Neighbor across the alley from me has had a '53 F-1 sitting in the weeds in his back yard for the last 10 years or so. Finally knocked on the door and talked to his wife about it. She said he'd probably be willing to sell it, in fact he had a deal with a guy a while back for $4k that fell through.

He just bought another old car so the timing is probably prime for a deal.

She told me it has a 429 and an LTD front end. It needs dug out and pulled out before I can really look at it but looks like it was probably done in the 80s or 90s. She said it was running and driving when he parked it. Looks to be complete. I saw bubbles on the cab corners. What's a project truck going for these days? If he can get it unburied I'll tow it over to my shop so I can look it over.

I'm totally unfamiliar with the LTD swap so I'm wondering if any of you have seen that. I'm thinking that if the work was well done it could be a good buy, if not it'll probably need a new frame.

My plan was for a crown vic front with some modular engine and a 5-speed.

We have a '49 F-3 on the farm, would I be able to scavenge frame bits from that if needed?

 

Ltd swap was probably a cut off the front frame on both vehicles and graft the Ltd frame to the F100 frame........ going to make a crown vic swap a lot harder I would think.
Ditto on the new frame if it is a not so good frame graft.

 

If the welds appear good and install straight is that a decent front end to have? I'm not a fan of a big heavy engine in front of a small pickup, I like my stuff to handle decent

 

Any idea of what year ltd ?

 

My 53 has an '87 Lincoln IFS (same as LTD) under it and I love it. I put it in before putting the truck on the road in '08 and have put 90K on the truck. Couldn't ask for much better ride or handling.

 

If the 429 came from an LTD: 1969/73. If the engine turns out to be a 460 from an LTD: 1973/78.

LTD "downsized" in 1979, only engines available: 302/351W

1977: The IDIOTS at FoMoCo renamed the Torino: LTD II causing all sorts of confusion with the general public, garages & body shops. It thankfully passed away after 1979.

LTD (full size) name replaced with Crown Victoria in 1983 because FoMoCo came out with a new Fox body mid-sized, calling it an LTD. More confusion!

 

Be sure you can title it -- if front frame has been cut the original numbers could be gone. Not sure if a 53 has them on. Front frame. Have fun

 

I have a 71 LTD front frame section welded into my 56 frame. I gives you a strong cross member under the engine as well as engine mounts, power steering, disc brakes, etc. The bolt pattern is 4.5" so that goes with a 9" rear out of a passenger car. I have not run into any issues with the LTD except it requires a front sump oil pan and header clearance to the steering gear is close, but do-able. There were several photos in my gallery, but it seems to no longer exist.

 

I have a 56 with a 70 LTD/429 swap. It was a popular swap years back and there are still many around so they seem to be ok.

I have no issues with it except for the mismatched bolt pattern. It seems that full size Fords in the early 70's had 4.5" bolt pattern and that's what mine is. My rear is out of a 72 Torino with a 4.75'" pattern.

The front rotors can be changed to a different bolt pattern so it's not that big of a thing.

Do you know if you need to have it inspected in your state? You may run into trouble with that. It rides nice and goes straight down the road so as long as the welds are good it should be fine.

 

I had a 77 I think on my first 55 it was done correct I did not do it. I loved it and it was smooth had the 351 in it. The only problem that I had was that the brake pedal was on the left side of the steering column and was a while getting used to. The truck was very nice. I would not be afraid of it if the swap was done correctly. Good luck on it.

 

No such thing as a 4.75" bolt pattern. Both the 1970 LTD & 1972 Torino came with 5 lug wheels on a 4.50" bolt circle.

The LTD wheels are 15" while the Torino could have either 14" or 15" wheels.

Pic: B is the parts catalog symbol for Torino. F is Mustang.

 

I've never seen a 4.75" on a Ford, but there was a 5" pattern on some early 70s Lincoln Continentals.

 

That's probably what it is. He probably just measured wrong. On the 5 lug pattern you don't measure center to center. So if he did that on the 5 on 5" pattern he would have gotten around a 4.75" measurement.

 

i was mistaken. The front is 5" and the rear is 4.5".

I was just trying to point out that there is a difference in the bolts patterns on my truck. I may have the axles drilled for 5" or change the rotors so that they all match but for now I will live with it.

 

5 lug wheels on a 5.00" bolt circle:

1973/76 Torino Police Cruiser & Thunderbird/Continental Mark IV / 1973/78 LTD/Grand Marquis / 1973/79 Lincoln Town Car.