While I await funds to proceed on my '77 F100 Flareside, my dad (aka POP) has stumbled across a low mileage 1985 F150 Lariat with 302, Auto with OD, PDL, PW, cruise, tilt and 61k original miles that he has decided he wanted to restomod and one day give it to my son (he's almost 5). This truck has been owned by the same family since new and in decent overall shape.



We (he) had originally wanted to keep this truck relatively stock and mod some things like the suspension (lowering beams), exhaust, tires and wheels, and maybe a color change as well as rebuilding the motor and transmission. Every October, we go to Cruising the Coast and this year ran into a guy that had a Bumpside F100 that he had restored. Upon talking to him, we discovered he had bought a Lincoln Town Car (same suspension and running gear as the Crown Vic) and used the motor, transmission, rear end and front suspension. He had also used the door handles and seats. He had done an amazing job and when you opened the hood, it looked factory. On the way home, my dad asked me if a CV swap was an option on his truck and that if we did that, we could buy a donor and use as much of it as we could. I started doing some research and found little information on the CV swap in a Bullnose, but had seen some completed trucks, so I knew it was possible but maybe not easy. We tore into the truck, removing the motor and transmission and getting ready for the build.


While we started disassembly, I started looking for a suitable donor. I missed a few good ones, but was able to snag an even better one (even though it had been smacked in the rear). The donor we got was a 2007 Mercury Grand Marquis with 65k miles on it. This this was clean as a whistle, runs and drives great, cold air leather, and even had a full tank of gas in it.

We were able to sell a bunch of parts off of this car to recover some money, as well as the original 302/auto trans. My dad is retired and has very little patience, so he was eager to tear into this thing.


When we got ready to pull the engine, we found out that on thes modular motors, you have to have some 'specialty brackets' that we did not have. We dug some scrap out of the metal rack and whipped these up.

 

Once we got the motor, transmission, rear end and front sub-frame out of the car, we continued the tear down. I found someone to build us a custom stand alone engine/trans harness and flash the stock computer to remove the PATs and emissions. We removed every wiring harness from the car. Even the fuel system will be all Ford with the stock fuel driver and and pump from inside the Mercury tank.

I have seen several different ways to remove the threaded slugs for the front end, but came up with one of our own.


When I say we stripped this car, I mean we WE STRIPPED this car. You have to recoup as much as you can, right??

 

The next thing we decided to tackle was the front suspension on the F150. First, everything that could be unbolted was removed.


Then, the grinders, chisels and punches came out to remove all of the rivets that hold the front suspension on.


And then the plasma cutter to make sure we got it all removed.

 

Last Saturday, we measured and marked and re-measured and re-marked trying to get this front end in the right spot. I think we got it where it needs to live, so we mounted it temporarily so that the boxing could begin. These newer frames (80 and up) are not shaped like the 79 and older frames and will require not only boxing of the frame, but also widening slightly of the top and bottom rails. To make sure that we could do this and not cause an issue, we decided to drop the motor and trans in to check for clearances.



This motor and trans fits in there perfect. We are even going to be able to reuse the cooling system (radiator, trans cooler and condenser) from the Mercury as well as the reservoirs. The stock F150 transmission crossmember is even going to be able to reused, just moved forward a couple of inches.

We had to remove the dash to get the old engine computer out, so we decided to see if the Mercury cluster would fit. Looks like it may be able to be reused with a little fitting of the stock F150 surround.

 

Very impressive....you and your pops definitely have some skills

 

Looks like you are well on your way to a nice ride.

Please detail what you have to do to the frame to get the CV suspension to bolt up.
So far there is only 1 I know of with good detail & pictures.
Dave - - - -

 

Thanks!

Will do. I have only seen completed trucks, but no detailed pictures. These frames are quite a bit different than the older trucks which means a little more work, but it will work.

 

Other than bumps & dents I have not seen a completed bull nose truck.
There is a member on here that is doing one and that's the one I said on the pictures.
I think I have a link saved on my PC and will check when I am back on it.
Dave - - - -

 

Here is pic of the frame width on these trucks. They are a little too narrow for the CV front end, but can be boxed to accommodate.

 

That's strange. Everyone else who has tried to put a crown vic crossmember in the 80-up trucks found out these truck's frames are too wide. They are wider than the 79-down frames. If someone can find the pictures that are already in here, it will show it plainly the problem of the frame being too wide on these trucks.

I wonder what the year spread is for the proper crown vic years for the swap? Did they stay the same till they quit making them?

 

Here's the thread with the good pictures.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...need-help.html

Looking at it again, looks like it fits ok, but the frame flares out in the forward part and there is nothing there to bolt to.

 

I couldn't find any build pics of these trucks and maybe a little glad I didn't. I measured and measured before removing the old suspension to make sure it would 'fit' and then knew I would be able to make it work. These frames differ quite a bit from the older frames, as well as differ from year to year. This truck does not have the crumple zone at the end of the frame horn and does narrow/widen at certain points, but this front end WILL WORK, but is more work. Plenty of room to box the frame, yet still plenty of clearance.

These front ends from 2003+ are all the same dimensions, but do differ in a few different ways. Some have stamped upper and lower arms, some have aluminum lowers and cast uppers. I have run across them all different ways, but the dimensions are the same. Commonly referred to as the Crown Vic front end, I have also gotten them from Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Cars of the same years (Panther platforms).

This thing does fit like a glove and this particular front end has stamped upper arms that had to be clearanced just a little to keep from rubbing the frame. Nothing a few touches with a flap wheel couldn't solve. I have started the boxing and if time allows will be able to get the sleeves installed this weekend and make it to where we can bolt it in. One thing about these frames, is that on the rear trailing arm mount, they will have to be 'frenched in' to the frame as I have removed the bushings completely and they are almost touching already. Not a deal breaker by any means, just a little more fab.

On another note, I have already obtained 2 more 'donors'. This makes 3 (2 Crown Vics and one Marquis) and they have all been the same color. I actually even have my eye on another low mileage unit, its silver too.


Buying a donor is the way to go. There are tons of these cars out there. When you buy a complete car, you can sell off the parts you don't need and get the parts you need cheaper.

 

A productive day in the shop. I was able to get the frame boxed and the front end mounted using the factory frame sleeves.



With these frames not being straight, the rear mounts on the CV front end need to be 'frenched' in, so we notched the frame and started the boxing (we will box this part of the frame for added strength). We ran out of time to complete, but we are getting there.



Boxes of parts have already arrived and more on the way. The harness should be here next week. The Marquis rear end was too wide for this truck, so we located one from an older Crown Vic that should be perfect. Once this is a roller again, we will remove the body and blast a prep the frame.

 

Looking good.
I like the way you did the frame. You did not cut the frame so no way of the frame getting too long or short like with another member did.
Dave ----

 

More progress on the build. We were able to get the cab and bed removed so that we can finish welding all of the boxing plates in and prep the frame for blasting and paint. Still need to box and weld in the c-notches and install the rear end out of an earlier Crown Vic so that we can make this thing a roller again.



As soon as the paint dries, we will get the new Nicopp brake lines ran, go ahead and modify and remount the fuel tank and run new lines to it. Then we can turn our attention to stripping the rest of the wiring out of the cab and get this thing ready for paint.