FAQ on adaptability of components –

This thread is intended to be a repository of information to be used to put together a tech article intended to be an FAQ on commonly adapted components for 48-60 Ford trucks, primarily F1s and F100s but if the information is forth-coming, we can certainly cover the larger ones.

Whilst I have some knowledge of the 53-56 years, I have no knowledge of the 48-52 and 57-60 series trucks. I welcome any and all assistance especially on those years.

Our intent here is to come up with enough information to put together a tech article consisting of approx. one page per major component which identifies the year and model of donors for these major components that people know can be easily adapted to our trucks. Each donor component should have a brief summary of any special considerations or the level of effort required to make said component work.

The components we’ll cover will include;

Gas tanks
Electric windshield wiper assemblies
Steering columns
Seats – bench and bucket
AC units/assemblies
Heaters?
Radiators

I am open to other suggestions, but we will not cover IFS or rear ends – they have already been well covered in past tech articles.

There is a large quantity of this information already in this forum’s history. I am ready to begin researching past threads on these components, but would welcome a few volunteers on this, so we could split up the list amongst several us to get through it a little quicker.

So, this is a formal call for volunteers –

For research -

I’ll do gas tanks (because I did extensive research on them just a few months ago)

For shared writing duties –

For proof-reading, formatting, layout -

Additionally, if anyone wants to contribute information now on these items, plse feel free to post it in a reply in this thread.

Lastly – George – Would you be so kind as to sticky this thread?

Thanks,

 

What is the stock location of the gas tank on the 48-52 models and on the 57-60 models?

Thanks,

 

On the 57 -60 the stock tank is behind the seat on the trucks..

 

on the 48-52 trucks the tank is behind the seat also, with the inlet on the passenger side.

Bobby

 

Great! Thanks guys.

New questions - (gas tank related)

48-52 and 57-60

What's the free width between the rear frame rails (for a gas tank to sit between and how wide is the lower horizontal edge of those frame rails (so we know how much we can trim if necessary)?

What's the free "length" from the back of the cross-member right behind the rear end to about 3 to 6 inches short of the rear edge of the frame rails?

As you can see guys, we're trying to provide info for everybody, not just the 53-56 guys.......

Thanks,

 

ok the open space behind the seat on a 1960 is 27" high 6" deep and 63" wide.. but the usable space for a tank.. ( I had a larger custom tank made ) is 20" high 8" deep up till a support bar at 16" than its 6" to the full 24" high.. and 63" wide.. So I went from a 12 gal tank to a 16 gal tank with buffers.. ( And buffers make a big diffrence ) Ho ya.. the neck is at 20" ..

 

Mad,

Thanks for those measurements (and we will use them) but it was rear frame rail measurements I was after.

 

I'm currently out of town and will probably not have a chance to take any kind of measurements from my truck until Sunday. I will gladly kick in any measurements that I can. I installed a fuel tank from a mid 80's Chevy Blazer in my truck.

Thanks for keeping both us 48-52 and the 57-60 crowds included in your quest!!

I applaud your efforts and push to get these Tech Article projects off of the ground. Nice job!

Bobby

 

Bobby,

No big rush. I'm only half way through the research and rough draft (as I go) on the gas tank portion of it. (Did you know that there are 275 threads in this forum with " gas tank" mentioned in them?)

We had some complaints on some of the other tech articles that we didn't give enough/any thought to the non-53-56s. (And it was a valid complaint)

I like doing tech articles in the winter. Good excuse to avoid freezing my butt off in the garage. Besides, I ain't as smart as guys like Ax or 286merc or some of the others....so what I lack in knowledge (quite a lot) I try to make up for with research and tech article help...(and some people think I'm just the forum smart aleck)

later,

 

for what it's worth, an isuzu trooper gas tank is supposed to fit between the frame rails on a 48-52 f1, but the frame may need boxing to hold the extra weight. read it on another website.

 

I'm actually looking to fit a tank out of 80-96 full size bronco into the rear frame of my 52, I measured and it looks like it should fit with some minor trimming of the lower frame lip. I'll be sure to take pictures if I do actually do it.

 

The Gas tank on Panels is behind and below the driver, between the frame rail and the drive shaft this is also true for the Cowl and chassis configurations. Ta Da

 

They may have been smaller in the earlier years of the range you mention, but my 94 Bronco has a 32 gallon tank. It appears way too tall for use under a 2WD pickup.

 

About the only thing I need to finish the rough draft on the gas tank section of this article is the measurement between the rear frame rails inner edges on the 57 to 60 trucks.

Anybody?

 

Fenders, yes, I know the tanks are quite tall, I did my initial measuring off my 94 bronco. The way I see it is that I'm not going to mount my spare under the truck, and the tank wouldn't hang down any lower than spare did. I'd just want to put a skid plate over it much like or actually one off of a bronco. I may however use a tank out of a 80-83? Bronco that had the 22 gallon tank option instead of the 32.

Also remember that the truck I'm creating is not going to be a lowrider by any means (as of now I think its going to be too tall to even get out of my garage without airing down the tires a bit), so I'm not worried about ground clearance