Hi guys,

My '60 is an I6, 2 wheel drive. My '62 chassis is a 4X4 V8 with no body. Does anyone know for sure if I can literally put the '60's cab and front end on the newer chassis without mount modifications? Crawling around and roughly measureing seemed to show that it was an easy swap. I'm getting closer to starting this project and I'm getting cold feet.
Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Nick in WI

 

yes you can put your body on that frame. However i do think you will have to move the mounts just a little bit. I have a 59 2wd body that i adapted to a 61 frame and i had to make some minor adjustments to the mounts. In fact i think i cut the mounts off of my 59 frame and put them on my 61 frame. dont really remember though. It was a long time ago. That and my truck was rusted extensivly so i had to rebuild the floor which might have changed my cab a little.

But now back to the question yes it will work. will it work with out mount modification i doubt it but you would have to take some careful measurments to be sure.

 

Thanks for the reply! That makes me a little more comfortable. Looks like I'll do some more in-depth measurements from underneath and then take some real detailed measurments once the cab and front end are removed- probably run some strings then check elevations and widths from front to back.
i'm lucky in the fact that my '60 is rust free and the '62 chassis is almost completely rustfree.
Nick in WI

 

Guys,
I bought a detailed schematic once that detailed all the hard frame points on a 68 Torino GT. It was used to verify positions and distances for collision repair. Has anyone seen something like that for these F100's?
Nick

 

59FlatbedFord,
I crawled underneath to measured the cab mounts underneath the '60 and they are about 2" shorter front to back than what the '62's cab's are. The '62's front cab mounts also have a saddle on them which gives them about the same amount of 'drop' off the top of the frame if I put a level across to measure down from. Thankfully the width of the two frames are the same. I couldn't really get a good measurement from the front mount up by the radiator to the cab mounts. I'll try that when I get the truck in the air and maybe hang some plumb bobs to measure between. Such fun.

Nick

 

yea if i remember right i had to move the mounts around but just take lots of measurements and make sure to get them square and in the right spot then i just tack welded mine on and im going to drill them and bolt them. If i remember right the 61 frame i had some sort of big spring loaded bolt thingy mabob on the front clip so i just cut them off and used the ones off my 59. let me know how it goes and remember we are all picture holics around here.

 

59flatbedford,

I'm swapping chassis' because the 62 chassis has all the 4X4 stuff in place and I like the fact that all the suspension points are cast iron/greasable. The 60 has stamped connection points and only 2wd. I never measured to see if the transfer case stuff and front axle could just be swapped to the lighter duty 2WD frame... maybe I should to make it a much simpler project. The truck isn't meant to be an off-road warrior for me afterwards. Is that wrong thinking on my part?
Why did you put the older body on the newer chassis?

Nick in WI

 

for the same reason you are i wanted 4x4. the only thing with adding the 4x4 stuff to the 2wd frame would be you would have to locate and drill the mounts for the front axel and add a transfer case xmember. take a look at my gallery to see how it my swap came out there is pic of it mocked up on the new frame.

 

Hi 59flatbedford,
Took some measurements last night and found the only two dimensions the same are the width of the chassis and the distance from the center line of the bellhousing crossmember to the back edge of the front engine mount crossmember. EVERYTHING else is different- widths, lengths, and elevations. I'm needing to reevaluate the project some. Just swapping out the I6 for the 292 and installing a T5 in the 2WD seems pretty tempting...
Swapping in the transfer case crossmember and then sticking the 4wd axles underneath the 2wd springs and underpinnings seems a little too light-duty. I'm stuck in the mud for now.
Nick

 

well you might take some measurements and see but you could take the 292 and swap it in and then the transfer case and the front axle swap and just swap the springs and all in. You might also look to see if the body mounts are different from frame to frame. the frames are the same width and the same shape i believe so you might be able to take the mounts off the 2wd frame and put them on the 4wd in the right spots and your good to go. I believe this is what i did on mine.

 

Keeping the 62 chassis: I'd have to swap cab mounts for sure due to the differences in width center-to-center while keeping close attention to the changes in elevation. The radiator support mount on the 60 is 3/8" below the top plane of the chassis while the 62's radiator support mount is above flush by about 1/2 inch.
Keeping the 60 chassis: The transfer case crossmember sits in an area of the 62 chassis that sweeps up at an angle to meet up with the flat portion of the frame that the rear cab mount and box mounting points are located.
The 60's frame is almost flat on the top of the chassis from front to back. The only place it drops in height is right at the radiator support mount.
The leaf spring fixed mounting point lengths are about 3 inches different (longer on the 62) so I'm pretty sure the newer springs won't go into the 60's mounts because the shackles won't allow for the extra length and suspension movement. I could replace the 60's light duty leafs with a heavier duty set though.

Nick

 

hmm yea idk over all i think it would be easier to but the mounts from the old frame on the 62. you could always adjust accordingly to get the height right. but then again im not standing there with the tape measure in my hands so its up to you.