I like the idea to use the stock trans cross member.

Are those Dakota springs and mounts close to the stock length of the F1?

Absolutely arm chair truck restorations are the only way to go .

Overall no, F1s are 45" long and the dakota is 56", but the important part is the front half of the dakota spring to the locator pin is 24" vs 22.5" for the F1..so the front mount only has to move 1.5" forward of the original mount. The extra length is in the back. The dakota spring should ride much nicer with the extra length and only has 4 leaves vs the original 10 pack.
The amazing thing is the F1 spring is only rated for 1025 pounds and the dakota spring is rated at 1800, so even with a better ride I can haul stuff as needed.

Preparing for engine and trans mount fabrication..cab floor cut to verify firewall clearance and get floor openings set

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psa1881932.jpg

Firewall clearance looks good, right where I want it. EGR piping will be going away to clean up the back of the engine.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps7c7fdba4.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psaeafea91.jpg

More to come!

Small update today, planned on getting more done but found another project car on craigslist I had to have, so there goes the day picking it up and all the loose parts. Still more to go back for tomorrow.
So today all I had time for was the engine mounts, made them removable since it was easy to do.

Made patterns of pieces to mount to the factory jaguar pads. I always use a solid mount on the drivers side only, keeps the engine from moving and I have not seen any difference in vibration being transferred to the car. I have a bunch of "plastic cardboard" that I use to make patterns. Tubing in the mount was cut from some scrap tubing I had around.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psba2a1244.jpg

Plates cut from 1/8" steel. Last week I was at a swap meet and a guy was selling a military truck steel tool box, super heavy for $10..grabbed it just to cut up for stuff like this.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps1bbd1a4d.jpg

First piece tacked in

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps61b2bcc5.jpg

Second tacked in

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...pse3a2dda8.jpg

Boxed and fully welded. A bit overbuilt but better safe than sorry.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps81d67199.jpg

With the first mount in place the engine was allowed to sit on that mount and I used the hoist to lift the engine to get it level side to side. Tacked in place the 2nd mount pieces, standard rubber mount on the passenger side.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...pse1a789f6.jpg

Fully welded and installed

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps974e0b39.jpg

Engine in place. Oil pan bottom is level with the bottom of the frame rail so no worries about scraping anything. I dont like anything hanging below the frame if I can avoid it. Hopefully get the trans mount done tomorrow and then I can get back to the rear suspension.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psb9ec9fdf.jpg

That engine really sits high! Are you bagging it?

No bags on this one, just a nice lowered truck. Engine looks high but in reality the crank centerline is not much different than the original. Just looks high because the jag crossmember is so much lower than the original. LT1 is a very compact engine to fit in the camaro and corvette, any lower and it would look too low when the hood is open. The mock up pictures show the top of the intake will be around the 2nd rib in the firewall, still lower than the flathead.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps23ebd06f.jpg

Made the trans mount this morning.
Removed the factory crossmember, first mod was to open it up for dual exhaust, I want the pipes up in the frame and not below the crossmember.

Before

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps3f906038.jpg

After

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps8c1cb016.jpg

Slid the crossmember back just behind the trans and made a pattern for the mounting tab, transferred to steel and welded on with some support tabs.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps1931a8e0.jpg

Installed, worked great.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psd84bdfc3.jpg

Engine at 3 degrees down with the frame level

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps7c88a19c.jpg

Just have to drill the holes in the frame to bolt the crossmember into its new position, should look pretty much like a factory install.

Nice Build. Thanks for sharing.
RE: steering u joint. That Jag unit looks similar to 2003-up CV, GM, Linc. witch in my opinion are junk. I wonder how a 95 to 2002 intermediate shaft would work?

That unusual "Z" steering joint is designed to allow the suspension to move on the elastomeric crossmember mounts without binding or giving bump steer or feedback to the steering wheel to give that famous Jag luxury ride experience.

Ill be interested to see what you come up with for the tranny cover. Always nice to see a different way of doing it.

"Z" joint has been removed, eventually will be a coupler or a ujoint off the rack, will depend on how close the exhaust is to the steering shaft. Right now mockups with the LT1 exhaust manifold look like they will work but I may go with rams horns manifolds or headers. Steering column is probably going to be a 63 caddy unit I have on the shelf with the caddy steering wheel, they just look cool.
Trans cover will be a new tunnel, probably extend close to the length of the cab. With the rear mount shifter plans are to run bucket seats and a console to cover the tunnel.
Dash is also going to be custom, I have a 1956 Ford passenger car dash I plan to shorten and modify to fit.
Rear suspension is next on the list, no time to get back to it until probably Monday.

Ford does have a recall on that type of steering linkage.
Ford recalling 370,000 Crown Vic, Grand Marquis and Town Car models - Autoblog

When you cut the dash in your truck, try to cut it out as one piece. It could be resold to someone who's dash is cut up.

That is the plan, may or may not leave some metal up at the windshield to connect the new dash to but the overall dash will be removed in once piece.