Projects My 1966 Ford F100 Resto-Mod

A little timeline of the frame.

Started with this...



Then sandblasted after being completely disassembled...



Primed...



and finally painted...


Should be alot of fun when I get all the other misc frame parts done and get it all put pack to get together. Finally no more dirt and grease lol.

 

Nice work! You're doing a great job!!!

You should join the 61-66 F100 Alliance here on the H.A.M.B.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=173

 

you're off to a great start,,,love those shortbed fords

 

Awesome! Just joined lol didnt even know there was a group for the slicks on here. Thanks for the invite.

 

Thanks Kustom, I love the swb alot more than the lwb, they seem more spunky when they have the right look.

 

Did the thought ever cross your mind to swap your rolling chassis out for an eighties Crown Vic?
I bought an 88 Crown Vic a year ago with 48k miles for a 71 F100 swap cost me $1000 bucks for the car. The Vic gives you a smooth ride, good brakes, a/c, auto, 5.0 power, and the wheel base is less than an inch off.
It's a shame that my chassis swap fell to the wayside and now my Crown Vic is the most reliable driver I have.
I am impressed with your build though.

 

No when I bought the truck I hadnt planned on anything too extreme like doing a frame swap but with the amount of work I have done so far to the frame I guess I couldve lol. When I started the initial plan for my truck I based everything off of the stock frame and worked with what was available as far as aftermarket. I have read about the Vic swap before though but I never really considered doing it. I had planned on actually putting in a 5.0 efi setup but decided to switch to the big block Cadillac 500 instead. Thanks for the compliment

 

Wow!!! $800 You really scored!! keep the updates coming!!!

 

Ya I jumped on it when I first saw the price, it was only on craigslist for about a day, went and looked at and bought it that same day. Should be some more parts painted within the next week.

 

Well I finally got the small frame parts painted silver. They turned out great and I couldnt be happier with it. Primed with 2 coats of epoxy then painted with 2 coats of SS Urethane. Very nice finish and feels great to do it all myself. I still have to have my kingpins pressed out and get my 9 inch cleaned up and then I can prime and paint the rear end and I-Beam setup as well. Here are the pics.

 

Thats it for now. Cant wait to start putting it back together.

 

WOW. Awesome attention to detail! I'd love to see some pics of that frame out in natural light.

Good job.

-Chris

 

Thanks CJ, I cant wait to see it out in the light too. Hopefully in the next few weeks I can roll it outside and get a real good look at it. I'll be sure to take plenty of pics.

 

Your doing a great job, I like the detail in your pics for the purpose of this thread. Excellent. I have a super super nice 65 SWB, and have had a 66 LWB for over 10 years. I am curious, why do they call these trucks slicks? I kind of feel like I am on the outside looking in but I know them quite well.

 

Thanks for the complimant. I really dont know why they call these trucks "slicks". Thats a good questions though lol, ill have to do some research on that.

 

Finally got everything painted for the winter. I got all of the frame parts painted so I am done painting, sandblasting, and priming until I start on the body and that isnt going to happen to till late next year at the earliest. Here are some pics.

 

Thats it for now. Hoping to have the TruTrac posi installed and the rear end put back together in the next few weeks. Will be going with 3.73 ratio most likely. Its going to be fun putting this stuff back together.

 

Looks good! You're getting a lot accomplished in a short amount of time.

An interesting swap is to use the front suspension from a 2004 or newer Crown Vic police car - it uses an aluminum crossmember that bolts in place, has modern suspension geometry, nice big brakes, and rack and pinion steering. Plus, it lowers the truck something like 5 inches. It's not quite a bolt in for the F-100 but it's pretty close. There's a huge thread about it here: http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/716058-buildup-06-crown-vic-front-suspension-into-67-f100.html

 

Its a very good swap because it gives you everything you need for a great price as well. The next time I get another slick I will try that route for sure. Wanted to keep it simple this first time around.

 

Got some parts in this week. The Bronco II gas tank and my rear leaf spring bushings. Also got some pics of the coil springs and leaf springs painted.

 

My Eaton Detriot Truetrac arrived in the mail today. Should be dropping it off at the speed shop within the next week to have the gears installed, etc. Only thing left for the rear end will be new drums, axle bearings, and rebuild the brakes.

 

What I want to know is, did you get rid of those awesome mini lamps in the interior?! If you didn't, and you want to get rid of them, send them to me!! Too cool. Love the DJM beams.

 

Lol the mini lamps broke in the process of removal, sorry lol.

 

That sucks, they ruled!!

 

Got the center chunk complete. New everything, new axle bearings and seals as well. Got 3.73 gears installed, he told me it installed really tight so it should stay nice and solid for a long time. Just got to finish cleaning out the housing and press the seals in. Its been cold here in IL so I cant get outside to pressure wash the housing out again so gotta wait till it warms up. Its clean but I can get it cleaner if I spend some more time getting it spotless. The cleaner the better. Next on the agenda is to work on the drum brakes. Gotta replace everything in that area including the drums. I will take the drums and have them powdercoated once I get them. I cant wait to move on to something else on this truck lol.

 

Looking good man. What are the plans for body color?