>
>Tim, ... I'll race you after you have won over the BBF John.
>He's the one looking for trouble.


Happy New Year Kai!

I offered to race you for several reasons:
1. You have an engine in your truck now, and
2. You're far enough away that I will probably never have to go thru with it. Especially with the stock tranny....
3. I can already run circles around BBF John, even with this wimpy flathead V8 He's not looking for trouble, he's just looking for his torch to cut something up for the next mod.

On a slightly more serious note, your truck is looking good - I personally like orange - if you're gonna' get attention, get LOTS of attention!

 

Kai

I had a little trouble following your driveshaft length issue. You can't really get an exact figure off a website for any modified drivetrain application. I know I am going screw this up but here is an attempt at an explanation. Couple points:

You are correct, exactly correct shaft length is not imperative as long as it doesn't bottom out.

Two variables you are concerned with are total suspension travel and also where the travel occurs in relation to level. Picture a jacked 4WD truck. The shaft angles down and all of the suspension travel must be accounted for in one direction of yoke movement into the trans. My truck sits lower than some. As my rear suspension approaches full compression (up travel bottom out), the last part actually causes my shaft to go over center and actually begin to slide the yoke back out of trans. Therefore my ideal shaft length potentially should be calculated differently than yours.

Put the truck on jacks and put some weight in the bed. Family members work well for this. Measure and see where you are at for a starting point. Hopefully your shaft is over length and can be shortened to match your engine/trans location. Don't make your engine trans location match your driveshaft length. I have shortened shafts in my garage with simple tools and they have held up to big blocks and drag slicks. Though I prefer it professionally done with a balance.

Whats the point of all this? Two trucks with the exact same distance from the trans to the differential may in fact require a shaft with a half inch or so different length shaft. Not a huge issue, unless you push your luck on the long side.

Speak up if this sounds like babble and I'll explain further. I'll give you my 2 cents on the crossmembers in a separate post.

'fenders

 

<<<What I really do not like about the engine x-member is that you actually bolt it in, weld it there and you cannot get it out again for painting.>>>

Kai

Is your frame boxed? Did you or someone remove the original Ford X-member? That's another potential debate, back to your question for now.

You can install a bolt to the part that swivels. Disassemble, paint and re-install. Welding it is probably best but a couple short welds would be sufficient IMO. A small touch up to the paint job with X-member on the truck if you weld. It is easy to remove if the frame is boxed, even if the X-member is fully welded..

The X-member is well designed as is IMO. Folks have used that style for decades. You shouldn't need to re-invent it for a SBF application.

Last point. Someone mentioned stainless bolts above. You better remember the stainless lecture you received. 18-2 S/S bolts are not appropriate for chassis or ANY high strength applications. EVER,EVER,EVER!!!

'fenders

 

'fenders,

... not sure to understand your point about driveshaft.

As I mentioned I have an exact fit driveshaft which was used in a 55 F100 with SBF, C4 and 9". That's exactly what I have, too.

I have used this 3/4" to 1" joke slip info from the driveshaft web sites to put my engine and trans where I believe it belongs.

Since my truck is not lowered and taking the max axle up movement into account I would say my joke will not slip out again when I reach the max travel. However, to be 100% I will take another look at it. By the way, my family won't be enough to really load my truck and make him hit the axle bumper. I need more kids.

As for the x-member. My frame is not boxed which means that the x-member when welded will not come out again. Therefore I was thinking about cutting it in half and bolting it back together in the middle. The engine rubber mounts are just attached with one long 7/16" (or even the next smaller size) on each side. That appears to be not that much, but that's also the way I guess the stock Ford mounting was / is.

As for the S/S hardware. Do you really count the engine and frame x-members to be part of the chassis and the stress a chassis gets ? With all the rubber mounts etc. I have a hard time to see the stress here. So why not use S/S bolts here ? Yes, I remember the last lesson you gave me on S/S and its strength (or weakness). Don't beat me up for asking the questions here again. When I got my F100 the engine mount for the SBC it had was tack welded in just two tiny spots. Four nice fine threat 7/16" S/S bolts on each side should be better than that. Or are you taling about long term fatique (is that the correct spelling ?!?!).

 

Kai

I don't mean to beat you up. I shouldn't have said that. I understand there is rubber involved in a motor/trans mount. Yes I count this as a high strength application. It probably requires a Grade 5 bolt. I use Grade 8 and it's probably overkill but I pay less than a dollar a pound for them in many sizes.

'fenders

 

'fenders: S/S bolts for x-member: YES or NO !!!

Sorry for making your first day in the new year so miserable that you have to take care of this German who lives so far away that you have no need to care about him (even so you do, I hope, don't you, pleeeeaaasseeee).

LOL

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 01-Jan-03 AT 04:02&nbsp;PM (EST)]Sorry for making your first day in the new year so miserable that you have to take care of this German who lives so far away that you have no need to care about him (even so you do, I hope, don't you, pleeeeaaasseeee).

LOL

Kai

Of course I care. Ask yourself this question before you ever use a S/S bolt. If the bolt should fail, is there any likely hood of auto accident, injury or catastrophic devastation to your wallet? If the answer is no, then you may use any fastener you like.

If you are waiting for me to say it's OK to fasten a 1000 drivetrain with a grade three bolts, it will be a long wait for you. See the other thread.

'fenders

 

OK, 'fenders, I will not use S/S for the mounts. I will buy some metric bolts in Grade 8.8 tomorrow. And please don't be upset. I did not mean it.

Here's the latest as of 30 minutes ago:

I mounted the radiator and the headers just to see how much space I have. Looking at the radiator (original but with German re-core) I have a hard time to believe that the engine will ever get warm.

http://www.ford.gmxhome.de/f100pic23.jpg

And here a shot from the underside. The x-member is looking pretty good already. Just figured that the exhaust is pointing right at it. Right now I plan on routing the pipes over it. There's still plenty of room to the floor so that my feed should not get that hot. I hate the looks when exhaust is hanging too low.

http://www.ford.gmxhome.de/f100pic22.jpg

Just one hour in the shop this evening, but lotsa success. At least I think so.

 

Kai

It looks very good so far. Is your engine completely level? I was unable to accomplish that due to transmission clearance. I agree, the radiator looks quite sufficient for a SBF. What kind of headers are you running? I think Mustang shorties will clear easily. Maybe a change down the road if you have too many problems with the current setup.

'fenders

 

'fenders,

... don't know what these headers were made for (guess later model Full Size Ford Pick Up), but will ask my buddy (the drag race 55 F100) who sold 'em to me. He got 'em new. I will post it here for oethers to read.

I really don't feel that there's a problem with these headers. They drop in without any ding or dang, all bolts are accessible. Also the spark plugs are easy to get by. From the reducers to the tranny x-member is quite a distance. So I will swing up a little with 2 1/4" pipes and put the mufflers pretty much between the frame rails with front half of muffler still under cab and back half under bed. From there I will use 3" pipes (as I have a set of Flowmasters with 3" in- and outlet) and plan to exit infront of rear wheels (both exhaust tips on driver side as it is not legal to have tips facing to the right - we still have people walking on sidewalks here in Germany and they don't want use to puke on them) or I may exit to the rear just at the rear end facing down (i.e. no tailpipes). Maybe I'll keep it extra simple to start with and then see how it looks / works. Later I plan on using S/S pipes and mufflers (again for the rust free reason). I also see who coats headers here in Germany. Should be cheaper than getting a new coated set from the States. Also headers are too bulky to hand carry coming home from a business trip.

I do enjoy the progress and its tuff to stay in the office which is only a few steps away from my garage.

 

Kai

Those headers look just fine. I thought you had mentioned you were concerned about getting the pipe routed past the crossmember. If that's of a problem, then great!

'fenders