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Hi guys! New to the forum, looking to do a father / son build...I apologize in advance for the long first post!
Been lurking a bit, thought it best to just join and say hello.
My son just turned 11 and we decided to build a truck, he really likes the 68-72 f100. (May have been a bit of Dad's influence). I have a 98 mercury mountaineer as a donor vehicle. We are going to pull and build the engine this winter and I plan on switching from efi to carb (Weiand Stealth intake, 600cfm carb), massage the GT40P heads a bit, looking for suggestions about a cam...basically a nice cruiser is what we're after. Plan on upgrading and using the transmission with Baumann electronic controls. Don't have a truck yet, just putting the plan together.
Timeline is 6-7 years, thinking this may end up as a high school graduation present. Budget is $7-10k, gonna have $2k+ in the motor alone plus machine shop dollars. This is the biggest project I've done yet, built a motor for IH Scout, swapped motors on Bobcats, but have never "built" a whole vehicle.
1. Cam suggestion? Reliability/driveability more important that power.
2. Can I swap the rear axles and use an offset rim to make up the inch or so difference?
3. Is the budget too low? Had to lowball a bit to get the wife onboard with it...
4. What am I not thinking of?
In response to question #2, changing to a Dentside ('73-'79) or Bullnose ('80-'86) 9-inch rear end will put the rear wheels out to the same track width as the front wheels. The spring perches and lower shock mounts would need to be moved inward on the housing by 2 inches per side to line up with the Bumpside leaf springs/shocks.
Unless you find a '68-'72 F100 that someone has put front disc brakes on, they will only come from the factory with 4-wheel drum brakes. '73-'79 F100s or '75-'79 F150s make good front disc brake donor vehicles for a Bumpside F100.
Thanks for replying. I'm trying to figure out if I could swap a Crown Vic IFS and get front discs that way?
But my guess is I'm a year out before we are finished with the motor, it may be that long before I find the right truck. I'm not good at body work, so solid is a must!
If going with a Crown Vic front suspension, then you're going from a 5 x 5.5" lug pattern to a 5 x 4.5" pattern.
If you're wanting to stay with a 9-inch rear end, the best swap to make would be to get an '80-'83 F100 9-inch rear with the 5 x 4.5" lug pattern and move the perches/shock mounts inward.
This 9-inch will have the correct lug pattern (to match the CV front discs), the same track width as the CV front suspension, 31-spline axles and the desirable 'Torino' large axle bearing flanges at the end of the axle housing tubes. '95-'01 Explorer rear disc brakes, '94-'04 SN95 Cobra Mustang rear discs or Ford Racing rear discs can be bolted onto this rear end housing.
If you use an 80-83 9" from an f100 and you want to use the rear away bar from the same truck don't move the shock mounts or they will interfere with the sway bar. Cut a 1/2 inch out if your upper mounts and weld them back together and all will line up perfectly
I currently have the stock '69 F100 9-inch rear end under my truck with the stock narrow spread leaf spring perches.
I have a '79 Bronco 1-1/8" swaybar I installed on the rear. Technically, this rear swaybar shouldn't fit the Bumpside because it's designed for the wider frame spread of the '78/'79 Bronco. I biased the swaybar off a little to the right and straddled the swaybar-to-housing brackets over the leaf spring U-bolts to fit it up. It's been doing its job back there for a couple of years now.
The rear swaybar for a 9-inch under a Bullnose should look something like this.
In response to question #2, changing to a Dentside ('73-'79) or Bullnose ('80-'86) 9-inch rear end will put the rear wheels out to the same track width as the front wheels. The spring perches and lower shock mounts would need to be moved inward on the housing by 2 inches per side to line up with the Bumpside leaf springs/shocks.
Unless you find a '68-'72 F100 that someone has put front disc brakes on, they will only come from the factory with 4-wheel drum brakes. '73-'79 F100s or '75-'79 F150s make good front disc brake donor vehicles for a Bumpside F100.
The Crown Vic front suspension swap from an '03-'07 civilian model (P73 or P74) or the the '03-'11 police interceptor (P71) can be installed. The P72 Crown Vic taxi front suspension from '03 up is also viable. 2002 and earlier Crown Vics do not have the same front suspension as '03-up. (P7x-series designation/breakdown listed in link at the bottom of this post).
The biggest difference between CV police front suspensions from civilian models is the front spring ratings. P71 is rated for 710#. Civilian CV is rated for 440#.
'03-up Mercury Grand Marquis, '03/'04 Mercury Marauders and '03-up Lincoln Town Cars all share the same basic front suspension.
(In the following photos) '03 P74 civilian Crown Vic front suspension I bought in early 2012, along with a 3.27:1 Traction-Lok IRS from a '90 Thunderbird Super Coupe. --the original intent was to install them under my '69 F100 Ranger. As time went on, I just became reluctant to chop up my Ranger's frame to install them. If this was just a plain Jane base/custom model Bumpside, it might have been different.
Cam questions can't really be answered until you have the rest of the build worked out. When you know the pistons, stroke, etc. and can calculate compression, you can contact the major cam providers and they will help you pick one, but you need the build and intended use.
Main decision is mechanical or hydraulic flat tappet vs mechanical or hydraulic roller. A good deal of the improved performance of modern pushrod engines comes from using roller lifters.
A '98 5.0L Mercury Mountaineer will have a roller cam engine. If a carburetor is going to replace the EFI induction, the EDIS setup will have to be replaced with a distributor.
The transmission in the donor vehicle will be a 4R70W if the transmission code on the drivers side door jamb sticker is code "U". --if it's a 4R70W, this is a very good transmission.
My 14 year old son and I recently traded for a 1971 F100 longbed. Ironically, we have access to a 2000 Mountaineer and have been lurking the forum and pondering the same thoughts as you. At this point, I'd like to limit the scope of the project to making it reliable and safe, ie; upgrading brakes, new tires, and belts. Later we could build and swap the engine.
It may be a less expensive route to find a project some one has given up on, with some of the mods already complete, CV front suspension and etc. We have seen a couple on Craigslist.
Good luck with your father son project. We will be watching.
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