First i wanted to say hi and to give everyone some info about myself and what im about.

Im 28 years old and living in colorado springs I just purchased a 1960 ford f100 shortbed. its a custom cab, big back window with a standard side bed. It has a 429 in it, which seems to run very well. My plans for the truck are to put a volare (sp?) front suspension under it, and put the truck on the ground and to give it the rat rod look, but i plan on fixing all the rust and making the interior and exterior look as good as possible. For those of you who are interested the truck is not really restoreable without a huge ammount of work. The previous owner installed the 429 and cut the fire wall up pretty bad to make it fit. there is alot of sheet metal screwed to the firewall to allow for clearance, and he decided to install a sunroof in the cab, so the truck is not in the kind of shape that i would like for a full restoration. I am new to the whole ford thing, as i am a mopar guy at heart, but I simply love the 57-60 body.

so here are some questions that i was hoping i could get help with. Since the firewall is cut up, I have been looking for a aftermarket oem style firewall, or an aftermarket smoothy firewall for a big block. I plan on moving the engine forward about an inch to allow the engine to clear the firewall, and im going to use an electric fan for the radiator. I was thinking of just fabricating the smooth firewall and making a small inlay for the engine. I would rather just purchase one, cut the old one out and Weld a new one in place if possible. Does anyone know where i can find an aftermarket firewall for my body truck? or am i out of luck and just need to fab one up? I also have been looking at *** truck, and just ordered about $1000 worth of parts to fix all the little things that i need to fix like seals, and all the rust. Anyone know where i can find floor board parts. The floor has a couple holes, that i would like to fix...

Also i am looking for a wiring diagram for the truck. None of the lights or guages work in this truck. The wipers, horn, and heater all work. Just the lights and instrument panel doesnt work. I plan on ripping the dash apart this weekend to start tracing wiring, but a wiring diagram would help alot so i know what wire is supposed to go where. Any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks in advance for the help

also thanks to who ever emailed me the link to this forum....

 

Hey welcome to FTE! I was the "one" who got you away from that other site.... I don't remember anybody making a repo firewall(I could and probably am wrong).
http://www.classicfabrication.com makes the floor pans. About thw wiring, the previous owner probbly hacked some of the wiring for the new motor but, if you'd like I can scan some pages from the shop manual(you will eventually need one so get it). "nancy"-4speed

 

Welcome aboard! I can't help much with the modified fire wall and engine combo, but I heartily agree with 4speed about the shop manual - it's an absolute must and the best money you'll ever spend on your truck! Just click on the PARTS SHOP button in the upper-right corner of the screen and you'll go to MotorHaven, the parts place that helps support the FTE site. They have the shop manuals both in paper format and on CD.

 

Welcome to Ye Olde Forde Forum!

So you bought yerself a 'Fridge? Recently, the '57 - '60 F100s have been compared to vintage refridgerators! I've got a '60 also, and am new to Ford. I'm an Olds man at heart (my '60 Olds is my soul in physical form).....

Ol' 4Speed will hook you up w/some wiring diagrams, George "Earl" will give you a bunch of info on "how-to" and resto questions, and everyone else will pretty much just needle the crap outta ya! If you need cab corners and floor wells, John's F-Fun Hundreds comes to mind, and there are others, but it's 1:00a here daddyo, and I'm seein' things!

So you've got a big, fat 429 shoehorned in there? I don't know about aftermarket firewalls for our truck. Better break out your welder. And to be honest, you're going to get discouraged when you begin to realize that most vintage truck places supply up to '56, skip the Refridgerator, and pick up again at '61! But, that's what this forum is for...we all hang together, trade info, insults, and encouragement...and SOMEone always knows where to find what, or how to do it!

- Six

 

When you go shopping for your volare clip get one from a big car Mirada, fifth ave, new yorker.

 

Well guys thanks. i am a wiring wiz, and to be honest, it took me a long time to figure out that the "fuse box" plugs directly into the headlight switch on the 60 I looked at it for a long time, wondering where the other wiring harness was that went from the fuse box to the switch to get power down to the high/low beam switch on the floor. Today i got the tail lights (not brake lights) and head lights to work, with the high beams. The guy who had it before me, did mess alot of the wiring up. I still dont have any ilumination on the guages but im pretty sure i have that figured out, and I still dont have the front running lights working yet but that may be an easy fix, because i just have to trace the wires into the cab, and hook them back up. The blinkers i have no clue and after looking at it, my head started to hurt, and i felt my existance start to dwindle in to the murky abyss... so i think that shop manual is going to come in handy. I wanted to keep the wiring as factory as possible, and am in the process of repairing all the hacked up wiring in the cab, and in the engine compartment. I am a stickler for wiring, so the engine bay is going through some major changes. I have decided to put a 2 inch deep box in the fire wall to get rid of the mess i like to call my fire wall. I also work for a 2 shops here in colorado springs called BackStreetKustoms and Joule (father and son owned, and 2 seperate shops) and the owner of BackStreet is helping me with all kinds of things. He build custom cars for a living and has a 50 merc with a chopped top that wins all kinds of awards for paint and best of show. We have decided to pull the cab off the frame so i can do the firewall stuff, and fix the holes in the floorboard. Amazingly enough my cab corners are not rusted, and not bad at all. I am looking for a chrome grill (upper) for my truck, as the original met a tree head on, and looks pretty bad. I would really like to get a 57 grill that is in good shape, chrome is prefered, so if any of you guys have one lying arround, and its for sale, let me know. Anyway thanks for the help so far, and if someone could email me the wiring for the blinkers, i would greatly appreaciate it. I would like to get them working so i can drive the truck for a few days before i rip it apart...Thanks for your help guys

 

You'll need new fenders and a gravel pan to swap to a 57' grill. I'll scan the blinkers tonight(if I have the diagram) and send 'em. -4speed

 

Back Street Customs....did they recently put on a sorta "Billet Proof" show on over there in Colorado Springs? That's my kinda show and I saw it in CK Deluxe issue #7. The kool part is - I'm moving to Kansas in 2 weeks and I'm gonna make it a point to get my '60 over there for next years' show! If yer buildin' a ratrod, you know what I'm talkin'bout, Dad!

Enough of that - I wanted to mention that when you hook up the running lights, you'll know it's done right when they go out whent he headlights come on. If you want them on all the time, wire them into the tail lights! (A little somethin' I learned here last week

- Von Walp and the
"VooDoo Daisy"

Hey that sounds kinda kool....I think I just named my truck!!!

 

I was under the impression that the grill's were interchangeable. I know that the running lights/front turn signals are different. and i was aware of the lower valance being different, but i though i could still put a 57 grill on a 60 front end, as long as i knew that the lower grill wouldnt fit, and i would have to come up with a new set of blinkers/running lights for the front.

 

Yes it is the same shop u are thinking about. in the pics u saw, there is a tangalo orange merc with 3 sets of full body flames. Thats dave's car hes the owner of backstreet. he is the one helping me. I have been doing welding for him lately at the shop. that is my primary role there but basically I just do what ever he tells me to do haha.... I work in the backstreet shop, when Joule is slow. There is another show in like 3 weeks for the shop. another rat rod/custom show...

 

I also have another question. My truck has a "dash cover" over the dash. It is black and soft. It looks old, like it came in the truck. I have looked all over the junkyard for another truck with the dash cover, but i havent found one. Is that original or did someone add it?

 

Holy *****! You mean you have a dash cover! Don't even touch it! Take some pics. If it's factory you have one of the most sought after options for 1960.

 

Hi looks you have a lot of work on your hands. Nothing worse than cut up wires that you didn't cut. Good luck with your ride and welcome to the 57 to 60 world. Those dash pads were factory but only by special order never seen one my self. Can you post a picture of it? By the way your running lights on the front only work when the switch is mid way out if that is any help.

 

Dwain,

I think you're going to have to have a new firewall custom made. I know of no one that makes one for your truck. A few folks like Sacremento Vintage Ford have them for 48-56s and I doubt they could be adapted to your application.

The only possibility I can think of might be - Bitchin Products Inc.

www.bitchinproductsinc.com

However, I don't see them being that difficult to make and I'm sure the shop(s) you're doing work for could whip one up fairly easily.

 

Yea we are already talking about just finding a box to fit a big block and weld it into the existing firewall. I was hoping to just find a smoothy firewall. Its much easier to find one pre made then to fab one yourself, but either way, it shouldnt be too hard to make one. I havent decided if i want to make a full smoothy or just weld the box in for the engine clearance. I already found that the floor board is rusted up pretty bad where the front cab mounts are . I have to pull the cab anyway...might as well do it the right way...