There are running 352's around and I know this was a factory option. Just need to know if the 292 frame mounts and bell housing would need to be changed. If so, I'll find a small block Ford and bell housing and fabricate my own mounts that sit on the stock frame mounts.

For suspension, I'm gonna need to measure from the axle to oil pan and rear pumpkin to bed and see how much clearance I have. There are several posts where others have done the axle over with a 292 which only mentioned the c notch in the back and altering the pitman arm, shocks, etc. what motor do you have? IFS and not using the stick front axle is not an option. I think I can use aftermarket drop spindles without being disqualified but I'd like to stick with old school techniques and parts.

Thanks for the shock diagram. Am definitely missing parts. Anyone have input on whether some trucks came without shocks?

For the gas tank, if there is no room under, I'll stick with stock.

Thanks for the info on the Tbird setup. I can use anything '64 or older and still show the engine compartment. As this only on the Tbird? OEM numbers anyone?

As for the ram horns, would you know the specs on outlet size?

Thanks again.

 

The springs of course, actually perform the function that most people tend to think the shocks do. They used to call them dampers, maybe a better term for them, their function is basically to stop the truck from bouncing up and down for a half hour after hitting a bump or chuckhole.

All trucks came with shocks, they had to!

 

Comments

For suspension, I'm gonna need to measure from the axle to oil pan and rear pumpkin to bed and see how much clearance I have. There are several posts where others have done the axle over with a 292 which only mentioned the c notch in the back and altering the pitman arm, shocks, etc. what motor do you have?
I have a 292 with a T98 trany.

For suspension, I'm gonna need to measure from the axle to oil pan and rear pumpkin to bed and see how much clearance I have. There are several posts where others have done the axle over with a 292 which only mentioned the c notch in the back and altering the pitman arm, shocks, etc.

I have trouble believing you can get an 8" drop and not have interference with the bed.

IFS and not using the stick front axle is not an option. I think I can use aftermarket drop spindles without being disqualified but I'd like to stick with old school techniques and parts.
Where are the rules coming from? Maybe I missed something.

Thanks for the shock diagram. Am definitely missing parts. Anyone have input on whether some trucks came without shocks?

No trucks without shocks.

For the gas tank, if there is no room under, I'll stick with stock.

Depends on the magnitude of the drop. Just looking at the picture I put in the previous post, if you raise the differential 8" (5+3 drop), it looks to me that the tank would be below the differential and in my opinion, that would be dangerous. You could easily tear a hole in the tank if you hit something or drove through a fairly steep dip and the rear drug. The pictures in my gallery will give you an idea. On a side note, if you do install the tank like that, I have a folding rear license plate and that is where my fill nozzle is located. It works pretty slick and does not hurt the bed with a hole.


Thanks for the info on the Tbird setup. I can use anything '64 or older and still show the engine compartment. As this only on the Tbird? OEM numbers anyone?

I suggest looking in the 1957 or 58 range on the T-bird.

As for the ram horns, would you know the specs on outlet size?

IIRC they have a 2" outlet flange. HOME*********************** Y They were used on the school buses and COE's.

Thanks again.[/QUOTE]

 

I jumped under the truck with a tape measure when I got home. The way it sits right now, I have 7” between the front axle and frame rails on both sides and 8” between the axle and the oil pan. Moving the axle to the top of the springs is going to give me just a hair over 5”. That will give me an inch clearance to the pan bottomed out. I’ll start there and see what it looks like. I will have to move the bump stops so it stops just short of hitting the frame. If I want more, I will use drop spindles. By rules, I am referring to the restrictions for showing at the rat rod shows here. It has to be 1964 or older, no billet anything or led gauges and if you have aftermarket parts visible in the engine compartment, the hood has to stay shut. Basically whatever you see, has to be old school. Repro stuff is cool if it looks correct.

In the rear I have 10” from the top of the pumpkin to the bed. Flipping the springs get me the same as the front (a little over 5”). Again, I will start there and c notch the frame and then play with the springs to get the max I can without hitting the bed. I’ll make sure I have some good bump stops. I know the ride will not be optimal but the rougher it rides, the less my daughter will want to drive it…..

I am very puzzled about the shocks. The lower mounting plates are not there. Maybe someone robbed them from the truck for something else though the ubolts are too short to fit a plate. I must be missing something but it won’t matter as I will replace what is missing and replace the ubolts to whatever length I need.

I’ll have to address the gas tank options once I get the stance where I want it but I do like the filler behind the license plate idea.

I do like the look of the ramhorns. That looks like the way to go.

Finally had a chance to sit at the computer (vs my phone) and view your gallery. Very impressive.

 

What a pretty truck!

 

Like I said I am far from an expert on lowering, I learn more every day. Sounds like it will fit. It will be important to size the bumpers to keep from hitting the oil pan. It will however hit the bumpers on every turn (mine does on sharp turns now because I took a leaf out of the front) so be careful and good luck.

 

So I think I have some more answers and a few more photos.

Today was a perfect day for fiddling with the truck. I decided to put the axles on top of the springs and see what I need to fabricate and to get a good idea of clearances and what the stance will look like.

I think I know why I don't have shock mounts. When I took off the first ubolt nut there was only about 1/2 inch of threads showing. That got me looking closer at the springs and I noticed it had 9 leafs front and rear. The rear has 4 that look like they were stock and 5 that seemed to have been added to the bottom. The 5 additional are about 1/2" wider than the other 4 and were placed under the metal clamps that are bent around the leafs to hold them together. In the front, I can’t tell what leafs are extra and what may have been stock. Can someone tell me how many leafs would have been on the front and how many on the rear? This would explain why there is so much arc in the springs. It was a farm truck and all I can think is they added leafs to allow more payload and eliminated the shocks to avoid buying new ubolts.

Sooo., I flipped the axle/springs and lowered the truck until I had the stance I like and still have clearance between the front axle and the oil pan and the frame, and the rear axle and the bed. I will have to keep the front springs pretty stiff as there won’t be a lot of flex room. I will have to c notch the rear as I expected but otherwise everything fits.

So currently the axles are not connected to the springs and are sitting on the ground. The truck is sitting on blocks at the height I want. The springs have so much arc that I didn’t need jack stands. The springs are sitting on 4x4 blocks (3.5”) in the front and a 4x4 and 2x4 (5”) in the rear. There is now about 2.5 to 3 inches of gap between the springs and axles. I am hoping eliminating the extra leafs will get me close to where I want to be. I can then fabricate new spring hangers and/or shackles to fine tune it. In the rear, I’m gonna have to use air shocks or hide some helper airbags as I intend to haul my music equipment in the back.

The front frame under the front cowling is about 11” off the ground, the bed and cab on the sides sits at 10”, and the bed height is about 20.5”. This is what I am shooting for once the springs are attached to the axles. I am posting a picture with me standing next to it for reference. I am 6’3” and the picture makes me look like I am 7’ tall.

I’ll post more as soon as I get the suspension buttoned up. I will need shock plates first though.

 

The pictures didn't post... Let's try again.

 

Hmmmmm. frustrating. I labled all the photos twice now... I'll just try posting 1 photo.

 

Looks like a very productive day. The stance looks great.