Projects My First Child - 1962 F100 w/ 460

So this may take a minute, but this is my story. (Feel free to skip ahead to the meaty bits.) I'm a crew chief on C-130's, so I already knew how to turn a wrench and I have a good mechanical mind, it's just a matter of applying it to a truck instead of a plane. I came back from a deployment and decided it was time I follow in my father's footsteps and start my own project. Hopefully I'll learn something along the way!

It took some time to find a truck in decent condition. Originally bent on a C-10, I soon realized that in Alaska one can't be too picky. The weather here is awful on metal and cl***ics aren't common as they are in dryer areas of the US, so what wasn't horrifically rusted through was squirreled away in a garage somewhere. Eventually I found the one that seemed to be the best deal. It's a 1962 Ford F-100 and it was pretty obvious there had already been some hacking done, but all in all, it wan't too bad. The steering box and column was botched. The body only had one area of bondo on the hood. The engine was an almost new 460, and the transmission was a newly rebuilt automatic that shifted beautifully. I was sold as soon as I saw the 460, but I also acknowledged that a lot of half-***ed work had been done. This guy was hiding a lot from me to be sure...

 

First line of business... Get used to the darn thing. I was getting maybe 11 degrees turn out of the tires leaving me with a 30ft turn radius, but I'm hard headed and I wanted to drive it, if only until my parts came in. I immediately started ordering bits and pieces. Things like new visors and visor hardware, new rear view mirror, seat belts, rubber floor mat, and so on. Simple aesthetic pieces that made me feel like I had made immediate progress, even if I wasn't installing any of it yet.

In this respect, I'd like to point you towards C&G Early Ford Parts. Not only is their website super easy to shop, but the shipping and customer service is fantastic. Every part I've ordered has fit the truck flawlessly, and I will continue shopping with them for all my interior/aesthetic parts.

I also immediately ordered a steering box. This kit came from Cl***ic Performance Products. Their website is super muddled, but the kit was well designed, so I went through the h***le. I knew I needed a new box, but I had no idea what to expect once I went under there. And so began my front end rebuild.

IMG_0172 by Lil Red Dirty Birdy posted Jun 8, 2015 at 11:32 PM

Several things became suddenly apparent:

1. The truck had awesome disc brakes on the front. Yay!
2. The kingpins HAD TO GO. The left one literally FELL OUT IN MY HAND.
3. The centerlink had been used to tow the truck and was incredibly bent.
4. The steering box situation was WAY worse than I thought.
5. So were the leaf springs, (much to my dismay). I mean, they were literally two completely different springs.
6. Someone had taken the frame and motor mounts into their own hands.

I'll cover these issues next.

 

I'm afraid my front end problems won't be discussed in order, you'll have to bear with me.

For now, I'll show you the progress or lack there of on my steering box. The old one came off of god knows what, and was sloppily installed, which then put off the steering column too. The power steering pump was working super hard to make turns happen, but because the pitman arm was literally pointed the wrong direction (straight out, not vertically) the wheels wouldn't turn very far.

OLD:

IMG_0212 by Lil Red Dirty Birdy posted Jun 8, 2015 at 11:32 PM

NEW:

IMG_0173 by Lil Red Dirty Birdy posted Jun 8, 2015 at 11:32 PM

I'll be honest, removing it was the most I've been able to do. The new one is smaller and much better suited but I've run into a host of other issues. This is definitely NOT going to be 'plug and play' as I had hoped. The 460 was dropped in in a rush, clearly. The block is super low in the frame and pushed as far back against the firewall as possible, leaving little room. The exhaust manifold intrudes on the space where the steering box should be going, not to mention that the exhaust is routed straight back ABOVE the transmission crossmember but below the engine, so the engine and transmission are literally sitting on top of the exhaust, encroaching further on the space I need. Finding I have many, many other projects to suit me at the moment, I set the steering box issue aside and turned my focus to the frame, and suspension.

 

Congrats and good luck on you new project. Those are cool trucks, have fun.

 

Now is a good time to bring up the issues I've discovered on my frame.

1. No engine crossmember. (Super scary, it's a 460. C'mon.)
2. ^ Caused cracks.
3. Backyard mechanics thought "Oh, hey, the 460 is going to torque the frame. Lets beef it up!"
4. ****ty welding.
5. Plasma cut holes. (WTF.)

Home made engine mounts are not at all effective, at least not these ones. They used the original mounting points for the 286 that the truck originally came with. Obviously the 460 is bigger, heavier, and puts way more stress on the frame. At least one "fixed" crack that I've found is from this kind of stress. In an effort to combat this, the previous owners welded on hunks of metal to the bottom of the frame on the flange instead of doing it the right way and creating a cross member to reduce any sort of torsion.

In addition, I removed the shock mounts which were originally riveted on. Of course, these were bolted which gave me some red flags. True enough, under the mounts I found nasty holes, one on left and one on right. Someone had given up on removing the rivets properly and tried to plasma cut through them leaving quarter sized holes.

IMG_0216 by Lil Red Dirty Birdy posted Jun 8, 2015 at 11:48 PM

IMG_0218 by Lil Red Dirty Birdy posted Jun 8, 2015 at 11:48 PM

 

Thank you! It's gonna take a while, but I'll get there.

 

This brings us to suspension (and all that good steering linkage below the steering box.) Someone had already installed some rather nice shocks, but they weren't doing much good. The leaf springs, which I wish I had taken pictures of were TOTALLY DIFFERENT. I thought I had to be miscounting at first. (I am a red head, only a few steps away from being blonde). I recounted. The left had 6 and the right had 7 leaves. Upon closer inspection, the shim on the left was installed backwards and the right spring was much newer and stiffer than the left. This answered the question as to where my one inch lean was coming from.

Today I dropped $940 on a suspension kit from Performance Online, (plus $400 shipping thanks to living in Alaska). They custom build all four leaf springs and send them your way with hardware and shocks to boot. This was a far better deal than anything I could find in town, so I took it and will be sure to post once they arrive.

The springs aside, the axel was in good shape and well... That's really all the good news there. As I mentioned before, the center link was bent out of shape by five ore six inches. The king pins and bushings were so loose I had to order the oversized pins and will have to machine out the axel. (Still waiting on those parts too.)

IMG_0214 by Lil Red Dirty Birdy posted Jun 8, 2015 at 11:48 PM

 

So where am I at now? Well, the truck, which I aptly named Jarvis, as in Iron Man's artificial intelligence and butler in the Marvel Universe, now has it's front end completely removed and is stuck waiting for parts to start showing up, along with an engine hoist, which currently being borrowed by a friend. Once the engine is pulled the steering box will go in properly and the exhaust can be rerouted as it should be. I'll also take this as an opportunity to fabricate a crossmember to support the 460.

While I'm waiting I may start pulling the (awful) red indoor carpet in the cab...

 

Clean looking truck, next on my list is a '65 or '66 F100 once my '46 is gone.

 

At least you know the correct way to safety wire the bolts that you are installing.. Lots of parts from a C130 work on Hot Rods. Then all the parts on the ground power machines. I know 43250.

 

I almost wish I could have gone older, but not much survives up here. It's hard to find anything past the early 70's actually. On the bright side, pretty versatile little truck.

 

Same technology. We're getting the new C-130J's in the next couple years that's going to change all that, but even the H models from the 80's and 90's kept the same solid work from the 60's.

 

Well, update time! Got a pretty new rear view mirror, and also took better measurements of the axel. Going to have to get it sleeved back down to stock size; it's too walleyed out for even the oversize pins!

 

Glad you went ford and not foreign !

 

cant see pictures!

 

Watch out for C&G headliners.....DO NOT FIT

 

Lived there in the early-mid sixties. My dad was stationed there. Best 5 years of my childhood.