Jim, I wouldn't get too worried about this. Mike was chosen because he was club treasurer when we set this project up. If it gets to be too much we will make other arrangements. But so far his duties have not been demanding.

It will not be Dan as he already has several chapter and FTE duties - he is the busiest one of us. Nor will it be me as I am the Chapter Leader, and I also refuse to handle money. Under the established rules it has to be someone involved in the project in a major way - so far there has not been strong financial support for the project.

We also agreed to keep details of the project private - that is, only those who have contributed major parts and or money to the project can ask about the finances.

I established these rules on my authority as a chapter leader, based in no small part on my experience as a fund raiser and project manager for several local projects. It is my thought to keep things simple, and to maintain a written record of project finances.

I do hope you and the other chapter members find these arrangements satisfactory, if not we can discuss different arrangements.

Clint Wilcox, Chapter Leader

 

Clint, I am not worried about this. I don't care who handles the money. However, if Mike does not want the job, then a replacement should be found. If only three people in the club can have that position, and two refuse, then I guess that leaves the third one, no matter how busy he is. Unless he refuses, then I would imagine Mike will be stuck doing it whether he wants to or not.

 

It would be useful to understand the forecast budget. I dug back through the threads, but all I can find is that it will be a mudder (maybe). Can we get an idea of what this '72 will look like? If we have a well defined objective and plan, perhaps more money could be available.

I know that these rigs can be budget sinks (I've got one myself sitting in my driveway). But the project could at least have a target and expected expenses identified. It would make me feel more comfortable about contributing.

What are the goals of the project and where do we expect the big ticket items will be? How much money is needed and what is the goal of the build?

I've kicked in some, but could add more. I just need to know where it is going. Point me to previous threads if that would help. Help me out here.

Chet

 

Chet, basically, the project idea came after a meet in Winnemucca Nevada, when Clint (WillyB) got the mud in the blood so to speak. Unfortunately, I was unable to make it to the meet due to a death in my family. Skipped_link competed with his monster of a mud truck an easily won. Clint was inspired by the event and began researching what it would take to build one of these monsters, and discussion began among chapter members. Next thing you know, efforts went into finding parts to put together to make this thing work.
It is a Northern Cal Chapter project, and eventually the intent is to use it to compete with adjacent chapters. Probably in an event to the East, like Nevada again.
Nevada Chapter made some comments about what using a "truck" means, and the rivalry began. All in fun, of course.
It's just kind of a fun thing to do, and has proven to be a great catalyst in bringing a sense of kinship to the Northern Cal Chapter IMO. A worthwhile venture as I see it.
I have met with you Chet, but I wish you could have made it to the recent meet in Lodi. We had a pretty good showing, and were able to put faces and personalities with the names of the members that were able to come. A great bunch of people, and I have heard from some of the members that showed, that first hand experiences regarding other members unable to make it, that they are super people too.
I think that if you go back through past threads, back around the mud bogs threads, that you should get a bit of history, and follow the consecutive threads thereafter. There were a few, like Engine Pull etc...

This is history according to Tim. Other perceptions may differ slightly. Glad to see you back Chet.

 

OK, most of the posts on the project have the words "4X4 Project" in the title. We did go over the mechanical specifications when we started. We did not do a financial budget as there was no way of telling just what we would be needing.

Our goal is to make a mud racer that will compete with whatever the Nevada, the Southern California, and or the Oregon chapters have. Given the difficulty in finding a suitable place to hold this race, the truck is being build such as to meet the requirements for a "Street" entry at Rattlesnake Raceway.

As the other chapters get to chose one segment of the competition, we also need to keep the truck trail ready.

Mostly, we have a 1972 F250 Ranger XLT for a base platform. It has a good title and can be licensed in California. There will not be any smog problems.

Our power comes from a basic 460 V8, through a C6 automatic transmission and a married two speed transfer case. We are running a 4.09 ratio on the rear with limited slip. The front is a hy-pinion 4.10 ratio. It is currently an open gearset, although we are looking for a Detroit locker or a Ford limited slip set of gears. There is also some discussion about just welding the gearset - that decision will be made after we get it running.

Tires and wheels will be 33X16.5. The tires currently installed are ok for road use, but we will need off-road tires for competition.

We have enough parts to put the unit on the road. Power steering is an option I would like to add, and we need to find a street dominator 4 bbl manifold.

Some people want to add a set of headers - for myself I like the idea of an open exhaust with each cylinder having a short pipe dumping into the open. Again, that decision will be made when we get it running.

We need some steel pipe to make a headache rack that will double as a roll cage. Dan has a Front bumper, but we should consider making up a rear to match. It currently has stock bumpers.

We do not know the condition of the engine, the transmission, or any of the 4wd stuff. It is possible any or all need major repairs. If not we will spend any extra money on speed equipment for the engine, or on tires.

According to Skip, our current set up is powerful enough to spin 33 inch tires "at will".

 

I have been on the road almost this entire past year (Tokyo, Phoenix, Vegas, Penang, Newport, Manhattan, and a bunch of other places) Sorry I haven't kept up.

My son is a mudder from way back in Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas. He could get really interested.

What is needed to win?

 

Just posted and lost a long report on the project. FTE eats a lot of my posts!

We do know what we are doing, how were are going to do it, and the expected results. I will give the site a few hours to file my post, and if it remains lost will attempt it again.

Clint

 

OK, found my post. problem is that we have two threads running at the same time. Dan, would you combine them? Lets remove the sticky note too - we will do a clean copy of it.

My answer is at https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...st-update.html

Anybody with any questions please post to that thread (this is a sticky note!)

 

If I have some steel pipe delivered, how much do you need and what dimensions are desirable?

Cool

 

Mike, one more shot at this thread so you can account for what I have so far.
Showing up at Carson City PicknPull:
Bdox (Bruce)
Fyre82 (Rich)
Skipped_Link (Lee Roy)
Me, of course
A friend of Lee Roy, but I forgot his name.

Time flew, so I really don't recall how much time was involved, but I would guess that we were there for approximately 6 hours? Of course some of that was scrounging around for our own stuff too.

Mike, you sent me $200, and I payed the difference in the complete engine and trans. I still have to find the receipt to get a full $ accounting.

The only other thing I can think of was the trip over the hill to deliver the stuff.

Oh yeah, I also contributed a flywheel, valve cover, Dana 60 rear end, flat plate between eng and trans. That's all I can think of for now.

T

 

On the pipe, see Dan off-line on this. He needs to get the truck set up to know just what is needed. I am thinking something "H" shaped just taller than the cab, with room to run some off-road lights below the top bar.

Also, some of these trucks have the radiator moved to the box, We will want to leave that option open. (Use the rack to hold the radiator.)

Skip is pushing 750 horses, and his radiator is just some extra pipe under the box - no radiator at all!

 

Fist of all, I too wish to have no part in handling the money...I don't do well with money and have no wish to be responsible for other's hard-earned bucks...

Secondly, I have a roll bar for the truck so we don't need to build anything like that for it. I also have a set of chome spoke 16.5" wheels I'm donating, and made arrangements just a little while ago to pick up a power steering box (for free). I have a tire guy who will most likely make us a good deal on some used tires when we're ready for them, if nothing turns up in the meantime.

Tim already donated a set of headers, Mike has them along with the engine. Individual zoomies would be cool, but hard to cork up for the street. (This truck is supposed to be street legal as per the afformentioned rules as I recall.)


This is getting rather confusing as we have so many different threads relating to the project. I'm for combining them all into one. It might be a bit confusing to wade through but it would be pretty much one-stop shopping for all the info regarding the project...

 

Hey guys, sending an email to the dollar contributors in a few minutes, check your inboxes....

 

Email has been sent.

 

Dan,

Let's just start a new "sticky" thread, and post rules for content...you can delete any non-relevant posts at will..this way, we can just track the progress/info of the truck.